01-02 to 03-05 Gauge Cluster Swap: DONE! Pics inside w/ Pin removing FAQ & Video
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01-02 to 03-05 Gauge Cluster Swap: DONE! Pics inside w/ Pin removing FAQ & Video
**EDIT** 4/8/2007
Had a request to make a video of me removing the pins, so I obliged and here it is, for those of you who require more visual aides
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/d...0a014958b4.htm
Before it was installed, after it got cleaned up really nice
**EDIT** 3/14/2007
Got it installed finally...here's the finished product
This is going to be a long read of some tips and tricks and issues I had that might come in handy for anybody doing this in the future...
1. The Wiring
Once I figured out the trick, I had the green cluster de-pinned in 5 minutes, not exaggerating one bit. I know it's supposed to be easy to figure it out, but to someone like me who's never done this type of thing before, it was tricky to figure out. Just trying to help all the newbs out
The pin-swapping: Only thing I noticed that was a bit convuluded was on DirtySamurai's wiring guide (Thread link HERE), the white-red wire that goes into the green connector listed both as going into the same pin slot. From looking at the diagram , I went with the white-red wire from the blue cluster and moved it over to the green one. Just FYI. Also, the red-white wire from the green cluster was the only wire I didn't use. . Like it's been said before, the only wire needing to be extended was the Yellow-Black wire being taken from the green connector to the blue connector. I just cut, spliced using butt connectors, and taped over the connectors just to be safe. The only wire I needed that was listed that I didn't have was the green-black wire in the blue connector. Everything works fine so I'm going to assume it's either DRL or Side SRS. Both of which my car doesn't have.
How I removed the pins (Complete idiot's guide
)
I used a paperclip, about maybe 2 millimeters in diameter, to get the pins out. I used my Dremel and grinding stone to sharpen the end as to slide in easier and to decrease diameter a bit. I also put an upwards bend on the sharpened end to make it easier to wedge in there. First visual aid:
This is the way you get the pins out. Quick note - Looking back on it I suppose you could go in the bottom hole if you really wanted to, but going in from the top helps you you avoid the tab at the end of the pin and also sets up a good angle to help unlock. This is the way I did it, and I can definitely vouch for it.
For each top and bottom row, there are two holes for each pin. You want to go in from the top hole, and angle down towards the bottom hole. This is where the upward bend on the paperclip comes in handy. If you angle too soon, you'll hit a little tab on the floor of the pin. It takes a bit of time to get where to wedge it in, play around with it. Optimally, this is the angle you want to get on it:
Next step: Once you find the spot, you'll feel it get tougher to slide in, and then it'll stop (You've just hit the spot where the wire is crimped at on the connector... It's a good thing!) While holding the paperclip in place, give the wire a little tug. It should move out a little bit. Now remove the paperclip, and it should slide out no problem. I found if you try to leave the paperclip in, you run a higher chance of taking the wire out instead of the actual pin (Found out the hard way
)The only wires that didn't slide out easily were the ones I had screwed with the last time I tried to do this.
2. Cluster issues
So anyways, on to the issues. I had noticed when I got it that the gas/temp needles were out of place, as if they had did a full rotation. I had rotated them by hand to where I thought they should be, but when I turned the car on the temp needle went flying into the gas needle and got stuck. So I took it out and played with it a bit, rotating it Clockwise and Counterclockwise....When I rotated it CW, it went to the starting point fine. Rotating CCW, it was stopped from rotating any further right at operating temp. After taking the cover off and playing with the needles around 5 times, I finally decided to move the Temp needle CCW to the starting point. I had to go against the little motor in there. It clicked while I was doing it, but I did it quite carefully, not wanting to break anything. Started the car up and let it idle...and to my surprised, worked like a charm. Ended up having to turn the gas needle CW to the starting point as well. Both are working fine now, so if anybody gets a cluster and notices this problem, there's your solution
Had a request to make a video of me removing the pins, so I obliged and here it is, for those of you who require more visual aides
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/d...0a014958b4.htm
Before it was installed, after it got cleaned up really nice
**EDIT** 3/14/2007
Got it installed finally...here's the finished product
This is going to be a long read of some tips and tricks and issues I had that might come in handy for anybody doing this in the future...
1. The Wiring
Once I figured out the trick, I had the green cluster de-pinned in 5 minutes, not exaggerating one bit. I know it's supposed to be easy to figure it out, but to someone like me who's never done this type of thing before, it was tricky to figure out. Just trying to help all the newbs out
The pin-swapping: Only thing I noticed that was a bit convuluded was on DirtySamurai's wiring guide (Thread link HERE), the white-red wire that goes into the green connector listed both as going into the same pin slot. From looking at the diagram , I went with the white-red wire from the blue cluster and moved it over to the green one. Just FYI. Also, the red-white wire from the green cluster was the only wire I didn't use. . Like it's been said before, the only wire needing to be extended was the Yellow-Black wire being taken from the green connector to the blue connector. I just cut, spliced using butt connectors, and taped over the connectors just to be safe. The only wire I needed that was listed that I didn't have was the green-black wire in the blue connector. Everything works fine so I'm going to assume it's either DRL or Side SRS. Both of which my car doesn't have.
How I removed the pins (Complete idiot's guide
)I used a paperclip, about maybe 2 millimeters in diameter, to get the pins out. I used my Dremel and grinding stone to sharpen the end as to slide in easier and to decrease diameter a bit. I also put an upwards bend on the sharpened end to make it easier to wedge in there. First visual aid:
This is the way you get the pins out. Quick note - Looking back on it I suppose you could go in the bottom hole if you really wanted to, but going in from the top helps you you avoid the tab at the end of the pin and also sets up a good angle to help unlock. This is the way I did it, and I can definitely vouch for it.
For each top and bottom row, there are two holes for each pin. You want to go in from the top hole, and angle down towards the bottom hole. This is where the upward bend on the paperclip comes in handy. If you angle too soon, you'll hit a little tab on the floor of the pin. It takes a bit of time to get where to wedge it in, play around with it. Optimally, this is the angle you want to get on it:
Next step: Once you find the spot, you'll feel it get tougher to slide in, and then it'll stop (You've just hit the spot where the wire is crimped at on the connector... It's a good thing!) While holding the paperclip in place, give the wire a little tug. It should move out a little bit. Now remove the paperclip, and it should slide out no problem. I found if you try to leave the paperclip in, you run a higher chance of taking the wire out instead of the actual pin (Found out the hard way
)The only wires that didn't slide out easily were the ones I had screwed with the last time I tried to do this. 2. Cluster issues
So anyways, on to the issues. I had noticed when I got it that the gas/temp needles were out of place, as if they had did a full rotation. I had rotated them by hand to where I thought they should be, but when I turned the car on the temp needle went flying into the gas needle and got stuck. So I took it out and played with it a bit, rotating it Clockwise and Counterclockwise....When I rotated it CW, it went to the starting point fine. Rotating CCW, it was stopped from rotating any further right at operating temp. After taking the cover off and playing with the needles around 5 times, I finally decided to move the Temp needle CCW to the starting point. I had to go against the little motor in there. It clicked while I was doing it, but I did it quite carefully, not wanting to break anything. Started the car up and let it idle...and to my surprised, worked like a charm. Ended up having to turn the gas needle CW to the starting point as well. Both are working fine now, so if anybody gets a cluster and notices this problem, there's your solution
Last edited by 01HonderCivic; Apr 9, 2007 at 01:28 AM.
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Portland, Oregon
Rep Power: 387 the tach and the fuel are pointed weird... is it just the way they sit when disconnected, or is this the same exact cluster that had a different thread about it?
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From: Oregon
Rep Power: 346 I would have if he had rang the doorbell...He just left it at the doorstep and drove off
Yeah, I'll do that. This is going to be weird swap...I'm going from an EX to an LX cluster. I searched to see if anybody had to do anything different but didn't really find much...
Originally Posted by TRIZ
the tach and the fuel are pointed weird... is it just the way they sit when disconnected, or is this the same exact cluster that had a different thread about it?
Slowest 7thgen in the GTA
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From: Maple (GTA), ON
Rep Power: 285 when I first saw the pic, I was laughing because my stock gauges look like that, except its red on the rim of the gauges and not blue. Then I looked at your username, and figured out you probably have an 01, and those gauges didn't come in 01's.
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Ontario
Rep Power: 378 I have an 03 coupe (red gauges) and thought about going to the sedan one (blue). The only thing that kept me from doing it is that the needles are red anyway...
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From: Oregon
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Just got back from town...Had to go to 7 stores in this godforsaken town to find a pin popping tool...Finally found one at Carquest
mehn... i still have to do that, but i already have my climate control lights in Blue! and when i got my new steering, it has some red sticthing on it.. so i prolly go back to red climate control and have everything in red.. dammit~
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From: Oregon
Rep Power: 346 Eventually...Not now. For the time being I just replaced the fender and got a new headlight. When I do it, I want to do it right, not half-*** it together.
And as far as the cluster is concerned, it's not going to happen tonight. I can't ****ing get the pins out of the connector...I need to get the actual tool for it. I tried everything I know of, needle, paper clip, pliers, everything....And no damn luck. Doesn't help that nobody on this site explains where you need to insert it to release it. Somebody know exactly which pin extractor I need to order?
I posted that there was one for sale on Importpassion a few days ago...And nobody even replied to the thread. It's from the same people who I got mine from...
eBay Motors: 03 04 05 Honda Civic Speedo Speedometer Cluster OE LKQ (item 190081187228 end time Feb-15-07 16:12:09 PST)
And as far as the cluster is concerned, it's not going to happen tonight. I can't ****ing get the pins out of the connector...I need to get the actual tool for it. I tried everything I know of, needle, paper clip, pliers, everything....And no damn luck. Doesn't help that nobody on this site explains where you need to insert it to release it. Somebody know exactly which pin extractor I need to order?
Originally Posted by gearbox
what a lucky ****
I posted that there was one for sale on Importpassion a few days ago...And nobody even replied to the thread. It's from the same people who I got mine from...
eBay Motors: 03 04 05 Honda Civic Speedo Speedometer Cluster OE LKQ (item 190081187228 end time Feb-15-07 16:12:09 PST)
Last edited by 01HonderCivic; Feb 12, 2007 at 09:57 PM.
And no damn luck. Doesn't help that nobody on this site explains where you need to insert it to release it. Somebody know exactly which pin extractor I need to order?
Thread Starter
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From: Oregon
Rep Power: 346 You need to go get yourself a set of pick tools. I think they even have them at Wal-Mart in the tool section. Or you can get them at just about any tool store. They are really sharp, thin and strong enough to do all your necessary picking. You'll be able to pull up on the tab that is holding the retaining pin in.
And I've got the harness like this (With the top lock thing up) and I tried inserting it from this end and from the front... Everything I read said to go in from the non-wired side and unlock it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers....bitch
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Rep Power: 474 i have a test in class where i have to put two of those clips on wires in under 5 mins lol, you need a special crimper for each clip and only one crimper does it right, the teacher is gonna give us a whole toolbox full of different ones.....so yea its gonna be fun
What kind of teacher is that? Trying to trick his students 
He probably should making a little more exciting and make it so you have to defuse a bomb or something with the correctly crimped wire. 
