I have an ap2 but my cluster is an ap1, i have been using it for 2 months and all of a sudden my cluster shut down, only working is my break and eps light. I wanted to know if anyone here can help me test my cluster. How can i benchtest it? Is there anyway to test it with my battery if yes, which wire? I just needed to know if its working first or if its going to light up the gauge like the rpm etc, before i buy another gauge or wasting my money, i already tested the the wiring and it has power, im thinking its my gauge, please help, thank you

 

I have a subscription to AllDataDIY.com just for stuff like this - you'll find the pinouts and schematics for the instrument cluster there I don't have my Helm close by but the schematics may also be in there.

I've seen some people play with the instrument panels on a bench by powering it up and touching a feed wire to the tach signal line (be careful about voltage levels). If the cluster works on your AP1 the signals are pretty simple - 12 volts turns on the lights, pulses make the tach and spedo work (speedo has a funky signal voltage, double check the tach signal too).

My guess is there's a grounding issue. Check for the brake and EPS bulbs having a dedicated ground circuit as a safety measure; if not you may be grounding through those bulbs - are they dim? Did you have to lay new cables, connectors, or chop up the harness to do the swap? Also consider that the input power to the electronics may have conked out which would leave certain indicator lights still working.

 

Yes, i have alldata also but not sure which one is to power up the gauge, i tried everything but cant find the problem, just need to know which wire to power up the gauge and which wire is the ground, please help, thanks

 

^ Oh wow I can't say I blame you for not finding out which one is the power and ground - the pinout descriptions of the connectors for the instrument panel is absolutely terrible. I didn't see a single one of the pins on any connector explicitly labeled as power or ground though there's some hints hidden in there. You'll have to dig and correlate some stuff to put together a picture of how to get this working on a bench.

For instance, start with the idea that the black wires on connector B (pins 8 and 9) are ground then find a way to confirm it. None of the pins are labeled as primary power input either but some of them have their fuse numbers associated with them; start by guessing that fused inputs are power input. Diagram 114-2 (on my account with access to the MY2002 data) shows a few different fused inputs (the fuse numbers are present to correlate back to the pins) to power the lighting for the instrument panel. Hidden inside that diagram labeled "dash and console lights" you can see a constant and switched power input that also connects to a power control system then the "CPU." I'm guessing you'll have to get your ground established, power to that voltage controller, then put power on the ignition line to wake up the electronics.

My guess (this was quickly researched, please dig and confirm it for yourself before trying):

Connector B:
Pin 8 BLK/BLK: ground
Pin 9 BLK/BLK: ground
Pin 5 WHT/RED: primary power input
Pin 4 YEL: ignition signal

Good luck and let us know when you get some kind of results.

 

White/red and yellow has voltage, both black ground but still no luck, can i try to directing this to the battery, do u think this is ok, any suggestion is appreciated, thanks

 

I'm under the assumption that you've got the basic electrical knowledge to keep yourself, your equipment, and your property safe while you do this; I'm not really up to the task of giving that much background info.

I'm also going to assume that you didn't just use the values I gave you previously as I tried to make it clear it was a guide to conducting your own research to establish the proper pins.

Did you check the fuses themselves? If you blew a fuse in the vehicle because the instrument panel is faulty and you go and hook the panel up to the battery with out the fuses you could really damage it, burn yourself, or start a fire. I would try to figure out why it doesn't work on the bench first. Is your bench power supply up to the task of running the cluster? The fuses had some pretty high values. Do you know what kind of current the panel was drawing on the power supply?

If you weren't already aware of risks like I described when powering something off a car battery are you sure you should be conducting this kind of testing? I would hate to be a party to someone getting hurt or causing a lot of damage because they did what I suggested with out understanding it.

The Helm of course has detailed procedures to follow to trouble shoot these items as well; you may have to improvise the procedures by blending them together across the different years of your car and panel. But those tests would be relatively safe because they are engineered around a protected electrical system unlike when you get things onto a bench or just start hooking it up to the battery.

 

the fuse that controls the numbers on the gauge cluster is a 7.5A fuse, I think its labeled "backup" or something. It might be something as simple as that... unless you already checked it?

 

I tried wiring white/red, yellow and 2 blacks to designated pin but i did not get any results, cluster did not even light up, i have power on white/red and yellow, 2 black grounds are good, do u guys think its my cluster, i need u guys advise, thanks

 

This may help you https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...&#entry17852202

Quick question, how did you mount the ap1 cluster on the ap2? Did you rewired?

 

Yes, I printed 2003 and 2004 diagram and soldered the wiring to the correct and apprpopriate wire, I dont understand why it just shutdown, then the only light i see is EPS and brake, thats why my conclusion is going towards the gauge, does anybody willing to put my cluster to their s2000 just to see if my cluster is broken, anybody around the glendale, pasadena area and can go to my shop. Thanks