Monaro cluster modding

[Mud_]

You can definitely change the LEDs, SturdyHSV and I have done it ourselves, and in the US Bohman customs offers it as a service.




If you DIY, just beware of the LED max current - blue/green/white are typically higher than orange/red/yellow for example...hence me redoing the orange ones in white! It's also a faff.

[SturdyHSV]

Just to chime in, but without any nice pictures to hand, it's certainly doable changing the LEDs, it's certainly a bit of a faff, but it takes no special skills beyond a steady hand and patience.

Changing the mileage is obviously a bit different, I've no idea where you'd even start with that as I imagine Vauxhall won't be much use.

I'm very surprised the mileage is stored on the cluster, clearly I was totally wrong in that other thread! What exactly is stopping people using an obd2 reader for speed and fuel level etc and just driving around with the dash unplugged?

[SOCO]

kiwito said:

Hello & Good Evening All,


I was browsing through the gassing forums looking for info and came across you guys talking about instrument clusters, so thought I would explain a problem I have.

I have a 2004 Monaro CV8.
Problem with mine is the LEDs on the centre display and the two out displays are disappearing, faint too read.
Cannot buy a new unit as no longer available.
I managed to obtain a second hand unit. Have plugged it in and all seems good except mileage reading is a lot higher than my original.
Questions I have for you gents are;
Can the original one be repaired?
Can the mileage be altered on the 2nd hand unit?

I am a diesel mechanic by trade, but do have some marbles upstairs when it comes to hands on work.

Thank you for your time.
Wayne.

Cluster Repairs UK can probably fix your original cluster's LCDs

They can change your new cluster mileage with a copy of your last mot and perhaps a photo of your original cluster mileage to act as further evidence.

They could not help with a software issue relating to the ABS light not working on mine, but that's fixed now.

They are also unaware that Monaro clusters are so lo-tech that replacement clusters don't need to be coded to the computers on the car. As you have already found out, a like for like swap is no problem apart from the mileage.

They also do LED bulb customising

Here is a link to their FAQ. http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/faqs

Other cluster farqhuars are available

Cheers

Adrian

[Gelf VXR]

Gelf VXR said:

Hmmm, I just ordered a different adapter - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122259708754?_trksid=p20...

Just got around to trying this one out and can confirm its works

[MyM8V8]

[/quote]



They are also unaware that Monaro clusters are so lo-tech that replacement clusters don't need to be coded to the computers on the car. As you have already found out, a like for like swap is no problem apart from the mileage.





[/quote]

Useful info thanks.

[maccavvy]

just tried changing a mates dash logos and cant find the list on 1337 . it doesn't work

Error

TracError: The Trac Environment needs to be upgraded.

Run "trac-admin /home/maxvend/1337vending.com/vzclustermod upgrade"


says this .. anyone else or just me

[MarvinTPA]

Being old-school, I downloaded the source code and anything else I could. Here's a snippet.

"00" : "Holden",
"01" : "HSV",
"02" : "Chevrolet",
"03" : "Omega",
"04" : "Chevrolet Special Vehicles",
"05" : "Pontiac",
"06" : "Vauxhall",

[MarvinTPA]

While I'm on, can anyone tell me the laptop and windows combination they used. I've tried two or three and can't get past 'no heartbeat' . Windows 7 32 bit and Windows 10 on an elderly Compaq and a modern Dell respecitvely. I've had a little bit of black tape on the instrument panel for the last 5 years covering the MPH that shines like a supernova at me and I'd quite like to dim it down. Thanks in advance.

[maccavvy]

my old Compaq 5 years old was fine .
the new one I got last year hp with win 10 is fine too

[MarvinTPA]

Thanks for the info. I've got versions .27 to .31 here, and I've tried .31 but not the older ones. If none of these work, I'll pull the cluster and make a custom connector for it.

[Global-i]

Can anyone point me to a FTDI USB cable that is known to work when making a cable to use with the VZClustermod program.
I have tried several cables, laptops and drivers and all I get is no response from the VZClustermod software.

So what I need is link to a known good cable, that others have successfully got working or some other way to turn the SRS warning light off.


Thanks
Martin

[SturdyHSV]

Global-i said:

Can anyone point me to a FTDI USB cable that is known to work when making a cable to use with the VZClustermod program.
I have tried several cables, laptops and drivers and all I get is no response from the VZClustermod software.

So what I need is link to a known good cable, that others have successfully got working or some other way to turn the SRS warning light off.


Thanks
Martin

Last page in this thread and work backwards, I posted in more detail about the cable required etc.

Am on a phone so copy/paste is awkward!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[maccavvy]

Heres an odd one.

Had MWP change by speedo due to different diff ratio ,dash has reverted back to Vauxhall and it wont change back
tech 2 to change the speedo has no option to change wording. any ideas why it wont. it says error 6

[99PBATR]

A very interesting read this one and got me thinking, as my car is shown on youtube (used to be owned by Jamie Price) and in the vid its clear to see the shift light in operation on the video on the dash display. Clearly someone has since removed this as it doesn't show it anymore, unless someone can tell me once this has been done, if it can be accessed without reprogramming? I'd love mine to have the HSV logo on start up and the shift light functionality.

If there is anyone in the Warwickshire area who knows how do this then there are a few free pints in it for you

[SturdyHSV]

maccavvy said:

Heres an odd one.

Had MWP change by speedo due to different diff ratio ,dash has reverted back to Vauxhall and it wont change back
tech 2 to change the speedo has no option to change wording. any ideas why it wont. it says error 6

I've not had any experience with a Tech2, but if it's changing the calculations for the speedo I believe that is done in the ECU, certainly it's an option that appears in EFI Live, which has no 'dash cluster' type functionality. It's all done through the same port though so no reason the Tech2 couldn't do whatever it wanted I suppose.

I can only assume MWP have put on a standard set-up to cope with the diff ratio, and this includes the Vauxhall logo. I imagine the Tech2 will know your car is a Vauxhall and as such there won't be an option to do anything about the logo.

When you say it says error 6, what says that, the Tech 2? When does it say it? We need a bit more context

This stuff can all be done via the program linked earlier in this thread

There's loads of stuff over on the guy's website, including stuff to work out the radio code for the stereo.

http://www.1337vending.com/vzclustermod/wiki

Making the cable is easy enough, parts were listed in the thread a couple of posts above

[maccavvy]

SturdyHSV said:

I've not had any experience with a Tech2, but if it's changing the calculations for the speedo I believe that is done in the ECU, certainly it's an option that appears in EFI Live, which has no 'dash cluster' type functionality. It's all done through the same port though so no reason the Tech2 couldn't do whatever it wanted I suppose.

I can only assume MWP have put on a standard set-up to cope with the diff ratio, and this includes the Vauxhall logo. I imagine the Tech2 will know your car is a Vauxhall and as such there won't be an option to do anything about the logo.

When you say it says error 6, what says that, the Tech 2? When does it say it? We need a bit more context

This stuff can all be done via the program linked earlier in this thread

There's loads of stuff over on the guy's website, including stuff to work out the radio code for the stereo.

http://www.1337vending.com/vzclustermod/wiki

Making the cable is easy enough, parts were listed in the thread a couple of posts above

all I know is that MWP said he used tech 2 to change the speedo ratio ,he said there was no option to change the dash wording

ive got the cable and clustermod on my laptop , I changed it to holden ,ive done a few cars, ive done mph dim , shift light etc etc.
but now when I ask it to change to holden , it says error 6 on clustermod.

the guy at MWP doesnt know why or how to put it right


the link doesnt work

Edited by maccavvy on Thursday 2nd May 22:38

[SturdyHSV]

Ahhh OK, if it's error 6 on clustermod, it may be that the version of it you have doesn't recognise the Vauxhall logo setting? There was something odd like that in the past I seem to remember, basically he'd programmed it to expect values from 0 to 5 for the 'logo', as in America the Vauxhall logo isn't even an option, so when it saw that the logo was set to type 6, it went bang.

Right you are regards the link, I just assumed it was a work block thing, but it appears to be mostly down. I've messaged the guy over on the LS1GTO forum, he last posted a month ago so good to see he's still around!

https://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=517...

Not sure what's different given you've done others before, but it might be related to some other change from MWP, or the ratio change, quite often an error code 6 is to do with an overflow, so a number is bigger than the space allocated to store it, so perhaps just an unexpected value he's not coped with.

Edited by SturdyHSV on Friday 3rd May 08:22

[MarvinTPA]

As 1337 vending's site is mostly down, if anyone needs all versions ( 027,030,031 ) of VZClustermod and comdisable ( to stop the mouse interfering with the usb-com port ) + Python source code + CDM drivers for USB-COM port. I downloaded and kept it all. The zip file is onyl 11Mb so easily emaled.

I've never had any luck, not that I've tried in recent years. As mine is an 04 cv8, my last throw of the dice is version 027, every other version gives my 'no hearbeat'.... So after 7 years of ownership I still have a little sticker over the MPH light so it doesn't give me arc-eye at night.

[SturdyHSV]

MarvinTPA said:

As 1337 vending's site is mostly down, if anyone needs all versions ( 027,030,031 ) of VZClustermod and comdisable ( to stop the mouse interfering with the usb-com port ) + Python source code + CDM drivers for USB-COM port. I downloaded and kept it all. The zip file is onyl 11Mb so easily emaled.

I've never had any luck, not that I've tried in recent years. As mine is an 04 cv8, my last throw of the dice is version 027, every other version gives my 'no hearbeat'.... So after 7 years of ownership I still have a little sticker over the MPH light so it doesn't give me arc-eye at night.

If you're a dab hand with a solder sucker, or just very patient (I was the latter) you can just take the cluster apart and remove the LED. I also removed the buzzer as it's a loud annoying racket so no more beeps for me! (parking beeper is separate)

[maccavvy]

Its weird ive changed it all before from Vauxhall to holden. and does others too.
only a few days ago I did the temp gauge and mph dim or a mates vxr

I also know very little about programs etc etc .. I know how to change these things following the instructions .

cleary it must be a program issue. I did mine a few years back from a different laptop so I dare say a different program