Today i pulled out my EF I6 GLi cluster to do a few mods.
Added wires for low coolant warning, low washer warning, trip computer and spot lamp warning. Also added a bulb and holder for the spot light warning.

The spot light warning work OK if i apply +12V to the wire that i added to the left cluster plug (pin8)

However, i understood the cluster sends out +12V to both wires associated with low coolant warning (pin3 right plug, yellow/red) and low washer warning (pin6 right plug, pink/yellow). This is not the case for me

Any ideas what may be wrong ?

Also look at my post on http://www.fordmods.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8829 as there is a little more info on my cluster mods.

Well, it seems more like a cluster f**k up than a mod in this case

Cheers

C'mon guys, any takers ?

On searching of earlier posts, seems the EL cluster coolant warning lamp will flash if the sensor is not attached. The sensor itself is made of two resisitors, 180ohms and 1200ohms. The 1200ohm resistor is shorted when the coolant level is low, hence light on @ 1380ohms, off @ 180ohm and flashes if <180 or >1380. It also seems that on EL's pin3 of the cluster goes to some internal resistor bridge to signal the processor which turns on the light.

Is this the way 'low coolant warning' works on EF clusters ?

My EF GLi is a 09/96 build - anyone do this mod on a GLi newer than this ?

Haven't found anything about low washer warning on earlier posts

Cheers.

Its all ABS controlled. I jsut did my low washer fluid and the cable was there becasue my Futura has ABS. Not al GLis came with ABS. Check the doco section. It exlains it all tehre.

Yeh, i have a GLi and did my own cruise install, made my own loom and buttons to test the install and it all works I have read all the docs and followed them as closely as is possible. I did lots of cross checking of information. Probably my biggest problem was the (at times) inconsistant plug numbering conventions used across mod docs. It almost caught me out

My biggest issue was the diode i added for the spot light warning lamp, that seemed to cause no end of problems with other warning lamps in the cluster (and also with the horn and cruise control In the end i had to install it in the opposite direction to that specified in the mod docs for an EL for the other warning lamps (e.g handbrake etc), horn and cruise to work.

Now i am in a situation where the the splot light warning lamp can work, the rest of the cluster seem to function fine, my horn and cruise seem fine [u]but[/] the oddometer display does not show anything, and i can't test the washer and coolant level warning lamps since i can't find information to do the test (guess i shoul dhighlight i dont have the washer and coolant sensors yet)

I am reluctant to take the cluster out again until i better understand the problems and what caused them.

Does anyone know how to test the EF coolant and washer warning lamps without the sensors ?
How do the sensors work, simple switch to earth or something more elaborate ?
Does the cluster send a 12V signal to the sensor ?

twirqurky, does the pink/yellow low washer fluid sensor wire from the cluster send 12V to the washer level sensor ?

Cheers

You mightn't have a choice.The washer cct is simply a switch to earth - so if you short it to earth, it should be a good enough test. The coolant level sensor is another earth cct, but looks like it's through a resistor assy which part of it is shorted by a switch - may be to test you could use a spare resistor from your dash LED mod, and earth the cct through it. This way it's not a direct short, but should give you some indication.No, as above, it's an earth cct. Dylan is correct, the doco does mention that ABS needs to be present for this mod.

I've currently got a base series EL cluster apart - the numbers on the cct board are as such:
top: 43226 L2_14, 43226 SR2_14, 43226 SR3_14
underside: 43226 L1_14, 43226 SR1_14
The board is double sided, hence the two sets of numbers, the last number listed will be the last board revision I'd say.

Actually the mod doc EF Changing Instruments states "Unfortunately, if you have a GLi Model, without ABS, then you will not have the electrical connector, and wiring already available". In my case, i have added the wiring when i did my cruise upgrade
Today i have done a quick test of the windscreen washer warning and earthed the wire but no lamp comes on.
Seems your right and the cluster will have to come out again - no choice - and back to the drawing board

When i pull it out, i will open it up and check the numbers on it - i will also check the oddometer as the backlight seems to have died.
Is it just me or are these clusters a little too english in their build quality ?

Cheers

I did mine about a week ago.

Note I have an EF Futura so the wiring is tere.

I ran the wire from the sensor to the pink/yellow wire running from the pin 6 on the RHS of the cluster. Then I ran the earth/ground wire to a bolt near the wahser bottle.

It works fine using that setup.

Maybe there is no air hitting the sensor so its not working etc no water. Maybe the sensor is broken or maybe the wiring form the orignal washer bottle is broken. I dont know if the crusise control isntall sets up a twin ABS setup, but maybe that is why as well.

I have a cop cluster, and couldn't get the washer light to work at all.

Looking at the wiring diagrams, the connector is there on a GLi with ABS (like my EL), but there is no wire going to the cluster. I think the behind dash loom is GLi, but the engine bay loom is Futura. I also had the plug for the low coolant sensor (which does work) and no wire to the cluster.

Hope this sheds some light.

Dang.

An update...

My problem is not the vehicle wiring but the cluster.
Seems that on some circuit boards, VDO has not added all the surface mount components including those associated with the low coolant and low washer warning lamps.

In my GLi low series cluster about 17 smc, 1 vdo chip and the volt and oil gauges and their respective warning lamps are missing.
The coolant and washer warning lamps have nothing to do with the volt and oil gauges but, in their wisdom, ford/vdo also removed components effecting these functions from the board.
It's a base model and they could save about 20 cents per GLi cluster

I have a pic of the board with the missing components circled so it should be a simple thing to add them, if i knew what to add

As well as the low coolant and low washer warnings, there are two other warning globes that are not used and no artwork exists on the facia.
Does anyone have any idea what these were intended for ?
These could easily be made to work as it is just a simple link that needs to be added along with some artwork behind the facia. This may prove of interest to some

Lastly, i would find it interesting to get the oil pressure displayed when in diagnostics mode. This requires the removal of a link under the warning lamp and the addition of a few smc and of course the oil sender screwed into the engine.
With a mid series cluster, if the oil presure drops, does the warning light next to the oil gauge come on along with the oil warning lamp near the oddometer ? If not maybe a wire from the gauge warning lamp to the lower oil warning lamp will also be needed.

Does anyone have some electronics knowledge, a mid series cluster lying about, an interest in helping with moding a low series cluster to add these features? I can write something up once it works and also correct the mod doc as it states that only wires are missing from GLi loom (for coolant and washer warning).

If anyone is interested PM me and i can send you two photos of the left and right side of the board with my scribles on it (i would have liked to post them but i wanted to keep the detail and at 900K couldn't add them to the gallery )

Finally, may may ask why do this, because it is more intersting than just swapping a cluster

Cheers.

Posted two pics of GLi cluster circuit board for those interested.
Not briliant quality as it had to be squeezed to load into the gallery.

See them at http://www.fordmods.com/forums/gallery. ... e&meetid=0

Anyone wants better quality pics (~900kbytes each) them PM me

Cheers.

Ok it seems all you need todo is create a computer chip to run all these features. (Makes buying a mid series cluster look sooo much better!). I would advise you to practice on a semi f**k cluster so you dont screw yours up.

As for the lights you have labelled 'unknown', grab a users manual and check it out. It should have it in there.

Wonder if the same advice is valid for those who do turbo upgrades - go buy XR6T... hardly the same fun if you don't do it yourself

Have you been looking at my soldering on the pics of the circuit board ?
No the best, but haven't screwed it up yet - that's next weeks job

As for looking in a manual, unfortunately i don't have one and i doubt ford has downloadable pdf's of car manuals on their web page. They probably want me to buy one and pay $$$ and on principle i wont do that.

Cheers.[/quote]