• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

SVT Gage Cluster Question?

B

blind829

CEG'er
Joined
May 1, 2008
Messages
437
I bought my '99 SVT from Canada so the gage cluster has km/hr over mph as well as the odometer and trip odometer are in kilometers. I found a 1998 SVT Cluster for sale and was wondering if it would work in my '99? Can the milage on them be rolled up and/or down? Can you just switch out the speedometer/odometer bezel or am I going the right route and changing out the whole bezel? Also, how easy are these to change out as I have to fix this eventually as it's driving me crazy.
 
I believe if the cluster is from 98.5 and up it should work in a 99, if it's a 98 it won't work.

I am curious about the mileage part as well, I believe I have read somewhere that you can swap the odometers between clusters, but again I haven't looked into this in a while. I am waiting to get my cluster back with the blue LEDs :drool:, then I am doing some extensive searches, I suggest the same.
 
Just make sure the gauge cluster DOES NOT say NORMAL across the temp. gauge. That would make it a 98 cluster and it will not be compatible. If it says nothing, then it's the 98.5+ style and will work just fine. Find something with lower mileage than your car that way you can roll the odometer forward to match the mileage.
 
Thanks, so you can only roll them forward and not back. I guess that makes sense.
 
Well it appears on the picture that it does say "normal" in the temperature gage, correct me if I'm wrong.

EBayCluster.jpg


This is one is so close to my milage though, mine is 59,000. So there's no way for it to work huh? Well anyone have one with less than 60k they want to sell me?
 
You can switch odometers. Or you can roll the odometer forward until it hits 0 and then roll it forward to your desired mileage. It takes just a few minutes to roll the odometer forward.
 
I've got a Mystique gauge cluster coming to replace the one in my Contour with one with a tach. Can you provide the odometer-swap details?
 
blind829 said:
Well it appears on the picture that it does say "normal" in the temperature gage, correct me if I'm wrong.

EBayCluster.jpg


This is one is so close to my milage though, mine is 59,000. So there's no way for it to work huh? Well anyone have one with less than 60k they want to sell me?
Click to expand...

I have a 98 LX would this work with my car? If so, blind829, how much was it? and would you sell it to me if it won't work for you? :laugh:
Chas.

edited to ask: What's the difference between the "normal" and "non-normal" cluster. Why aren't they interchangeable between all years?
 
Chas said:
I have a 98 LX would this work with my car? If so, blind829, how much was it? and would you sell it to me if it won't work for you? :laugh:
Chas.

edited to ask: What's the difference between the "normal" and "non-normal" cluster. Why aren't they interchangeable between all years?
Click to expand...

I didn't buy it but it ended up going for $60 on eBay. If you look very closely at the temperature gage, on the top between the hot side and the cold side, it says "normal". That word "normal" is there in the earlier SVT's only. I'm not sure if it would work in a LX though.

Can anyone confirm that you can roll a 98.5-2000 SVT gage cluster forward until it wraps around and goes back to zero? I'm having trouble finding a gage cluster with less than 60,000 miles.
 
blind829 said:
I didn't buy it but it ended up going for $60 on eBay. If you look very closely at the temperature gage, on the top between the hot side and the cold side, it says "normal". That word "normal" is there in the earlier SVT's only. I'm not sure if it would work in a LX though.

Can anyone confirm that you can roll a 98.5-2000 SVT gage cluster forward until it wraps around and goes back to zero? I'm having trouble finding a gage cluster with less than 60,000 miles.
Click to expand...

I believe you could just swap your odometer with the new cluster. It is very easy to open up the cluster and take the components apart.
The only possible way you couldn't would be if you have one of those huge speedo's and even still, I think you can swap them. Correct me if I am wrong.
 
blind829 said:
I didn't buy it but it ended up going for $60 on eBay. If you look very closely at the temperature gage, on the top between the hot side and the cold side, it says "normal". That word "normal" is there in the earlier SVT's only. I'm not sure if it would work in a LX though.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I noticed the difference with the word "normal," I wanted to know the mechanical difference, and specifically why they are not interchangeable? :shrug:
 
Chas said:
Sorry, I should have been clearer. I noticed the difference with the word "normal," I wanted to know the mechanical difference, and specifically why they are not interchangeable? :shrug:
Click to expand...

Because the circuit board, or whatever you want to call it, on the back of the cluster changed... So if you put a 98.5 cluster in your 98, it would be all messed up; like when you put your highbeams on the CEL would light up instead of the highbeam light, or turning on a directional would send a signal to your tach, etc... Those are just completely random examples I made up...
 
BoSoxBruin said:
Because the circuit board, or whatever you want to call it, on the back of the cluster changed... So if you put a 98.5 cluster in your 98, it would be all messed up; like when you put your highbeams on the CEL would light up instead of the highbeam light, or turning on a directional would send a signal to your tach, etc... Those are just completely random examples I made up...
Click to expand...

Thanks, that clears it up. I'll search for a "normal" one :laugh:
 
CruzCorp said:
I believe you could just swap your odometer with the new cluster. It is very easy to open up the cluster and take the components apart.
The only possible way you couldn't would be if you have one of those huge speedo's and even still, I think you can swap them. Correct me if I am wrong.
Click to expand...
The only difference between speedos from clusters without a tach (large face) and those with a tach (smaller face) are the gauge faces themselves. all the electronics and everything is the same. this is assuming from the same series of clusters , ie. 98-98.5, 99-00, early 95, late 95 to 97.
 
My odometer is calculated in KM and if my cluster says miles, or vice versa, that would be annoying. Trip would be ground too except it would look like I got great mpg.
 
I'm not interested in a KMH SVT cluster. I already having one and want a mph cluster. Maybe I'm missing the point of you posting this...

What I really want to know is can you can roll a 98.5-2000 mph SVT gage cluster forward until it wraps around and goes back to zero? I'm having trouble finding a gage cluster with less than 60,000 miles, which I need since my car has just under 60k miles.
 
if you do/can roll the odometer remember to recalculate into miles not just put same #. dont want to add miles to the car lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top