Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Help!!! No instructions...

I recently won a auction for reverse gauges for my tour and they didn't come with intructions. I figured it would be an easy install but it's a bit more than I expected. I just need a bit of direction from people who have done this install or have previous knowledge. How am I going to adhere the new gauges because there doesn't seen to be a sticky side and where do I need to tap in for current? Help is greatly appreciated.

Well first off the steering wheel must be removed. I will look in the Haynes manual later today and help you out more.

Man, I'm not sure if you're kidding or not, but don't even think about pulling the steering wheel as it does not have to come off to do the guages. I can't remember if there is a how to posted on the main CEG page or not, but look there first. Basically you remove the guage cluster, open it up and either slip the new faces over the needles and on top of your existing faces or pop the needles off and pull the old ones and put the new ones on. There are some steps in getting the needles on and off correctly that you'll need to follow so look for the install instructions on the main page or see if Bnoon has it in an emailable format.

Rick

removing the steering wheel?? yikes! hey buck i'll get back to you i have the ford cd im me on aim my user name contourfreak

I'm seriously starting to think that Hitman loves to give people the wrong information on how to do things, sometimes dangerously wrong information.

Anyways, here's a simple set of instructions
1> Pull out the little trim pieces between the aircon panel and the top. For a Post-98, I believe this is the piece that says "Contour" and a couple pieces on each side. There's another above the power window control on the left side. They just pop out. Use a thin flat-head screwdriver with a piece of soft fabric under it just in case.

2> You should uncover 3 screws. 2 on the right side of the steering wheel, one on the left side. They're just phillips heads. Unscrew those.

3> Now, look above the instrument cluster. There's 2 holes in the top of the bezel with 2 more phillips-heads deeply embedded in there. With a small phillips head you can get to them, but to me, getting them out (and back in) was the hardest part.

4> Lower the steering wheel and the entire bezel should lift right out.

5> Remove the 5 screws surrounding the gauge cluster. Lift it out and disconnect the 2 plugs from the back.

6> Take the cluster inside and work on popping the clear part off of the black part. It will take some work.

7> Slide the overlays you got over the needles. Try to do everything possible to avoid having to remove the needles, otherwise you'll create a LOT more work for yourself.

8> Make sure all the wires are hanging down and then place the clear face over the black cluster and then work to put it back into the car, not forgetting to plug in the electronics on the back of it. Put the 5 screws back in.

9> Remove the plastic kick panel under the steering wheel. It has, I believe, 5 screws holding it.

10> Look at the headlight relay. There's a bug bundle of wires. Now, I don't know for sure what it is on a post-98, but I'm going to make a wild-ass-guess that the brown wire is the power wire. You're going to want to splice the red wire on the transformer into that wire, however you choose to do that.

11> The black wire needs to be grounded. There should be a bolt on the steering column that will work for you. Anything will work as long as it's metal.

12> Plug in all the plugs on the overlay faces into the transformer, make sure you aren't touching any of the wires, and turn on the headlights. Ideally, the faces should light up. It can be difficult to see during the day. If they are not lighting up, you need to find a different wire on the headlight switch to tap into for power.

13> Once you get it work, reverse the procedure to re-install the panel under the wheel and the bezel around the cluster.

To all you people who question what I said.

When the guy had to replace the blown out safety belt light he had to first remove the guage cluster, and he did take off the steering wheel.

Didnt mean to give wrong info there, but that is what the guy at the shop did.

instead of removing the steering wheel, lower it to the lowest position (i didnt realize this til after a few tries of trying to pry the panel out. u can search fordcontour.org they had a how to. i think i may have saved it. lemme check

link didnt work but u should be able to search or find it over there w/ pics too.

Thanx a lot everyone! I will let you know how things work out good or bad.

Hitman may not be entirly wrong. My mystqiue didnt come with the option to lower the steering wheel. When I put my gauges in I had to lower the steering column in order to remove the trim peice.