As you guys know my tach froze on my Z a few months ago. Well I picked up a used cluster from the salvage yard last weekend and installed it tonight only to find out that everything worked correctly except for the tach. Below I have laid out the steps that I took to recalibrate the tach. First, remove the cluster from the dash.
Second, remove the display cover. There are two 5.5mm bolts at the bottom and a clip under the steering column cover.
Third, plug the cluster back into the dash without the display cover. Start the car and wait for the idle to settle.(Works best if warmed up first) Take a your finger and a pocket screw driver and gently work the needle off. Your engine should idle around 850-900 rpm warmed up so try to reinstall it close to that mark. Turn the key off and wait a few seconds. Turn the key back on and wait for the system check to finish. Start the engine and check and see that it idles where it should. I tried this trick on mine and it solved my tach issue.
would you be interested in selling the digital cluster that you dont use?
Thanks for sharing Josh!! That is a really neat trick!!
I know the digi-dashs have been the scourge of many 1st gen owners on here!!
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scourage
Just to let you know I believe v6 and 4cyl tachs are different and also I believe 88 and lower had an external vss buffer and 89+ had built in ones so they can not be swapped without adding or removing the buffer between years and the newer ones connected to the ECU and the VSS I believe. More info on v6z24 for this.
On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Those digital clusters are cool!
When they work. Tachs always go bad.
On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Yeah Just a little story about the digital dash. When I sold the 86 Cimarron last summer the only thing that did not work on the digi dash was the odometer. When the guy went to inspect it in NH, he was rejected, no not for bald tires or a loose tie rod, but because the odometer showed 000,000. He ended up sending it out and having it repaired. I love the look of the digital dash, but GM was just a little too far ahead of its self.
I also discovered that if you clean the plastic lens with spray on wax it really sharpens the display.
hey there
I just bought myself a 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 and I have a digital dash and my dash lights are burnt. Do I change the light bulbs from the back or the front of the cluster?
I like the tach trick. Mine starting actin g up, showing a 2.0 running easily at 6500-7000 RPM cant be true. Will need to try this and get numbers back to real. Maybe it is that fast, who knew!!! Spent a day driving the 86 Convt, still gets more looks than a new car. Few people know what this car is!! Now I remember why I still have this car!!!!!!
Sylvain,
If you are replacing just the bulbs and the 88 dash lights are the same as a 1st gen then they are 1/4 turn sockets with 194 lamps in them ( Better check the lamp number as my memory is not as good as it used to be). They install from the back of the I/C. It is much easier to remove the dash and as the bulbs are cheap, replace them all when you have the I/C out.
This is a picture of the socket with the lamp removed.
Thanks I replaced the bulbs 3 times in 3 Z24's with the analogs with no problem but this is my first time owing a digital dash thanks for the fast reply..
