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Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:38 am
by MrKnwn2ActBad
I have seen some pics on here where some people have white numbers and letters with the red rings and needles. Is this a led mod or is this a factory cluster? I have a '03 which is all red and drives me nuts. I saw a write up on doing led mods and the guy had a '04 that looked as if it had these before he started. Any help is appreciated

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:15 pm
by ColonelPanic
2003 had all red numbers/markings. 2004-2008 had white numbers and the red markings.

Swapping to a 2004 style cluster is doable. However note that the mileage is stored in the cluster so your odometer will read whatever the donor vehicle had on it, not what yours read...

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:22 pm
by joatmon
The 2003 and 2004 clusters are fully interchangeable. 2005-2008 have an extra connector
2003 had red lights behind the gauge faces. 2004's have white lights. This makes it easier on the 2004 clusters to come up with custom colors by creating new gauge faces, without having to change out soldered in lights.
in the 2003 and 2004 model years, there were eight cluster variants The US models have english units, the Canadian have metric. The base ones have lower tach redline than the GT
2003 base US
2003 base CAN
2003 GT US
2003 GT CAN
2004 base US
2004 base CAN
2004 GT US
2004 GT CAN

(so, if you decide to get a 2004 cluster, make sure you get one with the right units and tach redline)

If you can find a computer that still has a parallel port interface, you can adjust the odometer readings without too much trouble -> viewtopic.php?f=28&t=26526" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I replaced my 03 cluster with an 04 cluster (wow, that was 7 years ago) Here's what the two look like, shown base US models, 2004 on top, 03 on bottom
Image

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:45 pm
by maaadtrip
I've been wanting to do this ever since I saw that there were clusters w/o all that red.

Considering that a 2004 vibe GT is so rare to see ON the road, I'm doubtful I'll be finding a scrapped one any time soon...

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:48 am
by MrKnwn2ActBad
Thanks guys this was a big help.....im scouring now for one

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:55 am
by MrKnwn2ActBad
quick question would a 2005 work? i know that might be a crazy question but I have had experiences in the past doing swaps where it says it will work and doesnt. Thanks

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:54 pm
by patmegkelly
joatmon wrote:The 2003 and 2004 clusters are fully interchangeable. 2005-2008 have an extra connector
2003 had red lights behind the gauge faces. 2004's have white lights. This makes it easier on the 2004 clusters to come up with custom colors by creating new gauge faces, without having to change out soldered in lights.
in the 2003 and 2004 model years, there were eight cluster variants The US models have english units, the Canadian have metric. The base ones have lower tach redline than the GT
2003 base US
2003 base CAN
2003 GT US
2003 GT CAN
2004 base US
2004 base CAN
2004 GT US
2004 GT CAN

(so, if you decide to get a 2004 cluster, make sure you get one with the right units and tach redline)

If you can find a computer that still has a parallel port interface, you can adjust the odometer readings without too much trouble -> viewtopic.php?f=28&t=26526" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I replaced my 03 cluster with an 04 cluster (wow, that was 7 years ago) Here's what the two look like, shown base US models, 2004 on top, 03 on bottom
Image

Could you walk us through your process. I found a really great price on a new cluster and if it's plug and play except mileage... I'm thinking I'd like to attempt the mileage hack if possible. I know the russian explained a little bit, but it was in broken english. Could you walk us through what you did specifically? Thanks!

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 5:53 pm
by REN69
I bet it's just a matter of replacing the bulbs (which probably have red condoms over them) to a hyperwhite LED... I did this with one of my cars and got rid of that old school yellow, looks much better.

Re: Gauge color question...factory or mod?

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:51 am
by joatmon
patmegkelly wrote:
Could you walk us through your process. I found a really great price on a new cluster and if it's plug and play except mileage... I'm thinking I'd like to attempt the mileage hack if possible. I know the russian explained a little bit, but it was in broken english. Could you walk us through what you did specifically? Thanks!
haven't been here as much lately and hadn't seen this before, but was messing with this odometer stuff this past weekend, I'll try to post a better step by step in the next couple of days