This all started when I went to do the gauge cluster mod where you remove the colored film from the back of the stock gauge faces, well i did it and on my last gauge the entire needle stem came out withthe needle and i irreperably damaged my stock cluster...$hit happens. So i decided to get the most bad a$$ cluster i could think of, the Blue Mazdaspeed gauge cluster, and do a comprehensive write up on how i did it. Before I start, I have to thank KINETIK_FD3S for his leading work, and it was from his info that I was able to do this, all im doing is just compiling everything into an easy to find, easy to read DIY, wo here it goes.

First requirement, and FD obviously. 2nd, some mulah and a 99+ gauge cluster and 3rdly some common sence, and the ability to AT LEAST make a proper butt connection if not basic soldering skills (it's not required but soldering connections makes them more sturdy and drasitcly less likely to come undone in the future).

This was my stock cluster before I damaged it. You'll notice my car is NOT a manual, I have not had the time to take my daily driver apart to put a tranny in yet, i normal double D left me stranded and havnt figured out what's wrong with it yet, but i digress, IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU HAVE A MANUAL FD3S OR AN AUTOMATIC AFTERMARKET GAUGE CLUSTERS WILL ALL WORK! but more on that later.

anyways, here is a picture of my car, my gauge cluster before the dash exploded, and several pictures of the harness behind the cluster and gauge hood. You'll notice a screw or2 behind the area where the AC panel bezel sits, I took my AC panel off to get to this, you dont have to, but it makes things easier.

 

Now since you have removed the AC panel, the under dash panel on the drivers side should come off too, it's just held in with a couple screws and clips, as well as the end piece for the drivers side dash, i'll get to the reason for that later. Then my next step was to remove the covers on the steering column, just 3 screws in the bottom and some clips at the sides, becareful to remove the top piece, it has a small screw to lock light bulb in it, and your beauty rting for your ignition comes out with ease.

once everything is out of the way and undone, you can start to pull the gauge hood and cluster out. The gauge hood is held in place at the back of it by several spring clips and a centering dowel. If you havn't removed your cluster before it might feel like your going to break it, but odnt worry, the spring clips are just strong and usually pretty firm so its ok to get a little rough with this part, just dont be too rough or you'll end up with more than just a gauge cluster to install. oh yess, and do not attempt to pry the front piece of the hood off, it is FASTENED to the cowl hood as one complete assembly from the back side, if you attempt to do this all that will happen is you'll scar up your plastic pieces. then just unplud the several connectors at the back of the cluster, they are keyed, and pin number segregated, and you wont be able to mess them up when you plug everything back in later. and dont forget the cigarette lighter plug and it's own little light bulb as well. Congrats, you now have your cluster hood assembly out.! when you have the cluster/cowl unit out and on a workbench coffee table whatever, turn it aroun d and you'll see in plain sight where it unscrews from, i cant remember but i think its only 4 screws that hold it in.

 

alright now, with the cluster assembly out it's time to go back to the car, and a little history. 99+ gauge cluster's (at least to my knowledge) always have a boost gauge in the place of the earlier model rex's oil PSI gauge, since our vehicles dont support the boost gauge on the stock wiring harness, you have to wire it in, no owrries, that's all included here. first, find the boost sensor (MAP sensor stands for Manifold Absolute Pressure) with the pictures provided. after that, peel back, or with a razor blade cut back, the harness sheething leading to the connector for the sensor. The boost sensor is a 3 wire sensor, and the wire your going to want to tap into for your boost gauge is the GREEN WIRE WITH THE YELLOW TRACER AND SILVER DOTS as shown up close in the picture. Snip this wire and solder a piece of wire several feet long, long enough to reach the back of the gauge cluster (you CAN use a butt connector here but as I said before, it's not the BEST way to do it, additionally you will want to run the wiring through an already existing grommet, or bore a hole through your firewall and put a grommet in it to run the witring through, signal wires and grounds are not friends, AND make sure the wire is long enough so it has some slack, you dont want that wire rubbing on anything with tension on it, it's bes to cut a piece that you know is too long, run everything under the dash and along the firewall as you like and then cut it off and add the end to it, that way you know you've got it right). after you've run this wore, you'll need a ground for the cluster to work properly as well. the picture provided shows a 10mm bolt i found that has good ground BEHIND THE END CAP FOR THE DRIVERS SIDE DASH, it is a short distance for the wire and doesnt impead on anytihng.


I have a very clear picture also provided that shows you where you need to add these wires to the back of the cluster, pretty self explanatory.

 

this next one is JUST FOR YOU AUTOMATIC TRANNY GUYS. Since I myself have an auto FD I was able to get away with running my wires through the hole in the firewall for my clutch pedal, which conveniently accomadates the single OT cable I used in my battery relocation AND the wire from the boost sensor, sweet! when I do my manual swap i will bore a hole through my firewall, and install a Deutsch 31 pin connector through my dash to accomadate everything i will be adding to my car, and make it clean, THATS the key, clean! I also had an extra plug in the back of my dash, and my new cluster did NOT have room for it OH $&*% I JUST PAID $1000 FOR NOTHING!!!! DONT be alarmed, that plug with 12 terminals in it is JUST for the p r n d l hold stuff and you dont need it to run anything on the dash so be relieved. I disected it anyways to see what was there and there was nothing but the inside of my cluster i pak 1k for oops! get the tin foil and the scotch tape!

 

well if you hav followed the directions youve come to the point where you install everything in the car. attach everything to the cluster before you install it in the car. IMPORTANT NOTE!!! Leave the 2 wires you ran for the map sensor and the ground attached and run through the car, do NOT attach them until you put the cluster in, it's just a major pain in the rear to do it anyways else, it is period anyways. connect the harness plugs should be 4 of um, and screw down the 2 new wires added to the vehicle to their respective places, oh and MAKE SURE YOUR RHEOSTAT IS HOOKED UP OR THE GAUG LIGHTS WONT WORK I didn't realize this on my own vehicle, the dash had been apart for a week waiting for my cluster to come from japan, so i just plane forgot, but it bugged me for 2 hours with the wiring diagram for the car trying to figure it out (the rheostat is the tumbler switch device that controls how bright your dash lights are, and it is on the AC panel on the drivers side about in the middle).


here is what MY gauge cluster looks like behind my steering wheel in my dash!

 

And now go out and enjoy! due to popular demand for photos of my exceptionaly rare (and expensive) gauge cluster here are a few at night.


By the way, the cause for my low oil psi idiot light being on is that the sensor has no gauge to send ifo to anymore, but the way around that is tricky and requires a bit more skill but i'll tell you really quick. find out what the normal operating psi of your car is, find out what the pressure relates to in OHMS of RESISTANCE in the shop manual for the car, find the wire that the ECM is using to look at the pressure with and solder in a resistor from radioshak or wherever in line with it. the light will stay off, but you will need to get an aftermarket oil psi gauge that will go high enough for 120 psi. enclosed is a pic of the one i have chosen and will do a quick right up on my gauges when im done with all of those as well. AND look forward in the future, im soon to be purchasing an SBC I-Color Blitz Boost Controller an d i will do a write up IN ENGLISH on THAT as well.




AND THAT'S IT CONGRATS!!!

I hope this found some people well and helped them in their little endeavor to better their vehicle! if you have any questions feel free to PM me or E-Mail me, I know a lot about these cars my E-Mail is hometown_hero2005@hotmail.com

 

sorry about the bad night pics, and its really not that blotchy at night, it was just pitch black and underexposed really bad! they look realllllllllllllllly sweet from the drivers seat! SIDE NOTE, the gauges are very accurate as well, and the water temp gauge has been linearized very well!