speedometer Archives

After last weeks posting about the Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 cluster I could not leave it on the shelve anymore…So I opened it up:

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: opened up

First thing I spotted under the tachometer was this:

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: check engine light
The check engine light! I already thought it was missing! ( ? ??)

And when continued to unbolt plate from the backside I saw this:

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: identification
Some sort of identification for the cluster. The 4cyl must be useful information for the tacho (pulses devided by four) and the RH must mean it is a RHD cluster. The other two numbers don’t ring a bell. ?(‘?`?)?

So with everything unbolted I was able to access this:

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: odometer internals
The odometer internals!
When pushing the black gears between the numbers to the left you can just change the odometer number on the left of it to its right position. Be careful and use something soft like a toothpick: I damaged one of the (not really important) numbers this way because I used a screwdriver! ?(???;)

I also saw this on the backside of the backplate:

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: speedometer calibration
It is used for calibration of the speedo- and odometer! 637 revolutions of the speedocable is equal to 1km. If the cluster has the same number of revolutions as my current cluster it will be an easy swap! Otherwise I probably need to have the speedo recalibrated to the value on my current cluster…

On the other side you could see the fruits of my work:

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: odometer adjusted
I adjusted the odometer from 171178 to 081178, which is quite near what the current cluster is at.

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: closed up again
So, all that was left was a good cleanup of the backplate and perspex and put everything back together. ?(´??)?

I just realized I did not post any pictures of the cluster I bought from Revolver Drift!

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster

After his Carina coupe got stolen he did not have any use for the cluster anymore. Of course I was interested in the cluster since the European TA60 does not have a tachometer nor an oil pressure meter! We agreed upon the price and he sent the cluster to me.

Even though he packaged the cluster with the most wrapping materials I ever saw on a parcel it arrived with a broken trip-odometer-reset button. I have no idea how this could have happened while it was packaged that carefully… Maybe the parcel service played some hoops with it??

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster, zoom in speedo- and odometer

Different than the LHD cluster the temperature-, speedo- and odometer are on the left side of the cluster. I probably need to convert the input speedocable to fit on the left side instead of the right side to make it work. Also the odometer has a double trip meter. At first I was only been able to reset one, but later on found out you can pull the reset switch and select left or right. Then push the switch and it resets either the left or the right trip meter! Cleaver!

You can also see it has a digital clock instead of the analogue clock on the European models. Great 80s nostalgia!

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster, zoom in tachometer

Fuel meter is on the spot of the temperature meter (swapped over).

Oil pressure meter is on the spot where I normally find my econometer. Normally I can play a game of pong with the econometer by tapping the gas. Hopefully I won’t be able to do that with the oil pressure meter. ;)

Tachometer goes a bit further than my 2T is capable of. Honestly I have no idea what the maximum amount of revs are of my 2T, but judging from the sound it must be somewhere near the 5k when the auto gearbox shifts into second.

On the right all important warning lights and on the bottom there is the high beam warning light.

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster, extreme closeup of redline

Redline of 7800 rpm! Just like the kouki AE86! (???)

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster, warning lights

On the European cluster I have three warning lights: door, handbrake and highbeam. I think the Japanese characters say “catalytic converter” and I presume the CHG light with a battery next to it means the charging of the battery fails… ?(‘?`?)?

Carina GT-R AA63 cluster, back wiring

The back wiring of the cluster. From what I read in the 1982 European Carina/Celica A6 body repair manual I own the connections on the back side are very different than the AA63 wiring. So this is a bit of a puzzle since the European repair manual does not have anything about the Celica AA63: it did not exist yet when that book was written! ?(???;)

Thanks again to Revolver Drift for the cluster!

Tag: speedometer

My Carina: Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup

My Carina: the Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 cluster

Old content

Blogroll