digital dash swap in dodge 600?

[2.2turboscotty]

hello all, i've been trying to figuire out what to do with an '86 convertable t1 6oo that my wife just bought yesterday. the thing has a digital dash in it and it works sometimes, the speedometer works then stops goes from say 45 to 0 then shows 6mph when i was doing 45mph. it seems that the oil, temp, etc work when i looked at them but unsure about the tach reading being right. we test drove it and she really liked it so we bought it for 1400.00 and i need to get it working or taking a regular cluster from an '86 lebaron i have laying out back and putting that in it. i have quite a few turbo mopars but i've never had any dealings with digital dashes, will converting this work or am i going to get into other issues? i took the harness out of the lebaron to use in my circle track daytona so i cut a lot of that wiring so hopefully i will not need that stuff. i really need some help because i do not want to sour her taste for this car, she really likes it and she sees what i go through sometimes on my other 4 cars if you know what i mean.
thanks in advance for any help,
scotty

[raccoon]

check the speed sensor harness, sounds like the plug is dirty or the sensor is foobar.

its at the back of the transmission where the differential gear is.

[2.2turboscotty]

thanks raccoon, i will look at that first before going any further with the swap to regular dash cluster. if that is not the problem, any other ideas, i have heard that many others have had problems with this digital set up but i have been fortunate enough to not have any in other cars i have, i do'nt really like them either, thankfully L bodys did not ever have them. i would like any other input to help me out, i can't pick the car up till later this week, here in V.A. used car dealers have to have state inspections done before they can sell them. not to worried about it since i'm a state inspector but the lady said she has to by law. my wife just got a new job in the city and she needs an easy on gas daily driver instead of her lifted jeep so i need to fix it by monday of next week. is the sensor different than an '89 daytona?thanks,
scotty

[2.2turboscotty]

alright, i tried a used speed sensor out of another trans and seemed to still be acting up. i was going down the drive and i know i was doing about 5mph and the dash showed 1mph, then took it down the road at about 45 and the dash showed 5mph. then it went to 0 then 85 and keep going back and forth. when i put the speed sensor in i looked and saw that cable went to criuse control and no other cable, so does the speedo get it's reading from the speed sensor? i have ordered a new sensor from the dealer but it will take a few days to get.
i talked to a local place that does the electronic dash repairs for us here at the shop, mostly newer stuff. i had the cluster with me today and was going to drop it off to be checked and the guy is convinced that the problem is not in the cluster he wants me to reinstall it and check criuse control and see if that works correctly.
if anybody has any experence with these stupid digital dashes tell me what you think, i just wish this car had the plain cluster!
thanks

[ottawa rogue]

sounds like what the digital cluster in my '86 vert was doing when i bought it.
it's the speed/distance sensor.

try a new one before you condemn the cluster.
got mine at autostoned for $25.
i haven't had a problem in 3 years with the speedo

[ottawa rogue]

so does the speedo get it's reading from the speed sensor? thanks

the two wire plug coming out of the sensor generate your speed signal,
i think it's an A/C voltage that is sensed by the chip in the dash and turned into a speed reading.

[cordes]

The earlier ones seem to have more problems than the latter ones from what I understand. However, they also have specific wiring for them so it would probably be easier to replace the digidash with another known good one, than to convert to analog.

[2.2turboscotty]

I just got a new sensor from carquest even though i DO NOT use aftermarket sensors on any of my turbo cars, long story about 3 map sensors and i won't go into that now. i did order one from the dealer like i said but it will take a few more days to get and i think if i put a new one in tonight and it doesn't change i'll have to find another digital dash. i hope that will not be the case because i'm pretty sure they are getting hard to find in good working order. i did notice the speedo cable going to cruise control isn't in the best of shape but i doubt that could cause an issue. my wife is dieing to drive the car and keeps asking me is it done yet. it doesn't help that i got my speedo in the charger working, just a bad lower cable.
thanks guys! i'll let you know what happens tonight!

[2.2turboscotty]

UPDATE, put sensor in and left cable running to cruise off and drove it, speedo reads 0mph. saw it jump to 2mph sitting still running. put cable on and sitting still jumped up to 11 then 2mph and went and drove it again, speedo read 0mph and cruise is inop but i doubt it even worked before i bought it so regreased connections at cluster and sensor and still the same. pulled cluster out again and opened it up and just as suspected, i see nothing that jumps out at me but then again i am by no means an electronic guy and have NO idea what i'm looking at. i am at the mercy of the speedo shop and they keep saying they don't think the problem is in the cluster even though i keep telling them others have had a lot of problems with them. i want to drop it off but i wonder if they are just going to tell me nothing is wrong and they are the only ones around here.
what should i do? anyone have a digital cluster for sale?
thanks

[2.2turboscotty]

alright i started looking at a wiring diagram and it looked like the speed sensor sends signal to the logic and is tied into the speedo gauge. well i threw in another logic and all is well with the readings now. i was blown away when it was reading right. i also noticed when pulling kick panel that the car had a MP logic in it, well that tells me that i am probably the 3rd owner then, i doubt that as clean as this car is a "performance" person owned it all it's life, i was thinking it was an older couple and must have been garaged at least most of it's life. well i had already ordered a stage 2 for it from cindy so i guess i just saved some dollars on cluster repair, i see some extras going in it for the wife. me too?
thanks for the input guys!!!! hope it stays going well.

[LaserXT1986]

alright i started looking at a wiring diagram and it looked like the speed sensor sends signal to the logic and is tied into the speedo gauge. well i threw in another logic and all is well with the readings now. i was blown away when it was reading right. i also noticed when pulling kick panel that the car had a MP logic in it, well that tells me that i am probably the 3rd owner then, i doubt that as clean as this car is a "performance" person owned it all it's life, i was thinking it was an older couple and must have been garaged at least most of it's life. well i had already ordered a stage 2 for it from cindy so i guess i just saved some dollars on cluster repair, i see some extras going in it for the wife. me too?
thanks for the input guys!!!! hope it stays going well.

I am late in reading this thread, but being I have dealt with digital dashes on these cars A LOT, I was going to suggest this as I read through the thread lol. I have seen this happen on my car as well in the past (along with a bunch of other issues). You'd be amazed what one bad "signal" from the LM will do.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more issues with the digital dash, I'll be glad to help where I can!!

PS: As I posted last month, you might want to pull the dash out, look at the rear of it, where it says "US EXPORT". Switch it to Export, and the unit will go past 85 mph

[contraption22]

PS: As I posted last month, you might want to pull the dash out, look at the rear of it, where it says "US EXPORT". Switch it to Export, and the unit will go past 85 mph

But will it still be reading MPH and not KPH?

[2.2turboscotty]

being that i don't know a thing about circut boards and all that, i did see the US and EXPORT thing on the back of the cluster and figuered that is what it did but i think i'll just leave it alone. i don't want to confuse the wife with it and i don't want to give her anything to complain about. she sees how much fun i have with all my TMs and she likes some power so "if you can't beat them join them" applies? my next step is to get this car 100% so she will keep driving it and not keep saying the same things we all do when they want to act up, lol. thanks for the help and support!

[cordes]

But will it still be reading MPH and not KPH?

IIRC it should still be mph.

[LaserXT1986]

But will it still be reading MPH and not KPH?

Of course, the US EXPORT switch has nothing to do with the MPH/KPH setting. The switch allows unlimited reading up to 199 (based on the dash design of having only a "1" LCD for the third digit).

The ability to switch between MPH and KPH is controlled by a push button on the front of the dash. Trust me, I've been working with these dashes a LONG time

being that i don't know a thing about circut boards and all that, i did see the US and EXPORT thing on the back of the cluster and figuered that is what it did but i think i'll just leave it alone. i don't want to confuse the wife with it and i don't want to give her anything to complain about. she sees how much fun i have with all my TMs and she likes some power so "if you can't beat them join them" applies? my next step is to get this car 100% so she will keep driving it and not keep saying the same things we all do when they want to act up, lol. thanks for the help and support!

No problem, if you need any other help with these dashes let me know!! BTW, if you throw the switch, the wife won't know UNLESS she drives faster than 85......and if she didnt drive that fast yet, she wont know it even stops at 85 to begin with

[2.2turboscotty]

my wife is driving the car and she loves it, i ordered a stage 3 from cindy and can't wait to put it in, i may have to switch that over to export. after her first drive she said the car has "nice exceleration", i told her with the new cal it will be even better! i also told her 93 oct. fuel only, she uses that anyway. it's only a short amount of time and she will be hooked.