Instealling late mod MM "Sport" gauges in 87 D50?

[mikec96]

Just a quick question. I am installing "sport" gauges from a 94-95 I think into my 87 D50. The truck I pulled the gauges from did not have the noise filter on the motor, looks like some jackass cut it off and I have not been able to find a new factory one online. Has anyone had any experience with running a noise filter from another Mitsu or even an aftermarket one in their trucks on the factory tach? I have found a couple of aftermarket ones available (for example from Summit) but reviews online dont look promising, and I might still have one spare one running around from my eclipse I can use.

Thanks.
Mike.

[StarquestMan]

just a heads up the gauges themselves may be different in terms of being able to plug a 94-95 gauge into an 87' harness since the amount engine/idiot lights increased/changed throughout the years. for instance in 88 they added a lock light for the 4x4 indicator for a total of 2 4x4 lights and in 1990 they added and reassigned some lights to accommodate the new 2.4 and 3.0 engines. as far as that noise filter i know that my 86' Conquest uses the same noise filter which is just a little metal can with a resistor and a capacitor inside. im sure someone else will know more about a cluster swap than i do though.

[FMS88]

The harness connections to the carburetor and FI models are different. The 87-89 clusters have three connectors, the 90-91 have only two. If the 91 configuration applies to subsequent years, some rewiring of the '87 will be needed. You definitely want a cluster out of a 4x4 if you want those lights to work. Here's the cluster schematic for '88 and '91 model years:

Correction: The statement and schematic that the FI versions have only two connectors are incorrect. There are three three connectors to 90+ years, each with the same number of potential wires appearing in the '88 schematic. The '91 schematic is wrong. For the correct schematic see my post of 02-01-2019 below.

[mikec96]

I already have the gauges installed. everything went in pretty well with minimal modification. I had to cut the hole out and clean off the contact pads for the light bulb to go in for the 4WD light and I had to move 1 wire over for the oil pressure gauge to work which I am still not sure the gauge is working correctly, it does some weird things at times... I suspect a bad sending unit.

BTW just to clarify this is an 87 ram 4WD truck with the engine, ECU, and engine harness from a late mod (94 IIRC) 2WD. If memory serves I am about 90% sure the gauges are a mix of 87 and 94. I separated the 87 Chassis side of the truck harness from the carb controls and then did the same for the engine side. I then wrapped them separate so there are only a couple of wires connecting the two harnesses under the dash. stuff to run the gauges, Power/ground and the like. The truck I pulled the engine/harness from didn't have a tach so the wiring for it is not there.

Both my eclipse and talon both have a noise filter on them also but they are wired differently, they both have a single wire connection and the wiring on the MM/D50 have a 2 wire connection. So I dont know what the difference is in how the tach works.

[mikec96]

BTW... FMS where did you pull those wiring diagrams from? I use alldata when I pull up any year MM or D50 from 87 to 95 the diagrams all show the same 3 connectors for the dash...

[FMS88]

BTW... FMS where did you pull those wiring diagrams from? I use alldata when I pull up any year MM or D50 from 87 to 95 the diagrams all show the same 3 connectors for the dash...

You are correct. There are three connectors for the 90+ cluster. Both diagrams in the earlier post are from Chrysler shop manuals and the '91 schematic omits the third connector (#B05). The Alldata diagram is correct, and LSR Mike added the correct diagram to his thread in the manuals section. See: http://mmeierle.com/MeterCircuit-1.jpeg

The number of possible wires in the three connectors are same for the two years. So the 87's connectors will plug into 90+ clusters. The only question is are the 87 wire positions the same in the 90+ years? That I can't answer since I don't have such a cluster.

Thanks for questioning the diagram. I'll edit and correct the post above.

[mikec96]

Well I can tell you with certainty that they are interchangeable with minimal modification. I am currently running the 95 Sport gauges in my 87. The only things that aren't working currently are the brake light (which I dont think was working right before the conversion), the charging light (which never worked after the FI 4g64 swap) and the Tachometer. As mentioned above I have only had to move one wire on the 10 pin connector for the oil pressure gauge and cut out the hole/clean the contacts for the added 4WD light. I did forget to mention that I added a wire from the gauge (reed switch) to the ECU for speed input. I am not sure if the ECU really needs that input to function correctly but it is a California ECU so probably.