Will 1st gen Cluster work in a 2nd gen LS?

04SCTLS

04SCTLS

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I like the look of the 1st gen cluster better than the 2nd gen one in my 04.
Recently bought a Canadian or export KM one on ebay for cheap.
I drive with the steering wheel tilted down and it obscures the large
on top numbers.
Can I just swap out the clusters or will I have to change the face plates.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

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not a chance that the cluster will work. Gen 2's use CAN protocol to communicate between modules. The cluster is considered a module.
 
Ok,
I'll have to see how hard it is to remove and swap the face plate.
The needles are in the same locations.
I'll get another 04 cluster to play with so I can have things ready to go without messing up the one that came in my car.
I've seen them go for as little as 50.00
 
Yes,
The Face plates are interchangeable.
I'll take both clusters to a local speedo shop and have them swap them out for me.
If I use a different 04 cluster will I have to have the ECM reflashed because of the odometer?
 
04SCTLS said:
I drive with the steering wheel tilted down and it obscures the large
on top numbers.
Click to expand...

Just an FYI to perhaps save you some work. The 2nd Gen instrument panels are the same way -- the top of the steering wheel obscures the top numbers on the speedo and tach. You will probably not see an improvement in this regard if you do the swap.
 
Yes,
but this is a canadian cluster and the faceplate has the mph below the kmh which you can see if you look at the picture above.
Right now with the US cluster I can see the kmh ok with the wheel tilted and the mph are not visible.
Plus I like the look of the 1'st gen better.
It seems IMO more sporty and no nonsense.
Just taking it apart now to see how far I can go re swapping out the faceplate which will require working around the needles.
 
Well,
I got the faceplate out. The needles popped off without too much trouble.
Was pretty easy really.
I'm going to get another 04 cluster to redo and was wondering if anyone knew if the odometer reading is part of the cluster or is that info stored somewhere else.
I think I read on another board that changing out the cluster will
cause a message to flash until it's taken to a dealer.
Any info about this would be appreciated.

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Oh man, I have 2000 LS and I like the 2nd gen cluster! let me know if u wanna sell the 2nd gen cluster parts u dont use once ur done!
 
I've decided to put the 1st gen whiteface inlay into my 04.
The speedo numbers are lower on those and I'll see them better with the wheel tilted down.
I didn't want to risk pulling the needles off and not putting them back in the right place.
An idea for you may be to put an 03-06 whiteface guage inlay for 35.00 off ebay which would give you the 2nd gen style.
The numbers are in the same place so the needle will point to an accurate speed.
The numbers light up from a small power supply so you won't have to worry about skrewy lighting.
 
04SCTLS said:
I've decided to put the 1st gen whiteface inlay into my 04.
The speedo numbers are lower on those and I'll see them better with the wheel tilted down.
I didn't want to risk pulling the needles off and not putting them back in the right place.
An idea for you may be to put an 03-06 whiteface guage inlay for 35.00 off ebay which would give you the 2nd gen style.
The numbers are in the same place so the needle will point to an accurate speed.
The numbers light up from a small power supply so you won't have to worry about skrewy lighting.
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought about that, but Im not sure if the white face gauges will look good in my car, or if it'll have the look I like. Anyways, do u thing the oem faces wont work in my car?
 
An 2nd gen OEM face will fit.
You'll have to buy a 2nd gen cluster off ebay and pull the needles off then using a box cutter carefully break the glue that holds the face down under the needles.
Repeat procedure on your cluster and swap out faceplates.
Then you have to put the needles back which is the tricky part.
Try consulting a speedometer shop. Maybe they can energize the cluster
and put the needles back in the right location.
That's it.
Maybe request people to post picks of their 1st and 2nd gen whiteface inlays
to see what it will look like if you don't want to go to all this trouble.
 
04SCTLS said:
An 2nd gen OEM face will fit.
You'll have to buy a 2nd gen cluster off ebay and pull the needles off then using a box cutter carefully break the glue that holds the face down under the needles.
Repeat procedure on your cluster and swap out faceplates.
Then you have to put the needles back which is the tricky part.
Try consulting a speedometer shop. Maybe they can energize the cluster
and put the needles back in the right location.
That's it.
Maybe request people to post picks of their 1st and 2nd gen whiteface inlays
to see what it will look like if you don't want to go to all this trouble.
Click to expand...

Thats sounds better! Im sorry Im new to this forum thing, how would I do that request?
 
You could do a search or start a new thread in the LS section asking if anyone has pics of their white guage inlays.
I believe QuikLS has a pic in his pictures.
 
04SCTLS said:
I'm going to get another 04 cluster to redo and was wondering if anyone knew if the odometer reading is part of the cluster or is that info stored somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Yes, the odometer data is stored in the dash module. You need to search for some of the older threads on this subject--there are one or two gotchas that'll trip the tamper warning on the gauge cluster. I don't remember what they are, but if you don't want your car to beep at you when you go over 70mph or when you shift into reverse, you'll check them out...
 
If you redo your own cluster with a different gen faceplate or put in an overlay there's no problem.
If you use a cluster from a different car then it will beep over 70 mph and when you put it in reverse until you get it reset at a dealer who'll probably want some proof of odometer miles.
The mileage reading is stored in the cluster so thet's why this is so.
 
Here's the white overlay in a cluster out of a car. I'll post a pic of mine when I get my car back tomorrow.
 
So I finally put the 00-02 inlay in my 04.
Had to enlarge the holes for the tach and speedo.
The needles were hanging up so I also pried them up a bit
and now it works great.
Seems hard to take a flashless pic of the lights on but this was
the best I could get after 5 or 6 tries.

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