questions about swapping instrument clusters

[Rick-sta]

Hi all,

As I do the IPK repairs, I often get asked if the car can be driven either with another instrument cluster fitted temporarily or without an instrument cluster at all. Obviously I against driving the car at all without an instrument cluster fitted as it's illegal, however I'm just wondering if anyone would be able to answer my questions on the technical side of things as I've never been sure, always seen conflicting and different answers on these on other threads:

- What would happen if you drove the car without an instrument cluster? Would it cause an error when the instrument cluster is refitted? Would the mileage go out of sync with the LSM?

- I've seen on a few posts where it's been advised that you can temporarily fit another instrument cluster whilst the original one is out. Is this correct? Would this not cause an error due to the mileage on the instrument cluster not matching up to the saved mileage on the LSM, since the mileage on the instrument cluster would not be the correct mileage?

- if you fit the instrument cluster and LSM from another car, would this work and just show the mileage of the donor car the instrument cluster and LSM was removed from?

Cheers

[trikey]

Just unplug the rh front abs sensor and it won't clock up the miles you can then remove the ipk. Plug a sat nav in and you can still check on the speed

[Lordy]

I drove Christine without a IBK for a bit when I sent the IPK too Pete too do the mustang style clocks for me.

Got a spare one that I bought and it got the mileage form the donor car that was scrapped, then when I got the original IBK back the mileage was still the same as before when it was removed the original one.

No error or anything at all, it was like it never happened.

[vitesse]

Have swopped units on my lhd 2000 non-trip computer 75. IPK and LSM (& stalk) taken from rhd 2002 tourer, fitted, changed settings with TOAF, all well with no error message but mileage inherited from the donor.

I was also under the impression that just fitting the IPK would cause “error” to appear, but as I had both units from the donor I never saw it.

Regards

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by Rick-sta

Hi all,

As I do the IPK repairs, I often get asked if the car can be driven either with another instrument cluster fitted temporarily or without an instrument cluster at all. Obviously I against driving the car at all without an instrument cluster fitted as it's illegal, however I'm just wondering if anyone would be able to answer my questions on the technical side of things as I've never been sure, always seen conflicting and different answers on these on other threads:

- What would happen if you drove the car without an instrument cluster? Would it cause an error when the instrument cluster is refitted? Would the mileage go out of sync with the LSM?

- I've seen on a few posts where it's been advised that you can temporarily fit another instrument cluster whilst the original one is out. Is this correct? Would this not cause an error due to the mileage on the instrument cluster not matching up to the saved mileage on the LSM, since the mileage on the instrument cluster would not be the correct mileage?

- if you fit the instrument cluster and LSM from another car, would this work and just show the mileage of the donor car the instrument cluster and LSM was removed from?

Cheers

Yes you can do just that, the next time the car is on T4 it will report a missmatch with the LSM, even with the original IPK refitted, however it will be a historic fault and can be cleared without further investigation.

The mileage from the IPK is written to the LSM every 100 km, and the EWS and key transponder, however these units will pick up the correct mileage from the original IPK once refitted

Originally Posted by vitesse

Have swopped units on my lhd 2000 non-trip computer 75. IPK and LSM (& stalk) taken from rhd 2002 tourer, fitted, changed settings with TOAF, all well with no error message but mileage inherited from the donor.

I was also under the impression that just fitting the IPK would cause “error” to appear, but as I had both units from the donor I never saw it.

Regards

The reason the mileage is inherited from the donor car is a simple one, copying the ZCS coding from the EWS to the IPK will not result in the correct mileage being displayed.

I rather suspect the VIN in the LSM and the IPK will not match that of the car either, however they will correspond with one another, hence no "Err" in the trip display

I only wish you were closer, and I would correctly code all of the mismatched modules together for you, however there may be a way using TOAF and a virgin eeprom fitted to the IPK to copy over the ZCS coding and VIN from the
EWS, then manually edit the mileage in the "new" IPK to match that in the original LSM............one for me to play with when I'm bored one day.


Brian

[vitesse]

Sadly there are no ferry links between anywhere in Scandinavia and the UK, but your offer appreciated.

I connected TOAF this morning and saw that my EWS unit does indeed have the same odometer reading as my IPK even though it came from a different donor, just as you said. Curiously the dde/dme odometer reading was blank. The LSM differs slightly from the IPK but by only 15 km.

If you do ever get really bored then there are many of us who would appreciate a TOAF manual. At a recent meet an owner complained of his high idle speed which I’m sure can be reset but without a better understanding of TOAF then I, and I’m sure many others, dare not attempt things we don’t understand, which perhaps is a good thing but for us in foreign parts we don’t have much option.

Regards

[Rick-sta]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

Yes you can do just that, the next time the car is on T4 it will report a missmatch with the LSM, even with the original IPK refitted, however it will be a historic fault and can be cleared without further investigation.

The mileage from the IPK is written to the LSM every 100 km, and the EWS and key transponder, however these units will pick up the correct mileage from the original IPK once refitted

Nice one thanks for your explanations Brian much appreciated

So the mileage written to the LSM, EWS and key transponder, is that like more of a back up of the mileage recorded there, rather than something the IPK synchronises with as a self test/check to ensure the IPK hasn't been swapped at some point.

The reason the mileage is inherited from the donor car is a simple one, copying the ZCS coding from the EWS to the IPK will not result in the correct mileage being displayed.

I rather suspect the VIN in the LSM and the IPK will not match that of the car either, however they will correspond with one another, hence no "Err" in the trip display

I only wish you were closer, and I would correctly code all of the mismatched modules together for you, however there may be a way using TOAF and a virgin eeprom fitted to the IPK to copy over the ZCS coding and VIN from the
EWS, then manually edit the mileage in the "new" IPK to match that in the original LSM............one for me to play with when I'm bored one day.


Brian

Is that what causes the "Err" message in the trip display to show? a mismatch in vin numbers stored in the IPK and LSM?

From that I've been told whilst chatting to some TOAF users, it is now possible to program in a virginised IPK using toaf. Something I will need to look into soon

It would be useful if I could manually edit the mileage using Toaf as I have 2 75's here with corrupted eeprom's so the mileage is showing as 999999 in the display, one being my dad's 75 and the other being my project 75 I'm trying to get back onto the road.

I guess that the LSM would have stopped record the mileage at the point the eeprom was corrupted?

[Rick-sta]

Originally Posted by vitesse

If you do ever get really bored then there are many of us who would appreciate a TOAF manual.

A manual on how to use TOAF properly and safely would be fantastic. I have TOAF, well an older version of it and haven't tried using it as I'm to worried I'll mess something up, as I've heard many horror stories.

[Dallas]

Originally Posted by Rick-sta

A manual on how to use TOAF properly and safely would be fantastic. I have TOAF, well an older version of it and haven't tried using it as I'm to worried I'll mess something up, as I've heard many horror stories.

Dont worry Rick, I still cant get TOAF to work.

Safer that way me thinks...

[Rick-sta]

Originally Posted by Dallas

Dont worry Rick, I still cant get TOAF to work.

Safer that way me thinks...

haha

I guess I could download TOAF and have a play on the project v6 in the garage, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.