STi cluster swap FAQ - can we get one started?

[Okita Souji]

I've noticed recently that there are numerous threads being started for STi cluster swaps. I think we should compile all the information for swaps into one thread so that it would be easier for people to find information and also cut down on posts asking for the same info.

Those of you that have done swaps, please post down what year STi cluster you used and what year WRX it went into as well as what modifications you had, any indicator lights which remained on, or any other notes which you deem were important.

I'll check this thread periodically and edit my post to incorporate posts in this thread which contain information on swaps, giving credit to those who submitted the posts. If anyone has a better idea on how to do this please give your input.

DISCLAIMER: Swapping out clusters WILL void the warranty on your car! We assume no responsibility if your warranty gets voided. Swap clusters at our own risk!

For those of you wishing to have your new cluster reprogrammed to show the mileage of your old cluster check out www.tacomaspeedometer.com. They will require you to send a notarized statement as to why you are getting the cluster reprogrammed.

Here's some info from my own swap.

04 USDM STi cluster into 05+ WRX
----------------------------------
-Cluster plugs in without any modifications to the plugs.
-Outside air temp works ONLY on WRXs with auto HVAC.
-Cruise indicator light wire must be moved from B28 to B16.
-Illumination levels are set by pressing the odometer reset until "ill" appears in the odometer display.
-Shift light and alarm are set by turning the set stalk on the left by the temp display.

Note: I did not have any issues with any buzzing in my install. Some have reported their clusters buzzing. 06+ STi cluster users have reported the buzzing stopping after cutting wire C9.

Indicator lights which remain on:
-I/C waterspray: tape over or ground
-Rear diff temp: tape over or ground
-DCCD light: tape over
-ABS: The ABS light will not work correctly since there is wiring differences in the ABS between the 04 and 05 models both on the car and in the cluster itself. I did some comparisons between the tech sheets on the 04 and 05 and the voltage the cluster sees between both years is reversed. Your ABS light will work "backwards" as in stay off for 2 seconds then turn on vs staying on for 2 sec and going out. It'll be annoying but you can put tape over the light.

There's currently no known way to fix the ABS light problem with the 04 STi in 05 WRX setup. The only way would be to use an 05 STi cluster, but you'd end up moving more wires and having to modify one of the harness plugs in order for it to fit the STi cluster.

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[Okita Souji]

Reserved for cluster pinout info

[BlueSubeDude]

05 USDM STI Cluster in 06 WRX TR
----------------------------------
-Illumination is the same as ^
-Shift light/buzzer same as ^

Modifications
-Trimmed the left connector for it to fit
-Clipped C9 located on the right connector(buzzer)
-Moved B28 to B16 located on the center connector(cruise)
-Ground B4 located on the center connector(diff light)

Indicator Light
-DCCD light remains on
-Outside Temp Gauge doesn't work because I don't have auto HVAC

The ABS has the correct polarity so the ABS light stays off.

[paulmofyourhand]

jdm v7 cluster does not work in 2004 STi

[stimko68]

05 USDM STI Cluster into 04 WRX
---------------------------------
-Illumination is changed as described above
-Shift light/buzzer functioned properly and adjusted normally

My install required no modification at all in order for the cluster to function properly. There were only a few issues:
-DCCD light remained on (didn't bother me)
-Rear Diff Temp Light remained on (since the wiring harness that connects to the cluster is different from the WRX to the STI, mine was missing a wire for pin B4 that needed to be grounded in order to shut this light off)
-The Outside Temp display showed "--". I even tried to wire up the sensor and simulate the presence of the Auto A/C control module using a write up which can be found on ScoobyMods.com. Needless to say this did not work.

Other than that there were no issues, no buzzing, and all of the indicator lights worked correctly, including the Cruise light and the ABS light. I sourced the cluster brand new from SubaruWRXParts.com.

[TheFugitiveMind]

subscribed!

[mars636]

Does any one else have odd readings from their STI gauges in their WRX. I have a 05 wrx with 06 sti guages. The fuel will never go to full just below, the temp never makes it quite to the middle of the normal like it used to, and checking with my GPS the speedo is off when it shows 100KPH the gps was showing about 92KPH. I have still got to check the tach.

[mikeis300]

does anybody have the wiring diagrams for the 04 sti gauge cluster. i want to make the out side air temp gauge work in a 02 wrx. i tryed this http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...ight=sti+gauge but it doesnt work. so now im going to map it out from scratch. if some one has the diagrams please send them to [email protected]\. i'd love to contribute this to the community

also. i have a 04 cluster in a 02 wrx. i ran a wire to the outside rear of the car and hooked up the rear diff censor. that made the light go away. the speed is off in mine as well but it may be from using a 5 speed speed censor in a 6 speed gear box(broke the one from the 6 speed)

[TheFugitiveMind]

im putting a 05STi cluster in my 05wrx. im going to follow BlueSubedude's post , ill let you know if it all works! anything else i need to do to make it work?

thanks!

[BlueSubeDude]

Originally Posted by TheFugitiveMind

im putting a 05STi cluster in my 05wrx. im going to follow BlueSubedude's post , ill let you know if it all works! anything else i need to do to make it work?

thanks!

I'd leave some room on the connector side when clipping C9 so it can be pulled out and put in B4 to ground (B4 didn't have a wire in my case).

Also, I reprogrammed the STI cluster to match my current mileage. Good luck.

[mikeis300]

Originally Posted by TheFugitiveMind

im putting a 05STi cluster in my 05wrx. im going to follow BlueSubedude's post , ill let you know if it all works! anything else i need to do to make it work?

thanks!

it works fine, we are all clear on that. however after you install the cluster there are some things that don't work as mentioned above. the dc cd light is always on the outside temp isn't functional(so far in 02-05, i haven't tried on newer models) the dimmer can be made to work but not how it was intended. if i could get the wiring diagrams then i could begin testing but i don't want to start from scratch and ground a (+) messing up a good cluster. i have a cluster for testing after i get the diagrams, the speedo and tac are not functional and since the components inside are all different then a wrx i can swap parts to fix it. so its perfect for testing what wires of for different lights. so far since i couldnt get the outside temp working i hooked it up to the spiider dc cd controller so it reads out what position its in via a numeric display i have it set for (---) for off, (70) for 70/30 and (100) for 50/50. which is great but not what i want, there are already dc cd indicators on the cluster that could be used.


so if someone has the diagrams for the cluster, please send them to [email protected]
\
thanks,
mike

[Bishop]

great thread. let's get more info and pics in here.

[TheFugitiveMind]

Originally Posted by BlueSubeDude

I'd leave some room on the connector side when clipping C9 so it can be pulled out and put in B4 to ground (B4 didn't have a wire in my case).

Also, I reprogrammed the STI cluster to match my current mileage. Good luck.

cool, where did you get the odo reprogrammed, i was think tacoma speedometer or somewhere local around me.

i dont have the cluster yet but i should be picking it up tomorrow.

thanks for all you help!!!

[mikeis300]

ok, i have the cluster dimming with out a external potentiometer. ill get a vid up of it soon, also not to keep bugging about the wiring diagrams but this would be so much easyer if i had them. i will get all the option on this fully functional including dccd ligh off(if equipt) and the dccd lights to scroll with the thumb wheel. out side temp censor will be working soon too. just want it to go faster thats all, and the diagrams help so much.

p.s. strang thing about the out side temp. i had it working but after about 2 ours it stopped, i think i have a bad oem censor.

[mikeis300]

http://media.putfile.com/sti-cluster...dimmer-working

here is a vid of the dimmer working w/out a potentiometer

[WRFX]

2007 STi Cluster in a 2007 WRX

• Trim the (A) green plug so it can slide on.
• Move the B28 wire to B16. (Cruise)
• Ground B4 pin (Diff light)
• Cut the C9 wire (buzzer)
• (Dimmer)-Connect a potentiometer between pins b20 and b22 on the cluster. The wrx harness does not have any connectors on these pins so all I did was shove the ends of the wires into the empty slots and secured it.
  
  With the headlights turned on you lower the brightness of the cluster until it makes a sudden drop in light (this is the night setting)....when you turn the headlights off the cluster goes back to the brightest setting. This is the potentiometer I used http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

[mikeis300]

Originally Posted by WRFX

2007 STi Cluster in a 2007 WRX

• Trim the (A) green plug so it can slide on.
• Move the B28 wire to B16. (Cruise)
• Ground B4 pin (Diff light)
• Cut the C9 wire (buzzer)
• (Dimmer)-Connect a potentiometer between pins b20 and b22 on the cluster. The wrx harness does not have any connectors on these pins so all I did was shove the ends of the wires into the empty slots and secured it.
  
  With the headlights turned on you lower the brightness of the cluster until it makes a sudden drop in light (this is the night setting)....when you turn the headlights off the cluster goes back to the brightest setting. This is the potentiometer I used http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

why buy a potentiometer from radio shack when you dont need one? why wouldnt you just use the factory controls on the steering colum?

[WRFX]

tell me how you made it work, also this is for a 2007 cluster.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...=965990&page=4
Read post 87 and 88, if you figured it out...share the knowledge..

[mikeis300]

sure thing, ill make a write up in the morning. i just read the link you posted (i hate when ppl go so far off topic), it sure would have been nice to have the help of the guy that got banned but, i have a good friend who's a electrical/mech/software engineer i'll get him to help out. im not sure which i want working first, the out side temp gauge or the dccd lights.


after looking at the diagrams for the dccd i might just wire up a factor dccd controller. it looks pretty streight forward. why make a after market one work with the cluster when the factory one would plugin and wouldnt need mods

[mikeis300]

first thing you want to do is gather parts your going to need.

2 pins w/ wire to put into the b20 and b22 in your cluster.

2 blade connectors (optional, you could solder)

..............
optional steps
..............
you will have to choose if you want the center consol contols to dim or not. you can either wire them to be their brightest, dimmest, or use a switch to contoll them seperate.

so choose if you want to grab a switch or solder them


1st.
take the cluster out, then grab the B clip and plug in the 2 pins one in b22 and one in b20. run those down to the steering colum.

now take the bottom of you steering colum apart(there is one screw on the under side of the plastic. unscrew it then pull it away from the colum.

next look for the plug that goes into the headlight switch



now flip the plug over. and you should see where it says 17 on one cornner and 9 on the other. this are the marking the wires in the plug. so start at 9 and move over to the number 11 an 12.

clip them and leave room for a wire connector to go on them. then connect 12 to b22 and 11 to b20




great job with that part now the dimmer works!!! if you turn it to max bright and it dimms then your wires are backwards, fix it.

now for the other side of the wires you clipped. this is where you can use a switch or not.

1st option: dont connect just tape both side then your done. the center consol will be at the lowest setting but its still very visible.

2nd option: connect them, now the're at the brightest setting which isnt all that bright in a subaru.

3rd option connect a switch between the two wires and then you can choose when its bright or not.

i did the 2nd choise








agin with the video of this sweet hotness in action....

http://media.putfile.com/sti-cluster...dimmer-working

[mars636]

Could you not just splice into those wires in the colum and leave them conneted. That way it would dimm both at the same time??

[mikeis300]

no because the white/red stiped wire is a +5v. and that's more than enought to give full brightness to the cluster

[Okita Souji]

Sorry I haven't been here to contribute more info. Life has gotten really busy lately so I haven't been able to login. I should have the 04 and 05 pinout data all listed by next week.

Good to see the contributions adding up here!

[WRFX]

It seems that it would be easier to just use a potentiometer. You are losing the dimming capabilities of the other console lights so you can dim just the cluster. Or if you want to be able to dim the console lights you have to hook up a switch, which basically is the same as hooking a potentiometer between the two pins of the STi cluster. If we can figure a way to make all the lights work together that would be better. Good write-up though.

[mikeis300]

it works for me. i'd wrather have the ultra bright cluster dimm with the switch on the colum then the already dimm center console. i wouldnt put a switch or a potentiometer in the car. it looks bad or you have to hide it, then its going out of your way when you try to use the device.