McKennaR

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BLUF: Will RHD gauge clusters fit w/o problems in a LHD car?

Narrative:
The US market cars with 4 port engines only came in A/T, and thus have the AT warning light, gear indicator, etc on the gauge cluster.

I swapped in a M/T into my previously A/T car while doing an engine replacement this afternoon.

I'm still waiting for a few bits and pieces in the mail before I cook it off, but thanks to Rotary.Resurrection's DIY threads on both of these topics it was very easy. Thanks for that.

Anyways, now that the slushbox is gone, I'd like to put a manual transmission gauge cluster in the car... the 4 port car... the one that was never a manual in the US...

I have found gauge clusters from 4 port M/T cars but they're all RHD and thus have the oil press and fuel / temp / odo indicators swapped.

Will this work with my existing dash harness if I swap the connectors from left to right?
Will this fit in my existing dash hood?
Dumb question: are RHD gauges "tilted" either left or right to better face the driver?
Dumber question: if none of the above is possible, can I swap rev counters from my 4 port A/T cluster into a USDM M/T cluster?

I have been searching literally all day for the answer to this (well, except for when I was actually R&R'ing the engine and gearbox). I don't want to order one I'm eyeing right now from the UK (MPH, odo reads almost exactly my current mileage, etc) and spend the hundred quid or so only to have it not fit and then be stuck with something useless and still have to get another cluster.

I appreciate any info you all might have, thanks.

Ryan

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Wanted to update this with the answer. Yes, RHD clusters will physically fit in LHD cars. The plugs are the same pinout and orientation, just the side-pods are swapped (odo / oil press on left, fuel and coolant temp on right). I'm a stickler for detail, so having the A/T stuff on the dash would have bugged the crap out of me. Yes, I'm changing steering wheels, too, when I find one that isn't trashed.

The only people who would want to do this are those who put a 6MT behind their 4 port, or do what I did and swap in a JDM 4 port / 5MT combo. This keeps the redline on the tach accurate to the 4 port, and removes the A/T light and gear indicator on the 4 port auto dash. Otherwise, with a 6 port dash you'll have a 9k redline and to me that's false advertisement... unless you remove your rev limiter, I suppose.

To do this, I used a UK cluster that uses MPH and had the same mileage as my car. Attached is a pic of the cluster installed in my car. Battery harness is out of the car now, but when I put it back I'll update the thread again with pictures of it working.

I know this is a limited market, but there's bound to be someone in the future who comes up with this.

Cheers,

Ryan

Sephitrask

just as a note, you mentioned finding one that reads MPH... fyi, all the clusters can read both MPH and KPH, you just have to hold in the button on the cluster for a couple seconds to switch it.

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Awesome. This changes the odometer too right? Glad to know. Those weren't the only reasons I went for the UK. Another primary one is that the other places who got 4 port M/T's don't speak English. And this one matched my mileage exactly. I just figured it was a bonus that it was in MPH.

I wish all cars were that easy. Thanks again.

SpazLE995

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PM sent

09Factor

So i'm going to assume that you also changed out the PCM. Did you Swap the VIN over to the new PCM, or do you have no need for emmision checks?

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Negative. Still running the auto PCM with the manual trans. Get a U0101 DTC but beyond that STFT/LTFT and AFR's are fine. I've put about 300 miles on it since the swap and so far so good.

When I sell enough stuff from my F/S thread I'm buying an AP to see if I can disable that specific DTC with ATR.

I still have the M/T PCM but my local Mazda dealer won't touch it with a 10 ft pole to put my VIN / CAL ID / CVN and immobilizer code onto it.