Carrera Gauge Swap

[gavinyuill]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

This is a great write up! I have a 2000 Boxster S and and 99 C2 gauge cluster with a bad LCD, so I am in a similar boat to what you were. I say similar because evidently there could be some differences in the fuel sending units between 99 and 00:

"In addition, the very early C2 cars used a different fuel level sender than the one that is used in the Boxster. As a result, installing an early C2 cluster into a Boxster may not give you the most accurate fuel gauge reading (although I did install one on my project Boxster, and it appears to be working okay)." - Wayne @ Pelican

His swap was a straight cluster for cluster, not the board from the 986 and the gauges from a 996.

My 996 C2 board is part number is 996 641 103 03 70C. (I don't know if it is the "early" style or not)

Is this something that is potentially also correctable via EEPROM, or is that a hardware difference on the board?

Any help from anyone would be appreciated.

Benjamin

Yes, the fuel gauge calibration is stored on the EPROM, copying over the contents of your old one will fix up the fuel gauge. However, if you use the Boxster programming on a 996 cluster, the oil sender and voltmeter will not work. I have found the correct bits to turn this on with the older unit, but not with the newer one. If I can get some more newer eprom dumps I may be able to reverse engineer it though.

You can tell the old unit from the newer by the color of the connector on the back. the older unit is Black, White and Blue. The 99 and 2000 should both be the older unit, so you are in luck.

[gavinyuill]

Originally Posted by juicepro

Kevin, what tools do you need to take apart the cluster, just a torx bit?

Yes, remove 2 torx screws, then push the two clips on the back towards the outside of the cluster - this might seem a little scary at first as it feels as if they will break, but it disengages the electrical plugs that connect the two boards together, then unclip the large clip from the bottom of the cluster and it should fall easily into two halves.

[gavinyuill]

Originally Posted by jeffm

What are you guys seeing as a going rate just to have the odometer reprogrammed. I just did the silver/white face swap without issues. Unfortunately, the new gauge reads about about 10,000 miles over my actual.

Why this is not recorded on the ECU versus the cluster still stuns me.

If you just swapped the cluster to get upated faces, you can use the rear pcb from your old cluster on the new face pcb and your old mileage will be back.

If you no longer have the old cluster, PM me and I can help you.

[KevinH1990]

If anyone needs a comprehensive set of instructions, please send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll forward them to you. However, I'm just the scribe. Gavin is the wizard who thought this through. I have the code for a 996 (old style cluster) with the top operation warning light and on-board-computer turned on if anyone needs it. (If you bought a cluster from a coupe instead of a cabriolet that might come in handy.)

Also, Coolbreeze is selling the EPROM programmer and clip in the classifieds right now, so if you need the equipment you might want to jump on it. If two or three of you are planning to do this, maybe you can work out an arrangement where you sell it on to each other after your done with it and do some cost sharing.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by gavinyuill

Yes, the fuel gauge calibration is stored on the EPROM, copying over the contents of your old one will fix up the fuel gauge. However, if you use the Boxster programming on a 996 cluster, the oil sender and voltmeter will not work. I have found the correct bits to turn this on with the older unit, but not with the newer one. If I can get some more newer eprom dumps I may be able to reverse engineer it though.

You can tell the old unit from the newer by the color of the connector on the back. the older unit is Black, White and Blue. The 99 and 2000 should both be the older unit, so you are in luck.

Great! I bought the 996 cluster for $150 because it has a defective LCD. The oil sending unit was $83, so all in all I will be $233 into it. I may as well do the OBC add on at the same time I have the cluster out.

I will send you both of my EEPROM dumps if you have any interest. Both are the older style. I also don't know the specs of the donor 996.

[KevinH1990]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Both are the older style. I also don't know the specs of the donor 996.

When you read the programming on the cluster, you can enter the VIN on this web site:
Scouser's Porsche VIN Decoder

That might tell you whether if is from a coupe or a cabriolet. However, for my 996 cluster it said the donor car was a coupe, but the top operation warning light was activated. So, it is not 100% accurate.

It sounds like you got a good price on your cluster. I think I paid $155 with shipping. I was able to sell my silver gauges to another Boxster owner for $150. You may find that someone wants your old cluster for parts.

Good luck with your project.

[KevinH1990]

996 911 Carrera Gauge Cluster - Pelican Parts Technical BBS

If anyone is interested in this project, it looks like there is a reasonably priced cluster available on Pelican. No affiliation. Let me know if you need instructions for programming the cluster.

[topradio]

Hi guys. This is my first post on here - I am normally active on Boxa.net in the UK. I hope you don't mind me dragging up this old thread.

I have a 98 Boxster from new and have carried out many mods and improvements over the years & can honestly say its the best car I have ever owned. I have done the mod to add the oil & volt gauge. I decided to keep my original cluster so I didn't have to get it recoded for mileage etc. I found that after the change everything worked fine except the volt meter. Looking at the hardware I concluded that it must be a codeing issue - and that's when I found this thread

I have all the gear to reprogramme the eeprom at work but just need a file from a 996 cluster & wondered if any member on here would have one they could email to me? I will drop a pm to Kevin & Gavin (if I am allowed to as a newbe) to see if they can help.

[Benjamin]

topradio, if you pm me your email, I will send you the instructions that gavin put together. It's real easy. No need for Carrera file, since you only need to change one bit. That way your mileage, fuel calibration, etc all stay intact.

[topradio]

Thanks Benjamin, I have done that. It would be nice to have a 996 file though as I was going to play with the codeing myself

[Benjamin]

OK, I can send you mine.

[KevinH1990]

Originally Posted by topradio

I will drop a pm to Kevin & Gavin (if I am allowed to as a newbe) to see if they can help.

If you send me your e-mail address, I'll be happy to send you the file from my 996 cluster.

It's nice to see someone else making use of this mod. There are about 10 of us who owe Gavin a beer.

[smshirk]

Originally Posted by KevinH1990

I am continuing my effort to install a Carrera Gauge cluster in my 2000 Boxster. The Carrera cluster has a damaged clock/oil gauge lcd and you can see here:



I haven't found anyone who can repair a broken lcd, so I thought I would try installing the Carrera Gauge faces on my Boxster circuit board. You can see the results here:




When I use the Carrera gauge faces on the Carrera Board, everything works OK with the exception of the damaged lcd. (It works, but it is unsightly.)

When I use the Boxster circuit board, every works OK except the voltmeter. As you can see in the first picture, the Carrera/Carrera combination reads between 11 and 12 volts when the ignition is switched on. The second picture shows that the Carrera/Boxster combination reads 0 when the car is on.

(When the car is running, the oil gauge reads between 4 and 5 with either combination.)

Any suggestions on what I might try next? The circuit boards appear identical and have the same part number. However, there are so many components on each that it is not possible for me to be sure they are identical.




In this photo, the Carrera circuit board is on top and the Boxster is below.

There is a company that fixes electronics parts for BMWs, Porsches Audi etc that I bet can fix the problem with the original cluster you installed. i have them bookmarked somewhere on my pc. They fixed my hvac controller for 50 bucksw and fixed my radio face on my m3' that cost a little more but still under an 100. Ill fnd there URL and post it

[smshirk]

I found their website. Modulemaster.com but perusing their site, i think they are limited to a certain set of modules they repair. It might be worth a shot, but you can likely fix the problem on the path you are on now. There are instructions for the mod on pelican but I haven't tried it Yet. I bought a cluster a couple of years ago and never got around to it.

[KevinH1990]

Originally Posted by smshirk

There is a company that fixes electronics parts for BMWs, Porsches Audi etc that I bet can fix the problem with the original cluster you installed.

I'm good. I successfully swapped my 986 board into the cluster I bought and activated it using Gavin's methods. I've already sold the 986 cluster to another Boxster owner who wanted the silver gauge faces.

If the company you used for your BMW is in the Chicago area, I think I talked to the owner. He said that he could buy the lcd's for BMW's but the lcd's for Porsches were not available.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Cloudsurfer]

Aside from swapping EPROMs/ circuit boards, etc on these things, swapping a 986 to 996 cluster is not a big deal at all if you have access to a PST2 or PIWIS.

I guess what you did here is FAR more involved, since you started with a damaged 996 cluster, but all this work is not necessary if the 996 cluster you want to install is good, as all you have to do is code it to the car with the PST2/ PIWIS. This is also how you program the 996 cluster to be a C2 (vs C4) for proper fuel level calibration, and how you get the convertible top light to work (coded as C2 Cabrio).

The only thing you cannot do is re-code the mileage (this only works with a new cluster that has under 60 miles on it). Supposedly Palo Alto Speedometer can re-code the mileage, but I haven't tried this.

[KevinH1990]

You are correct.

The advantage to this method is reduced cost. I paid $155 for my damaged 996 cluster. The article on the Pelican website said that a good used cluster would cost $500. I expect that a new cluster would be over $1000.

Palo Alto will reprogram the mileage, but I think their price is $200. Add the cost of two-way shipping and your total cost would probably be closer to $250. If you have any other programming issues, most people would have to pay a shop for access to a PIWIS or PST2 so add the cost of to at least an hour of labor for that.

On the other side of the ledger, I did have to buy an EPROM programmer and clip. I was able to sell it on to another board member at a slight discount, so the net cost was only $25.

This was more or less an impulse project for me, and I don't think I would have done it if I couldn't keep the cost down. I also admit to a bit of thrill when I got it to work.

[The French Dude]

Hi, what do you need exactly to make a 911 gauge working on our 986 ?
Specific sensors ?

[Trey T]

whats the coolant temp value bt 180 and 250? is it 215?

I have never figure out why there's no middle mark to make reading easier and friendlier. The SO drives the boxster and I have to tell her to watch-out the temperature, the needle b/t the 8 and 0 is operating temp.

[KevinH1990]

Originally Posted by The French Dude

Hi, what do you need exactly to make a 911 gauge working on our 986 ?
Specific sensors ?

The basics are in this article: Pelican Technical Article: Boxster 996 Gauge Cluster Upgrade - 986 Boxster (1997-04) -

If you need instructions for reprogramming the cluster, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll forward them to you.

Good luck.