My dreams have been crushed (3 gague center cluster for XKR) /madface
#1
05-03-2011, 02:55 PM
My dreams have been crushed (3 gague cluster for XKR) UPDATE: FIXED by WhiteXKR
UPDATE 5/29/11 WhiteXKR has created a wiring harness!
Apparently the whole wiring harness for the XK8/XKR with nav is a different part number from the one without.
Grrr....
So I guess the only alternative is the possibility of adding secondary sensors and wiring them direct?
...severely disappointed here.
Apparently the whole wiring harness for the XK8/XKR with nav is a different part number from the one without.
Grrr....
So I guess the only alternative is the possibility of adding secondary sensors and wiring them direct?
...severely disappointed here.
Yes folks, it is possible to swap out your despised navigation system for the three gauges!! 
The car fully supports it, the nav. equipped cars just have some wires and the minor gauge connector missing.
The solution is a add on mini-harness that plugs right into the main harness at the instrument panel. One end has a mating connector for the 3-guage cluster, and the other end has terminal pins which you need to plug into the instrument panel connectors (I will provide instructions).
I will make up a limited number of these cables for a nominal charge. Anyone in interested please let me know (you can email me at whitexkr@comcast.net) or PM me. Once I get a head count, I will order the materials.
Obviously it is still up to you to procure the wood panels, and cut away any material needed to fit the gauges behind the wood panel to complete the conversion.
Thanks to Xenophobe for loaning me his cluster to figure this out.
The car fully supports it, the nav. equipped cars just have some wires and the minor gauge connector missing.
The solution is a add on mini-harness that plugs right into the main harness at the instrument panel. One end has a mating connector for the 3-guage cluster, and the other end has terminal pins which you need to plug into the instrument panel connectors (I will provide instructions).
I will make up a limited number of these cables for a nominal charge. Anyone in interested please let me know (you can email me at whitexkr@comcast.net) or PM me. Once I get a head count, I will order the materials.
Obviously it is still up to you to procure the wood panels, and cut away any material needed to fit the gauges behind the wood panel to complete the conversion.
Thanks to Xenophobe for loaning me his cluster to figure this out.
Last edited by xenophobe; 05-30-2011 at 05:15 AM.
#2
05-03-2011, 03:13 PM
Veteran Member
If you get hold of a harness from a junker, you might be able to splice in the changes without removing the whole harness. Software compatibility is still an unknown, however.
Or, if you get the replacement wood panels, and wire your own aftermarket gauges, you would actulally be better off having 'real' guages.
Or, if you get the replacement wood panels, and wire your own aftermarket gauges, you would actulally be better off having 'real' guages.
#4
05-04-2011, 02:38 AM
#5
05-04-2011, 06:48 AM
Veteran Member
Given that the centre gauges are only voltage, time and oil pressure, the only one that would be difficult to wire up would be the oil pressure gauge. If it was me I would just use a resistor so that the oil pressure gauge shows a dummy reading and live with it like that.
Last edited by WhiteXKR; 05-04-2011 at 06:53 AM.
#6
05-04-2011, 12:48 PM
#7
05-04-2011, 01:57 PM
Veteran Member
Trending Topics
#8
05-04-2011, 02:47 PM
Hmm.... I forgot to ask the service guy if there is a different ECM for nav/non-nav, but since they're using completely different wiring harnesses I'd assume (and have been told) that the computer is either different or programmed differently. Hmm..
I wish I had paid more attention to my father before he passed away. He was an electrical engineer and something like this would have been a no-brainer.
I wish I had paid more attention to my father before he passed away. He was an electrical engineer and something like this would have been a no-brainer.
#9
05-04-2011, 03:02 PM
Veteran Member
#10
05-04-2011, 10:35 PM
Senior Member
#11
05-05-2011, 02:20 AM
Surely though, the voltmeter is just a voltmeter isn't it? I can see the benefit in running the oil pressure gauge off a network, but the voltmeter?
Maybe take the oil pressure gauge apart and superglue the needle in the middle position.
#12
05-05-2011, 02:33 AM
The oil pressure was easy, you just use the original take off with a T piece or there is actually an unused connector to fit to either a capillary type gauge or an electrical sender. The hardest job was finding an analogue clock in 52mm, ideally you would want all the gauges from the same supplier so they would match but not all do tick tock clocks.
At a push you could have the faces of the gauges changed to match the OE completely, no one would be any the wiser and they would tell the truth
#13
05-05-2011, 07:11 AM
Veteran Member
Wow, they do like to make things complicated in the name of progress.
Surely though, the voltmeter is just a voltmeter isn't it? I can see the benefit in running the oil pressure gauge off a network, but the voltmeter?
Maybe take the oil pressure gauge apart and superglue the needle in the middle position.
Surely though, the voltmeter is just a voltmeter isn't it? I can see the benefit in running the oil pressure gauge off a network, but the voltmeter?
Maybe take the oil pressure gauge apart and superglue the needle in the middle position.
#14
05-05-2011, 12:28 PM
#15
05-06-2011, 02:17 AM
Amazingly, the voltmeter is also stepper motor driven. My guess is Jaguar thought their customers would get nervous and bother the dealers with fluctuations in voltage and oil pressure...so the computer smooths them out and effectively turns the meters into idiot lights with pointers.
Do you know if the gauges run from one data bus, or have individual connections back to the computer? My thought being that even if the wires aren't there in the loom, you would just have to connect the gauges to the data bus to retro-fit them.
My (useless) sat nav screen is starting to look more appealing...
#16
05-06-2011, 07:26 AM
Veteran Member
I will donate my time to the cause if someone would send me their gauge pod to analyze. It will be returned undamaged.
Last edited by WhiteXKR; 05-06-2011 at 07:39 AM.
#17
05-06-2011, 08:02 AM
#18
05-06-2011, 08:34 AM
Veteran Member
#20
05-07-2011, 03:28 AM
Its going to be really interesting to hear what you find out when you get your hands on the gauges - and to speculate as to why Jaguar did it the way they did, because at the moment it seems like a lot of extra complexity for very little benefit.