amustangrocks
forum member
ive posted this upgrade before. but this is how i did it.
Part 1( of 2)
if your thinking about this upgrade, its very simple to do, about 20 minutes, and it is very cool
basic info:
first off, pry off the blank switch cover above the stereo on the left side and see if you have the wire harness plugged into the back of it( see first pic) if you do, you can go to this website,
https://www.trademotion.com/memberse...&siteid=214072
register and send a message to ed, give him your year, model, vin number and tell him you need the cluster and the switches. he will respond pretty fast and give you the proper part numbers and ask the milage and how many miles per day you drive. he will program the cluster and add 5 days of daily miles to it when he ships it out. when i got it, the cluster, switches and shipping was 329.08 + there is a 300.00 core charge for your old cluster and must be returned to fords, in the box they send you and they provide the fed x shipping label for the return within 30 days. the new cluster w/ message center is re manufactured by ford, as brand new. ive heard the price has gone up but not sure what it is.
a couple catches on the install:
1) i have a basic 05 built in 04, but i had the wire harness. because i dont have abs, i had to take the car into fords today and have them program the cluster with my "as built data" to get rid of the abs light and the check brake message. to save money, i had to plug in the old cluster, so they could get the info as the ford website was down, then plug in the new one to program. ( took me less than 5 minutes in the stall) if the ford website was up, you would not have to re install the old one. they use the obdII port and it does not effect the tune or the computer. they had me return the tune to stock, but turned out i didnt need to. if your car is loaded, you wouldnt even have to go to fords to have anything done, unless:
there is a chance on the 06 and newer if you install the cluster it might not start because of the key chip and the ignition de activation feature on the cluster. i did not have that problem, started right up and worked great except for the abs light and message. if it doesnt start, you`ll have to put the old one back in and take it to fords for the re program. the cost at the dealer for the reprogram was 45.00( took about 5 minutes)
the install:
lower your steering colum with the lever under the steering wheel. pry off the cluster trim panel. you can see all the mounting clip locations in the pics, it comes off real easy. remove the 2 small top bolts and the 2 small lower bolts. lay a rag on top of the steering colum because the cluster will scratch the cover( see pic) and tilt the cluster forward so you can see the wire plug on the backside.
Part 1( of 2)
if your thinking about this upgrade, its very simple to do, about 20 minutes, and it is very cool
basic info:
first off, pry off the blank switch cover above the stereo on the left side and see if you have the wire harness plugged into the back of it( see first pic) if you do, you can go to this website,
https://www.trademotion.com/memberse...&siteid=214072
register and send a message to ed, give him your year, model, vin number and tell him you need the cluster and the switches. he will respond pretty fast and give you the proper part numbers and ask the milage and how many miles per day you drive. he will program the cluster and add 5 days of daily miles to it when he ships it out. when i got it, the cluster, switches and shipping was 329.08 + there is a 300.00 core charge for your old cluster and must be returned to fords, in the box they send you and they provide the fed x shipping label for the return within 30 days. the new cluster w/ message center is re manufactured by ford, as brand new. ive heard the price has gone up but not sure what it is.
a couple catches on the install:
1) i have a basic 05 built in 04, but i had the wire harness. because i dont have abs, i had to take the car into fords today and have them program the cluster with my "as built data" to get rid of the abs light and the check brake message. to save money, i had to plug in the old cluster, so they could get the info as the ford website was down, then plug in the new one to program. ( took me less than 5 minutes in the stall) if the ford website was up, you would not have to re install the old one. they use the obdII port and it does not effect the tune or the computer. they had me return the tune to stock, but turned out i didnt need to. if your car is loaded, you wouldnt even have to go to fords to have anything done, unless:
there is a chance on the 06 and newer if you install the cluster it might not start because of the key chip and the ignition de activation feature on the cluster. i did not have that problem, started right up and worked great except for the abs light and message. if it doesnt start, you`ll have to put the old one back in and take it to fords for the re program. the cost at the dealer for the reprogram was 45.00( took about 5 minutes)
the install:
lower your steering colum with the lever under the steering wheel. pry off the cluster trim panel. you can see all the mounting clip locations in the pics, it comes off real easy. remove the 2 small top bolts and the 2 small lower bolts. lay a rag on top of the steering colum because the cluster will scratch the cover( see pic) and tilt the cluster forward so you can see the wire plug on the backside.
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