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DIY Plug-n-Play Harness for 02-04 to 05-06 Cluster Swap

36K views 129 replies 27 participants last post by  pandimus 
#1 · (Edited)
After countless searching and not coming up with anything, I decided to go ahead and put this up for those who are looking for a full working plug and play alternative to the usual cutting/splicing pig tails for an 05-06 cluster swap into their 02-04 RSX. This option not only saves you from having to cut/splice into your harness, but also makes it easy to revert back 02-04 if you ever need to. :thumbsup:

I would like to thank itzjere for giving me the idea from his excellent S2000 cluster swap thread found here http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=591847; as well as his permission to let me reference his thread as a part of my thread. I would also like to give a shout out to spider for hooking a brother up with a 2nd donor cluster.

DISCLAIMER: This is meant as a guide to help you. I am not responsible for any damage done to your car by you or anyone else that works on it using this guide. Do this at YOUR OWN RISK.

Note: This is not a difficult task if you have some soldering skills - just a little time consuming.

Time needed: 2+ hours

Items needed
1) 05-06 cluster
2) 05-06 cluster pig tails
3) 02-04 donor cluster (Can be Type-S or Base; doesn't matter)
4) Soldering iron
5) Solder-splice connectors (optional)
6) Wire stripper/cutter
7) Heat shrink tubing
8) Solder and flux
9) Phillips screwdriver

First off, you'll need to take apart the 2nd donor 02-04 cluster as referenced in the link above in itzjere's thread. Once you get the circuit board out, you will need to remove the two rear connectors using your soldering iron as such:


This is what you'll be looking at once you get the connectors removed:



What everything should look like before the fun/time-consuming part begins:
 
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#43 ·
So... I found the harness off an 05 rsx in the junkyard today, w00t! But the bad news its I fucked up on taking one of the white plugs off my donor cluster, Doh! There's another 75 bucks I gotta spend, unless I just cut my stock harness. I don't want to do that, but at the same time I don't want to spend another 75 bones on another donor cluster, the alternative is using the cluster in my car now.. I don't want to though because I don't plan on doing this all at once, and this is very time consuming
 
#44 ·
:fyea:

Fuck yea! it's funny my dyslexia got the best of me and I wired one row on one of the plugs backwards, I plugged in my new gauges and was like wtf, the abs and srs light were on.. So I checked it and sure enough the wiring was wrong, I fixed it in about 20mins though, my soldering skills are much better after doing this :D I haven't soldered since grade 8 electronics class, so If I can do it, anyone can! :thumbsup:

Id also like to give a :thumbsup: for ddmrsx who came up with the idea to make a DIY plug n play harness.
 

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#45 ·
Also since I could not find the solder splice butt connectors, I had to solder wire to pin. Remembering to put a good 3/4 " or so of shrink tube on each wire first to insure a solid connection and no interference. If anyone is undertaking this little project I would be happy to offer my advice on how to solder the wires to the pins easily.
 
#48 ·
Kinda too much work? lol, just depends how motivated you are to make your car look nicer than it does. Having these new gauges make my car look extra clean from the drivers seat. Everyone whose seen them has commented on how much better it makes the car look.
 
#49 ·
How hard is it to come by some 05-06 pig tails...because I really want to do this swap...
 
#52 ·
I've heard of guys getting it done, I think its reasonable to be able to have it done, all they need to do is check your ECU for the correct odometer reading then change it to what it actually is on the cluster. But I've also heard of Acura basically saying Fu we don't do that sort of stuff.. So.. :dontknow:
 
#55 ·
Don't use a torch.. You will melt the plastic harness's and be shit outta luck. I never used solder splice connections so I am not sure on how to use them. I found soldering wire to pin easy enough, just melt solder onto the wire you're going to attach to said pin, then heat that solder up with a soldering iron, and viola. you have a connection, making sure to put shrink tubing on each wire before connecting it! then use a heat gun to shrink the tubing. The starter of this thread may know.. but hes on deployment over seas, so you may not get a response that quick
 
#60 ·
^Agreed with all :) My apologies for my delayed response but I am currently deployed to Afghanistan... I will take pics of the solder splice connectors that I used and will post them on here within the near future. I stated that these connectors were optional b/c you can solder the wire direct to the pins as stated above.
 
#57 ·
I would, if you sent me the parts to do so. But it really isn't that difficult. I hadn't done any soldering since I was 13, It took me about 3 hours, but most of that was just figuring out the correct technique. If I did it again I could see it only taking an hour. I should have made a youtube video on how I did it, lol.
 
#67 ·
All you have to do is cap the wires not used, there are 2 ones on the Type S harness needed to install a Canadian cluster. Or you can take them right out of the plug it self, you just use a small flat head screw driver and pop this little rectangular piece on the plug. Then you can pull the wires not need. Keep the wires you pull out tho, just in case you have friends with a Canadian car and they wanna do the cluster swap. The Canadian harness, has a pink DRL wire I believe, and a Gauges and Indicators which must be in the harness in order for the Canadian cluster to work. The Us model also just has some different coloured wires outlined in the pin diagram on this thread. I know it will work because I used an US type-S wiring harness, and then had to cut connector A from a Canadian 05 base model I found in the junkyard.
 
#71 ·
The US model goes up to 260 with kph all tiny on the inside.. It just looks lame in MPH, no offensive to any Americans, I just think MPH is lame, I would rather have an easier to read speedometer that makes me feel like I'm going faster, rofl

Check out the pin diagram in the DIY guide at the beginning, connector A will have two wires specifically for the Canadian model car. On Connector A (05 model)

1. Gauges and Indicators (PNK)
14. DRL WHT/BLU

I'm not entirely sure what aspect of the gauges and indicators are affected by Not having wire 1.
 
#72 ·
In other words, your car doesn't have that wire, and I have not a clue what won't work or maybe it won't matter. Try asking the guys who have installed the AUDM cluster in their cars. Or just do a search on the internet, maybe even make a post. I was told by someone that the gauges wouldn't work properly without that wire, but the guy didn't specify what exactly.
 
#75 ·
so im starting to solder and i noticed.. theres numbers on the inside..

987654321

therefore if i turn it around the top row would be

123456789 left to right

basically the connector diagram is correct if you are looking at it from the point of where your soldering the wires right?? hopefully someone can answer this before I continue since i dont wanna mess this up and waste my time.. because right now my harness is looking opposite of the one pictured in this diy..
 
#77 ·
so i should look at the back of the plug (what im soldering onto) as reverse of what the diagram is showing me?

aka

for connector B on the 02-04

the blk 16 although shows the bottom right should really be on the bottom left?

basically like this:
987654321
16151413121110

(reverse of the diagram)
 
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