03-05 Instrument Cluster Swap to 06-09?
 

If anyone has seen me post on this forum in the past year or so, most of those posts have been related to instrument cluster issues. My fuel gauge was not working so I decided to replace my cluster and it still didn't work 100% after I finished another LED swap. I am fairly certain i damaged the electronics because I forgot to disconnect the battery

Anyway, I've seen some people talk about doing a instrument cluster upgrade to the 06-09 but no one has actually done it, Does anyone know if it will be plug and play? The connectors are the exact same but I'm not sure if the pins are different. I will gladly be the first to spend some $ on this because I just want my damn fuel gauge to work

And yes I know I will need a new trim piece because of the turn signals that are integrated into the cluster in later models. I have a 2004 Sport Edition

car-part.com

Go get one and try it out.

bought one! this will be interesting

Subscribed, I'd love to know how this works out. Mines working fine as of now but I just don't like the two-tone look lol.

Nice, in to see how this goes. Mine works fine but ya never know.

you might need a new dash cover for the cluster, 06 and up dont have the odometer and trip reset on the trim.

I think these gauge issues are more common than we think. I have issues with my 05 limited V8 with the gas gauge and temp gauge not working. All the gauges flicker for a few seconds when I turn the ignition on, and after they get done flickering they will either work or not work depending on the day it seems. There is no real rhyme or reason.

I have heard that this is an issue with the stepper motors going bad on the back of the cluster and that the parts are about $20 each gauge.

I have also considered just swapping the cluster all together.

I replaced the stepper motor on my original cluster and it didn't work, bought a new to me cluster and swapped the LED's to white and I must have messed something up on it because fuel gauge stopped working. This will be the third cluster so I figured I might as well try and swap to the newer cluster. Should be here June 30th!

<b style=font-size:24px;">Attempting the Swap from 03-05 to 06-09</b>
**Update 7/5/2021** After taking out the 2007 cluster out of my car and putting in original, I started the car and idle was extremely low, under 500rpm for a cold start. Went for a drive to mechanic for other reasons and car stalled out twice when I came to a stop. Most likely some of the pins shorted something but since then the car has been running fine.

Alright Everybody, the moment we've been waiting for. Received the Cluster in the mail today and got right to it. All images can be opened to view a larger picture on imgur.

First thing I did was compare the two Clusters together to see any visual differences. The 2004 cluster has a different faceplate I put on from an SR5 but the internals are all 2004.

<a href="https://imgur.com/1vs5Y92"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/1vs5Y92m.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a><a href="https://imgur.com/rI7Zfi1"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/rI7Zfi1m.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a><a href="https://imgur.com/jVAEjAX"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/jVAEjAXm.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
Nothing noticeable until I took off the rear cover and saw all of the on board electronics on the rear of the 2007 motherboard. housings are very similar, White shroud has a different clip on the side that is not seen because it was broken off upon removal from the junkyard I assume.

I decided to take them apart further to see visual differences. It seems with the mid generation upgrade they switched all of the main components from being on the same side as the LED's to the reverse side. This was most likely to allow easier LED swaps for the 4runner enthusiasts obviously XD.
<a href="https://imgur.com/ut6sN91"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/ut6sN91m.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a><a href="https://imgur.com/mg9x0EH"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/mg9x0EHm.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

So after visual inspection, I went into my 04' and tried installing it. I took a video to show the result. The mileage would need to be changed which is an easy process but that is the least of the problems
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KL9j6LGS6d0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I took note of all of the differences such as indicators not working etc and this is what I found (note all of the functions still work, however the light indicators malfunction or do not work):

• Cruise Control Light Works
• DAC Light Does NOT Work
• Headlight/Fog light/High Beams Do NOT Work
• Turn Signals in Cluster Do NOT Work, However work in 04' Shroud still
• E-Brake Light is on when E-Brake is not engaged, does not change if I Engage E-Brake
• MAINT Light On, even with Car Running
• 4WD High/Lo Light Works
• Seat Belt Indicator Does NOT Work

I wanted to make sure there were no faults with the cluster and that everything was working right so I tried it on my fathers 2006 SR5 4Runner to see any discrepancies

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yc8LAbSMd4I" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This can all be explained pretty easily. I took the clusters apart further to compare the faceplates and it started to make sense. As i stated earlier the face plate on my 2004 extra cluster isn't a sport edition but it will work for the comparison.
<a href="https://imgur.com/weGTPFo"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/weGTPFol.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
Every Light Indicator that is having an issue was relocated from the 03-05 models to a new location on the 06-09 models. See Below:

• Cruise Control Light Located in the same spot
• DAC Light Has a different location, not pictured
• Headlight/Fog light/High Beams relocated from Left Side to Right Side
• Turn Signals Obvious because the wiring is external to the shroud on 03-05
• E-Brake Light relocated from Right Side to Left Side
• MAINT relocated down about an Inch on Left Side
• 4WD High/Lo Light In same location
• Seat Belt Indicator relocated down to bottom of Left Side

The Turn signals are self explanatory as they are wired into a separate connection on the 03-05 models. The connection has 5 wires, and it goes to the turn signals as well as the ODO/TRIP & RESET buttons which were relocated to inside the 06-09 cluster. 3 Wires go to the ODO/TRIP & RESET buttons one of which is a ground shared by the Turn signals. I'm fairly sure these 2 wires (3 minus the ground wire), can be ignored because of the upgrade to have those buttons integrated into the 06-09 cluster, everything seemed to work fine.
The other two wires are two positive wires, one going to left signal and the other to the right signal and they share a ground, to be able to find which pin triggers that if I wanted to do a swap would be a guessing game but I'm sure would be possible.

I also took pictures of the connections with the cluster out to see if i could spot any differences. The only noticeable difference was the wire on the 04 model for the ODO/TRIP & RESET & Turn Signals
<a href="https://imgur.com/M8JzUI9"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/M8JzUI9m.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a><a href="https://imgur.com/Ud3BQQs"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Ud3BQQsm.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
I'm fairly certain some of the pins are left blank in the 04 and are filled in on the 06 wiring, making this actually seem possible. All that would be needed is to switch the wires accordingly based off color and see. But of course, I could be wrong. It would be more logical to see if the wires could be switched in the connectors than to solder cables on the board and jump connections to make it work. My goal is to make this mod possible for everyone not just those who are skilled in soldering.

Please let me know if anyone has any more findings, this is as far as I am going for this week as I will be out of town and don't have the time to look at the connections more closely, but this is not the end for this project.

PS: I believe the cluster I received is faulty as the MAINT and Low Tire pressure indicators are on when I tested it on the 2006 4Runner and they were not on with the original cluster. Updated electronics could also make it so the cluster can carry codes now on the board and they would have to be cleared, I will continue to look into it.

This is a neat find! Hopefully you're able to get everything sorted with the faulty fuel gauge and mismatched lights