OEM Gauge Cluster

[jmotorsport]

OK, I thought this might be quite interesting for a few people.

I have been working on reprogramming a gauge cluster to communicate with megasquirt 3.

A lot of the current clusters on the market are really expensive or really aren't suitable for use in a road/rally/race car.

The cluster is from a ford fiesta ST and can be sourced for around £40-£80 on ebay, quite a lot of the gauge clusters can be reprogrammed to communicate with megasquirt, the Freescale microprocessor MC9S12H256 seamed to be a popular choice with OEMS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ela0QVyh2No&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqBYBQQ76Kk&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6A2eTcQsb4&feature=plcp

let me know if anyone is interested

Thanks

James

[racingmini_mtl]

Nice job!

[jmotorsport]

I still have a little way to go I think the LCD interface will be the hardest bit to reverse engineer and develop some workable code. I hope to do finished by the end of the month

[racingmini_mtl]

I don't know if you can reload the OEM program in there but couldn't you have scoped the lines to the LCD to get an idea of what is happening when it displays the odometer? Or if you have one, use a logic analyser? Does the LCD have any identifying marks on it?

Jean

[jmotorsport]

Ok, the display has an erasable rom on it. There appears to be 4 data lines going in that are buffered via the IC to the right of the display. a Ground PIn, There is no 5V supply which I find strange.

I wasn't able to keep the old program due to the protection employed i could only erase although i could see the contents of the display in ram so I think that the interface my be similar to a 4bit character display :S

Just a scope that helped my find the data lines but thats about it so far

James

[racingmini_mtl]

You need a supply for the LCD and for the backlight, possibly one for each. Could the power be switched on and off from a separate supply/regulator?

Jean

[jmotorsport]

the back light is separate from the display, I've been tracing the pins and it appears that the power is switched through a transistor via the micro. Ill see if i can get it powered up and check back soon.

James