How to - Upgrade to a 996 Instrument Cluster

[Reebuck1]

Jon, After I sent you the above note I realized I may have created some confusion. So I will try again. My car is a 1998 boxster that had a 2.5 motor and a Motronic 5.2.2 DME. After I installed the 996 motor and 6 speed trans. I needed to re-map my original DME to get the motor to run correctly. I elected to use a 996 ROW flash on my 986 DME. The new 3.4 motor

came from a 1999 C2 that had a Motronic 5.2.2 DME. I did not use the 996 DME because it would cause recognition problems with my 986 theft system. I USED THE 986 DME with a new flash (996 ROW). Th.e car runs great and very strong.

I then installed cruise control and the 996 gauges. I installed the 996 analog gauges into my 986 cluster and kept the 986 mother board in the cluster( I DID NOT USE THE 996 MOTHER BOARD).

When I started the car everything worked except the two added gauges: oil pressure and volts. The analog spedo worked BUT displayed a speed 6 to 8 miles per hour slower than

my digital speed gauge. As you say " I can live with that". I verified my digital gauges speed with a radar gun and it was correct.

I am going to try and change just the line code for the two gauges in my 986 cluster and mother board. I am afraid to try and do it with all the 996 data because I believe I would lose

my ven. number, theft code and original millage. DO YOU AGREE??

I also noticed on the 996 mother board that the flash chip number is 93c56B BUT on my 986 mother board the chip shows SC56M. The 986 chip number does not show up in my

GQ4x universal Programmer. I have not tried to read the chip as of yet because I can not find a device to list it under before entering. ANY THOUGHTS??

[User]

Jon, After I sent you the above note I realized I may have created some confusion. So I will try again. My car is a 1998 boxster that had a 2.5 motor and a Motronic 5.2.2 DME. After I installed the 996 motor and 6 speed trans. I needed to re-map my original DME to get the motor to run correctly. I elected to use a 996 ROW flash on my 986 DME. The new 3.4 motor

came from a 1999 C2 that had a Motronic 5.2.2 DME. I did not use the 996 DME because it would cause recognition problems with my 986 theft system. I USED THE 986 DME with a new flash (996 ROW). Th.e car runs great and very strong.

I then installed cruise control and the 996 gauges. I installed the 996 analog gauges into my 986 cluster and kept the 986 mother board in the cluster( I DID NOT USE THE 996 MOTHER BOARD).

When I started the car everything worked except the two added gauges: oil pressure and volts. The analog spedo worked BUT displayed a speed 6 to 8 miles per hour slower than

my digital speed gauge. As you say " I can live with that". I verified my digital gauges speed with a radar gun and it was correct.

I am going to try and change just the line code for the two gauges in my 986 cluster and mother board. I am afraid to try and do it with all the 996 data because I believe I would lose

my ven. number, theft code and original millage. DO YOU AGREE??

I also noticed on the 996 mother board that the flash chip number is 93c56B BUT on my 986 mother board the chip shows SC56M. The 986 chip number does not show up in my

GQ4x universal Programmer. I have not tried to read the chip as of yet because I can not find a device to list it under before entering. ANY THOUGHTS??

Hello out there!

I am searching for an original odometer dump for 996 C2 MY1999, because my dump is damaged :-(...

Would be very nice to get a dump from one of you here. Would be very happy about it.

Best regards!

Mark

[E4BRT]

Hi guys. Fantastic write up. I've got a 987.1 and been thinking of the 997 cluster. Can this be done?

[User]

I am not able to program the 93C56 with clamp and willem pcb 5.0 programmer.

Any ideas?

[Julianarevalo]

Jon - your write-up is fantastic, thanks a lot!

guys, could you kindly send me a new-type of cluster EPROM file? The one I recently bough is missing chunks of data and is not working

thanks,
Julian

[mikesz]

I am getting ready to do this any pics advice on how to cut the surround for the 2 new gauges.

[JonHoward42]

Can't say I actually had to do this as I bought the whole instrument pod from a 996 but the original Boxster part can be modified (cut) to take the 996 gauges.

Have a look at the Pelican Parts article: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/90-ELEC-996_Cluster/90-ELEC-996_Cluster.htm

The cutting is shown in figure 4 of the article. Looks simple enough with the use of a Dremel or the like.

[MosFetMan]

Thank you JonHoward and to the others that contributed to this excellent write-up. My upgrade went without a hitch and it looks like everything is working!

I used my clone CarProg to read the 93C56 and to do the edits. I have the same programmer that JonHoward used but I did not feel like wiring up an adapter so the CarProg worked perfectly. The $65 price for a clone CarProg is worth the money alone just for all the adapters you get.

I have attached my "hybrid" file in case anyone wants a checkpoint.

Thanks again to all,

Jerry Prado (MosFetMan)

 

try1.bin

[Tex24v]

I have recently performed this upgrade to my Canbus car (very pleased with the results by the way)

And am just about to change the oil pressure sender unit over, which I picked up from the OPC the other week.

This has led me to a couple of questions which don't appear to be answered either in Jon's write up or in the Pelican Parts article.

One is straight-forward and will be useful for me and for anyone else doing this mod: Namely, where exactly is the oil pressure sender unit located? I cant quite place it from the photos, Jon says to remove the 'belt' engine cover from behind the seats, but the Pelican Parts says to remove both this cover and the main 'Top' engine cover, so that doesn't really narrow it down, if anyone can confirm which cover is best for access and if I am then looking on the right, left or top of the engine that would help me greatly. Although It might be clear once I remove the cover(s)? be useful to know where to start anyway.

My next question is a bit more pedantic and apologies to everyone who thinks I'm being a bit an&I here. But what colour should/would the new wire, running from the G connector in the unit to the instrument cluster be on a 996. Looking at the photos on PP I can see Green/White stripe (which seems to be the same as connected to the WK connector, so I would want to avoid that really) There are also lots of pics of Yellow wire and one of a Solid Green wire (might be a covering sheath) when clicking on the additional pictures bit. If I had lots of electrical wire lying around then I probably wouldn't be too bothered and just use what I had, (what I assume they did) but I don't have any, so will have to buy some specially for this job, so why not get some in the correct colour code. Anyone able to help?

[Lonewolfgjp]

Hi there 

I removed top and cover behind the seat, if you look through from the car its shoulder height. I bought a crows foot spanner but never used it as a normal spanner easily loosened it up. As for the wiring I can't help I just used some black wire I had lying about.

A bit of a fiddley job but not difficult and it's great seeing all the gauges working ?

[Tex24v]

Thanks @Lonewolfgjp, getting closer, so about shoulder height, do you remember if that is that drivers side or passenger side? do you think it could be done by just removing the 'Belt' Cover and using an inspection lamp for illumination? Loosening the old 986 one seems straightforward, were you able to do up the new larger 996 unit with just a open-ended spanner, as I don't have a crows foot spanner.

edit: Sorry memory of a goldfish, upon reading Jon's write up again I see he says it's on the Drivers side and recommends the Top cover removal

Anyone else help with the wire question?

Thanks in advance.  

[Lonewolfgjp]

Both covers off and a normal spanner! Awkward to get to but easy to remove and refit?

[Richard Hamilton]

On 05/04/2017 at 2:07 PM, Tex24v said:

My next question is a bit more pedantic and apologies to everyone who thinks I'm being a bit an&I here. But what colour should/would the new wire, running from the G connector in the unit to the instrument cluster be on a 996. Looking at the photos on PP I can see Green/White stripe (which seems to be the same as connected to the WK connector, so I would want to avoid that really) There are also lots of pics of Yellow wire and one of a Solid Green wire (might be a covering sheath) when clicking on the additional pictures bit. If I had lots of electrical wire lying around then I probably wouldn't be too bothered and just use what I had, (what I assume they did) but I don't have any, so will have to buy some specially for this job, so why not get some in the correct colour code. Anyone able to help?

On a 2001 996, the wire colours are:

Instrument Cluster blue plug Pin 9 Green/Red to Oil PS "G"
Instrument Cluster white plug Pin 6 Green/White to Oil PS "WK"

[Tex24v]

Thanks both, Will get onto this job this weekend.

[nzak]

I have been trying to read a "new style" 2003 986S cluster with a GQ-X4 and a SOIC8 clip, and have had no luck with any of the 93C86 profiles. The data looks like garbage. Is there any trick to readback on the newer clusters? The eeprom chip on the board is a 93C86W6.

[Stefan]

This is great stuff. Huge thanks for posting this. I program EEPROMs all the time and I feel confident I could reprogram it without buying a programmer.

Has anyone tried checking to see if any of the cluster electrical plug pins are directly connected to the EEPROM's serial communication pins? That would make connecting to the chip a lot easier.

 

[Lonewolfgjp]

I never got into reprogramming the clocks but I did find someone who thought they could do.

 I actually changed my car about a month after completion but I enjoyed the 996 clocks and having all the gauges working 👍

[el 3.2S]

On 20 de octubre de 2015 at 7:07 PM, JonHoward42 said:

Can't say I actually had to do this as I bought the whole instrument pod from a 996 but the original Boxster part can be modified (cut) to take the 996 gauges.

Have a look at the Pelican Parts article: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/90-ELEC-996_Cluster/90-ELEC-996_Cluster.htm

The cutting is shown in figure 4 of the article. Looks simple enough with the use of a Dremel or the like.

I quite like the idea of modifying the existing 986 cluster to take the 996 battery and oil pressure gauges. To proceed in this way do you still purchase the entire 996 cluster and remove the two gauges which are required?