After going to search among various Junk Yards, Finally, I found the same instrument Cluster that I have on the "KiaStein" but much newer, it was taken off from a 2004 Spectra; I tested it on the Junk Yard and I drove around the Junk Yard to test the Speedometer, and it worked absolutely Flawlessly; not super high speed readings anymore.
It had a little less than 71,900 Miles on the odometer, and I rounded that amount after testing it; the only thing that did not functioned on it, was certain background illumination Bulbs, also the left side Blinker, but the Junk Yard's salesman gave a good low Price for it, that I can't refuse; so I purchased this instrument Cluster, which had exactly the same part number than the one that the "Kiastein" had.
Some years ago, when I did the First instrument Cluster Swap on the "KiaStein" in order to have Tachometer (the original instrument Cluster didn't had it), the car lost 20,000 miles on the count; so, despite that the instrument Cluster that I removed from the "KiaStein" (on the left side of the Photo below) says 189K + Miles, the Body and the Transmission on this Car, really have 209K + Miles; but the Engine has exactly the Half, 104K + Miles, as it is from a much newer Spectra; also the Differential and Brakes only has a couple of Years... so the Mileage count on this car, isn't equal for everything on it.
So, the Total mileage lost should be more than 138K + Miles ... now I need to do the math, and recalculate the Mileage & Dates on which the Timing Belt and the Oil + Filter, will need to be Changed, to keep the good maintenance Records that I've done on this Car.
So, I started to do a deep Cleanup of this newer instrument Cluster
Because this instrument Cluster was stored at the Junk Yard, with the lens facing down on a shelf, with many other instrument clusters from other random junk yard's cars over it, it had a pretty dusty and dirty back, also you can see that the soft circuit board is less green on this one, than on the old one; however, the interior and the overall shape is in much Better condition, than the old one that I removed.
After that, I was ready to install all the LED lights I had installed on the older instrument Cluster, anyhow, people are using Leds everywhere, even on the "tail Lights" :lol:
When I went to test it with the LED lights, back on the Car, everything worked, except the Left side arrow, for the Blinker... I had to remove the instrument Cluster and carefully inspect it; then I found a cut on the green soft board, probably made by another instrument cluster that was lying above it, on the shelf at the Junk Yard.
I have more than three decades soldering electronics, because I learned with my Dad since I was Child (Besides many other things he taught me, like Mechanics), But I've Never soldered a "Soft" circuit board before, and I was afraid to Melt the thin Plastic. However, I dared to do the Repair, mainly because I needed the instrument Cluster back on the car, as soon as possible; but also, I knew that if I damaged it, I could swap the green soft boards between instrument Clusters, as the old one was in perfect shape.
I knew that to Fix a failing electronical Speedometer is almost impossible.
The reason is that those Speedometer / Odometer \ Trip meter units, comes somehow "Sealed" or Closed / Locked from factory, in a way that their assemblies Breaks and becomes unuseful if you attempt to open or disassemble them.
They're designed like that to Avoid that someone could simply open or disassemble them to turn back the Count on the Odometer; and fool a possible buyer of the car, showing less mileage than what it really has.
However, I disassembled the old instrument Cluster, because I wanted to see What could have been the Cause of such a weird fail, and see if I could prevent it from Happening again, on the newer instrument Cluster.
In the following Photos I'll show you my Findings.
The Factory left debris on the Varnish that covers the metal tracks that sends the electrical signals, maybe causing some sort of "Short Circuit" and / or Resistance among the affected Tracks, which might have caused the component's Fail.
I tried the old instrument Cluster on the Car, only to find that now the mere Speedometer is completely Dead; but the Rest is working alright. So I swapped the Newer instrument Cluster back in Place.
I can repair the Old instrument Cluster, by changing the mere Speedometer assembly shown above, it is sold separately by Kia, and has the part number: 0K2AA55471, you can see it here:
You said that you couldn't use an automatic gauge cluster for a manual transmission car, may I ask why? The reason I ask is because my temp gauge doesn't work in my car - manual transmission, and I have a gauge cluster from a parts car and it is an automatic.
The clusters should be interchangeable with minor differences... the automatic cluster would not light the DRNL lights as a manual transmission wouldn't supply the needed wiring...
The temperature gauge electronics should be swappable unless they are physically different in size because of a added tach gauge...
I replaced the speedometer cluster in my 97 Ford Ranger with one from a 98 so as to add a tach and everything worked properly with the exception of the "door ajar" circuit lights a "fuel cap loose" light... The tach circuitry was all ready pre-wired ... The odometer had a thousand miles more on it so i didn't bother trying to readjust it to a lower reading...
Most circuitry between the same model years will remain the same between manual/automatic, Tach/NoTach, ABS/NoABS, etc.... It just makes sense to leave the wiring the same and change the cluster...The early Sephias/Spectras (before 2004.5) sould work just fine...
Dave
Update: the instrument Cluster is working flawlessly, thanks to God.
When I did the Swap, the only thing lost was the function for the low fuel warning Light.
Lost it for years, until I had to change the Fuel Pump assembly. (More info ~► Here)
Something pretty interesting, regarding the new fuel Pump assembly swap, is that, somehow the Low Fuelwarning light, at the instrument cluster, came back again to function; because I've lost that warning light function when I did the instrument cluster Swap, years ago...
I did that cluster swap then, (without the need of changing anything on the wiring nor plugs), to gain Tachometer which the original cluster didn't have; and the only thing lost then, was the warning light for the low fuel.
Since such warning light came back to life Flawlessly with the new Fuel Pump Assembly, I believe that the wiring is different between the fuel pump assembly for the basic model and the fuel pump assembly for the luxury model... somehow.
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