Early & late 850 instrument cluster compatibility Topic is solved

Post by **misha** » 13 Feb 2019, 16:35

Are instrument clusters from pre '96 850 interchangeable with '96 & '97?
Junkyard close to me have '94 & '95 850.

Also...i read somewhere that s,v70 instrument clusters from '97 & '98 ONLY are direct fit to 850...are they?

I have a broken odometer gear for the last 10 or more years and i would like to fix it.
S,V70 clusters are more interesting to me because of digital odometer....but would they fit and work without modification?

Cookeh · Post by **Cookeh** » 14 Feb 2019, 04:06

You could just buy the odometer gear itself, very cheap and takes about an hour to fix. Lots of guides on here and other places covering the odometer gear replacement.

Post by **misha** » 14 Feb 2019, 06:10

I know all of that...but just for the price of shipping(probably for less than that) i can get a used instrument cluster from junkyard or from private seller.
Eu market doesn't have those odometer gears for 850 and shipping from U.S costs more than the whole gear kit from ipd or fcp.

Cookeh · Post by **Cookeh** » 14 Feb 2019, 07:09

You can get them from Germany or the UK for around 11 euro, not sure what postage is. If you can get an instrument cluster for that or less then it would be a lot easier as you say. Instrument clusters in the UK are more like 60 euro typically though, so I presumed it was similar elsewhere.

Post by **misha** » 14 Feb 2019, 07:21

Have a link?
Postage alone from U.S to Serbia is around 40$ plus 25$ for a gear kit...plus custom taxes.
I can get a cluster for 20-25€.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 14 Feb 2019, 07:45

There is a difference in the speed sensor setup between the early and late models. The early models with the speed sensor on the transaxle have a sine wave output. The later models have the square wave pulse train that is generated by the ABS wheel sensors and, after being routed through the ABS module, it feeds the cluster. Both systems use the same frequency / axle revolution.

Using a newer cluster in an older car is pretty easy, just tap a wheel sensor and you then have the square wave that the cluster wants to see. Using an older cluster on a newer car falls into the "I don't know" category since I don't know how the circuit actually works. If it is just counting pulses once they get over a voltage threshold then it really won't care what form the signal comes in as and an older cluster should work fine. If I were designing that circuit that circuit I would use a comparator with a mid point threshold on the sine wave to essentially convert that sine wave into a digital signal but I didn't design the circuit and I've never tried using an older cluster on a newer car.

...Lee

Post by **misha** » 14 Feb 2019, 08:09

You're talking about early and late 850 clusters...right?
I just read about this in some old thread here on MVS and on volvospeed.
It seems that i would need '96 or '97 850 cluster or s,v70...but from '97 & '98 ONLY.
'99 or '00 will not work.

What about odometer mechanism...can i just swap it out from older to a newer cluster?
I read on volvospeed that there are two types of gears....with more and less notches.

Cookeh · Post by **Cookeh** » 14 Feb 2019, 08:41

misha wrote: ↑14 Feb 2019, 07:21 Have a link?
Postage alone from U.S to Serbia is around 40$ plus 25$ for a gear kit...plus custom taxes.
I can get a cluster for 20-25€.

Here you go - not sure which of the two gears has died in yours, or which of the two cluster types you have - so this covers all three.

Another option for VDO-types is this link, which has both of the odometer gears but is more costly as a result.

Again, not sure what postage is so that might drive the cost up.

Post by **misha** » 14 Feb 2019, 08:51

Thanks...it's VDO latest cluster(car is '97) for 850.
I'll see what my options are.

Post by **xHeart** » 14 Feb 2019, 10:05

Look for PN, and then see models use it https://parts.volvocarslisle.com/Volvo_ ... ected.html