Re-pinning connectors is kind of tedious and easy to make a mistake. You need to go back and check all your work.

Also, wire colors may be different between years. You need to have a wiring diagram for your van (proper year) and the pinout for the instrument cluster you're installing.

 

is there any tools that are most helpful for checking work?

 

Not really any tools to check. You just have to check the pinouts on the connectors to be sure the wires are in the right place. There are quite a few differences between the OBS (94-97) and SuperDuty (99& up) wiring, It could be that the clusters aren't compatible between years.

 

Thanks for your advice I’m going to search around some more before making any other adjustments. Where would your go to place be for searching diagrams amongst obs and super duty? My cluster isn’t the squared off one like I’ve seen in econolines 96 and below it looks exactly like the ones in the econolines from 99-03

 

I’m on the same boat with a 1997 7.3 van. Seems like we’ve got an odd year where the 1997 VAN wiring is different than a 99 and up VAN, and all the info is for a 99 and up VAN to 99 and up TRUCK cluster harness. Difference in wire colors and lack of some important wires all together vs a 99 VAN.

We may be stuck with no tach on a 97 specific van.

it just blows because I already started repinning, ran my CTO wire, and dismantled my dash and cluster to realize something’s not adding up to my wiring vs the videos and info I’ve been getting. It’s a POSSIBILITY that mine is different because it’s a Cali emissions van, because some wiring under hood is for sure different

 

But I do have all the info for someone who wants to do it on a 99 up VAN to 99 up TRUCK Cluster, did my research and wrote my instructions but now is irrelevant to my rig.

 

Hey Abe thanks for sharing all the research you've done in this process. I figured out most the issues with my cluster over time with lots of research and paitence. The video in my first post of this thread has accurate information for 97' vans but because he is doing it on a 2002 van the pinout is slightly different. He says to disconnect the pin 1 black ground wire from the 16 pin center connector A (C224) and move pin 2 which is the positive light blue / red wire for dimmer to illumination lamps into that place where the ground once was. A1 = Removed A2 to A1. This is correct for the van to truck pinout, however the ground wire that was removed in the video is not left unplugged or connected to where the CTO is in our vans. I sniped several pins from some junkyard vans and spliced together my pink white CTO wire found in the engine bay to connector A (C224) A12 / Pin 12. This pin is the "tachometer input signal" for trucks on C250b. Then, take the black ground wire that we unpaged from A1 earlier and plug it into your right black connector B (C225) on B12 / pin 12. That is what fixed my issue with the illumination.

The notes you've shared here are also very important for illuminating the dummy / Idiot lights for the correct function. I visited this and looked up the connector diagram pinouts / colors for 1997 E350 -> repair and diagnostics -> instrument cluster -> diagrams -> connector views. I then repeated the same process only for 99-01 F350 and studied the hell out of each connector and what the color and function was. This made it much more easier to understand what was going where.

Then after plugging everything back in and testing it turns out the tachometer reading was too high. It read 2000 rpms at idle and was nowhere near there. Apparently the OHM resistance for the CTO signal is read differently for the 99-01 trucks than it is for our 97 econolines. After more research I found out you have to remove the printed circuit board from the donor f350 instrument cluster and look for the R19 circuit. Use a soldering iron and place a dab to short it out. Plug everything up and look on the back of the printed curcuit board for the trim position tab. It looks like a little wheel that has an opening to fit a small flat headed screw driver into and can be turned either clockwise or counterclockwise. Look at the tachometer as you adjust with the screwdriver and sync it with the correct output. I find this process to be related to tuning carburetors. Listen with your ears at what sounds right but also do your research on what the output is with ecocline 7.3 or whatever engine you do this swap on and take into consideration the gear ratios. I know mine has some more adjustments and little bugs to correct here and there but at least a reading is there. Good luck on your journey!

 

Seems like you have it dialed. Did you happen to get pictures of your process along the way and your connectors? My mind is such a fuzz lately I’m forced into visually learning. I have a 7.3 pickup I can use it’s tach to see what mine should be at depending on engine RPM tones