Nismo 320 Cluster in R32 GTR Issues

[californianhunger 0]

Hi everyone, 

I recently bought a 2nd hand Nismo 320km/h cluster for my R32 GTR. I understand that there are two versions, one for earlier series 32, and another for the later 32's. The seller assured me it was working 100% in an early model (1990) R32 GTR, which is the same as mine.

I installed it yesterday, it fit perfectly, and all the plugs in the back went in fine - but when using the car, the temperature gauge doesn't work and the RPM doesn't work either. The speed reading works and is perfectly accurate, but power steering stops working shortly after.

It's also the blue-back one, with 4 screws at the back of the speedo; this all suggests that it's for a later model as well, where the electrical signal for speed for the power steering is different.

I've seen a tutorial on here about swapping the speed sensor over from an old cluster, but is there any reason that the temperature gauge doesn't work as well? Are there any other differences on the later cluster that mean I shouldn't waste my time trying to use it in an older GTR at all?

Edited Friday at 11:18 PM by californianhunger

[Duncan 975]

I was not aware of an electrical difference, just cosmetic between series 1 and 2....I'd start with checking if temperature, rpm and speed (out) are all on the same plug that was not seated properly when you put it back in. The speedo itself is mechanical and is often installed incorrectly onto the cable (sounds like yours is OK), but the dash provides the speed signal conversion for the ECU and probably HICAS.

Also, when you say power steering stops woking, I assume you mean you get less assistance, not none at all. If HICAS gets no speed signal it gets heavier but you should still have some power assist; I run mine without the speed signal at all times and find it OK.

[GTSBoy 2,017]

There is an electrical difference. Well, there's no actual electrical difference as far as I know - it's just wiring pinouts. The speed signal out to the ECU is the same PWM. etc.

[californianhunger Topic Author 0]

23 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

There is an electrical difference. Well, there's no actual electrical difference as far as I know - it's just wiring pinouts. The speed signal out to the ECU is the same PWM. etc.

I think something is different, not sure what, but this guide exists to swapping that analog to digital bit in the speedo cluster: 

That's something I could do, but doesn't answer why RPM and temp are not working.

32 minutes ago, Duncan said:

I was not aware of an electrical difference, just cosmetic between series 1 and 2....I'd start with checking if temperature, rpm and speed (out) are all on the same plug that was not seated properly when you put it back in. The speedo itself is mechanical and is often installed incorrectly onto the cable (sounds like yours is OK), but the dash provides the speed signal conversion for the ECU and probably HICAS.

Also, when you say power steering stops woking, I assume you mean you get less assistance, not none at all. If HICAS gets no speed signal it gets heavier but you should still have some power assist; I run mine without the speed signal at all times and find it OK.

Yeah much less assistance. I would prefer to have the power steering working properly, the fix for that is in the link above. I'm going to try and re-seat the connector. I'm hoping it's as simple as that, but I doubt it 😔

[GTSBoy 2,017]

I cannot imagine that it is necessary to actually swap the speed sensor. As I said, the speed signal should be exactly the same on both early and late 32s. That being a 0-5v square wave PWM. It's all shown in the R32 GTR manual. It must just be a matter of which pins it's all wired to.

[californianhunger Topic Author 0]

I compared the back of both original and Nismo clusters are there were quite a few differences.

FWIW, I just put the Nismo 320 speedo in to my old dash, and converted speed sensor plug thingie with this guide:

All works fine now...

Edited yesterday at 11:44 AM by californianhunger