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3rd Generation JDM Black Face Meter BFM Swap Details
I have been working over on SL-i.net on the details for swapping in the JDM Black Face Meter into my BE Outback. I now have the details mapped out for all USDM cars, and two different versions of the BFM. I was waiting to solidify my research before cross posting it on other forums.
Below is primarily a cut-and-paste of my progress and resources from SL-i.net ------------------------------------------------------ I have a 2004 Outback H6 Sedan without VDC that I have been slowly doing various modifications to. Over this past weekend, I planned out and installed a JDM BFM cluster. I decided to make an adapter harness, so that I can put the original cluster back in if the need ever came up. My car came stock with the 85014AE84A cluster, which is a fairly specific cluster for this model. I bought a 85015AE030 cluster that apparently came from a 2000 Legacy GT-B E-tune. This past saturday I visited a local junkyard to grab another 14AE84A they had on a shelf, and as much of the wiring harness as I could get out of a wrecked 2002 Legacy. I would use the cluster for its connectors as well as any bulbs and as a guinea pig for odometer adjustment. The BFM itself came with a small bit of the harness attached, but the wires were too short to do anything with, so I moved the wires around on the Legacy harness to match the JDM colors. This is what I ended up with.. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0061.jpg After carefully testing each and every pin on the BFM, I mapped out what their functions and came up with this chart: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...8277a578_o.png This was followed by mapping out the wiring for the USDM cluster, which is as such: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...386dcb39_o.png On Sunday, I began constructing the harness and I implemented a speedometer converter to bring the VSS signal down to have the km/h Speedometer read in MPH instead. This would ensure that the odometer would also register miles. I did not connect anything to the Illumination control, as I figured I would just rely on the headlight dimming for brightness control, but I may go back and put that in as it seems to dim on its own after a few minutes when those inputs are left floating. After a few hours, the harness was complete: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0065.jpg After fitting the harness and taping it up for neatness, it seems to fit quite well. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0068.jpg I removed a portion of the plastic behind the cluster so that the CCFL inverter would fit properly, and attached the adapter harness. In the end, I did not use this hole in the metal support as it was pinching some of the 'B' connector wires, so they are instead just routed behind the metal brace now. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0070.jpg On the first try, everything looked great, the PRND321 and gauges all work fine, I found out there are some burnt out bulbs in the Halos which I will correct tomorrow. This was before I reprogrammed the EEPROM to reflect the correct mileage, the cluster only had just shy of 90,000 kms on it. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0071.jpg After re-programming the cluster, I decided to do some before and after shots. First, I replaced the original cluster and these is what it looks like: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...cceea6c_o.jpeg This is the BFM with the car off: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...d894df9_o.jpeg And finally, the BFM fully assembled and powered on! http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...03f9439_o.jpeg In the end, I am extremely happy. As you can see from the final picture, the Halo around the temp gauge is out, but I will sort that out shortly. The only other major issue I have found is that the tachometer is not accurate. This is due to the cluster coming from a 4 cylinder car, and since mine is a 6 cylinder, it shows that my RPMs are about 33% higher than they actually are. This is a minor annoyance since it is an automatic transmission car anyways. |
Well done.
Too much work for me thou. |
very nice, good info. You should consider making kits and selling them, i am sure plenty of members will purchase them
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It took quite some time for this post to get through the moderation queue for some reason. I have quite a bit more information to add to this, as it was an ongoing project that spanned a few months. I will be pasting in more information below.
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So, the 2723 bulb is the correct type for the Halo's. I originally bought some 24's, but they are too wide for the base. The 2723 type is a slightly different shape, but it lights up the halos to about the same brightness as the stock bulbs. I replaced all 6 just so that I do not have to worry about them again in the future.
The bulbs can be found here: http://www.bulbtown.com/2723_MINIATU...ASE_p/2723.htm This is the new and old side by side with the blue condom removed so you can see the shape difference. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...ceb70a8_o.jpeg This is the new, old with no condom, and old with it side by side in their holders. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...85134ea_o.jpeg http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0074.jpg I was unaware that the fuel gauge halo will blink when you are low on gas.. that was pretty slick! |
So, the dimming works pretty simply, it uses a standard voltage divider in the stalk.
C2 spits out 5v, and C4 is ground. C3 is an input that depending on the voltage coming back is the brightness.. the closer to 5v, the brighter. If you were to jumper C2 to C3, it would be at full brightness all of the time. If you leave it all floating, it is not quite full dark, but pretty close to it. I did a quick test with a 100 kiloohm potentiometer connecting C2 and C4 to the end points and C3 on the variable tap. I think for me personally, setting it to about 66% brightness would be a good setting, I will do this with a 10k and 22k resistor and put those directly on the harness connectors so that it is always that setting. |
Here is a nice little piece of information... It turns out that Mouser Electronics sells the connectors used on these clusters.. so we would no longer need to destroy the harness out of another car..
30 pin: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...6RD4UwjrUHA%3d 16 pin: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...Jv%252bQ%3d%3d 18 pin: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...f1JWRyHA%3d%3d 14 pin: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...dsEakOMg%3d%3d Pins: http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...IL-AG5-C1-5000 As for the sockets, for some reason they only have the 14pin socket available.. They have plenty of other configurations, but no 30, 16, or 18 pin versions, but I did shoot an email to Mouser to see if they are planning on carrying them. I am also looking at other vendors as well and I will update this when I find more information. EDIT: I found the sockets, all but the 30 are a "stocked but backordered" item. The 30pin is "non stocked" but orderable. 30 pin: http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...L-AG5-30P-D3L2 16 pin: http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...-ILAG516PD3L2A 14 pin: http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...-ILAG514PD3L2A |
So, as promised I will detail the dimming connections. Unfortunately, the documentation off the internet did not jive with what I was remembering from when I wired it up, so I pulled it out of the dash again tonight to verify it. It is a good thing too, because the parking light indicator burnt out the day after I put it in so I replaced that while I was in there.
I also decided to connect the "Power" indicator to the Cruise Set circuit, that way I have some sort of dash indicator for my cruise system again. I choose "Power" because it is green and sort of implies that while cruise is on.. it is "under power". Okay, but enough about that.. on to dimming. I originally based my information off of that found on azawd.org, but I found that to be backwards. There was a japanese fellow that did this same conversion using the service manuals as a reference with an 050 cluster, that found the same problem. On the multifunction stalk, there are 6 wires that come from the stalk and bridge to the connector, they are Black, Green, Brown, Red, Yellow, and White, in that order. The ones that we care about are the Black, Green, and Brown lines. Tap into these however you want.. I personally soldered 3 wires into one of the openings leading to the connectors, I felt that this was a good place to not interfere with the operation of the stalk and to not have to cut into the cars harness. This is a photo showing the stalk reassembled with my three-conductor cable leading out of it. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...26-48_29-1.jpg As noted on the photo, the Brown line connects to C2, Green to C3, and Black to C4. The document on azawd has the Brown and Black reversed, which causes the dimming function to be backwards where it is full bright when set to full dim. |
Okay, so as promised, here is the procedure to remove the pins on the harness connectors.
Pictured here is the 14 pin "C" connector that came with my BFM, I will use this for the tutorial. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...-57-58_880.jpg First, there are comb-like clips that rotate out of the back of the connector on each of the long sides, use a small flathead screwdriver, and pry them away. The back side will come away before the front edges will. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...-58-57_650.jpg There is one of these on each side, this photo shows them both open. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...-59-34_759.jpg Now you are halfway there.. If you look at the end of the connector, there are 4 rows of holes.. the two rows in the middle are the contacts themselves, the outer 2 rows give you access to the retention clips for each connector. Push a thick paperclip or very thin screwdriver into the outer hole that lines up with the wire you are trying to remove, that will release the clips and the wire should pull out. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...6fda0ac_o.jpeg Even with both clips released, it was still a little tough to pull the pins out.. Don't be prissy with it, give it a tug and it will come out. I was surprised how much pulling it would take and not break. |
I received the 2723 bulbs today, and finished replacing all of the bulbs in the 090. I took it apart to cover the k in km/h, and to dump the EEPROM for when I need to reprogram it.
Unfortunately, the 090 does not use the same type of EEPROM chip that the 84A, 020, or 030 uses. It uses a SOIC-8 "L56R" instead of a DIP-8 "93C56" chip, the only difference is that it is a surface mount part instead of a through hole part. This is not a big problem as my programer will write these too, however I do not want to pull the chip off now to put it back on, and then take it off when I go to actually program it. But, I am happy to have a functioning Cruise Light :) http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...-16-22_714.jpg |
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My circuit boards finally showed up! This is my final design for a USDM to JDM BFM adapter.
I created a layout for the JAE connectors for FreePCB, and laid out what wires go where. in order to connect to the wires needed for the female connectors, I decided to use DA-15s and DB-25 connectors as they are cheap and plentiful. This also allows the adapter to be reconfigured for any BFM, however the PCB is specific to the H6 version of the USDM car. I use oshpark.com (Formerly DorkbotPDX PCB service by Laen) for my circuit board fabrication, they do fantastic work and they use this cool purple color for the solder mask. All of his boards are in multiples of three so I now have enough to make an adapter for myself as well as for YamazakiSubaru. The connectors were ordered from Mouser further up this thread. But, enough of the talkie-talk.. heres the pictures! Empty PCB, Top: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0106.jpg Empty PCB, Bottom: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0107.jpg Populated with the USDM-side JAE connectors http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0108.jpg End shot of the JAE connectors: http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0109.jpg Fully assembled, includes DB and DA connectors, and a SVASpeedos.co.uk adapter mounted on the board. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0110.jpg |
Some photos of the progress today. I only have the B and C harnesses done, I will tackle the A harness after work tomorrow. In this process, I found an error on my PCB where I forgot to route a line for the second ignition pin on the B connector, however a quick jumper on the underside of the board fixed that for now. Oh well, if thats the only mistake on this board, I am happy with it. I believe on the 030, I do not even have that pin wired as it is, but I am running it for the sake of completion on this.
This is the C harness by itself. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0114.jpg This is the B and C harnesses connected to the adapter. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0115.jpg And this is the B and C harnesses connected to the adapter and the 090 cluster. http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0116.jpg |
The 5MT and 4EAT should not matter on the board side, as the only real difference is the presence of the PRND321 signals or not. At least that is the only real difference between the 15AE020 and 15AE030 Black faced clusters.
There are two different "revisions" of the BFM, one that has the clock on the right hand side and a single Trip counter, and the newer versions with the clock on the left and two trip counters. I believe that the 98-99 were the single trip, and the 2000-02 were the dual trip, but there may be some crossover in the 1999-2000 years. This is what I know so far from what I have seen, what pinouts I have found, and from sales on Yahoo Auctions Japan: 85015AE010 - 4EAT H4 Single Trip [BE5/BH5] 7k-redline 85015AE020 - 5MT H4 Single Trip 7k-redline 85015AE030 - 4EAT H4 Single Trip (Sportshift) 7k-redline 85015AE040 - 5MT H4 Dual Trip [RSK] 7.5k-redline 85015AE050 - 4EAT H4 Dual Trip (Sportshift) [BE5/BH5] 7k-redline 85015AE060 - 4EAT H4 Dual Trip 7k-redline 85015AE070 - 4EAT H4 Dual Trip [2001 B4] 6.5k-redline 85015AE080 - Dual Trip [unknown gearbox] 85015AE090 - 4EAT H6 Dual Trip 6.5k-redline 85015AE210 - 4EAT H4 Dual Trip 6.5k-redline 85015AE260 - 5MT H4 Dual Trip 6k-redline 85015AE270 - 4EAT H4 Dual Trip 6k-redline |
So, some actual progress today. My wife has a double ear infection, so I helped her after I got home from work until she went to sleep. Then I completed the "A" harness and tested the cluster.
The results! http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMAG0118.jpg I also discovered that it will fairly easily fit up behind the metal support back there but it was too dark to get any decent pictures of that. It is tight, and it needs to be assembled while in the car, but it does fit. I also suddenly remembered that I was going to put cardboard on the bottom of the board to keep it from shorting out.. as I was wiggling it around in there, I hit the ignition line to the body and I released the magical blue smoke. The cluster was not connected when I did this, and it is just one trace on the adapter board which is easily fixable.. Tomorrow, I am going to reprogram the cluster, finish the dimmer wiring, and finally mount the properly working 090 cluster in my car. Yay for an accurate tachometer, two trip meters, and a Cruise Set light! |
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