Hi everyone. I have a Cavalier z22 1994 that i'm fixing up a bit, and i want to have a RPM gauge in my dashboard. So i went to a local junkyard where we can dismantle the parts ourselves and i got a cluster from a z24 of the same model. I put it in but... i seem to be having some trouble.

1. The check engine light comes on, after running for a few seconds. Does not happen with the standard cluster.

2. The RPM gauge seems to be off.... It's at 750 when idling, which i believe is right for a manual 2.2l, but when i rev the engine, it dosen't seem to raise high enough... and by that i mean that i stopped revving cause i tought the engine was running pretty damm high and the RPM only indicated 3000... Could this be because It's not compatible? Or is it simply that the RPM gauge itself might be defective? Or me that's an idiot?

Anyways, i'd appreciate all the help you guys could give me... I really don't want to have to buy an oem gauge if i can have it in the cluster. Thks.

 

So your original 2.2 did not have a tachometer at all? What then did you connect the tach from the z24 gauge cluster to? It probably is a working gauge but it probably reads wrong because the two engines(22 24) have different specs. I also have a 97 cavalier but i dont drive it anymore, but i always hated the absent tachometer too.

 

It did not have a tachometer... however, the back connectors for the cavalier of those years is a simple plug and play type. What i mean by that is that there is no wires. Instead, it's sort of like the copper connectors you find on a computer video card. Simply insert it into the female part and voila. The back connectors for both models are identical, but it's inside that the connectors go to a different place. So I "think" it should work but either:

A: The z24 cluster dosen't calculate right and it needs adjusting or simply won't ever work right or..

B: The unit is damaged somewhat and need replacing.

I figure i can contact a chevrolet dealership or something like that and ask them if i can make it work or not. Tho i don't know if they'll have the answer or not. So i'm still hoping someone somewhere can help me.

 

It could be that the part is malfunctioning but in that case, what condition was the car in that you pulled it off of? A poor-reading tach would be a pretty big annoyance, especially in a manual car, so youd think if it was defective before the car was salvaged the problem would be resolved. On the other hand it could be damaged from someone before you ripping out dash components like a savage but id say more likely than not, its just miscalculating. If its only a few bucks, maybe try picking up a tach from the same year cav as yours, only from a 2.2 and see how it works? Good luck, did you figure out the check engine yet?