so ive been wanting to swap my cluster out of my 96 cavalier 5spd because it doesnt come with a tach, and i actually got a cluster out of a 96 sunfire (because they look better, i think) will i have to rewire the harness to make it fit right or is it just plug and play?

You will have to rewire the harness, because they use different plugs, and it will not physicaly fit the same.
They are wider than the Cavalier clusters in the 95-99's.

so do i use the cav harness and just wire it into the sunfire cluster?

You need to put the Sunfire connector on the Cavalier harness. They're completely different connectors.

Also, like I said, the cluster will not physically fit right into your dash. The bottom posts are wider apart, the lens is a little taller, and the mounting tabs are completely different.

right, i seemed to have missed that part before i went and took my whole dash apart. i dont know where i saw that a sunfire cluster will fit in a cav. so i guess that meens my only option is a z24 cluster?

2000 and above are direct swappable. Same dimensions, same plug. I have a Sunfire cluster in my 2000 Cavalier right now. 99 and below doesn't work like that, though.


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2000 Cavalier Coupe, 138k miles, 2.2 Auto, Silver (alive)
1999 Cavalier Sedan, 237k miles, 2.2 Auto, White (dead)

can i use any cluster from a 95-99 cav? like a z24 or an rs?

If you're swapping it into a '95, you MUST use another '95 cluster (LS/RS/Base/Vert doesn't matter), but since you have a Cavalier, it must be from another Cavalier. '96-'99 Cavalier clusters are completely interchangeable, but you must physically swap the odometer over.


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2000 Cavalier Coupe, 138k miles, 2.2 Auto, Silver (alive)
1999 Cavalier Sedan, 237k miles, 2.2 Auto, White (dead)

Anduril wrote:If you're swapping it into a '95, you MUST use another '95 cluster (LS/RS/Base/Vert doesn't matter), but since you have a Cavalier, it must be from another Cavalier. '96-'99 Cavalier clusters are completely interchangeable, but you must physically swap the odometer over.

Not true. If you have a 95, you can swap in anything up to a 98 for sure (I've done it). Not sure on the 99's though, still haven't tested that theory (digital odometer in those, but I believe they connect to the PCB the same as the mechanical).

You can not swap a 95 cluster into a 96+ car though. The difference is that the 95's don't have the passlock. Since the car doesn't need it, putting a cluster in that has it is inconsequential, but if you put a cluster in that doesn't have it, and the car is looking for it, the car won't start. In a 95, you can put any Cavalier cluster from 95-98 in and it will work just fine.

^^^my 98 has a digital odometer

CrAzY Z24 wrote:^^^my 98 has a digital odometer

You must have a late production item. There are some 98's that got the digital, but most of them got the mechanical.

That's actually why I'm thinking that they can be swapped. Since the 99's still keep the mileage in the cluster, I'm guessing that the memory for it is actually part of the odometer module itself, and I doubt GM would make an entire new circuit board for one year, so I'm thinking that it just plugs into the PCB the same as the mechanical one. I need to get my hands on a cluster to tear apart.