SERIES II VACUUM FLUORESCENT DIGITAL DASHBOARD The latest in digital dashboard technology for the street rodder, car, and truck enthusiast. INSTALLATION AND OPERATION MANUAL Please read this before beginning installation or wiring. MODELS STR3D, STR4D, STR5D, & STR6D 3421 W. Hovland Ave.
Thank you for purchasing the Vacuum Fluorescent Digital Dashboard from DAKOTA DIGITAL, the leader in custom automotive electronics. Representing the latest electronics dashboard technology for the street rodder, car, and truck enthusiast alike, the digital instrumentation uses state of the art vacuum fluorescent display technology to give the driver up to date and accurate information on the operation of his or her vehicle.
WARNING The vacuum fluorescent displays are made of glass and should be handled with care. Use extreme care around the glass evacuation tubes (small tubes at the bottom of each display) as bumping them may cause breakage and render the display useless. MOUNTING DISPLAY SYSTEMS WITH SUBPANELS When mounting instrumentation systems mounted to a Lexan subpanel, begin by removing the subpanel from the aluminum. Cut an opening in the dash just smaller than the outer dimensions of the aluminum panel.
MOUNTING KITS INTO ORIGINAL DASHES When installing the display system into the original bezel, several steps must be taken to prepare the bezel. The first is to remove the cluster from the dashboard and all instrumentation from the bezel. You should essentially be left with a bare chrome or metal bezel. Remove all felt inserts from the back side of the bezel that sit between the lens and the chrome. 55-56 Chevy car chrome bezel shown with lens and display opening outlines.
Wiring the control box into the vehicle. +12V Connect the +12V terminal to accessory power from the fuse panel or vehicle wiring harness. This terminal should have power when the key is on or in accessory position. In addition to powering the display system, this is also where the voltmeter gauge senses the vehicle electrical system voltage. Use 20 AWG or larger wire to ensure the system gets good power. Never connect this to a battery charger alone. It needs to have a 12 volt battery connected to it.
SPEED The vehicle speed sensor (VSS) connects to this to tell the system how fast the vehicle is moving. For two wire speed sensors, like the one Dakota Digital supplies with this system, the polarity of the wires does not matter. Connect one wire to ground and the other to the speed terminal. The speed sensor ground wire should be brought back to the control box to ensure a proper signal is received.
A single wire should be run from the terminal on top of the water sender to the control box terminal marked WATER. If your wiring harness already has a wire routed through the vehicle for the water temperature then it may be used. Do not route the water sender wire along side a spark plug wire or other high current or high voltage wires. Doing so can cause incorrect or erratic gauge readings.
A single wire should be run from the fuel sender to the control box terminal marked FUEL. If your wiring harness already has a wire routed through the vehicle for the fuel sender then it may be used. If using a wire from an existing harness, make sure that the wire does not have power. The fuel sender gets power from the control box only. Fuel senders get their ground from the sender mounting plate. Make sure that a ground wire is connected from one of the sender mounting bolts to the vehicle frame.
BRAKE The BRAKE terminal can be used as a brake system warning indicator. The BRAKE input is activated by a ground signal from the brake pressure switch on the master cylinder or from the parking brake set switch. Connect a wire from this terminal to the pressure switch on the master cylinder or consult a vehicle service manual to determine color and location of an existing wire. Whenever the BRAKE input is grounded the system will flash a “b” to the right of the speedometer.
MPH/KPH The MPH/KPH terminal is activated by a 12 volt signal from a push button or toggle switch(not supplied). When the display system is in English mode (MPH & °F) by placing DIP programming switch #7 off, applying 12 volts to this terminal will convert the speed reading from MPH to KPH. The odometer will continue to accumulate miles correctly, but will display dashes. The bar speed display, if present, will not be affected.
Insert cable with red stripe to right side. Optional display power connector found on some systems.
Setting up the control box SPEEDOMETER CALIBRATION The speedometer calibration is done using the TRIP and RESET switches. There are two different ways to calibrate the speedometer. The first method control box uses an auto-cal mode where you drive one mile (1 km for metric) and the system automatically adjusts the speedometer calibration. The second method allows you to adjust the speedometer up or down as you drive. To enter the auto-calibration mode, begin with the key off.
TACHOMETER DIP SWITCH SETTINGS The control box will work with 4, 6, 8, and 10 cylinder ignition systems. The DIP programming switches are located inside the control box, so the cover must be carefully removed to get access to the switches. Make sure the key is turned off before opening up the control box so that there is no power to the system. The switches numbers 5 and 6 select the number of engine cylinders.
GAUGE WARNING FEATURE The gauges have the built in feature to alert you when they are outside their normal operation range. The fuel display will flash whenever the fuel level is below 10% to indicate low fuel. The voltage gauge will flash whenever the system voltage is below 11.0 volts and the engine is running. The water gauge will flash whenever the temperature is higher than the water warning set point.
WIRE COLOR CODE FOR GM WIRING HARNESS On the connector that originally plugged into the instrument cluster: Function Color ------------------------------------------------------------------+12 volt Pink/Black or Pink Ground Black Oil sender Tan or no wire if mechanical Water sender Dark green Fuel sender Pink or light brown (should not have power) Left turn Light blue Right turn Dark blue High beam Light green Brake warn Tan/white or tan WARRANTY All DAKOTA DIGITAL instruments are warranted free of defects
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE This is a list of some problems and their solutions which may be encountered when installing your instrumentation system. If you cannot determine what the problem is or how to solve it, please call our technical assistance line (605) 332-6513 or email to dakotasupport@dakotadigital.com. * A note on vehicle grounding. * The most common cause of problems with electric gauges is poor ground connections. The engine block has the highest ground currents of any point in the vehicle.
Symptom Possible Problem Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The tachometer reading The tachometer signal wire is Check the connections at both is incorrect. loose or broken. ends of the wire. The control box is not set up for Refer to the Internal Adjustments the proper number of cylinders section of the installation manual or the proper tach range. to set the control box properly.
Symptom Possible Problem Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The fuel display reads backwards, incorrectly, or does not change. The control box may be set for the wrong type of fuel sender. The fuel sender may not be connected to the control box properly. The fuel sender may not be operating properly. The fuel sender may have a non-standard resistance range.
Symptom Possible Problem Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The gear shift indicator The optional gear shift sending Connect the sending unit to the does not light up. unit is not connected to the control box using the control box. instructions supplied with the sending unit. The gear shift indicator does not operate properly. The gear shift sending unit is not connected properly.
CLOCK Wiring instructions for VFD systems with a clock built in. Introduction: The clock displays the current time in 12 hour format with an AM/PM indicator. The AM/PM indicator appears as a dot that will be displayed in the upper left corner. The dot will be on every other 12 hour period (on during AM and off during PM). The high brightness display matches our other Odyssey and STR series gauges and has the same night brightness dimming capability. Features included are: • Quartz accuracy.
