Dash swap

[Smokey]

ok...how about just the same functions as the ZS. ie. putting in Focus dials and making the warning lights and dials work? Still an ultimately difficult task?

[Smokey]

Pete, was thinking about Scanguage which has mpg etc....can the info this displays not be farmed out to the display built in to the dash?

[KevG]

You still wont get it to work, the ECU's in the ZS dont have anywhere near the sensor inputs/outputs to do this, the Focus speedo head etc needs the various ECU's to work, just like the Rover 75/MG ZT, the speedo information was held in the light control module, so if the instrument pack went faulty the dealer had to recover the stored info from the light module before re-programming the instrument pack, it isnt just a simple plug'n'play system like a PC, lots of different perimeters are required.

The Mk5 Astra for example, if a breaker is selling bits from it he includes the ECU/Instrument Pack/Keys/looms etc.

[petet16]

Originally Posted by Smokey

Pete, was thinking about Scanguage which has mpg etc....can the info this displays not be farmed out to the display built in to the dash?

tbh I don't know the answer to that question.

[Smokey]

So essentially if you did a full dash conversion, you'd need to keep the dials the same!

May look at scanguage fitment into the instrument area too then!

[petet16]

It would be easier to keep the dials I think, it may be possible to swap dials if you have a wiring diagram from the donor car, but you are then into calibrating them to the zs, and also trying to work out how much of the info could be displayed.

[talkingcars]

Someone on .org was building a scanguge type device but I don't know what happened in the end.

There is no reason why someone clever couldn't use the OBD2 data to knock togeather some sort of reader that can provide the info you want.

Again it should be possible to create a hybrid dash using the speedo drive and mileometer from the ZS in a "modern dash".

[daytona365]

Originally Posted by KevG

Totally and utterly pointless mod to do.

Lets put it this way, most if not all new cars today work on a CANBUS system, in which all the ECU's in the car talk to each other, it isnt as simple as reprogramming the ECU to make it work, apart from the other sensors etc, you will need access to the electronic diagnostic equipment in which to see what problems and why the all various ECU's arent working.

More hassle than the MGZS is worth mate, even for bespoke dash/instrument build.

I second that. Its almost impossibile to swap fascias/dials from one Ford to another these days, let alone to an older and different make.

[Maxxed_Ross]

get one like mine and blend it into the cluster housing



it's a fully changeable TFT screen, so technically you could make it display anything!

[Smokey]

Considered that Ross but only if you could have it display as dials like lambos etc