Any1 No how to fit a Digi into a mk1 GTE dash?

[laurens GTE]

I have my digi dash all wired up and working but we cant get it to fit in wiv hav proper hacked at my dash luckly have a spare one so, Didn't no if any one new away around it while we have the spare dash out?

Thanks lauren

[loggyboy]

pasted from the old nova-land.com guide

Items Needed for Job :
Digital dashboard from Astra GTE Mk2 8v or 16v
Both plugs (white and black) and Astra loom (get about 10" of wire from both plugs)
Astra GTE Mk2 gearbox speed sender (make sure this works as they fail easily)
A clock surround from a MK2 cavalier complete with screws.
An old (or new) bicycle inner tube.
A tube of superglue.
A good quality screwdriver to use for the connector blocks (draper)
Wire cutters
Wire stripper
Another 2 larger screwdrivers (Phillips and flat blade)
A voltage meter
An adjustable spanner
A decent electrical soldering iron
Some electrical solder
Some electrical tape
Some heat shrink plastic (optional)

Before You Start :

Read ALL of this guide before even attempting to start. Also a Haynes manual is handy
Before you begin to fiddle around with the electrics ALWAYS disconnect the battery !!
Fitting an Astra GTE digi dash is quite hard and very time consuming. This guide is based on me fitting an 8V dash into my Nova GTE 1988 F-reg. The wiring diagram may differ from car to car, the wiring is slightly different for the 8V compared to the 16V. Fitting this dash in a MK1 take a lot of guts and a good understanding of what you are doing.
The visual difference in the 8V dash and the 16V dash is the tachometer. Most people prefer the 8V dash. The 8V dash's tachometer has a power curve for the revs, peaking at 5000rpm and finishing at 7000rpm. The 8V dash sometimes has a red blip at the 7000rpm mark. The 16V dash has an arc for the tacho with no red blip.
If you are having trouble with your digital dash and need a bit of advice see the bottom of the guide for troubleshooting.
If you want to buy a digital dash but don't knwo what to look for then see the bottom of the guide for helpful hints and tips.

Time To Go For It :

1. The only real way this mod can really get messed up is if you do not make a diagram of the wiring from both the cars loom and the Astra dash loom. Remember that your nova's wiring may be slightly different from my nova's wiring.

Removing The Old Dash
2. To make access to the dash and the wires a lot easier u can remove the steering wheel.
Remove the dash by separating the lower part of the dash from the surround, there should be two clips holding the dash back. Carefully pull the dash out as far as it will go and reach behind the dash for the speedo cable. Find the lever, which holds the cable in and push it, the speedo cable should come off. Now you can pull the dash out further, find the black plug and push the two catches, which hold the black plug in place. The black plug can then be removed.

Rewiring The Nova Loom
3. Now CUT off the nova black plug, but leave some length of cable on the plug just in case you cannot fit the digi dash. Strip all wires on all plugs.
Here is the wiring diagram that I used when wiring the dash.
There is a wire that is black like the live wires on the black plug (see diagram), but is the trailer warning. Do not use this wire unless it is wired for another purpose (like wiring to boot light for loose boot warning).
Wire the left and right indicator wires into the indicator stalks, not into the wires from the old dash (see diagram). Don't worry if you have not wired the speedo cable up yet, it is covered further down the guide.
Connect all wires using the soldering iron and solder. Doing each wire one at a time. Remember that if you are using heat shrink plastic to put the length on before soldering the two wires to together otherwise just use electrical tape.
If you have followed everything then the dash is wired up. Check that all the wires are secure by giving them a little tug. Place the dash on the shroud and turn the ignition on. The dash should light up and begin a self-checking sequence. If everything is working check all functions of the dash (Indicators, handbrake light, main beam), when checking the headlights remember that the dash is lit all the time, a symbol of a light bulb should appear to indicate the headlamps are on.

Fitting The Digital Dash Speed Sender
4. You need to be under the bonnet for this stage and is a lot easier with a second person.
i) Remove the rubber grommet from the bulkhead and pull the old speedo cable through the hole in the bulkhead.
ii) Use a spanner to turn the old speedo sender off the gearbox. Screw the digital speedo sender in its place and do it up using you hands.
iii) Remove the rubber grommet from the old cable and attach to new cable (make sure the grommet faces the right way).
iv) Feed the cable through the bulkhead and up to the digital dash.
v) Put the grommet back on the bulkhead.
Now connect the wires from the speedo cable to the dash as shown in the previous diagram.

Test Drive
5. Place the dash on the shroud and replace the steering wheel. The dash will foul the stalks but it only a test run. Get the car moving and see if the speedo panel reads correctly (the speedo panel will only register speeds over 5mph). If you are happy the speedo reads correctly and everything else works then here comes the hard bit.

Final Stage - Modifying The Dash
6. This stage contains step-by-step pictures, as this section must be understood fully before proceeding.
This stage is going to put a lot of people off because from now on there is NO turning back.
Basically to fit the digital dash correctly the dash surround must be cut to allow the Cavalier MK2 dash surround to fit flush with the facia.
The digital dash is wider at the top and the same width at the bottom. You will notice that the Cavalier surround fits perfectly on the front of the digital dash.
Right then when you take out the original dash there will be a rectangular hole that is boxed in.
In the first picture there are a few red lines, indicating where you have to
make the first incisions (everything on the left should be done on the right
as well). So just cut along the lines.
Cut out the two sides so that the top piece can be bent up a bit. There may be a bit of plastic above the top of the dash, mine had this. This may have to be removed also.
In the second picture all of the red indicates what you've just hacked out of
the dash. The yellow represents what you have to cut out next.
The last picture shows all the cut out bits red again and the bottom lip in
Yellow, which is where roughly 1/2 cm has to be cut off all along. This for the cavalier's two bottom clips to latch onto.

The top corners of the surround will probably catch on the corners of the flap so you have to indent the plastic flap at either edge.
Keep trial fitting the surround until you get enough off the corners. A
small amount of plastic will have to be removed for aesthetics on the top
right hand side of the surround.
There will probably be a few little bits extra you will have to remove. So
just keep trial fitting the surround until you get it right.
7. Once you are happy with the cavalier surround fitting correctly you will need to see if the digital dash will fit in correctly in the facia with the cavalier surround in place. Sometimes you get lucky and it will fit. Other times you will find that the digital dash's left side catches on the heater conduit to the left of the surround. To remedy this problem a small square hole must be cut into the conduit so the digital dash fits into it. Measure as best you can and use a suitable tool (I used a soldering iron to burn my way through the conduit).
Once the hole has been made and the digital dash fits correctly, then get a bit of an old bicycle inner tube, cut a square out and superglue it over the hole in the conduit. This means that air can still pass through but the digital dash fits also.
There are two screws that came from the top of the cavalier surround (right?!). Use a power drill or similar to drill two holes in the top of the nova facia for the cavalier surround to screw onto. Make sure the holes are smaller than the screws so the screws can grip the facia.
All finished!! Plug the dash in and fit everything in place. Drive for a few hours and just stare at the dash with pride, just remember to look at the road from time to time ;)
Why not have a look at the 'Changing the colour your digital dash emits (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ben.copeland/Mods%20Page.htm)', this will really make your dash a different one!

[loggyboy]

Troubleshooting:
Here are a few hints and tips if you are having problems with your digital dash.
Problem:
Everything is installed, when I drive the speedo reads an incorrect speed or double speed.
Solution:
The digital dash was originally intended for the Astra. There were two versions of the astra were the digi dash was used, the 2.0 8V and the 2.0 16V. These two variants had different wheel sizes and therefore different diameters. To cope with this Vauxhall put a small RED switch located on the top of the digi dash. It has two positions (1 & 2), most Novas use position 1 so make sure the switch is in that position.
Problem:
Everything is installed, when the power is on the dash does not light up, if I look very closely you can see the dash is on.
Solution:
This is the bulbs, there are two 5 Watt Halogen bulbs that light up the dash. These are delicate and tend to fail easily. You can get some more from your local Vauxhall garage. They are pretty expensive at ?2.50 each.
Problem:
Everything is installed, when I drive at a constant speed the speedo reads one speed and then a totally different one, and then another and so on.....
Solution:
Most likely a faulty transducer, but don't panic sometimes of you do the transducer up too tight it can malfunction. Remove the transducer and make sure the spindle inside is free to rotate then replace the unit. If the problem persists then you may have to replace the transducer. These are very expensive from a Vauxhall garage costing as much as ?90 for a replacement. I suggest trying second hand places like Nova Trader.
Problem:
When I turn the headlights on the car the digi dash lights go out and I cannot see the dash at all.
Solution:
The digi dash is designed to dim the dash lights when the car lights are turned on to reduce glare. There is a small relay on the main board which is for this (you should hear a 'click' from the unit when you turn the lights on). Sometimes the relay breaks or something else does. The only solution I can suggest it to disconnect the Grey/green wires on the back of the white plug. This fools the dash into thinking the car lights are never on.
If you are still having problems that the troubleshooting section does not cover then contact me (webferrit@ntlworld.com).

Buying a second hand digital dash - what to look for:
When buying a second hand Digital dash there are a few things to remember to stop you getting in trouble later on.
1. NEVER, NEVER, ever buy a incomplete digital dash. Never believe someone when they say the missing parts are easy to get hold of. Because they are not.
When buying a digi dash make sure it comes with the following items:
Main unit
Gearbox transducer and its small black plug with at least 5" of wire on it
The Large Black and large white plugs that connect to the back of the digi
dash with at least 5" of loom on them

2. When looking at the dash make sure its in good condition, look at the glass at the front, is it clean and relatively scratch free??
Look at the rear at the flexible circuit board, is it clean with no rips or burns??
Look at the gearbox transducer, is the spindle free to rotate??
Check all the wire, is it free from burns??
Some of these are acceptable, like the screen may have a few scratches on it, but use this to beat the price down a bit.
3. If possible ask for a demonstration, this can usually only be done if you are meeting the seller at his house and he is breaking the car you are getting the dash from.
If the following sections have been passed then its a good dash.

[Earl Grey]

Great guide thanks! have you still got pics? I'm fine with the electricals, just knowing how much I will need to chop up my dash would be a massive help :)

[peester]

no one knows any measurements it seems.. i did it by fillering/joining mk2 astra gte clock surround into mk1 nova dash clock surround, if it makes sense - i could do this because i was going to paint it/flock it after, thus hiding all the work.

[Earl Grey]

Hey Peester I saw you'd done it in your project thread too - looks really tidy, nice one!

I'm planning to re-trim a mk1 dash in suede fabric so I might just make up some kind of fibrglass thing. Though thats in the future, in the mean-time I just want to put it into the dash I have without having loads of exposed chopped up dash etc. If you know what I mean...

Looks like I'll just have to experiment as I go and get chopping ;)

[peester]

yep.. you could try find a can of speckled/textured grey paint to go over your work after, hiding it..

[salmadil]

Hi boss it seems like you have good knowledge about this car,,,i have recently bought a nova which has got an 16v redtop engine with quite nice gearrboz and its got gte dash...is there anyway i can fiind out what car isit from secondly sir main problem is that i have the gte electronic dash... everything else on the dash is working apart from the speed thing...amd apparently my mecahnic who has charged me a fortune to check evrything is wired up properly is sayin he has no clue so if you have anything in ur mind which can help ill be gratefull coz i seriously need to know what spped i am going becoz it is really fast but knowing what you doing is much more fun

[novatracker]

that sounds like a problem with the gearbox sender am sure there is a way of checking them with a multimeter.