Need some advice on gage cluster

[Nevin W]

I bought my car off of a Romanian and when I bought it the guy in the ad claimed the car was 1 year newer and had 10,000 less kilometers on it. I didn't really think anything of it and because the car was such a good deal I bought it on the spot. Well I also was told by him in the ad that it had abs brakes and perfect AC. I tested both if these in the summer and little did I fins out, he lied to me. I once again dismissed it but was a little more weary about it. Recently I took my car to a shop after realizing my check engine light is out and has been out since I bougt the car and they read off a code saying my gas guage is wonky. Well it has been like that sinse I bought the car so now I'm a bit mad. So I take out the gauge cluster and the first thong I notice is that the cluster is from a junkyard (I know because it has the writing on it) and the check engine light was just taken out before selling the car so it wouldn't illuminate. Ye also never told me that the car was bought from the states and I didn't think anything of it because it had a Canadian cluster. So now I have a car with an unown amount of Kilometers on it. I am thinking that because my gas guage is screwed on he cluster that I would get a new cluster with a tach and working gas gauge. So my question is finally, should I buy an American cluster with close to the same miles and then it wont look suspicious if people see that it is imported from the states or should I get a Canadian one and hope they don't notice??? I'm kinda confused as to what to do. I still have he transfer papers so I have the guys name and I'm going to report him to the DMV today. But any thoughts on the guage cluster would be much appreciated!

Nevin

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[pyroinsa]

My cluster has writing on the back too but it's not from a junkyard. I bought my car brand new. What's the difference between Canada clusters and the ones here in the U.S.? How do you know that your mileage is not correct? Did the shop that you took it to use the word "wonky" as proper diagnosis? If they did, I would get a second opinion.

[flyboyike]

Get a Japanese one to really mess with people.

[crazy_urn]

My gauge cluster is from a junkyard. bought it myself. really not that big of a deal, except that it will show the milage from the cluster, not the car itself. my cluster milage is about 3k higher than my actual milage.

You should be able to take it to the dealer and reflash the milage on the gauge cluster so it reads correctly. They should be able to tell the actual milage of the car from the ECU. then you can tell if the seller misrepresented the milage of the car. Of course, proving he did so intentionally may be another issue entirely....

[Nevin W]

It has writing say I that it is from a Focus and stuff in yellow marker. The difference between American and Canadian clusters are that Canadian clusters have kilometers as the big numbers and miles for the small numbers. The odometer also reads in km as well. I was the one who said it was wonky because it is. The gas gauge does not go past the 3/4 mark and goes far below the zero line to the point that the needle stops moving and about 30 miles later the gas light comes on. It is just junk. I think the mileage is off because the cluster is from a junkyard, he took the check engine light out of its socket so it would not illuminate and it is for sure not the original cluster being my car is from the states and has a Canadian cluster in it.

Nevin

[Nevin W]

Is the dealer the only one who will be able to tell what the real mileage is? Or can I get a shop with a reader that plugs into the port under the dash to do it?

Nevin