Description - RHD: Notes

The instrument cluster (2) for this vehicle is an Instrument Cluster that is located in the instrument panel above the steering column opening, directly in front of the driver. The remainder of the Cluster, including the mounts and the electrical connections, are concealed within the instrument panel below the cluster bezel (1). The instrument cluster for this vehicle also includes the hardware and software necessary to serve as the electronic body control module and is sometimes referred to as the Cab Compartment Node or (CCN).

Besides analog gauges and indicators, the CCN module incorporates a blue-green digital Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) unit for displaying odometer/trip odometer information, automatic transmission gear selector position (PRNDL), several warning or reminder indications and certain diagnostic information. A second optional VFD unit is available in some vehicles when they are equipped with the optional Compass Mini-Trip Computer (CMTC) or the optional Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC). The information displayed in these VFD units is driven by a dot matrix display. The odometer, gear selector indicator VFD unit and the optional CMTC VFD unit are fixed segment display units; while the optional EVIC VFD unit is a large reconfigurable display unit. The optional VFD units serve as the visual display for the compass, the outside temperature, the trip computer, the audio system settings as well as the user interface for the customer programmable features, numerous textual warning or reminder indicators and certain diagnostic information depending upon vehicle equipment.

The CCN gauges and indicators are visible through dedicated openings in the cluster bezel and are protected by a clear plastic cluster lens (3). Integral latch formations on the lens secure it to the cluster hood and mask unit as well as the cluster housing (2). Just behind the cluster lens is the cluster hood and integral mask, which is constructed of molded black plastic. The hood serves as a visor and shields the face of the cluster from ambient light and reflections to reduce glare, while the cluster mask serves to separate and define the individual gauges and trims the outside perimeter of the cluster overlay. The hood and mask unit has integral latch features that secure it to the outer perimeter of the cluster housing. The cluster hood and mask also has four integral mounting tabs, one on each upper and lower corner of the housing. The cluster is secured to the instrument panel support structure by screws through these mounting tabs.

The rear of the cluster housing and the CCN electronic circuitry are protected by a molded black plastic rear cover (1), which is also secured to the cluster housing by integral latch features. The rear cover includes clearance holes for the cluster connector receptacles. The connector receptacles on the back of the cluster electronic circuit board connect the CCN to the vehicle electrical system through dedicated take outs and connectors of the instrument panel wire harness.

Sandwiched between the rear cover and the lens and hood unit is the cluster housing. The molded white plastic cluster housing serves as the carrier for the cluster circuit board and circuitry, the cluster connector receptacles, the major and minor gauges, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) for each cluster indicator, the VFD display units, an audible tone transducer, the cluster overlay and the gauge pointers. On the Dodge base cluster there are also several LED units for general cluster illumination, while the Dodge premium and all Chrysler clusters use an electro-luminescent lamp unit for general cluster illumination. A standard equipment molded black plastic odometer/trip odometer switch button extends from the face of the cluster housing through dedicated holes in the cluster mask and the cluster lens adjacent to the odometer VFD unit. Two additional switch buttons extend from the face of the cluster on either side of the CMTC display unit on vehicles that are so equipped.

The cluster overlay is a laminated plastic unit. The visible, outer surface of the overlay is marked with all of the gauge dial faces and graduations, but this layer is also translucent. This outer layer prevents the cluster from appearing cluttered or busy by concealing the cluster indicators that are not illuminated, while the translucence of this layer allows those indicators and icons that are illuminated to be readily visible. The underlying layer of the overlay is opaque and allows light from the LED for each of the various indicators and, on vehicles so equipped, the LED general illumination lamps behind it to be visible through the outer layer of the overlay through predetermined stencil-like cutouts. On vehicles with electro-luminescent general illumination, the field of the gauges is illuminated and the gauge markings are silhouetted against the illuminated background. An opening in the overlay at the base of the gauge dial face on the right side of the cluster has a smoked clear lens through which the illuminated odometer VFD unit can be viewed. Likewise, on vehicles equipped with the optional CMTC or EVIC, an opening in the overlay at the base of the gauge dial face on the left side of the cluster has a smoked clear lens through which that illuminated VFD unit can be viewed.

Several versions of the CCN module are offered on this vehicle. These versions accommodate not only the different car lines, but also all of the variations of optional equipment and regulatory requirements for the various markets in which the vehicle is offered. The microprocessor-based CCN utilizes integrated circuitry and information carried on the Controller Area Network (CAN) data bus and the Local Interface Network (LIN) data bus along with several hard wired analog and multiplexed inputs to monitor sensors and switches throughout the vehicle. In response to those inputs, the internal circuitry and programming of the CCN allow it to control and integrate many electronic functions and features of the vehicle through both hard wired outputs and the transmission of electronic message outputs to other electronic modules in the vehicle over the CAN and LIN data busses. Refer to COMMUNICATION, DESCRIPTION .

The CCN module for this vehicle is serviced only as a complete unit. The CCN module cannot be adjusted or repaired. If a gauge, an LED unit, a VFD unit, the electronic circuit board, the circuit board hardware, the cluster overlay, the electro-luminescent lamp or the cluster housing are damaged or ineffective, the entire CCN module must be replaced. Some of the components for the instrument cluster used in this vehicle are serviced individually. The cluster lens and the mask unit are serviced as a one piece assembly on the Dodge version, and on the Chrysler vehicles, the lens can be serviced separately.