After several months of data collection, I have consolidated all of my information into a few "Final" documents covering all variations of the Black Faced Meter. I will leave the historical discussion below for those who are interested in the process, but I am putting the information I have here at the top.
The BFMs basically fall into a couple of categories. This is the list of the overall categories and the part numbers that I have confirmed for them.
This is not a complete list, there are other part numbers for D-type but I have not yet confirmed them all.Code:A/B Type Automatic Transmission 85015AE010 C Type Manual Transmission 85015AE020 C Type Sportshift Transmission 85015AE030 C Type Automatic Transmission 85015AE220 D Type Manual Transmission 85015AE040, 85015AE260 D Type Automatic Transmission 85015AE070, 85015AE210, 85015AE270 D Type Sportshift Transmission 85015AE050, 85015AE060 D Type Automatic Transmission for H6 85015AE080, 85015AE090 D Type Automatic Transmission for H6 (UK Market) 85015AE110, 85015AE111 (counts in Miles and km/h) D Type Automatic Transmission for H6 (LHD Market) 85015AE100 (counts in km/h, but is shaped for LHD) D Type Manual Transmission STI ST8500066030, 85015AE240 (S401 version) D Type Automatic Transmission STI ST8500066040 D Type Sportshift Transmission STI ST8500066050
Between the various categories, there are two "versions", A~C type and D type. All A~C type clusters share the same wiring, and all D type clusters share as well. Other than the wiring differences between the types, there are differences with the face as well.
The A~C type has one resettable Trip meter and is shared with the Odometer on the left side of the cluster.
The D type has two resettable Trip meters and they are separate from the Odometer on the right side of the cluster.
Both types feature a clock, however the position of it is on the Right for A~C type, and on the left for the D type. No BFM cluster has an ambient temperature display, so you will lose that function unless you have an H6 car.
These are the final pinouts for each type of BFM.
A~C Types:
D Type:
All USDM/CDM cars share the same wiring.
For those who are interested in using, or are changing from a JDM Non-Black face meter, these are the pinouts for those:
A~C Type, Non-BFM:
D Type, Non-BFM:
The connectors are available within the US and Canada from Mouser Electronics. All three sockets needed and all four plugs needed are available from them. To build an adapter, you will need the 30, 16, and 14 pin sockets for the US side, and 30, 16, and 14 or 18 pin plug for the Japanese side. A~C types need the 14 pin plug for its C connector, and the D type needs the 18 pin plug.
Originally Posted by Mouser Electronics
There are also a few special versions of the black faced cluster. There are the D type STI meters (240km max speed), and a few different standard clusters modified by Tommy Kaira with a Digital Speedometer module.
This is a D-type STI meter:
This is a C-type 85015AE020 cluster modified by Tommy Kaira:
This is a D-type UK Market H6 cluster, which counts in Miles, with a secondary km/h scale:
All of these special clusters share the same pinouts as their "normal" BFM brothers, so they do not need any additional information here.
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I have a 2004 Outback H6 Sedan without VDC that I have been slowly doing various modifications to. Over this past weekend, I planned out and installed a JDM BFM cluster. I decided to make an adapter harness, so that I can put the original cluster back in if the need ever came up.
My car came stock with the 85014AE84A cluster, which is a fairly specific cluster for this model. I bought a 85015AE030 cluster that apparently came from a 2000 Legacy GT-B E-tune. This past saturday I visited a local junkyard to grab another 14AE84A they had on a shelf, and as much of the wiring harness as I could get out of a wrecked 2002 Legacy. I would use the cluster for its connectors as well as any bulbs and as a guinea pig for odometer adjustment. The BFM itself came with a small bit of the harness attached, but the wires were too short to do anything with, so I moved the wires around on the Legacy harness to match the JDM colors. This is what I ended up with..
After carefully testing each and every pin on the BFM, I mapped out what their functions and came up with this chart:
*Removed for update above*
This was followed by mapping out the wiring for the USDM cluster, which is as such:
*Removed for update above*
On Sunday, I began constructing the harness and I implemented a speedometer converter to bring the VSS signal down to have the km/h Speedometer read in MPH instead. This would ensure that the odometer would also register miles. I did not connect anything to the Illumination control, as I figured I would just rely on the headlight dimming for brightness control, but I may go back and put that in as it seems to dim on its own after a few minutes when those inputs are left floating. After a few hours, the harness was complete:
After fitting the harness and taping it up for neatness, it seems to fit quite well.
I removed a portion of the plastic behind the cluster so that the CCFL inverter would fit properly, and attached the adapter harness. In the end, I did not use this hole in the metal support as it was pinching some of the 'B' connector wires, so they are instead just routed behind the metal brace now.
On the first try, everything looked great, the PRND321 and gauges all work fine, I found out there are some burnt out bulbs in the Halos which I will correct tomorrow. This was before I reprogrammed the EEPROM to reflect the correct mileage, the cluster only had just shy of 90,000 kms on it.
After re-programming the cluster, I decided to do some before and after shots. First, I replaced the original cluster and these is what it looks like:
This is the BFM with the car off:
And finally, the BFM fully assembled and powered on!
In the end, I am extremely happy. As you can see from the final picture, the Halo around the temp gauge is out, but I will sort that out shortly. The only other major issue I have found is that the tachometer is not accurate. This is due to the cluster coming from a 4 cylinder car, and since mine is a 6 cylinder, it shows that my RPMs are about 33% higher than they actually are. This is a minor annoyance since it is an automatic transmission car anyways.
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