Alright folks.

I'm sure this has been discussed before but as my topic suggests i'm getting ready to purchase an ST instrument cluster (with the longer and larger LCD B) ).

Firstly the guy says he want £120 including postage for it, is that reasonable or too much?

Secondly how hard is it to swap, i'm thinking its not a straight swap or plug and play from what i read but surely it cant be that hard mine is a 2008 facelift and he has an 09 ST.

is it worth me getting this or is it just going to cause me a whole lot of headache trying to get Ford or a garage to programme the new cluster???

Feel free to direct me to the right forum or post if this has been answered already :)

I think , but don't quote me :) , not a large job to do but.

You could use ELMconfig to save your HEC and Vin file , then upload your settings to the New Unit. , but then you will need Ford to program mileage and i think PATS.

Depends on where he is posting from and to. We can send toughbooks weighting 5KG's from sunderland to malta and that costs around £50.

From personal experiance of replacing my cluster is that its not as simple as plug and play. You will need to ensure both have the right revs ie petrol goes to 8k and diesel 6k.

Also the immobiliser runs through the cluster, so this will need programming and from i know you can only go up on the odo...not down!

Plus when i broke my old one and needed a replacement i bought a new of ebay and ford wouldnt entertain it.

If i were you i would visit metal monkies, buy a dial face and redo the LED's to make it look different...will be cheaper and easier.

Just a thought, I think the longer LCD is present on any model with sat nav isn't it? You might be able to get rid of the ST markup price by buying a level 3 HEC off a sat nav model?

It is completely possible to re-program a ST/RS instrument cluster to a normal Focus MK2 or MK2.5 (only for petrol versions because of the rev-counter). The milage of the new (used) instrument cluster must be lower than your car because the milage can only be changed to a higher count.

The Instrument cluster can be configured with ELMconfig. For re-programming the PATS system and synchronising the instrument cluster with the PCM (the PATS system is integrated into both modules) you need a suitable diagnostic interface e.g. the Ford IDS system or the FoCom interface.

Most Ford dealers can not or do not want to perform these re-programming actions or will charge you a large amount of money for it.

If you want to know more about this subject pleasesend me a personal mail.

Cheers for the info guys, never bought the other one as it was the same as mine (although the guy said it had the longer display) so I'm still on the hunt if anyone want to point me in the right direction :)

Info is gonna be useful when I do eventually get a Level 3 cluster, hopefully soon.:)