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R34 MFD into R33

56K views 111 replies 39 participants last post by  Mr.Carnage 
#1 ·
For years i've loved the look of the LCD screen in the R34, and a couple of months back I saw a picture on the net of a purple R33 in Hong Kong where someone had retro-fitted the MFD. Since then, I knew I had to do the conversion myself..

Finding an MFD in itself is a hard job. These things cost over a grand from Nissan, and even second-hand command a price of around £700 when working which would be way more than I could spend on one.

A few weeks back, there were a pair of non-working MFDs for sale on here, and even though it was a gamble, the price was so low I couldnt let it get away, so I was the owner of a non-working MFD for £125!

When I got the MFD it was worse than I had imagined (in my head I saw myself swapping a blown fuse, and the unit springing into life!). The fuse had indeed blown, but before it had done, the backlight inverter circuit had also been taken out. The main screen ribbon was missing and the screws that held in the buttons were missing so somebody had siliconed them in place, but jamming the buttons in the process :chairshot

Over the past couple of weeks ive been working on fixing the problems one by one, and then this afternoon a miracle happened -



It was finally working :clap: I spent quite some time playing with all the functions, and I think this unit is from a V-Spec II (please correct me if im wrong), because it has the RS232 on the back, the boost reading is different from other MFDs ive seen and it has the lap timer function -



Note all of my homemade wiring - PC motherboard pins fit the MFD connectors perfectly :D

I have a cover on order with Nissan (only £80), which will be here in less than 2 weeks. Im still unsure of how to mount it on the dash - ive seen 2 retro-fits on the internet, one looked like it was glued on top and one looked like they had cut a section from the top of the R33 dash and slotted the MFD in...

Oh and anybody out there who has a broken MFD, dont hesitate to contact me - ive been working non-stop on mine for weeks (during lunch hours only, honest) and know pretty much every aspect of them by now.

Updates to come hopefully this weekend, when I plan to make the loom inside the car.
 
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#5 ·
I knew this would be a hit with the 33 owners.

Looking at wiring diagrams, getting it working in the car doesnt look too hard - all the sensors are there, they just arent shown to the driver in a 33. The only ones that wont work will be the intake temp, which can be wired to show ambient temp instead, also the steering/yaw rate and the G-Force meters wont work unless I buy sensors. All the rest is there in some form or another..
 
#8 ·
I`ve got a Nismo/UK spec MFD with hood waiting to go into my 33.

Had it for two years, just not got around to fitting it.

There`s a fair bit of info on SDU about this. In fact, I think Canman has posted links here.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I never checked it, but I'm almost sure that all 3 IAT Sensors (R32, R33, R34 GTR) are the same. Mine was never faulty, so I didn't need to change it. Therefore it never bugged me. But I can't see why they should be different?

I have a spare dash lying here which waits for Alcantara Wrapping... Arggg.. Don't bring up Ideas :D

Edit: Do you have the part-# for the cover? :p

Marc
 
#13 ·
excellent thread i have been searching for info on how to do this to my r33 please please please do a full write up on the fiting and mounting of the mfd.

i need this mod!
 
#16 ·
excellent thread! i look forward to seeing the outcome of this, i've always wanted to do this or buy the nismo clocks with the lcd screen in the middle. Just never been able to justify the money to do it!


let us know how "easy" it is and if the sensors talk to the mfd correctly. can't wait to see the final result.
 
#17 ·
That one has the tv button which you can use to allow you to play video on the screen while it's out (if you search there's quite a bit of info on the mod to do this on here). I used an Hitachi portable DVD player and also a video camera that output in NTSC and they both played a treat on the MFD if I connected them through the inputs on the original cd/satnav system.

But i've since took all that out and changed the MFD to a Nismo 2.0bar boost one, not sure if that's what you've got.

You'll need the underbonnet 2.0bar sensor too. Matty32 got me one of those.

Your a clever guy!
 
#18 ·
Well got some good news today - the MFD cover on order with Nissan arrived early and I picked it up today. I then went to my garage where I just happen to have a spare R33 dash to see what sort of cutting will be required..







Fitment isnt bad at all. The contours are almost matching, so im thinking trim off the lugs, cut a hole in the top of the dash for the MFD to sit in and then glue the cover on top. There is just under an inch between the dash and the heater venting underneath which should be enough to fit the MFD in without having to lose the 2 top airvents.


To answer some of the questions -

I dont have the Nismo 2bar boost upgrade, but I read somewhere that if the vacuum side of the boost gauge reads in mmHG it means you have the MFD2 upgrade, which mine does.

For wiring into the ECU, I will just cut and splice my extra wires in. There are only 3 ECU wires that need tapping into from what I can see. The rest comes from the speedo cluster, the 3 centre gauges and then wherever you want to source your powers/grounds and illumination source from (radio harness in my case).
Ive already made my own plugs coming out the back of the MFD itself using motherboard pins (better than paying Nissan £170 for the 2 plugs).

Ive also looked up about the intake temp sensor and in the R34 its a sensor just after the intercooler..I dont think the sensor before the inlet manifold will work with the MFD, but I shall try and find some specs for it.

When its all in and working, i'll sort out a decent wiring diagram for people as there are quite a few interested in this conversion obviously.
 
#21 ·
Looking at wiring diagrams, getting it working in the car doesnt look too hard - all the sensors are there, they just arent shown to the driver in a 33. The only ones that wont work will be the intake temp, which can be wired to show ambient temp instead, also the steering/yaw rate and the G-Force meters wont work unless I buy sensors. All the rest is there in some form or another.
 
#24 ·
Good to see you got it working. I bought one, probably off the same person as you, that wasn't working and fixed mine too.
Just fitted it in my R34, but I've yet to make the connections to the ECU side. I think I will need the different boost sensor though. The mfd sees the boost sensor, but isn't registering anything.

 
#31 ·
Good to see you got it working. I bought one, probably off the same person as you, that wasn't working and fixed mine too.
Just fitted it in my R34, but I've yet to make the connections to the ECU side. I think I will need the different boost sensor though. The mfd sees the boost sensor, but isn't registering anything.
Yes, your boost gauge is reading upto 2.0bar, so you will need the 2bar sensor as someone mentioned earlier in the thread.

As has been said, the MFD runs using the cars various sensors and it doesnt matter if you have an aftermarket ECU it will still work. Yes it would be possible to put one into an R32, the wiring will be almost identical to the wiring for an R33, as they can share ECUs and im guessing gauge pinouts will be similar too. The only thing with the 32 is the dash shape, though on my various searches on the internet, I saw a picture where somebody had mounted the screen where the centre gauges/radio would go and had the MFD motherboards in the glovebox, so it can be done.

Pics of the back of the MFD will be put up later so you can see how ive done it, its really not hard and I would be more than happy to help others out with this conversion if needed.
 
#25 ·
Does the MFD make use of any of the ODB outputs or are they all directly picked up from the various sensors?

I only ask as I know the ODB output is not avialable when an Apexi PFC is fitted (as I have) and cannot connect certain information systems (eg. HKS CAMP)

Would be interested in doing this if will work with the Apexi.
 
#27 ·
wow this is incredible.

how possible would this be to fit into a R32? i know that the 32 and 33 are quite close in terms of ECU management as you can actually use a 33 ecu in a 32 and vice versa (PFC anyways..)

so, would this also be posisble to do for a 32?

can you post pics of the back of your mfd? and show us how you did this exactly? and a wiring diagram would be the bees knees.

are you an electrical engineer?
 
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