I removed my idiot light cluster from my car (86) because I wanted to fix my intermittent clock and intermittent brake light issues (the two things I actually use often). Here's some pictures after taking it apart with included questions. 6 questions to be exact.

Question 1: Is it possible to fix the corrosion in the following pictures? (Pics 1-3)

Picture 1:






Picture 2:






Picture 3:






Question 2: Is it possible to fix the breaks in the circuit board connections? (Pics 4 and 5)

Question 3: Is the corrosion (?) seen on the clock problematic? (Pic 6)


Picture 4:






Picture 5:






Picture 6:





Here's four other random pictures.

Picture 7 is everything that the idiot cluster breaks down into.

Picture 8 is a rusty screw which is one of the ones that held the cluster together. I'm guessing this is a good indication of why I have corrosion.

Picture 9 is a rusted resistor that actually fell off shortly after the picture was taken. Question 4: Anyone know where to buy a replacement?

Picture 10 is some weird lines that are on the plastic from the back of the cluster. Question 5: Anyone know what caused them?


Picture 7:






Picture 8: (apparently my camera got a bit happy with the flash)






Picture 9:






Picture 10:




Question 6: Is it worth trying to fix?

 

1. The corrosion doesn't look too bad. Clean it off with a cloth and contact cleaner and you will likely find that there isn't too much damage. I've fixed worse.

2. Install a piece of wire as a jumper.

3. Can't see picture #6.

4. That's a capacitor. You can purchase a replacement at any electronics store.

5. Can't see picture #10.

6. Probably.

 

Ok, the pictures only work when I'm logged in. *sigh* One sec...

Picture 6:





Picture 10:

 

it could probably be repaired and it might work for a little while longer but your best bet is just getting another one for like $10 IMO

 

1. Ok, will do.

2. Hmmmm, I can try to do that. I hope trying things 80 times doesn't damage the board . I'm new to soldering...

3. Fixed (I think).

4. Capacitor, resistor, apples, oranges...

5. Fixed (I think).

6. Good to hear. Sounds like fun.

I have another one in now and it works just fine. I'd like to fix this one for several reasons.

1. It's the one that came with the car and I want to keep everything as stock as possible.

2. It's a project for me. I've never soldered anything like this before (or much in general besides playing around with some wiring to practice). I bought a de-soldering iron just yesterday to do this.

3. I'd like a spare to keep around.

 

a good way to get the solder out is to get a 'solder sucker', just heat up the solder and the tool will suck it right out. what does your tool look like? ive seen others use like a copper mesh to get it out but i havent had good experience that way. replacement resistors and cap's cost like $.10-$.50 each.

 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search


Like so...?



Also, will installing a jumper wire for the corroded areas be a possibility?

 

Yes, that's how you jumper.

The corrosion around the VFD pins is a bit of a concern, but if the board is still in acceptable condition then you can probably fix it.

 

VFD = ? I Googled it and I'm going to guess you're talking about picture 6.

And how can I tell if the board is in acceptable condition?

The parking brake light worked sometimes and when it didn't I could slap the dash a couple times and get it come on. The clock was usually on but never showed anything besides 1:00 (except one time it showed 2:00 and one time it showed 0:00). It did tend to turn off when I turned my headlights on, oddly enough.

Sorry for the, I guess, newb questions, I just know nothing (basically) about electronics but I'm trying to learn.

I guess I could of started with easier projects like fixing my 3800 rpm hesitation and figuring out why my voltage drops about 1.5v when I put my car in reverse... but oh well.

 

with your corrosion, clean the contacts good and hope for the best. If the circuit card and electrial runs have started to corrode, the card will be done. Once all the corrosion is off, check resistance levels on the runs with a multimeter to see if you have any opens (breaks) or shorts in the lines. Good luck with your project.

 

Ok, "if the circuit card and electrical runs have started to corrode, the card will be done." How do I tell that?

 

Oh, and what gauge wire do you think I should use to jumper bad connections?

 

22-28 gauge.

 

if i was you, now thats just saying if i was you, i would redo the whole idiot light cluster and remove the pcb.

 

I would throw that POS away and get a good used one.


-Ted

 

*sigh*

So basically scrap the board and get another one?

 

I think you are salvage the cluster still. It might be a bit of work thou . Althou, I got a used S5 cluster ..hehe.. if you wanna update the cluster a bit :P

 

I have an 88 in there with the S5 style. I need to switch out the plastic part on the front so it curves the right way (I think I can do it). My surround broke into 32483904 pieces a while back so right now there's no fitment issues.

 

Sorry it took so long for me to respond back, but the only way to check and see if you runs are corroded is to check resistance values, if you see almost no resistance you should be good, but if you see huge values thats not good. You just dont check through the circuits, since then the values would be way off. But dur to the age and the pics, the best bet might be to get a new board and go from there.

 

Yeah, probably. Hopefully I'll at least be able to get my e-brake light working at all times. That would mean I actually fixed it so I know I could fix another one that's less screwed up.

 

I was resoldering and started looking at the clock and found a broken solder joint. As in, I could wiggle it. Could somebody identify what the hell the thing is and what purpose it serves?

 

Also, here's some of my progress. Let me know how the soldering/desoldering looks. Keep in mind this is the first time I've soldered a board / used my desoldering iron.


1. How does the contacts around where the lights were look? I'm assuming that's where the lights connect...




2.




3.




4.




5. There's one spot (about 2/3rds of the way over) on this pic that I did go back and fix. It's where 2 of them connected... so... ignore it.

 

2 more... and a few questions

Do you think I should resolder around the ribbons?
Should I put anything like dielectrical grease on the board when I'm done?
Is the black spot in the 2nd picture normal?

 

Well I went to Home Depot and got some 24 gauge wiring so that should be done some time this week. Now I just need a capacitor and I should be good to go.

Unless anyone has comments about my above questions...

 

that thing looks toast, buy another one. Unless you would like to try fixing it for the experience.