Overhead Compass/Temp Fix

Word. Didn't know if y'all were just resoldering the existing resistors or replacing them. Thanks! Now I have a new project next weekend, resolder them and paint the console while it's out!

 

resoldered mine about a year ago when they went out. worked fine till a few weeks ago. ended up just replacing them with some 1/2watt 40 something ohm ones and it works great now.

 

Mine wasn't loose. It was rattling around in the housing.
Resoldered and burnt the truck the to ground.
Job well done.

 

A reminder to the folks about to resolder their boards:

1.) make sure the solder doesn't bridge, especially to the through-hole next to one of the resistors. (the small, round copper areas). This is a board-destroying short.

2.) I strongly recommend you follow the DIY guide here. If you don't, your repair is going to fail again at some point in the not-so-distant future.

3.) solder quickly! Heat from your gun / iron may be destroying components nearby. Press the clean, tinned iron to the junction of the board and resistor and immediately feed solder. You should get a nice shiny fill.

 

So when you solder, do you put the flux at the soldering point first and then bring the iron to it or vice versa? On the few jobs I've done I always seem to get the flux stuck on the iron. Do I just need to dampen the iron a little more?

 

Fiend, are you using flux paste (like the stuff for plumbing) or a light liquid? If you are using 'electronics' type solder, it will have a flux core that almost always does the job fine. If not, use a light liquid flux that dispenses from a pen.

It sounds like you are using a paste...I don't recommend that for this kind of work.

As for the iron, it should be 'wetted' with a clean, shiny layer of fresh solder. Get an old *cotton* tshirt and moisten it with water to clean the tip (a sponge works fine too)

 

Thanks for this post, It takes about 20 mins. Mine was out about six months. Now I have this light on with the temp and dir lol. Very easy . Yes those clips do break very easy, now I only have three

 

Fixed mine and a week later it went out again, just hadn't had time to take it apart again.

 

I have an 07' Tacoma that only has 36k on it. I bought new 5 1/2 years ago. Mine just went out a few weeks ago so I did the self fix thing. The found out my brother in laws boss had the same issue and showed him how to fix his too.

 

I'd like to drop a thank you post, as this fix worked for me and it was fun to test my soldering skills after a long time!!!

After removing the circuit board and display from the console housing, I also had the burned looking spot in one of the corners of the glass display section......

I did some more forum digging and saw that the burned spot appears to have no influence on the display's functionality. From what I read, if the glass is all fogged over, that means the vacuum inside the display had been breached and that is a problem.

I decided to proceed.......cleaned and soldered the 510 resistors (all four connections) and plugged it in to test, engaged the battery and pressed the button on the display and the lights lit up and I was elated!

Saved me about $300.00

Thanks for being such an awesome forum.

 

The first time it went out I only soldered the broken resistor. well, the other 510 loosened up. Resoldered both 510's.....Now I can tell if its Hot in vegas....lol

 

Is this problem resolved with the newer models; or are the 11,12, and 13's having this problem also?

 

Did this method a few weeks ago on the InLaws truck, the 510s had been resoldered twice before. Now it's actually fixed.

Had the resistors left over from doing my own truck.

 

Many thanks to the OP for this quick fix. The directions were easy to follow. Thankfully, those resistors are much larger than most surface mounts I have seen.

I only found one clip up there so I'll need to get another one from the parts department. Good access above the console for antenna mounting!

 

Mines been out for over a year, finally got around to this and worked up the courage (first time soldering). Like other, it didn't appear broken so I soldered anyways and its back up and running again.

Thanks for good write up and all the tips!

 

My compass died a couple days ago. Add this to the list of piece of crap items on my Toyota that keep going out.

This is probably at the top of my list of worst vehicles I've owned. So disappointed.

 

Sell it and get a jeep.

 

I'm thinking about it. My Grand Cherokee didn't start falling apart until about 120,000 miles. Things have been going wrong on the Toyota since 40,000 miles.

 

Thank you. This forum helped me fix my truck and save some money.

 

Mine finally went out the other day, got new resistors and a soldering iron from Radio Shack for $10 dollars and fixed it in about 20 minutes.

This was my first time soldering so I was a little nervous but figured its already broke might as well give it a try. I read Siliconmethod's DIY, that was really helpful and looked at some how to videos then got to work. Hopefully, it doesn't go out again.