Overhead Compass/Temp Fix

worked for me

 

Hi! I just wanted to say thank you for the good advice and great tutorial. Mine quit last week and although the solder joints looked alright at a glance, at least one was cracked. Re-soldered and it's working great!

 

Just a comment... I have been on this page for about a year, and must have seen over 100 people who have had this problem. assuming that for everyone who uses this forum fix, there must be lots who don't post the fact that they have used it to repair theirs; plus the hundreds more who aren't even aware of the forum, and go to their trusty Toyota dealer for the several hundred dollar replacement unit, or drive around directionless unaware of the temperature?
Is this still a continuing problem in the newer units?
Surely there has to be a covert Toyota Rep' who is tuning-in to these posts, who should have the moral fortitude to acknowledge that they have a problem, and perchance suggest to their bosses that maybe a recall would be in order???
Just thinking of a good consumer action - but then again I'm not running a multi-billion dollar business (maybe because I think this way?)...

 

So went out to try this today and still doesnt work. Anyone have any ideas? I applied solder to both ends of both 510 resistors, a few times. Please help..haha having the blank screen up there annoys the crap out of me. Really would like this fixed without forking out hundreds to toyota. Thanks

 

I followed these instructions and it worked perfect for me. I took some pics to maybe help someone else out.

 

You might try hitting up a junk yard and snag the whole board. Also I found a couple sites that offer to fix it from $14 to $50:

http://www.siliconmethod.com/
http://circuitboardmedics.com/tacoma-compass-repair/

Good luck!

 

I'm glad i found this thread. Last weekend while hunting, my wife was trying to kill flies onthe cieling off the truck, and was just beating the hell out of it. Next thing I know, I do not have the temp display any more. I about threw her out of the truck! I have been blaming it on her, and I'm sure she broke the connection. But it looks like they go out on there own as well. Going hunting again this weekend. I will try to work on it between hunts.
Thanks for the post.

 

Great fix thanks!! Break in solder invisible to the eye. No burn mark on LCD though. Removal instructions perfect, Could not be any easier.

 

Thank you greatly Kitkatjohn for the excellent pictures of the solder job . Now I know exactly what to do. Proir to this there weren't any pictures and as we all know these posts are useless without pictures!!! GREAT JOB!!!

 

I couldn't solder for crap! I tried and just made a huge mess and it still didn't work. I brought my unit to a tv/radio repair shop and they cleaned up my abortion job and then re-soldered it. Works like a charm now for the past 1 1/2 years. It only cost me $25.

 

Just completed the solder job a it works like a charm. I am very happy I did not have to spend hundreds to order a new one. Just follow the directions and it will work. I am not a pro at soldering but it worked for me no problem. Thank you Tacoma Forum!

 

Excellent write up Kitkat.

 

ok, made it past step 7 and found the 510 resiter, but do i have to solder the front, or take the board out of the plastic houseing and solder the back of it? i cant see where it has broken the connection on the front. i see only one resister marked 510, the one next to it is 015 i think.

so, solder the front? disregard, saw the pics, got it. man do i feel stupid!

 

ok guys just to confirm since i just pulled this apart...when there does not seem to be an obvious break in the solder, i just re-solder over the old stuff and it should work???? this is my first time using a soldering gun too

 

Yup, thats all you need to do. Took mine apart looked fine to me, soldered it and after 2 more attempts at the soldering it, it worked.

Was my first time soldering too.

 

Awesome!! thanks man, yea i got it to work the first time, i was def making this seem alot harder than it was!

Thanks to all for the detailed pics and info on what to do!

 

It would be easy to turn this fix into a fulltime job. Seems like everyone needs this fix sooner or later. Im sure there are thousands of taco's with their compass/temp out and the owner's don't know how easy this is to fix.

 

Fixed mine last night. My soldering skills suck and the job wasnt pretty, but my shit works now! I didn't notice any breaks in the solder on mine, but the corner of the lcd screen had a small burn on it. I resoldered both sides of both 510 resistors and you can't see the burn once the tinted plexiglass cover is over the screen. everything works now and it didn't cost me anything, cause i already had a soldering iron and solder! Thanks again TW

 

Add another Taco owner to the list...I only soldered one side of each of the resistors and now the display is working again. Be careful taking the dark plexi cover off the board - I snapped off a connector on one of the corners! Duh... use the small screwdriver. This still burns my butt as I have 40K on the truck so just past the warranty when the display goes out. Not like Toyota doesn't know about this problem, considering they issued a T-SB two years ago. Thanks to the handy forum members for the great tutorials on this fix!!

 

thanks a lot!!! this worked for me