Overhead Compass/Temp Fix

I fixed mine 3 times before I finally decided to send it in to Greg at siliconmethod.com. I realized soldering wasn't something I was good at. It would work for a month or two, then just stop. I am very happy to have it working again and to get rid of that "when is it going to go out again" feeling. I highly recommend his services.

 

Fixed mine last night. One of my 510s had popped completely off the board, while the other had visibly cracked solder on one end. I soldered both and am back in business.

Really appreciate the info, glad it was an easy fix. It's sad Toyota didn't do the right thing for everyone especially considering it was an upgrade option that people pay more for.

 

Fixed mine two days ago. works like a champ now. thanks for the info!

 

I got my display out but I can't tell how to get to the back side of the board to solder the connections. The top side looks fine. The board isn't screwed down. There is one post that holds it to the board. Do you have any photos where you soldered the connections? Thanks!

 

This should help.

 

Thanks for posting the photos. I wasn't sure which side of the 510 chips to solder. My thinking was on the backside of the electronic board. I soldered mine & clean them with some flux first. When I put the solder to it the dang chip moved on me so then I had to get some tweezers & move it back it to place while melting the solder. Tested it out first by taking just the temp unit out & plugging it in, then mounted it back to the console piece & then remounted into the overhead. Thanks to everybody for this easy fix.

 

Just fixed mine today. It is really easy. Mine wasn't working when I bought the 07 truck last year. I took the console out & disassembled it down to just the compass unit. But I couldn't find any photos on this forum showing where to solder the chips. Finally found some. My thinking was that the solder was on the backside of the electronic board (most are). Apparently the 510 chips are glued to the board as one of mine moved when I went to apply solder.
I had to locate all my solder supplies, hadn't been used in 20-25 years I guess & had moved with me several times. I cleaned the chips with a little solder flux & used some lead free solder. Had to unsolder the one chip as it moved on me while I was soldering. got it almost back in position. Add solder to other sides. Took the unit back out to my truck & plugged in just the compass unit turned on the key & it worked. Brought unit back inside & put the cover over it & superglued the one clip that broke off, screwed it back down to console unit, connected the wires back, popped it back into the overhead, tried it one more time. Compass showed I was facing West which was correct, temp showed 87 degrees F. Which seems a little high the temp in S. Mississippi is 73, in January. My guess is the sun on the truck & the fact that I had just driven the truck may have an effect on the reading. If not correct I will have to see if it can be calibrated.
Good luck to all who try this fix, it is really easy & if you know how to solder, even better. If not you can send your unit (not the whole console) to autoclockrepair.com & they will fix it for you for around $35 with lifetime warranty. cost you about $2 to ship it. They also replacement units for $135. They still beats toyota's ripoff of $900 or whatever they charge.

 

Thanks just got mine done!!!

 

Thanks for the tip - fix worked great for me. Now I won't have to thump the display constantly

Suggestion for others - best to use a pencil tip soldering iron. After you heat the resistor, take it completely off and use some solder wick to clean the contact surfaces on the board. If you don’t have a way to secure the resistor just tin one of the board contacts with a little solder. That way you can just heat and stick, much easier if you only have two hands like most of us. With one side secured you can get a good solder joint on the other, then finish up the first side.

 

fixed mine today easy money

 

I waited far too long to get this easy fix done. Thanks to Tacoma World and Tacoma Nation forums!

 

Same old story... I googled my problem and it landed me here on page 56 of this painfully long thread. Considering how common this problem is Toyota really should have recalled the part by now. Anyways, one of my 510 fell out completely and was never seen again so I went to Radio Shack to buy a 51 ohm 1/4watt resistor. The closest thing they had was 47 ohm 1/4watt so that is what I soldered. So now I have a 47 and an original 510 in parallel. Everything seems to work again which is great but because of my limited experience with circuits I'm wondering if having the two different resistors is going to be a problem?

 

same situation here man. checked it out, didn't see anything wrong..
then i read your post and figured i'd give it a shot and sure enough it worked.

 

I have updated the DIY guide to repairing your compass / ambient temp display, ***find it here.***

It includes the resistor color selection recommended, and a video showing removal of the plastic clamshell cover.


We permanently repair Toyota Tacoma accessory meters (compass display)

 

Any idea where can I find those resistors, since one of mine is broken. How can I order them, are they 510ohms anything else?

 

Radio Shack! They won't look the same, but they'll work the same.

 

Go back through the thread some or someone chime in for this guy as they are NOT 510 ohms, I think they are 51 ohms but my memory on it is lacking right now. Also make sure they are at least 1 watt in current/temp ability. You put smaller ones in there and you gonna get some stuff too hot.

 

So which is it then? 1 watt or 1/4 watt? In this link he recommends 1/4 watt 51 ohm or 47 ohm. I went to our Radio Shack and all they had was 1/4 watt 47 ohm so that is what I've used. But if I'm going to overheat something I'd like to know so that I can order the correct resistor and do it right.

 

If that link says 1/4 watt then it is OK as he has done the research on it enough to know that 1/4 watt is OK.

 

Yes, 1/4 watt is just fine for this application. The axial lead wires will help with heat removal / dissipation also (acting as a heatsink), so that is a bonus.

Bear in mind that if you go with resistors higher than 1/4 watt they will work just fine, but the lead wire gauge is larger and will make soldering them on / adjusting them to fit a bit more difficult.

Greg @ Siliconmethod.com