Overhead Compass/Temp Fix

Just fixed mine.

Thread of win, this.

 

Fixed mine as well the other day.




Damn that thing is tiny (that's what she said!).

 

anyone want to try their hand at fixing mine? i did a horrendous solder job with no luck. dont think i screwed it up but who the hell knows.

 

Where are you located?

 

Mine just went out on Saturday. Now it is fixed and I just realized how bad my soldering skills are...

 

@ ph16drive: nice effort, but the insulation isn't going to help with thermal effects. (it might help with any rattles though). The circuit board failure is caused by three problems: RoHS solder, heat/cooling cycles, and poor engineering. Ambient temp doesn't seem to have a ton of influence, as I have plenty of repairs come in from Canada, Alaska, etc.

The only way to permanently repair and bypass the issues is to remove all the RoHS solder and old components and start fresh. See my DIY guide here.

-greg

Tacoma compass/ambient temp gauge repair

 

AWESOME post, Ive had my 05' for 3 years now and it never worked until now!

 

This website is great.
Just got a Tacoma a couple weeks ago and the compass didn't work (mentioned it during negotiating the price and the cost of repair through the dealer) and finally fixed it today.

When I first took everything apart, one of the clips holding it up was missing and the other one was stuck up in the roof (got some new clips from the dealer).
Anyway, after inspecting the board, I was bummed cuz it looked like everything was fine. Then I picked at both of them with my fingernail and one of them popped up!

Bought a nice pen style solderer, some 60/40 solder and some 1/4 watt 47 ohm resistors for $16.

Took about 10 minutes to solder and installed it back in the truck... BAM!
Calibrated it, verified the location and everything is accurate and working great.

Thanks to all for the detailed info!

 

that looks good.




mine has not worked for a few months now. the 510 resistors are all on and look fine. going to try and put solder on anyways, and see if it works. if not. i’ll buy a new one. i love it way to much!! and hate not having it!!

 

I've been on this forum for a little while now, and learning a lot about my truck. Also learning I'm terrible at soldering....but it's fixed! Now, on to that dash rattle....

 

anyone got a console they want to sell I got everything else but that and will give them my old one that is tan in color...

 

This fix is ok if yours is the 510 resister.

I sent mine off to silicone method and got an email yesterday it was junk. Went to the dealer today 157+tax and all is good.

 

ok guys got a big problem. so me and dad fixed it. well the solder did not stay on. so we redid it and used some flux. well i had it all in and about to put the screw in sunglass holder back in, and it stopped working. i pulled it down and did not even take aport and could just feel heat lots of heat on the back side of it. what could be wrong? and how could i fix it?


really really don’t want to pay $300 or so for a new one.

 

mine finally went out today. It had been going on and off for the past few days...greattt and the clips are the worst. Soldering is no problem, just don't break a clip

 

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.

Here's a video on how to pop off the clamshell without breaking any tabs: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="

 

wow just saw this post. so what all did you get? just the gauge or the hole damn map lights and everything? i think this is what i’m going to do, i really want it back and mine i think is done for.

 

I followed your guide yesterday and even went to radio shack to get new resistors. I put the new resistors on (47 ohm) and no luck..do they have to go on a specific way? I ended up soldering the old 510 resistors back on and got it to work, but I saw you also said it will break again if I use those

 

I followed the OP's write up and it works great! Just hope it stays on!!!

 

Just the gauge

 

ok sweet. i’m going to do that.