Overhead Compass/Temp Fix

My compass is out in my '07, will try this fix when I get around to it. Lov'n this forum...KIMO

 

At the dealership for some routine service on my 07 taco and pointed out the inoperable compass/temp gauge. After taking a look and letting me know it will be 235 for parts and replacement, I mentioned my Toyota Extra care warranty and the covered it. Still have 2 and a half years and 45000 miles on the warranty for any future issues but I was pleased they took care of it with no hassles. Nothing but great things to say about Toyota of Puyallup.

 

No disrespect to your dealership, but was the quote simply to replace the broken one with a new one without inspecting it (i.e. remove one screw) to determine if it was simply the soldering repair. I am sure that based on half of the Tacoma owners of North America knowing the problem in 99.9% of failures is this solder option, that one would hope the Toyota Shop folks do as well, and offer the repair for maybe $75 labour?
This is the problem with my Shop, their prices are more than double and in some instances 4 time the street price (i.e. Alternator belt $139 from Toyota $30 from canadian Tire).
Love the vehicle have serious conerns about the after care...
I fear they need to sharpen their pencils or lose their customers.

 

No disrespect taken. I was just pointing out that Toyota of Puyallup was not hesitant to do the repair which consisted of replacing the part not doing the solder repair. Since it is under warranty work they will send the part back to Toyota for failure analysis. I have seen instances where the repair was denied under warranty thus owners forced to repair the peice themselves. Again kudos to Toy of Puyallup for taking care of me as a customer. Whether Toyota will ever sack up to permanently fix the issue is a concern.

By the way, how did you fair in the earthquake a few weeks ago? I didn't hear much about damage but it was felt down here slightly.

 

Thanks! Just fixed mine... Though I manged to break two of the plastic clips holding down the smoke cover. Glad to know I wasn't alone there...

 

For my first Post I want to say THANK YOU for that info. What a quick and easy fix - I loved showing my kids that, yeah, we fix things.. and this is how. I can't wait to explore more. - H

 

well.. mine went out yesterday i guess. it was working tuesday. so i’ll be fixing mine in the next few days. and i think i may plasti dip it. but idk yet.

 

Thanks TW, this problem is why I searched the internet in the 1st place. Spot on fix! Although my solder joints look crappy! Hope all my TACO fixes are this easy!

 

just finished the fix...info was very helpful!

 

I did this "fix" about a week ago. It worked for a week, so today I took it apart and the resistor was just fine. But to make sure I re-soldered it and it worked, then i put it all back together and it stopped working And I know my joints are good (I've been soldering since I was like 10 and haven't had a bad joint in about 3 years or more).

From what I could see all the joints are good on the board. Any one have a suggestion or two on what it could be?

If I can't fixed it I'm just gonna buy the garage door remote for its place.

 

Mine just died in my 07. The solder joints looked fine, but I touched them up anyways and it's now working. Easy 10 minutes to fix Toyota's screwup.

 

Just took a look to see why my overhead compass/thermo went out, and the resistor was completely off, soldered it back on and now I have it working fine, GREAT FIX!

 

I had a friend of mine who repairs alot of computers and othe eletronics fix mine the other day .Took just acouple of minutes to take it out of the truck and acouple of minutes to solder it back and just acouple of minutes to reinstall. Works GREAT!!! Thanks to the OP!!!!

 

WOW, thank you so much! i cant believe it was that easy to fix! thanks agian!

 

last week i took mine out. plaining on fixing it. the resistors looked fine! and i put it back in because i was going some wear and like sunday i pushed the button and it turned on. i tried the button before i took it out and it did nothing. but it as been working since. i did un plug it and plug it back in. maybe that did it. some one said the next hot day it will stop. today it read 83 and still works.

 

My soldering looks like crap, but it worked!! Thank you so much for this!

 

If mine goes out under warranty can I still get it fixed for free?

 

Thanks to this forum and MISC for posting this valuable information. I was just about to purchase a new one at the dealership.

 

Has anyone seen any other problems with this gauge before i remove it?

 

Just fixed mine today, it is really easy, just take your time as you don't want to break any of the plastic clips holding any of the pieces together.

Also I had to solder them 3 times before it actually worked.