Overhead Compass/Temp Fix

If you're electronics averse like me, you can send it off to Greg at Silicon Method. For $50 he'll resolder everything and put new resistors on it so it never fails again. Three year warranty.

http://www.siliconmethod.com

 

No, that would put me out of a job, I fix broke stuff for a living.

 

good info. Fixing mine now.

 

I just re-soldered mine, and it's good to go again. Thanks to the OP for putting this together, and saving us all so much $$$!

 

I'll tell ya what...this thread was most helpful. I am not the sort to do electronics repair by any means but this was so minimal, it was, in the end, a snap!

The whole thing took me about an hour. But, that was because:

1. I had no effing clue what I was doing, so I had to go slow. I also had to repair (with a dab of superglue) one of the plastic clips to the plastic cover (yes, I effing broke one, even after being warned)

2. I practiced soldering for about 10 minutes before I even got near the board, because I hadn't even picked up soldering iron since I was a teenager. I was sure I burned up some odd electronic component(s) because my soldering job was....quite messy.

4. Plugged the thing back into the harness, and, it didn't work. I was bummed but figured I fried some components. It was already broke so, eff it. I plugged in the light harness and said, "let me check it again." and behold the damn thing worked!!!!!

Thanks for all who posted, it really helped me out!!!

 

Fixed mine today thanks TW i always turn to this site when i have questions.

 

Awesome to find this gem of a thread. Mine did the same as others: Off and on for a few weeks, then went out alltogether. I'll be fixing it tomorrow. Thanks!!

 

Fixed mine today, took about 15 minutes. Was kinda ticked off when I first plugged in the harness but when I pressed the on/off button, all was good. Thanks for saving me mega bucks!

 

Fixed mine today thanks TW. I had the burnt mark with no visiable damage to the 510. It cost me $20 bucks to buy the soldering kit, but beats the crap out of what Toyota charges for a replacement. Also learned that I do not have a very steady hand

 

Can somebody post pics of the 510 resistors and where they are located on the board? Also, the areas most commonly needing to be re-soldered? The pics in the OP aren't working for me. I need to do this.
Thanks,

 

I learned the same thing......hands not very steady.

 

RattleSnake: They're the ones that say "510" on the top. Little black rectangle, maybe 1mm tall, 7-8mm long, and 4-5mm wide. They're off by themselves on the board in the wide open space. Should be pretty obvious when you look for the ones with "510" on the top.

Just did mine a few hours ago, and it's workin like a charm. Thank ya'll SO MUCH for saving me from having to tell the next owner something dissappointing.

 

Thanks. Haven't pulled it apart yet. I was nervous I was gonna screw something up. I'll be trying this later today.

 

is my 2006 prewired for temp and compass?

Wayne

 

Mine is a 2006, so I might say yes... I guess it depends on the options and package?

 

Save your money and stick your head out the window.
I've repaired mine "a few times" and it hasn't worked in about 9 months.

 

Thanks for the write up!! I fixed mine in less than 10 minutes. Its crazy how these resistors come off like that.

 

I have not had to repair/replace my board yet, but I know my sunglasses can be too hot to put on when stored in the overhead compartment - I can only imagine how hot it gets above that circuit board.
I have an extra piece of Dynamat, do you think it would help by sticking it up against the bare sheet metal above the board? Or would it get too hot for the 'tar' and it become liquid & dribble?

Thanks -

 

I used a piece of high temp insulation we use at work and I put that between the roof and the compass board. It'll stop any radiant heat between the sheetmetal and the compass but not keep the actual temperature in that air space any cooler. It'll also keep any heat generated by the compass itself trapped so I'm not sure if I did it any favors. You'll have to look at Dynamat to see what it's insulation properties are.

 

They said they did not think the Dynamat 'adhesive' would hold long-term, so that would be a Negative, Ghost Rider.