Instrument Cluster Circuit Board is Bad! $1000 bucks!!!
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,231
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Wow there sure is a lot of info here. So what seems to be the effective one now? Sending it in to Jim Walker? On cold startups my lights dont come on for 30 mins + and my gas always shows very little. So many choices here.. which is the popular one now?
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: MA
cluster repair
Had the same problem, Repaired it myself with minimal experience on electrical. All you need is a soldering iron and change out two bad capacitors listed throughout this forum. The parts
can be ourchased at Radio Shack for 1.89 each! The whole process from removal of the cluster to soldering took about a total of 1 hour.
Good luck!
Mhoad35
1994 LS400
can be ourchased at Radio Shack for 1.89 each! The whole process from removal of the cluster to soldering took about a total of 1 hour. Good luck!
Mhoad35
1994 LS400
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Thank you to LamSV and Ukamath's instruction from this post, I managed to fix my dash. Prior to this, my dash did not light up at all. The process was very simple but could turn ugly quick if you do not have soldering experience.
I just replaced the C212 and C214. Most likely the C212 was the culprit as stated by Ukamath. Anyway, if you like to save money buy spending $10 bux on ECs, give it a shot. However, if you don't have the tools or experience with soldering gun, you can try one of the services posted on this board.
Another alternative would be to take out your instrument cluster and the require capacitors and bring them to your local radio repair shop. I don't think they'll charge more than $20 bux to replace a few capacitors.
If you want to do it yourself, please DO NOT just pull or rip off the surface mount caps. You will tear and rip apart the printed ciruits. You'll need to heat them on both sides and gently pull them of when the solder melts.
This has been my experience. If you need instructions or advice, please email me or IM me, my AIM SN is "Sonthaly"
Later,
Sam
I just replaced the C212 and C214. Most likely the C212 was the culprit as stated by Ukamath. Anyway, if you like to save money buy spending $10 bux on ECs, give it a shot. However, if you don't have the tools or experience with soldering gun, you can try one of the services posted on this board.
Another alternative would be to take out your instrument cluster and the require capacitors and bring them to your local radio repair shop. I don't think they'll charge more than $20 bux to replace a few capacitors.
If you want to do it yourself, please DO NOT just pull or rip off the surface mount caps. You will tear and rip apart the printed ciruits. You'll need to heat them on both sides and gently pull them of when the solder melts.
This has been my experience. If you need instructions or advice, please email me or IM me, my AIM SN is "Sonthaly"
Later,
Sam
Nha
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Texas
OK, you guys, thanks so much for providing info for me to repair my cluster.
Symptoms:
Fuel gauge needle only went to 1/4 on full tank or very slow to react,
lights under radio buttons off
my lights on instrument cluster were either dead, or flashing needles , if needles were flashing, the background was black.
Here is what I did, I went to http://www.lexls.com/tutorials.html this was invaluable to make removal of cluster as painless as possible. Great source for info. Highly recommended
Replaced :
C212
C142
C203
C220
Transistor TR109
It took me 1 hr to remove cluster, and 15 min to later re-install it.
THE trick is removing the surface mount caps, the secret is using two pin point soldering irons and heating both ends at same time, when solder is liquid, flick the cap away.
I tried on 8 caps before I realized two irons were the key, otherwise I stripped the surface of my practice electronic sacraficial boards.
I also layed all radial caps on their sides and per my brother who is a electronic technician, only lay a small strip of silicone or hot glue over the top of cap and board to prevent vibration.
I drove my car around 30 miles today and looks good.
My background light that is behind the fuel gauge is a little dim, but easy to see.
Dont know if new bulbs will help here , but overall, I am VERY pleased with the accomplishment.
I strongly recommend having others do the soldering or send it out to one of the two services that are available, Jim or lextech if you are not skilled. Its very easy to damage the boards.
I dont know if there are ANY other caps to change, but , some folks say to change all out.
When I realized there there is virtually no room to stand up multiple caps in place of the SMT caps, I found it hard to beleive that others have swapped out all of the caps since room is an issue. AND , standing them up is NOT safe regarding them vibrating off unless somehow secured down onto the board.
Keep in mind that you dont want to place hot glue under or RTV under the cap because it will expand and contract and eventually fatigue the soldered joint. My brother works for a space agency and does electronic failure analysis.
Dont know how long the other caps will last, but , this worked great and there are so many other caps, I would not know where to start unless I was guided by you folks.
I appreciate all that provided the info to do this , what a hellluva website.
Lg
Symptoms:
Fuel gauge needle only went to 1/4 on full tank or very slow to react,
lights under radio buttons off
my lights on instrument cluster were either dead, or flashing needles , if needles were flashing, the background was black.
Here is what I did, I went to http://www.lexls.com/tutorials.html this was invaluable to make removal of cluster as painless as possible. Great source for info. Highly recommended
Replaced :
C212
C142
C203
C220
Transistor TR109
It took me 1 hr to remove cluster, and 15 min to later re-install it.
THE trick is removing the surface mount caps, the secret is using two pin point soldering irons and heating both ends at same time, when solder is liquid, flick the cap away.
I tried on 8 caps before I realized two irons were the key, otherwise I stripped the surface of my practice electronic sacraficial boards.
I also layed all radial caps on their sides and per my brother who is a electronic technician, only lay a small strip of silicone or hot glue over the top of cap and board to prevent vibration.
I drove my car around 30 miles today and looks good.
My background light that is behind the fuel gauge is a little dim, but easy to see.
Dont know if new bulbs will help here , but overall, I am VERY pleased with the accomplishment.
I strongly recommend having others do the soldering or send it out to one of the two services that are available, Jim or lextech if you are not skilled. Its very easy to damage the boards.
I dont know if there are ANY other caps to change, but , some folks say to change all out.
When I realized there there is virtually no room to stand up multiple caps in place of the SMT caps, I found it hard to beleive that others have swapped out all of the caps since room is an issue. AND , standing them up is NOT safe regarding them vibrating off unless somehow secured down onto the board.
Keep in mind that you dont want to place hot glue under or RTV under the cap because it will expand and contract and eventually fatigue the soldered joint. My brother works for a space agency and does electronic failure analysis.
Dont know how long the other caps will last, but , this worked great and there are so many other caps, I would not know where to start unless I was guided by you folks.
I appreciate all that provided the info to do this , what a hellluva website.
Lg
I would appreciate it very much if you could tell me:
1) the value (uF, V) of C212, C142, C203, C220
2) the part number of those capacitors
3) where to buy them
Many thanks,
Nha
Rookie
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Instrument cluster problems
If you will go to google and type in 'Lexus instrument cluster repair', you will see a list of folks who can fix the kind of problems you are having. One I have used is
jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net He is able to fix anything ex-
cept non-working speedometer and tach guages. But,
there is someone else whose name has appeared on this
forus who is also able to do that. It's all in the little trans-
sisters, I think, but they can do the job for a reasonale
fee, and they guarantee their work. And the mileage is
also not altered. Try this out.
jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net He is able to fix anything ex-
cept non-working speedometer and tach guages. But,
there is someone else whose name has appeared on this
forus who is also able to do that. It's all in the little trans-
sisters, I think, but they can do the job for a reasonale
fee, and they guarantee their work. And the mileage is
also not altered. Try this out.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Ma
My needles in my cluster have all burned out and I sent it to
DASHUSA 3 weeks ago to get fixed, still haven't gotten it
back yet. Dashusa hasn't answered the phone for the past
2 weeks (answer machine) and don't return calls or email.
Does anyone know if they are still in business?? I haven't
started or driven my 1993 SC400 for this time period because
it sets off codes when driven without cluster.
They have also already charged me, I hope I'm not getting screwed.
Any information on DASHUSA would be appreciated?? If they are
closed when are they going to open??
DASHUSA 3 weeks ago to get fixed, still haven't gotten it
back yet. Dashusa hasn't answered the phone for the past
2 weeks (answer machine) and don't return calls or email.
Does anyone know if they are still in business?? I haven't
started or driven my 1993 SC400 for this time period because
it sets off codes when driven without cluster.
They have also already charged me, I hope I'm not getting screwed.
Any information on DASHUSA would be appreciated?? If they are
closed when are they going to open??
Racer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,383
Likes: 11
I was worried enough about loosing tach & speedo functions due to mishandling of the Cluster that I sent mine off to mrhwizard for repair.
He was honest enough to tell me that all that he did to mine was replace the 2 caps that we have long since been isolated here. I had already done the fuel gauge cap years ago, before any other problems had popped up.
Service was great & prompt & my dash works fine. I drove my car all thru the period that the dash was in Minnesota & only had to re-set the airbag light. You could by the way "jake leg" in a temporary light to the harness in the proper slot to prevent this.
Note: I do not believe that it has been clearly substantiated that handling the cluster during repairs sped up the loss of tach & speedo functions.
Mileage on my 94LS is now reads 185,300 but in truth at least 1800-2100 miles did not register due to delayed data acquisition from the bad caps pre-repair.
He was honest enough to tell me that all that he did to mine was replace the 2 caps that we have long since been isolated here. I had already done the fuel gauge cap years ago, before any other problems had popped up.
Service was great & prompt & my dash works fine. I drove my car all thru the period that the dash was in Minnesota & only had to re-set the airbag light. You could by the way "jake leg" in a temporary light to the harness in the proper slot to prevent this.
Note: I do not believe that it has been clearly substantiated that handling the cluster during repairs sped up the loss of tach & speedo functions.
Mileage on my 94LS is now reads 185,300 but in truth at least 1800-2100 miles did not register due to delayed data acquisition from the bad caps pre-repair.
Last edited by damon; Oct 30, 2006 at 09:16 AM.
Rookie
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Cluster problems
In the past 2-3 years, I have taken my cluster out of my
93 LS400 and even broken it down to where there was
nothing left on the basic plastic frame. I had to remove
a darkened speedo needle to replace it with one from
another cluster I had bought. I don't think any of this
affected the performance of the cluster at all. I even sent
one board or another off to jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net for
some repairs to illumination and small guage problems.
He fixed them all. The only thing Jim can't really fix is
speedo and tach needles that don't function properly. So,
I don't think handling it would mess it up, unless you
were just rough or something. By the way, my airbag
light has been on ever since I first took the cluster out.
I just ignore it, but perhaps you could tell me how to get
it to go off. Best to you. Bill
93 LS400 and even broken it down to where there was
nothing left on the basic plastic frame. I had to remove
a darkened speedo needle to replace it with one from
another cluster I had bought. I don't think any of this
affected the performance of the cluster at all. I even sent
one board or another off to jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net for
some repairs to illumination and small guage problems.
He fixed them all. The only thing Jim can't really fix is
speedo and tach needles that don't function properly. So,
I don't think handling it would mess it up, unless you
were just rough or something. By the way, my airbag
light has been on ever since I first took the cluster out.
I just ignore it, but perhaps you could tell me how to get
it to go off. Best to you. Bill
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Racer
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,383
Likes: 11
Airbag Light: An "oldie" but when you need it......
------------------------------------
To clear the code connect two wires to Tc and AB of the DLC2 (OBDI port). Turn the ignition to ACC or ON and wait ~6 sec.
Start with Tc terminal, apply to body ground alternately to Tc and AB twice each in cycles of 1.0 +- 0.5 sec.
Finally keep Tc to ground, if the clearing is done properly the AirBag light will blink in 50msec intervals (continously). If it does not, repeat the procedure (you most likely did not ground the Tc and AB properly).
------------------------------------
To clear the code connect two wires to Tc and AB of the DLC2 (OBDI port). Turn the ignition to ACC or ON and wait ~6 sec.
Start with Tc terminal, apply to body ground alternately to Tc and AB twice each in cycles of 1.0 +- 0.5 sec.
Finally keep Tc to ground, if the clearing is done properly the AirBag light will blink in 50msec intervals (continously). If it does not, repeat the procedure (you most likely did not ground the Tc and AB properly).
Last edited by damon; Oct 30, 2006 at 11:30 PM.
Rookie
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
From: Texas
clearing the airbag light
Thanks for the answer, but I have no idea what any of what
you sent means. I guess I'll have to get the dealer to do
it. Way back when, they said it was easy to do. Is there
a way to explain in english what you sent?
you sent means. I guess I'll have to get the dealer to do
it. Way back when, they said it was easy to do. Is there
a way to explain in english what you sent?
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: NC
Bad Instrument panel/Oscillator capacitor
It seems that the likely culprit is the 10 uf 16V capacitor that is reported to be in an LC tank circuit of an oscillator. I've just discovered this forum and am happy to find someone has already found the fix. However, maybe I can use some of my EE background to add to the discussion. All aluminum electrolytic caps eventually fail with time. This is mainly due to the drying out of the electrolyte in the caps. Some are better sealed than others and therefore last longer but all eventually fail. These caps also suffer from reduced capacitance at lower temps because the electrolyte being a liquid becomes more viscous at lower temps. If the cap is used as decoupling such as in a power supply or the power leads to an IC, then a large tolerance on the capacitance will not have much effect on circuit operation.
On the other hand if this type cap is used in an oscillator the cap value is much more critical. Most aluminum caps have initial tolerances of +80% -20% and they only get worse (less capacitance) with time and temperature cycling. In oscillators I usually use non-electrolytic caps if I can since they retain their capacitance indefinitely assuming they are used within temperature/voltage specs. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to use a monolythic ceramic capacitor here. It has a much better initial tolerance +/- 10% and a lower temperature coefficient. I found one on Newark's website http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebComme...&No=25#results that is surface mount in a 1206 package. This means that it is 12 mm long by 6 mm wide. The leads on the bottom will likely fit but if not you could "tombstone" (stand up) the cap and solder one end to one board trace and use a short wire to bridge to the other trace. These caps are non-polarized so you don't have to worry about how to orient them.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this suggestion since I need to fix my panel soon?
On the other hand if this type cap is used in an oscillator the cap value is much more critical. Most aluminum caps have initial tolerances of +80% -20% and they only get worse (less capacitance) with time and temperature cycling. In oscillators I usually use non-electrolytic caps if I can since they retain their capacitance indefinitely assuming they are used within temperature/voltage specs. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to use a monolythic ceramic capacitor here. It has a much better initial tolerance +/- 10% and a lower temperature coefficient. I found one on Newark's website http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebComme...&No=25#results that is surface mount in a 1206 package. This means that it is 12 mm long by 6 mm wide. The leads on the bottom will likely fit but if not you could "tombstone" (stand up) the cap and solder one end to one board trace and use a short wire to bridge to the other trace. These caps are non-polarized so you don't have to worry about how to orient them.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this suggestion since I need to fix my panel soon?
Advanced
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 730
Likes: 179
From: West Coast
Thanks for the analysis
Another consideration if you stand up the capacitor is vibration, so, you will need to come up with some vibration damping to secure the cap.
Your suggestions would be appreciated.
I know that silicone is not an option due to acetic acid fumes, perhaps hot glue would do the trick.
Your suggestions would be appreciated.
I know that silicone is not an option due to acetic acid fumes, perhaps hot glue would do the trick.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: NC
Another consideration if you stand up the capacitor is vibration, so, you will need to come up with some vibration damping to secure the cap.
Your suggestions would be appreciated.
I know that silicone is not an option due to acetic acid fumes, perhaps hot glue would do the trick.
Your suggestions would be appreciated.
I know that silicone is not an option due to acetic acid fumes, perhaps hot glue would do the trick.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: NC
Flickering instrument panel lights
I replaced the 10uf 16V cap in the oscillator circuit with a molded tantalum cap I got from Radio Shack. Flickering lights are now fixed. I also need to fix a sluggish gas gauge. I suspect the problem is due to the way the gauges are connected to the pc boards. I see some of you are having a problem with your tach and speedo gauges as well. I wrote a thread on this problem with a possible fix. I will try it on mine and let you know the results.
I had my 94LS stolen and stripped, and the bastard took my perfectly working cluster. I picked up a cluster at a junk yard, and sent the boards to Jim Walker for repair. Meanwhile, now that my cluster is taken apart, I'm wondering if I should replace all the bulbs, and whether or not I should replace them with leds.