2004 Land Cruiser Gauge Cluster FIXED! How-To (7 Viewers)

[Maolo ML]

¡¡Hola!! ¡Mi nombre es Manolo, de España! Quiero agradecer a los chicos de este foro por la ayuda que me han brindado con mi LC100. He tenido problemas con el medidor durante casi tres años. Cinco indicadores muertos, solo funcionaba el velocímetro. El jueves pasado vi la publicación de FlyingDreaming y Medribstrange. Al día siguiente logré arreglar todos los medidores de mi grupo. Tuve el mismo problema que el tuyo con el equipo pequeño. ¡¡Muchas gracias por su ayuda, desde el otro lado del Océano Atlántico!!

 

[Maolo ML]

¡¡Hola!! ¡Mi nombre es Manolo, de España! Quiero agradecer a los chicos de este foro por la ayuda que me han brindado con mi LC100. He tenido problemas con el medidor durante casi tres años. Cinco indicadores muertos, solo funcionaba el velocímetro. El jueves pasado vi la publicación de FlyingDreaming y Medribstrange. Al día siguiente logré arreglar todos los medidores de mi grupo. Tuve el mismo problema que el tuyo con el equipo pequeño. ¡¡Muchas gracias por su ayuda, desde el otro lado del Océano Atlántico!!

Hello!!My name is Manolo, from Spain!I want to thank the guys from this forum for the help they have given me with my LC100.I have been having gauge problems for almost three years. Five dead gauges, only the speedometer was working.Last Thursday I saw the post from FlyingDreaming and Medribstrange. The next day I managed to fix all the gauges in my cluster.I had the same problem as yours with the small gear.Thank you very much for your help, from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!!

 

[Maolo ML]

G'day Nomisuri,
I know this is an old post, but hoping you can clarify...
What is the L {{{{=M}}}} R gauge on front of your steering column, in front of cluster?

View attachment 3971103

Hello! This is the screen for the rear parking sensors. In the center, it shows the meters to the obstacle. On the sides, there are colored LEDs for right/left distance.

 

[SMLE]

Ordered some stepper motors off Aliexpress (£23 each delivered), I've just gone for the speedo and rev counter motors for now. I know it's counterintuitive if the other ones go wrong but I couldn't see with absolute certainty which types I needed, and the other ones are fine currently. Right now there are bigger repairs needed on the 100 series!

I will report back!

 

[excessive]

i need to do this as well on my 2004. Fuel gauge has been dead for years

 

[imperium]

Figured I’d share my cluster saga in case it helps someone else. It’s been a nearly 4-month ordeal that I think is finally resolved as of today.

I ended up caving and buying a refurbished cluster from Tanin — $850 shipped and coded to my mileage. My original gauges were failing one after another, so I needed a solution. The new cluster arrived about a week later, I installed it right away, and everything seemed fine. I even sent back my old cluster for the core refund (only $60 after shipping deductions, which I don’t recommend — they resell these for $800, so the margin is nuts).

Two days later, the fuel gauge started failing again, working only intermittently. At that point I was stumped — what are the odds of two clusters with bad stepper motors? I took the truck to the dealer, and they said it was the fuel sending unit. $1,200 later, the gauge died again as I was leaving the lot. Worse, the entire cluster began acting up on startup, and the light behind the fuel gauge flickered. I was at my limit. I spoke with the service manager and asked if they could actually diagnose the issue instead of just throwing parts at it. They agreed, but after keeping my truck for a week, they didn’t look at it until the final day — no progress made.

A few days later I drove from VA to CO for Cruisers on the Rockies, a 10-day, 5,000-mile trip. The fuel gauge worked twice the whole time. Once I got home and finally had a break in my schedule, I shipped the cluster back to Tanin under warranty. (I hadn’t done this earlier partly because I didn’t think a refurbished unit could be worse than my original — big mistake, especially after giving up my old cluster for just $60 — and partly because I needed the truck all summer.)

Three weeks later, the cluster came back with no note or indication of what they had done. I reinstalled it, and everything worked… except the speedometer. At that point I was ready to give up. But after pulling it out again to replace the plastic lens I had cracked earlier, I reinstalled it — and suddenly everything started working.

So the short version: yes, you can get a replacement cluster that’s in worse shape than the one you’re trying to fix. Hopefully my missteps help someone else avoid the same frustration. Start with the simple fixes before you go down the rabbit hole.

 

[imperium]

Figured I’d share my cluster saga in case it helps someone else. It’s been a nearly 4-month ordeal that I think is finally resolved as of today.

I ended up caving and buying a refurbished cluster from Tanin — $850 shipped and coded to my mileage. My original gauges were failing one after another, so I needed a solution. The new cluster arrived about a week later, I installed it right away, and everything seemed fine. I even sent back my old cluster for the core refund (only $60 after shipping deductions, which I don’t recommend — they resell these for $800, so the margin is nuts).

Two days later, the fuel gauge started failing again, working only intermittently. At that point I was stumped — what are the odds of two clusters with bad stepper motors? I took the truck to the dealer, and they said it was the fuel sending unit. $1,200 later, the gauge died again as I was leaving the lot. Worse, the entire cluster began acting up on startup, and the light behind the fuel gauge flickered. I was at my limit. I spoke with the service manager and asked if they could actually diagnose the issue instead of just throwing parts at it. They agreed, but after keeping my truck for a week, they didn’t look at it until the final day — no progress made.

A few days later I drove from VA to CO for Cruisers on the Rockies, a 10-day, 5,000-mile trip. The fuel gauge worked twice the whole time. Once I got home and finally had a break in my schedule, I shipped the cluster back to Tanin under warranty. (I hadn’t done this earlier partly because I didn’t think a refurbished unit could be worse than my original — big mistake, especially after giving up my old cluster for just $60 — and partly because I needed the truck all summer.)

Three weeks later, the cluster came back with no note or indication of what they had done. I reinstalled it, and everything worked… except the speedometer. At that point I was ready to give up. But after pulling it out again to replace the plastic lens I had cracked earlier, I reinstalled it — and suddenly everything started working.

So the short version: yes, you can get a replacement cluster that’s in worse shape than the one you’re trying to fix. Hopefully my missteps help someone else avoid the same frustration. Start with the simple fixes before you go down the rabbit hole.

Looks like I spoke too soon. Speedometer went out again...

 

[SMLE]

Well after removing the cluster, waiting for 10 days for 6S type stepper motors to arrive, and then stripping it down, my 2004 LC has the LX470 stepper motors in it.

I'm now unsure where to go from here. I'm in the UK, not USA so Tanin will prove to be more expensive if I did use them to repair, but I'm going to explore other options for the moment, my main concern is buying a 2nd hand speedo will have the same issues already/in the future.

I'm likely to send it over to Tanin as driving around with a speedo and rev counter which have minds of their own is doing my head in.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

Thanks

 

[SMLE]

Slight issue after reinstalling, once connected to the cars power, the needles are defaulting to a lower position than I've wound them around to (to match the tape markings I made).

Now I'm in a bit of a tricky situation because no tape markings remain and these aren't aligned.

Am I right in saying they are defaulting to the point in which I removed the needles? If so, should I just be removing the needles, lining up with the desired position and reinstalling ( rather than installing and then winding around if that makes sense)?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks

 

[imperium]

Slight issue after reinstalling, once connected to the cars power, the needles are defaulting to a lower position than I've wound them around to (to match the tape markings I made).

Now I'm in a bit of a tricky situation because no tape markings remain and these aren't aligned.

Am I right in saying they are defaulting to the point in which I removed the needles? If so, should I just be removing the needles, lining up with the desired position and reinstalling ( rather than installing and then winding around if that makes sense)?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks

View attachment 3999537

Do they keep that position when you remove them from power?

 

[SMLE]

Do they keep that position when you remove them from power?

So I pushed them on around half past, wound clockwise to line up with the markings, reassembled everything, plugged it in and they wound around backwards to where they are now sitting!

It's a bit strange! Thanks

 

[SMLE]

Figured I’d share my cluster saga in case it helps someone else. It’s been a nearly 4-month ordeal that I think is finally resolved as of today.

I ended up caving and buying a refurbished cluster from Tanin — $850 shipped and coded to my mileage. My original gauges were failing one after another, so I needed a solution. The new cluster arrived about a week later, I installed it right away, and everything seemed fine. I even sent back my old cluster for the core refund (only $60 after shipping deductions, which I don’t recommend — they resell these for $800, so the margin is nuts).

Two days later, the fuel gauge started failing again, working only intermittently. At that point I was stumped — what are the odds of two clusters with bad stepper motors? I took the truck to the dealer, and they said it was the fuel sending unit. $1,200 later, the gauge died again as I was leaving the lot. Worse, the entire cluster began acting up on startup, and the light behind the fuel gauge flickered. I was at my limit. I spoke with the service manager and asked if they could actually diagnose the issue instead of just throwing parts at it. They agreed, but after keeping my truck for a week, they didn’t look at it until the final day — no progress made.

A few days later I drove from VA to CO for Cruisers on the Rockies, a 10-day, 5,000-mile trip. The fuel gauge worked twice the whole time. Once I got home and finally had a break in my schedule, I shipped the cluster back to Tanin under warranty. (I hadn’t done this earlier partly because I didn’t think a refurbished unit could be worse than my original — big mistake, especially after giving up my old cluster for just $60 — and partly because I needed the truck all summer.)

Three weeks later, the cluster came back with no note or indication of what they had done. I reinstalled it, and everything worked… except the speedometer. At that point I was ready to give up. But after pulling it out again to replace the plastic lens I had cracked earlier, I reinstalled it — and suddenly everything started working.

So the short version: yes, you can get a replacement cluster that’s in worse shape than the one you’re trying to fix. Hopefully my missteps help someone else avoid the same frustration. Start with the simple fixes before you go down the rabbit hole.

Are your gauges still acting up now like I saw in your recent post? I am gearing up to send mine to Tanin from the UK and I really can't afford for it not to go well as I'm not in a situation where I can keep shipping it back and forth (due to huge shipping costs and import duty).

If anyone else has experience of Tanin, especially in recent times, I'd love to hear your thoughts about how your clusters are working after stepper motor replacement.

Thanks

 

[imperium]

Are your gauges still acting up now like I saw in your recent post? I am gearing up to send mine to Tanin from the UK and I really can't afford for it not to go well as I'm not in a situation where I can keep shipping it back and forth (due to huge shipping costs and import duty).

If anyone else has experience of Tanin, especially in recent times, I'd love to hear your thoughts about how your clusters are working after stepper motor replacement.

Thanks

It's now intermittent. The only gauge that I'm having problems with is the speedometer. Most of the time it works just fine, sometimes it's more than a few MPH off, and sometimes (rarely) it doesn't work at all.

After all this I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend Tanin, at least for a replacement cluster. When I asked what was fixed when I warrantied my replacement cluster, they said they did a "full rebuild of all the stepper motors". Wouldn't you think this would be standard practice when they receive a cluster anyway? Why did I have to send mine in after they had already apparently refurbished it? Many questions, no answers.

If they're the only ones that can fix it, then yeah I'd give them a try. It'll take a while and be expensive to send it overseas from the UK to them, but honestly I hated not having a working cluster so much that it'd probably be worth the $$.

Happy to answer any other questions you have about it.

 

[SMLE]

It's now intermittent. The only gauge that I'm having problems with is the speedometer. Most of the time it works just fine, sometimes it's more than a few MPH off, and sometimes (rarely) it doesn't work at all.

After all this I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend Tanin, at least for a replacement cluster. When I asked what was fixed when I warrantied my replacement cluster, they said they did a "full rebuild of all the stepper motors". Wouldn't you think this would be standard practice when they receive a cluster anyway? Why did I have to send mine in after they had already apparently refurbished it? Many questions, no answers.

If they're the only ones that can fix it, then yeah I'd give them a try. It'll take a while and be expensive to send it overseas from the UK to them, but honestly I hated not having a working cluster so much that it'd probably be worth the $$.

Happy to answer any other questions you have about it.

That doesn't sound great - have you reached out to them again since with this intermittent issue? Given they've been rebuilt when you sent it back in, and this is still exhibiting the issue, it makes sense that they'd look at it again!

If you've not already, plug your car into techstream, and get someone to drive/use the laptop, and check what speed the car says when you're driving along. With my logic, that helps remove any other issues from the equation such as the output in the transfer box etc which tells the car what speed you're doing etc.

They are my only option currently, no one in the UK seems to have a clue besides other cluster repairs. I've got one more person to try here tomorrow, beyond that I'll be sending mine in for a refurb and recalibration of the needles (as mine are all over the shop since I attempted this repair). My main concern is being in a situation where I end up paying shipping and import duty/VAT multiple times if I need to send it back, so I just need them to nail it first time.

I've expressed these concerns so will see what they come back with, it's likely to be around 1100USD by the time I ship it, pay import duty/VAT, all their costs and their 100USD expedite fee.

Thanks

 

[imperium]

That doesn't sound great - have you reached out to them again since with this intermittent issue? Given they've been rebuilt when you sent it back in, and this is still exhibiting the issue, it makes sense that they'd look at it again!

If you've not already, plug your car into techstream, and get someone to drive/use the laptop, and check what speed the car says when you're driving along. With my logic, that helps remove any other issues from the equation such as the output in the transfer box etc which tells the car what speed you're doing etc.

They are my only option currently, no one in the UK seems to have a clue besides other cluster repairs. I've got one more person to try here tomorrow, beyond that I'll be sending mine in for a refurb and recalibration of the needles (as mine are all over the shop since I attempted this repair). My main concern is being in a situation where I end up paying shipping and import duty/VAT multiple times if I need to send it back, so I just need them to nail it first time.

I've expressed these concerns so will see what they come back with, it's likely to be around 1100USD by the time I ship it, pay import duty/VAT, all their costs and their 100USD expedite fee.

Thanks

Appreciate the recommendation. I have a scangauge which tells me the corrected speed for my larger tire size. That has always read the correct speed, so I know the car is reading speed properly.

I do have an email and a few voicemails out to them. They did say they'd get back to me with a potential solution because I didn't want to have to go another 3 weeks without a cluster while it gets repaired.

Completely understand your concerns. If, at this point, they're your only option I would give them a shot. After they repaired the stepper motors in my replacement cluster all the other problems went away. Just have to solve this one new problem and it'll be good.

 

[VR6GURU]

Are your gauges still acting up now like I saw in your recent post? I am gearing up to send mine to Tanin from the UK and I really can't afford for it not to go well as I'm not in a situation where I can keep shipping it back and forth (due to huge shipping costs and import duty).

If anyone else has experience of Tanin, especially in recent times, I'd love to hear your thoughts about how your clusters are working after stepper motor replacement.

Thanks

Back in February i believe it was, I sent Tanin my cluster. Only one gauge was working at the time. They sent it back to me rather quickly and they were very communicative throughout the process. My cluster works flawlessly since.