Broken buttons in the dash (1 Viewer)

[digitalmarker]

That’s awesome - hope it keeps working for you. Other folks (myself included) reported it working for a few days but giving out again shortly after. Please update the thread in a week or two!

For my truck, I ended up getting a whole new climate control unit (buttons and board) from a wrecked donor vehicle. He even sent me a video of all buttons working before I bought it. I swapped it out and has been working perfectly for over a month now.

 

[WACRZ]

Bummer! I thought the return of symptoms was only after a cleaning - not the "shimming" that I did. I didn't see where you actually tried the washers like you thought that you might - sorry for missing it.

In is isn't my daily, but I'll check back in a bit and see if I'm in the same boat as the rest. I'll start sourcing a board just in case.

 

[WACRZ]

Just to close the loop. Lots of long road trips and button use. Works fine.

 

[fabmec]

If your having trouble with little buttons on the circuit board they can be desoldered and replaced with a tactile switch part # FSM4JRT. They are available online for only a few cents each. If you can't do the pcb desoldering and soldering thing pay someone to do it as it is a permanent fix.

 

[bls72bmw]

Genius. Blooody Genius.
Gonna try this asap. Def what I’ve been looking for!
Fabmec- pm sent

 

[digitalmarker]

What kind of a place would do this kind of soldering? I am too clumsy to attempt it.

 

[Ayune]

What kind of a place would do this kind of soldering? I am too clumsy to attempt it.

Any high school robotics kid could probably handle it, but with a few cheap items it’s pretty easy to do successful soldering yourself:

- soldering iron kit, with sponge
- tweezers
- solder wick, for removing excess solder
- small cutters, to cut things

It does take some dexterity, though.

 

[l3n0x]

I can see this working for the clock buttons, but I don’t think these switches (square) would fit the place of the other buttons (mostly round cutouts in the surrounding plastic)

 

[fabmec]

I can see this working for the clock buttons, but I don’t think these switches (square) would fit the place of the other buttons (mostly round cutouts in the surrounding plastic)

Mine were all the same blue silicone round buttons. I replaced 9 on the the board. Mine does not have climate control. Have you got a pic of the switches you talking about .

 

[digitalmarker]

Dexterity is what I am usually missing when I attempt small stuff like this - end up with too much solder splattering everywhere. My control panel is good for now, I just replaced my old one with one from a part out truck, but suspect some buttons will start going out eventually like they did on the old one. A video or pic tutorial of this would be

 

[Ayune]

Dexterity is what I am usually missing when I attempt small stuff like this - end up with too much solder splattering everywhere. My control panel is good for now, I just replaced my old one with one from a part out truck, but suspect some buttons will start going out eventually like they did on the old one. A video or pic tutorial of this would be

These are pics showing how to replace a similar push button on another product:

Step 1 of 4: Using diagonal cutters cut the four pins of the defective pushbutton and remove the part from the board.

Step 2 of 4: Heat and remove the four pins from the PCB using tweezers.

Step 3 of 4: Using SolderWick remove solder from the four pin holes.

Step 4 of 4: Insert new pushbutton. Make sure the part is seated flush on the PCB. Solder the four pins.

 

[bls72bmw]

This repair worked like GangBusters today for me. I bought the FSM4JRT from amazon and then took the Climate Unit out. THEN I took it to the I.T. specialist guy at my office...he's a genius. It took him all of 30 minutes to solder in the new buttons. It works well...he did say since ther'es no 'blue silicon' cushion on the new ones be gentle...(aka don't SLAM them to make them work).

Definitely a job for a person who can do this stuff tho- probably a Radio Shack kid's dream job.

 

[l3n0x]

I wonder if it's possible to source the original type of buttons

 

[l3n0x]

Did this today. $3 for 30pc FSM4JRT button.
I wonder why I spent the whole summer massaging the buttons to get a/c & recirc working.. It took about an hour, and wow, best thing ever. No matter where and how I push the buttons, they just work.
Thanks everyone for the input in this thread!

 

[LaYumba]

I'm having the same issues

Ok, first real post here... I hope it is helpful. I was having the same issue with intermittent/hard-to-push buttons. I pulled the circuit board halves apart and removed the one that interfaces with the offending buttons (in my case, the rear air button had stopped working, and the ac was out.) I then reconnected the board and operated the surface mounted switches manually, not with the button. They worked fine. Therefore, my hypothesis is that the plastic in the circuit board is actually flexing away from the physical buttons as the cars (and related plastics) age and are used. To test this, I took three layers of electrical tape and layered them on the backside of the buttons, thereby decreasing the clearance between the buttons and the surface mount switch. I reinstalled everything and it works like new.

Hi WACRZ, how are your buttons holding up? Are they still working great after what you did?

 

[M1VOOD2O]

Just talked to the dealer and the cost of the replacement part for the whole panel is $2300

No one else has had this issue? Any ideas on what I could try next to fix?

For

Just talked to the dealer and the cost of the replacement part for the whole panel is $2300

No one else has had this issue? Any ideas on what I could try next to fix?

For that price, I'll change my head unit with the Tesla style head unit for $600.

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

It is so much cheaper to use some electric contact cleaner to clean up the buttons on the circuit board. Once you remove the board, you can pluck the blue caps off of each button, and clean underneath with contact cleaner. It's a $10 fix that has been holding up a long time. Soldering/desoldering and swapping parts is way harder, and totally unnecessary to get the buttons performing with a slight touch.

Check my posts here for more details:

Are your center console buttons intermittently working? (A/C Defrost Side Mirror)

My center console buttons have been working intermittently. This is a great thread on how to replace the buttons. But before tackling the job installing new switches, I thought I'd give it one easy attempt at cleaning the switches. And after a month, I can say it has worked for me. YMMV...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[l3n0x]

It is so much cheaper to use some electric contact cleaner to clean up the buttons on the circuit board. Once you remove the board, you can pluck the blue caps off of each button, and clean underneath with contact cleaner. It's a $10 fix that has been holding up a long time. Soldering/desoldering and swapping parts is way harder, and totally unnecessary to get the buttons performing with a slight touch.

Check my posts here for more details:

Are your center console buttons intermittently working? (A/C Defrost Side Mirror)

My center console buttons have been working intermittently. This is a great thread on how to replace the buttons. But before tackling the job installing new switches, I thought I'd give it one easy attempt at cleaning the switches. And after a month, I can say it has worked for me. YMMV...

forum.ih8mud.com

That’s what I did, but half a year later they faded again. The switch replacement cost $3 and is perfect.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I fixed this over the weekend. My solution was a simple shim of electrical tape between the button back and the switch (taped to the button plastic).

It took roughly 4-8 sheets of 3M 33+ tape.

I disassembled the buttons, checked continuity and found all the switches worked perfectly. My problem was solely the physical plastic button not pressing far enough into the silicone switch. I suspect due to some minor warping of the board over time.

I would encourage anyone with this problem to first disassemble the cluster, plug it back into the car and press the silicone buttons with your fingers. If the buttons react immediately, your problem is excessive gap between the buttons and board. Shim the buttons and it should be solved.

If you go through the button test and still have problems, then consider the de-solder, re-solder or contact cleaning.

FWIW, I removed a button cover and couldn't get it back on correctly before slicing into it. Those are really tough to get back onto the switch. Be warned.

I'll report back over time if the issue comes back, but it seems pretty clear that my gap was the problem.

 

[BillBoyer]

Ok, first real post here... I hope it is helpful. I was having the same issue with intermittent/hard-to-push buttons. I pulled the circuit board halves apart and removed the one that interfaces with the offending buttons (in my case, the rear air button had stopped working, and the ac was out.) I then reconnected the board and operated the surface mounted switches manually, not with the button. They worked fine. Therefore, my hypothesis is that the plastic in the circuit board is actually flexing away from the physical buttons as the cars (and related plastics) age and are used. To test this, I took three layers of electrical tape and layered them on the backside of the buttons, thereby decreasing the clearance between the buttons and the surface mount switch. I reinstalled everything and it works like new.

Wondering if the buttons are still working well for you.
I don't want to go through the formidable task unless the fix sticks.
Thanks,Bill