Fried dash cluster (1 Viewer)

[FJCthulhu]

92 HDJ81
This might be relevant to US 80s, bear with me mods!

As the title says, my dash cluster is fried.
Getting a diesel cluster from overseas is expensive, and I'm considering it a last resort.
Let's see what my options are!

Would the dash cluster from a US 80 work? Or parts from one, like that circuit board thing?

Assuming similar year, it's a JDM 91 so a US 93? Guidance appreciated.

Short story:
That floppy plastic circuit board overlay that goes on the back of the dash cluster has a melted spot in it.
Oil, Temp, RPMs, Fuel, Volts, the bottom row of lights and any backlight/illumination is all NOT working.
I have not tested individual gauges yet, but the way this is laid out they're probably fine.

The cause has been addressed & repaired. Rodents decided the harness was a free lunch.

 

[TheBussman]

the whole Custer will not work, the tach, turbo light, timing belt warning system and more are different. it most likely can be repaired, possibly using a US cluster for parts if needed. Do your have any pics of the damage?

 

[FJCthulhu]

the whole Custer will not work, the tach, turbo light, timing belt warning system and more are different. it most likely can be repaired, possibly using a US cluster for parts if needed. Do your have any pics of the damage?

I will take some tomorrow.

 

[Malleus]

Your handle made me want to help. If you can't find a used replacement flexiboard, try someone like JLPCB. They make circuit boards to spec, they're cheap, quick, and will make one of a kind orders.

There are other Chinese companies doing the same thing, but JLPCB seems to at least have something near a reputation.

 

[Gerry McGerry]

You can make a US dash mostly work, but it involves a whole load of depinning and rearranging the wires in the plugs into the cluster. My '93 FZJ80 is running a '95 1HZ with HZJ tacho in a '94 FZJ cluster, all works fine.

You need the EWD for your car and for the donor cluster. Even transferring the gels for the warning lights at the bottom is a pain, but it can be done. Write down the colour of each wire, pin # and which plug, depin every wire you need to (some may not need to be changed), swap everything as necessary. A decent sewing needle makes quick work of depinning, a label maker for the wires is also handy.


If you do go ahead and do this, if you ever find a good replacement cluster down the line you'd have to swap all the wires back over again.

 

[TheBussman]

Right I'm doing the same thing, you can take apart the cluster and move things around but you cant just use the whole cluster assembly as is.

 

[fjbj40]

92 HDJ81
This might be relevant to US 80s, bear with me mods!

As the title says, my dash cluster is fried.
Getting a diesel cluster from overseas is expensive, and I'm considering it a last resort.
Let's see what my options are!

Would the dash cluster from a US 80 work? Or parts from one, like that circuit board thing?

Assuming similar year, it's a JDM 91 so a US 93? Guidance appreciated.

Short story:
That floppy plastic circuit board overlay that goes on the back of the dash cluster has a melted spot in it.
Oil, Temp, RPMs, Fuel, Volts, the bottom row of lights and any backlight/illumination is all NOT working.
I have not tested individual gauges yet, but the way this is laid out they're probably fine.

The cause has been addressed & repaired. Rodents decided the harness was a free lunch.

If it’s only damaged in one area why not repair it?

My 93 cluster stopped working and when removed the damage was visibly the ribbon that your talking about.

I gave it to my buddy at work as I did not have the appropriate soldering iron to repair it.

He bridged the damaged areas and it all works now.

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[FJCthulhu]

Thanks, folks!
Sorry for the lateness with these photos. Life & weather, you know...

I noticed a 2nd melt spot.
The circuit is severed in the area near the AT temp light, circled.
The spot circled near the connector/plug seems to be intact. Once I fix the severed section it will be easier to get a tester on it to be sure.

It doesn't look hard to repair, but is there a proper way?
Or simply solder in a jumper wire?

 

[fjbj40]

Thanks, folks!
Sorry for the lateness with these photos. Life & weather, you know...

I noticed a 2nd melt spot.
The circuit is severed in the area near the AT temp light, circled.
The spot circled near the connector/plug seems to be intact. Once I fix the severed section it will be easier to get a tester on it to be sure.

It doesn't look hard to repair, but is there a proper way?
Or simply solder in a jumper wire?

View attachment 3856373

View attachment 3856374

Yes, solder in a jumper

 

[Kernal]

If you can find an old school electronics repair tech they should be able to repair that "trace" (thin copper line).

IIRC there was a diesel instrument cluster for sale in the Classified section within the last month or two.

Search you tubes for: repair burned trace circuit board

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+repair+a+burned+trace+circuit+board

 

[FJCthulhu]

UPDATE: Confirming the trouble spot was the one near the AT temp light. A short jumper was crafted from a small piece of wire. I removed all insulation (it was too short anyway) and tinned it. I was able to lift the trace slightly away from the flexible PCB and tin it. Then, using a low wattage soldering iron and a flat tip, I carefully soldered it in. It didn't come out too ugly, but it's obviously a repair.

I was pretty anxious to test it in the live environment. It's in the truck working 100% now. I didn't take any pictures, I was too wrapped up in getting it back together. So everything works so far!

Thanks for the tips everyone, I was afraid of completely ruining this thing so I had a skittish approach.
I didn't think it was tough enough to take a repair, but it did.

The biggest help was the videos @Kernal pointed out, so double thanks for those ideas! Cheers!