Instrument Panel Help - 99 LX 470 (1 Viewer)

[Jrod]

Need help from the collective:

The backlit area on the instrument panel for my 99 LX470 has gone black. The needles still light up on the gauges, but the odometer, tach, speedo, etc are all black now. The gear selector lights work, as well as all other lights at the bottom of the panel (CDL, seatbelt, headlights, etc). I've pulled the cluster and replaced some burned out bulbs, and checked the remaining bulbs. I've pulled/checked/tested all associated fuses and they're fine. Any words of wisdom, or anyone had a similar problem?

Thanks!

 

[SF1911A1]

Need help from the collective:

The backlit area on the instrument panel for my 99 LX470 has gone black. The needles still light up on the gauges, but the odometer, tach, speedo, etc are all black now. The gear selector lights work, as well as all other lights at the bottom of the panel (CDL, seatbelt, headlights, etc). I've pulled the cluster and replaced some burned out bulbs, and checked the remaining bulbs. I've pulled/checked/tested all associated fuses and they're fine. Any words of wisdom, or anyone had a similar problem?

Thanks!

I have this exact same issue in my 99 LX. Did you find a cure or does anyone have any input? I bought mine this way and just haven’t worried about it yet, but it’s getting more and more annoying as time goes on. Thanks.

 

[Mumblix]

Bad common ground point?

 

[Leandro]

Do you have an aftermarket stereo?
Check the dimming control.
I had a similar issue when installed my stereo, it was because one of the dimming cables wasn't connected.

 

[SF1911A1]

I just installed the aftermarket stereo, but had the problem before I touched anything and it was the factory Nakamichi when I bought it.

I haven’t had a chance to check the grounding point yet, but that was going to be my first stop. Thanks for that idea.

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Need help from the collective:

The backlit area on the instrument panel for my 99 LX470 has gone black. The needles still light up on the gauges, but the odometer, tach, speedo, etc are all black now. The gear selector lights work, as well as all other lights at the bottom of the panel (CDL, seatbelt, headlights, etc). I've pulled the cluster and replaced some burned out bulbs, and checked the remaining bulbs. I've pulled/checked/tested all associated fuses and they're fine. Any words of wisdom, or anyone had a similar problem?

Thanks!

Did you check the kick-panel fuse box?

Check 21, 23, 26 ... My apologies if you already have. This fuse box is often overlooked (it's by the drivers side foot rest, way up there).

 

[SF1911A1]

No need to apologize, I did check the kick panel fuse box, but since it only takes a minute to look, I plan on looking again just to be safe when I get home from work today.

 

[SF1911A1]

Fuses in kick panel all looked good. Removed the cluster (that was a bitch in Houston heat - 96 degrees) and a few things jump out at me. There are many many small screws missing from the back of the computer board. Someone has clearly been in here before me which means this could be a lost cause, who knows what they did in here. There is a white wire soldered from a point just right of center near the top that leads to nothing. Wait, found it. It was soldered to the connection point for the light that is all the way to the right of the panel as shown in the picture. I’m going to solder it back into place now and see if that brings it back to life. It appears that wire was then soldered out the other end of the bulb connection, but it just leads to a short broken nub. Hopefully the pictures attach to this post. Any input?

 

[SF1911A1]

After soldering that one point, I put everything back in place. I made sure the ground connections were good when put the cluster back in and everything popped into place as it should have been. I am in the same boat as before. Needles light up, all gauges work, and the PRND etc as well as check engine, battery, diff lock and all other lights also work properly, but no backlighting. I may just buy a new cluster since this one appears to have been previously bastardized. Mileage doesn’t matter because this cluster isn’t right anyway.

Any other ideas are welcome though. I probably won’t get around to a new cluster for quite some time. I don’t drive this vehicle all that often because I have a company car. If you see this post in 2020 or something, there’s a damn good chance I still have this cluster and would still love to hear any ideas. Thanks to all who helped so far and please keep the ideas coming!

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Looking at your second photo, there appears to be a broken lead from the bottom side of the ground (below the broken solder point). If you reground that broken lead, it might solve your problem...

 

[SF1911A1]

Are you talking about that nub of wire with a little white rubber left on it? How would you suggest grounding it?

 

[coconut]

Tanin Auto Electronix got me a used instrument cluster 3 months ago, checked and ODO adjusted to current mileage. It's been working since. Www.taninautoelectronix.com. $499 and they let me keep the original dead cluster.

 

[SF1911A1]

Thanks but I’d rather keep the dark one than drop $500 on a cluster. I put a $5 Walmart led strip in it and I use the “try me” button as the actual switch to turn the lights on. I just flash them on once in a rare while to make sure everything looks good. It will hold me until I find a better option. Junkyard said $100 for a cluster they had but couldn’t show me that the lights all worked and such and they would not take a return if they didn’t work so I walked. Having the accurate mileage is unimportant to me because the cluster I have is not accurate anyway.

 

[Ayune]

Are you talking about that nub of wire with a little white rubber left on it? How would you suggest grounding it?

This thin PCB trace looks to have ‘fused’ or separated and delaminated from the circuit board from high current. It’s likely the reason the backlighting circuit is not complete & working.

 

[SF1911A1]

This thin PCB trace looks to have ‘fused’ or separated and delaminated from the circuit board from high current. It’s likely the reason the backlighting circuit is not complete & working.

Is that something I can fix or it’s shot?

 

[Leandro]

This thin PCB trace looks to have ‘fused’ or separated and delaminated from the circuit board from high current. It’s likely the reason the backlighting circuit is not complete & working.

View attachment 1995059

That might be the reason for that white wire. It doesn't look original, I don't believe toyota would solder like that.

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Are you talking about that nub of wire with a little white rubber left on it? How would you suggest grounding it?

This thin PCB trace looks to have ‘fused’ or separated and delaminated from the circuit board from high current. It’s likely the reason the backlighting circuit is not complete & working.

View attachment 1995059

I agree

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Try soldering a wire between the ground (where the white wire was soldered) and the original terminus of the broken/delaminated section. Use a smaller gauge wire for better results. If you don't have a soldering tool kit, you can probably find someone locally who can do it.

 

[SF1911A1]

So do you mean option A or option B? Both start at the same point, where the wire is currently connected, but the end points are different.

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Following route "B"... There is a piece of copper-strand sticking out of the circuit board (not the white coated wire). That piece used to be connected somewhere to the circuit board. Find out where that "somewhere" is, by tracing it. and then solder a wire between "somewhere" and the ground.

I"d try that before spending any money.

It's obviously a ground, but whatever is on the other "somewhere" end is probably not grounded and probably should be.