Cluster Repair - common issues.

[nmlss2006]

There's a gentleman in Spain who (used to?) sell VDO gears, but he couldn't do MM ones. I have had indifferent success contacting him however: address is mpower2002@jazzfree.com .

[Jean]

Yep, bought a set from him before. Looking to buy a few more...

[badvibrations]

So, to reflow these solder joints, do I just brush on some flux and reheat/remelt the solder with a fine soldering tip?
Should I have to worry about the solder flowing away and causing shorts across the board(s)?

[woodisgood]

There's a gentleman in Spain who (used to?) sell VDO gears, but he couldn't do MM ones. I have had indifferent success contacting him however: address is mpower2002@jazzfree.com .

Thanks,
will email.

[BrooklynMW]

This is the greatest thread ever. My car could be running on one wheel, smoke coming out of the engine and the steering wheel falling off and I wouldn't care. But as soon as my cluster starts to malfunction, I freak the eff out.

Currently, my fuel gauge does get stuck at the top. Tapping on the plastic does not work to solve problem. But funny enough, I've discovered that pushing on the plastic with my thumb usually sends the needle to it's proper setting. But as soon as I accelerate, it jumps back to the top. It's an intermittent problem and doesn't always happen but it's getting worse.

Plus I have the usual "Brake Lining" light coming on and off. But doesn't everybody.

Also, a few days ago the "Check" light stopped blinking when I start the car, which was annoying anyway, but freaks me out incase I have a real problem one day.

[george graves]

So, to reflow these solder joints, do I just brush on some flux and reheat/remelt the solder with a fine soldering tip?
Should I have to worry about the solder flowing away and causing shorts across the board(s)?

Solder has a lot of surface tension when it's clean. Espically when it's got some flux on it. Surface tension (You already know this I bet) is the property that makes water bead up - it kinda make it cling to it'self. Solder has a ton of it. The solder shouldn't "bridge" to another joint. It can if you're not careful...but it won't do it on it's own.

But - the solder that on the joints is about 20 years old, and will have a ton of oxidation on it. That's going to make it hard for someone new to soldering to reflow it. Adding flux is a must. And on some joints you might have to remove some or all the solder. Other joints you'll have to add a tiny bit. You have to do all of this with out going over the joint too may times. Most board can only survive 2 or 3, maybe 4 times getting heated up with an iron. Then the copper traces start to de-laminate from the PCB board. When that happens it's a freaking mess - and you'll be lucky to save the board at that point. Sometimes you can repair it - other times you'll have to use wire to bypass the trace - and that's not going to really work for you.

That's when a temperature controlled iron come in handy. You can often get away with re-working a board at a higher temperature for shorter amounts of time. Sometimes the radio shack irons will be too cool, and you'll need to apply heat for much longer. And that extra time is what will start breaking down the traces. It's kinda counter-intuitive.

But - you can always give it a try - clusters aren't that expensive. I'm rambling - don't know if I helped or confused the situation - sorry. It's not that hard - give it a go. You will want a "no clean" flux though.

[badvibrations]

This thread helped me alot!
Thanks for the great info!

[SpecRaceM5]

Just ordered 2 sets of the Moto Meter gears today. Has anyone dealt with odometergears.com before? How long does it take to get your parts? I'm hoping they will be in before the holiday so that I can get it done then.

[woodisgood]

There's a gentleman in Spain who (used to?) sell VDO gears, but he couldn't do MM ones. I have had indifferent success contacting him however: address is mpower2002@jazzfree.com .

Thanks,
will email.

I am in contact with this guy and about to order some gears from him if anyone wants in, they are 25 shipped per set. He has three sets. PM me if interested.

[thebutcher37]

I am in contact with this guy and about to order some gears from him if anyone wants in, they are 25 shipped per set. He has three sets. PM me if interested.

PM'd

[SeriousBusiness]

Bringing this back up.

Was planning on replacing all the 2721 bulbs in my cluster with LED versions. Just 'cause. How the F do I get them out of the carriers? I broke one when I got the grand idea to use pliers and I'd rather not break more (this is one of my spare VDO clusters I'm "putting together" to replace my MotoMeter, which apparently replaced a factory VDO already, so I have plenty of extra parts).

EDIT

Never mind, wow what a pain in the ass. I don't want to engineer something to make these superbrightleds.com bulbs work so F it, I'll just replace the 2 main bulbs.

EDIT

Just in case anyone does not know how those 2721 bulbs work and look from our gauge clusters (yes I fucked up the leads on the old bulbs to get them out):





Sorry for the poor quality

EDIT

OK, so the CEL and ABS (maybe hazard bulb too? Don't have the bulb socket on this cluster) bulbs are the only 2721 wedge style bulbs in our clusters. I'm leaving all this here so no one does the same thing I did.

[BeirBrennerE30]

Sticky??? I have gone through several clusters and its a PITA.

I also wanna see how the LED comes out

[browntown]

Will removing the small led board off the si board cause anything besides the si lights to not work? I just assume not having to deal with resetting lights and all that jazz.

This board:

[Jean]

^ safe to remove, better than putting tape on the cluster face eh ? lol

Reset the lights dude, if they don't reset pm me and i'll send you a replacement board for cost of shipping :)

[BrooklynMW]

Here's one for ya:

Why when I start my car, 3 lights remain on? The PARK BRAKE, BRAKE and BATTERY light all stay on. They go off once I put my foot down on the gas. And it doesn't happen all the time. Only once in a while, although lately it's been happening more often.

Wassupwitdat?