cluster fried?

[southerne30]

First day I had the car I blew the 23 fuse and I think it was the 10 Shot the brake light switch, gauge cluster backlight (all warning lights work), all of the climate control lighting and i believe the reverse lights. I'm pretty sure something shorted and someone thought a 20 amp fuse would do well in a 7.5 so it fried everything. All fuses are good, reverse lights still good, assuming that the reverse light switch is fried. Question is how to fix the climate control lights and...pretty sure the circuit is donezo here but can I buy just a speedo or would the SI and everything else be worthless too?

[nando]

I can't see any damage but it could probably be repaired.

[southerne30]

are there any write ups on a repair? searched alot without much help. the three solder points above the vdo label have dark discoloration around them. didnt get a shot of it but the cluster housing was discolored brown from that board heating up.

[nando]

it's hard to know without seeing the other side of the board. discolored traces don't mean much, nothing on the backside looks damaged.

the question is why did it heat up in the first place? something must have shorted out.

[Gregs///M]

That picture is just of the speedometer. Those three solder points look OK to me. I repair clusters and that dis-colorization is very common, probably just solder flux. If anything would be damaged in the cluster, i would think it would show on the cluster main board.

As far as your climate control repair, I would disassemble the dash and inspect the wiring, repair any wiring that looks damaged. It could be a very real possibility that the climate controls themselves are electrically damaged on the inside.

You will not find any DIY or tutorials on how to repair your specific electrical damaged. This is the type of stuff that requires someone with intimate knowledge in electrical repair. I can only imagine how expensive an electrical repair bill would be to get everything back online.

Might wanna download the ETM for your car, as it might help you immensely.

If you need your cluster or climate control inspected or repaired, send me a PM. I can look at it for you for a minimal fee. Any major repairs will cost extra of course. And yes, the SI board could be fried as well. Hard to say what could be damaged as there arn't many circuits in the interior that are capable of handling 20A of current.

[southerne30]

Preciate the help, all bulbs and wiring looked good after i've been looking at it for the past two days. Took apart the headlight switch and found a pretty mean burn on the board, assuming the rheostat or switch itself is the problem? otherwise I'm pretty lost. Don't think its the si board the tach, speedo, and all lower warning lights are working fine. Here's a picture of the board to get a second opinion.

[Gregs///M]

Preciate the help, all bulbs and wiring looked good after i've been looking at it for the past two days. Took apart the headlight switch and found a pretty mean burn on the board, assuming the rheostat or switch itself is the problem? otherwise I'm pretty lost. Don't think its the si board the tach, speedo, and all lower warning lights are working fine. Here's a picture of the board to get a second opinion.

That looks like wiper arm contact wear, normal to see for an old dimmer switch/light switch. Looks OK.

You can download the ETM and test for power and verify ground on the incoming power sources into the cluster. There are several. If you verify power is indeed there, then the problem lies inside the cluster.

If that is the case, consider sending your cluster to me for evaluation. If nothing is wrong with it, I only charge a minimal fee. Even if there is damage inside, I charge an affordable repair fee. PM if for quote.

Same deal with the instrumentation and dash illumination, you can test for power at the various power sources or at the bulbs themselves. This will let you narrow down where the problem lies.

Also check the bottom of your fuse box if you didn't already. Electrical shorting can cause severe damage to the connections and local wiring.