instrument cluster odometer

[buickpa]

Has anyone been able to replace the resistors on the instrument cluster circuit board for the odometer lights not working?

 

[lacelles]

Has anyone been able to replace the resistors on the instrument cluster circuit board for the odometer lights not working?

Have you found anything? I'm looking for the same information also.
Thanks

 

[Moofy]

I found this on a differt site very helpfull plan on fixing mine this weekend will let everyone know how it goes


This is so easy to fix that anyone who reads and watches this will kick themselves if they paid $500 plus to have it replaced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84FAjLxoK00

I had this problem myself. In mine it was the drivers infomation lcd that was out. It took my about 30 minutes to do, and it works like a charm.

After you disassemble the cluster and remove the circuit board, there are 10 little transistors that control the 2 lcds. These often go bad. All you have to do is replace the damaged or missing ones(or all of them). You'll need some resistors(150 ohm 1/2 watt) I picked up a 5 pack from radio shack for 99 cents. You simply sauder these in place of the old ones and when you plug it back in it will work perfectly. I bought a little sauder kit as well because I didn't have one. Just get a basic kit. Also make sure to get the braided copper sauder remover as well. You'll want to remove the old sauder before you put in the new resistores. Total cost for everything was $13.64 at radio shack.

I couldn't believe how ease this was to repair. I have never even saudered before and I had no problem. I watched a couple videos on how to sauder, but it's not difficult. It may be handy to have an extra set of hands just to hold the parts while you sauder.

 

[Moofy]

I took my cluster out this mornig ran to Radio Shack and bought a five pack of resistors part number 271-1109 for 99 cents plus tax and soldered them in reinstalled and presto my DIC works great

 

[oldblue99]

I did this DIY and bought the resistors from radio shack. It worked for one week then burned out and smoke came up through the dash board. Does anyone know where I can just buy the green computer board for a replacement? Also how will this affect my milage reading? Thanks.

 

[genem]

oldblue99

It is possible, just possible that you can salvage the board. More than likely it was the last thing you changed that caused the problem. The last thing you changed was the resistors from Radio Shack.

Liklely cause of "smoke" is that the resistor was rubbing or sitting against some other part and eventually caused a short. Or, it came loose, fell and lodged against another component causing a short. An open circuit will not burn nor smoke, but a short circuit will cause current to flow where it is not supposed to and burn up.

I would remove the board, and examine it very carefully. You should be able to see and/or smell the area or part that burned up. And with some luck repair it back again. If the circuit board is damaged, you can most times jump the burned run with a piece of wire... just make sure you get a clean connection.

This problem of "smoke" should not affect your mileage - this DIC board only displays the mileage, does not compute and store the mileage.

 

[oldblue99]

Thanks, I'll have another look at it before entirely giving up.

 

[2000Century]

Changed out 4 bad resistors in my 2000 Century just yesterday, works just fine now, was a little concerned when the lighting power went from day to night illumination, but it works great so far. $400 repair for $1

 

[johnnyrook]

Soldering is a delicate process and if you aren't familiar with it, you definitely shouldn't be attempting to do it yourself. You can run a risk of potentially harming your circuitboard and will have to purchase a whole new unit and pay to have it reprogrammed. I've repaired several of the Century and Regal model instrument panels. If you need your cluster worked on, contact me at ANCTechnologies at hotmail.

Note* Some place will charge you up to 600 dollars because they will give you the run-around about having to buy a whole new one and reprogram it and they gotta send it off and this and that. You would simply ship me your unit and I'll repair it and send back to you in in days.

 

[buickpa1987]

After having the same problem happen to me over the past 2 years, and the dash being dead. I spent a few hours today researching the problem and decided to fix it instead of replacing it. I do not know how to solder, so I went to Radioshack and the guy there fixed it for me for $20.00. It works great and now I can pass my inspection. I recommend people to have someone else with experience do it if you are new to soldering. The cost was minimal for me, and I didn't have to worry about being frustrated with getting it right.

I dropped the unit off and the guy fixed it in less than an hour.

 

[regalgs04ja]

I thought all they knew how to do at Radio Shack was push cell phones.

Last time I went to one, the salesman did not know what a resistor was.

 

[Inwywind]

Is the current mileage kept in the cluster or computer?

 

[Oneill5491]

Cluster.

Before I found out about the resistor problem, I actually bought a used cluster from a salvage yard and swapped it out. The replacement cluster had only 30,000mi or so on it when I knew I actually had over 200k on the car. Fortunately, I read about the resistor problem before I put too many miles on the replacement cluster. I fixed the old one and reinstalled it. I have about a 500mi discrepancy on the odometer now, but no biggie.

If you had to put the correct milage on a replacement cluster, you would have to send in both clusters to a special shop where they have the proper tools to reprogram the new cluster with the odom reading from the old one.

 

[rulmer999]

I just did this repair over the weekend using resistors bought at Radio Shack for .99. All four original 150 Ohm resistors were burned and ready to fall off the circuit board. The hardest part was removing the instrument cluster from the dash....Go to Youtube and do a search on Buick Regal Instrument Cluster repair...If you have the LS model, you only need replace the 4 resistors on the right side of the board. Worked like a charm and I saved myself a good 400.00 or more!!🙂

 

[tomlau]

I fixed my 2001 Buick Century also this way by putting 4 new resistors in. It worked about 5 months and now nothing. I took it apart and the resistors look fine, they do get hot. Any help?

Tom

 

[SwitchPitch]

Sweet. Another success story.
Gotta love being able to fix something like that, rather than having to buy a whole new unit.

At least some of the electronics in modern vehicles are still basic enough for a home fix.

Paul

 

[jdameron10]

I tried this repair on my 2001 GS. The odometer then worked but the information display did not. I took a closer look and realized that the resistors on the left side of the board (as you view it during repair) were also burnt. I replaced them as well and then nothing worked. I'm back to square one. I rechecked the new resistors for continuity and resistance and they look OK. I could find nothing wrong, but it just doesn't work. Any ideas?

 

[svarnster]

my odometer is going on and off, haven't figured out why yet. maybe bad ground

 

[Dirtybob]

It is almost always the resistors. If you 'fixed' it and it doesn't work, you probably overlooked one that has poor contact or can't solder worth crap (like me). Try using your finger to roll the resistor(s) off the board, you might be surprised that they will easily move/fall off even though they look good.