Solution to Sticky fuel/temp guages

[Gosling1]

Hi all - given the number of people with the same problem, I had a go at fixing this today, and it worked, so here is a quick rundown:

The problem as pointed out in a previous thread is the 3-pin 5-volt voltage regulator on the circuit board inside the cluster - dry joints on the 3 pins. This is why it sometimes works when you bash the dash - I am so fully sick of bashing :b: so checked with a local instrument repairer, he confirmed that in most cases the voltage regulator itself is OK, its just the dry solder joints...

This explanation ( without turning into a mini-Haynes manual) assumes a couple of things:

A - you are able to use a fine-point soldering iron ( NOT a chisel-point monster..), and

B. - You are able to get the instrument cluster out yourself.

OK, if you have the cluster on the workbench, here goes:

1. Remove the front clear panel -you need a #10 'torx' head driver to undo the 4 x 'torx' screws along the bottom rear of the cluster - then unclip the top 2 clips and remove the clear front plastic cover;

2. Undo all the small screws near the needles, and remove the black guage 'screens' from the cluster - 1 each for fuel, speed, temp. You will also need to pull each needle from its pin - this is fine, just be careful.

3. Once these are off, you will see the innner workings of your cluster (WOW) it looks pretty simple heh ?. On the LH side, directly above the 'fuel' gauge, there is a small circuit board. You first need to remove the 2 x small screws that hold the clear plastic cover over the guage;

4. Once this plastic cover is removed, you can access the circuit board. Remove the bits of sticky gluey crap that holds the board in place ( I just used a small screwdriver), remove the large connector plug at the top of the cluster, and then gently lever the circuit board from its mounting points.

5. So far so good - once the board is removed, you can re-solder the 3 pins on the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator itself is the small black rectangular fitting, that is fitted inside a heat-sink, and sits on the left-hand side of the circuit board. It has 3 pins on the bottom. When you turn the circuit board over, you can see where these 3 pins are soldered to the board from the factory. Mine were obviously dry - yours may not be, but solder them CAREFULLY with a fine-point iron and some good-quality FINE solder (NOT plumbers solder - I think that is pretty clear )

When you have done this, then assembly is reverse order of disassembly. Take your time to do it properly, I knocked this whole job over this afternoon in less than 1 hour.

Sorry for the long-winded thread, but this problem has shat me off for years, so I guess a few others may be able to fix up there own guages ( I was quoted $150 if dash in car, $80 if dash delivered ) for what is about 5 minutes worth of soldering.

My guages now work FINE - YAY !!!!

If anyone needs some further explanation, just post a reply and I will check for further questions whatever over the next few days/weeks. This procedure should also be fully applicable to VP dashes, and I would assume any dash cluster for VN-VP. Not sure on later models.

regards all, and good luck with it
Dave

[BR377]

Thanks for that Gosling1, done it about half hour ago.
Haven't been for a drive but i switched the car to 'on' and it went up fine...

[potshots007]

cool, might need to do it to mine as well, sounds very simple

[Gosling1]

No worries BR377 - Mine has worked properly last night and all day today this is the first time in 10 years that it has worked 2 days in a row !! The fuel needle is still a bit 'notchy' in its movement - I did use some WD40 on the bits inside the guage that move, and where the needle pivots, this has not given me the nice smooth needle movement I was expecting. The temp guage moves fine, the missus was a bit worried because it is now showing an actual reading at the 2nd line up, it used to get stuck on first line, until it stopped working altogether...

Potshots - give it a go mate, its piss-easy really, if you are handy with an iron.

cheers
Dave

[I LIKE COMMODORES]

Yey Gosling1 that happens with mine & my dads tacho dash i hope your remerdy it works. Oh will it work on the tacho aswell?

[Gosling1]

I don't have the tacho dash ( yet ) , so cannot say for sure if it will help a sticky tacho. But, I think it would be a safe bet to say that GMH used the same 3-pin regulator on the tacho-dash cluster, and this being the case, the same dry-joint problem is highly likely. So I would think that the same remedy would work OK with a tacho-dash, and the fuel/temp guages on a tacho-dash.

cheers
Dave

[I LIKE COMMODORES]

Sweet as mate good stuff.

[Gosling1]

no worries mate, its 3 days now without missing a beat on both guages, and no dash thumping, will keep updates coming regularly, I want this fix to be a permanent fix.

cheers
Dave

[mazza]

hey thanks for that mate
I'm not sure if this would be considered a sticky tacho, but when you rev it goes up, but doesnt come down all the way. Like when idling it sits on 1500 - 2000rpm
Do you think this solution would fix that

[Gosling1]

I don't think so - if the needle is working OK on the way up, then the voltage needed to make it work is clearly getting into the tacho - this problem sounds more like you need to give it a gentle spray with some WD40 and/or electrical circuit board cleaner ( Dick Smith sells it pretty cheap). It sounds like you may just have some dirt/gunge on the needle and its inner workings.

BTW, have finally got a tacho-dash, and yes the voltage regulator is exactly the same as on a normal cluster, but this dash works OK without any thumping, so I don't need to do the mod. at this stage.

regards
Dave

[gbug]

thanks for posting that, have to give it a go. Sick of bashing my car!

[VTSSDUDE]

So the voltage regulator sits behind the tacho on the top left hand corner. Because I couldn't see any circuit board behind the actaul fuel gauge or temp gauge.

[VTSSDUDE]

Okay, I have resoldered the voltage regulator. I also decided to resolder all the solder joints on that board. Temp guage and Fuel gauge works well. But ever since I have have done this and also I put my new dash layout in. At night time. When the hand brake light is on. It also lights up but dim the oil light beside it. If I have the right hand blinker on, it shows the hand brake light on but dim too. If I have the high beam on, it will show the oil light on dim. What could be causing this. I suspect I think because I have resoldered all the joints. Maybe I have accidently got cross talk on the circuit board and allowing current to be going where it shouldn't. So I will check again this weekend and make sure all tracks are clean. But could it be anything else?

[VTSSDUDE]

I think I have worked out the problem with the warning lights. With the original face plates. They actually surrounded the globe holes. This obviously stopping the light from passing to one section to another. The new white background I got, stops before the light holes. So there is nothing between them which allows some light to feed through.
But my new white background looks awesome so I am not going to worry to much about it. I may invent something to go between them when I have some time to waste.

[Gosling1]

Hi Jim - glad to hear you got it all sorted. The white dash you mention - is this one of those trick replacement things ?? How much costy ? Do you reckon its worth the money ? I have been thinking about one of these for some time........

cheers
Dave

[PhatVN]

This thread is worth being a sticky under the new VN-VP HOW-TO section i must say
something i plan on doin down the track anyways
so ratta or garth if ure reading plz sticky under the subforum

[DavidPartay]

I have the tacho dash, will perform this task and see how it goes .

My tacho sticks around 1500 as well so I'll see what I can do with it.

[scrapvn]

Thanx Gosling1!!!
Your tip about the dry joints was SPOT ON! The joints were so dry there were buzzards circling! I found nearly 3/4 tank of fuel.
Any suggestions about avoiding speeding tickets that doesnt involve slowing down?

[brentasaurous]

I have this problem but im going to try to fix it tomorrow. Ill let you know how it goes. Also i have a custom face plate for my dash - red with black surrounds so its a bit of an SS lookalike - absolutely sweeeet. Ill take some pics of it tmorow and post them up - stay tuned and cheers for the tip!

[SeanV8]

thanks for posting that, have to give it a go. Sick of bashing my car!

Yeah same... great news.

Is there are a guide somewhere to remove the instrument cluster from the dash?

[brentasaurous]

in the manual! haha otherwise it is really simple, i learnt as i went along.
remove the steering wheel
undo the four screws that are on the underside of the cluster
unclip the connections that connect the cluster buttons
pull the cluster out
remove all the screws on the back and i think theres four down the bottom of the front of the cluster
unclip the clear plastic cover
unscrew the four tiny screws that hold the gauge face in place and pop off the needles carefully, you can use a fork if you need but be careful
remove the gauge face and you are now into the guts of the gauges!

[scrapvn]

I just realised that on my tacho dash, all i did was remove the clear plastic front and surround. Then i undid the 3 nuts holding the tacho in place and removed the tacho. Then i took out the small circuit board at the back and thats where the voltage regulator was. Resoldered that and replaced all parts and it worked. I never had to touch the needles on any of the gauges. I wonder if its different with non tacho dashes?

[Flip03]

hey mate read ur post thought it was great well discribed gave it a crack now my fuel gauge works every time save meself a few $$$ thanks heaps

[wayno55]

in the manual! haha otherwise it is really simple, i learnt as i went along.
remove the steering wheel
undo the four screws that are on the underside of the cluster
unclip the connections that connect the cluster buttons
pull the cluster out
remove all the screws on the back and i think theres four down the bottom of the front of the cluster
unclip the clear plastic cover
unscrew the four tiny screws that hold the gauge face in place and pop off the needles carefully, you can use a fork if you need but be careful
remove the gauge face and you are now into the guts of the gauges!

you don't need to take the wheel off if its a stocker, but i don't know about any other wheel

[MR.SV]

Thanks man,will come in very handy! Recently paid 'bout $100 to get my sticky tacho fixed (dry solder joints) while I was getting my power steering rack replaced...when I picked the car up they kindly informed me that my fuel needle was getting a little sticky as well. Thanks bastards!!! I have since become one of frustrated 'VN dash-bashers'