I have a 93 LS 400 that is showing signs of instrument cluster failure that
I have heard is somewhat common. The backlight and guages at a cold start
don’t come on for about 5 minutes or so, then flicker a little, then come on
and seem to stay on until the next cold start. Then the routine starts over
again. I would normally suspect cold solder joints, etc if not for other
postings I have seen with the same problem.
My question: Is there any fix for this beyond replacement of the whole
instrument cluster? I noted that ebay has a listing for the circuit board
that supposedly is the culprit–is this replaceable versus the entire
assembly? TIA for any suggestions or guidance.
Thank God there is someone else with this stupid problem. I have 94 LS
400, and have had the same problem every since I bought it. I suspected a
ground at first, until I saw that it only did it when it was cold.?????
I have heard that it is a cold solder joints, and called the factory. They
don’t make the insturment cluster anymore but you can have yours
remanufactured for a low low cost of $3000.00. Yeh right.
How much was this circut board on ebay? and how did you find it? What is it
called??
Thanks Russ
"Gary Early" <g_ea…@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:RARF9.320$Qu1.315385189@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com…
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> I have a 93 LS 400 that is showing signs of instrument cluster failure
that
> I have heard is somewhat common. The backlight and guages at a cold start
> don’t come on for about 5 minutes or so, then flicker a little, then come
on
> and seem to stay on until the next cold start. Then the routine starts
over
> again. I would normally suspect cold solder joints, etc if not for other
> postings I have seen with the same problem.
> My question: Is there any fix for this beyond replacement of the whole
> instrument cluster? I noted that ebay has a listing for the circuit board
> that supposedly is the culprit–is this replaceable versus the entire
> assembly? TIA for any suggestions or guidance.
I hope the system on the 98 and later GS’s (which I believe are different
technology) will be less troublesome.
- Mark
Unless it’s filled with surface mount technology (which would make soldering
a tricky operation), you might be able to remove the cluster, expose the
circuit board, and touch up all of the joints with a low wattage soldering
iron (20 – 25 watts).
I’ve done this with a variety of radios (ham transceivers, stereo equipment,
portable music players), and it isn’t a big deal.
If the circuit board traces are cracked or the through-board connections are
flaky (like the Radio Shack Pro 2003 scanners), all the soldering in the
world won’t fix the problem.
If I was looking at a $3000 repair bill, I’d break out the iron.
"R Kessler" <sert…@charter.net> wrote in message
news:uv0g4qthr93m42@corp.supernews.com…
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> Thank God there is someone else with this stupid problem. I have 94 LS
> 400, and have had the same problem every since I bought it. I suspected a
> ground at first, until I saw that it only did it when it was cold.?????
> I have heard that it is a cold solder joints, and called the factory.
They
> don’t make the insturment cluster anymore but you can have yours
> remanufactured for a low low cost of $3000.00. Yeh right.
> How much was this circut board on ebay? and how did you find it? What is
it
> called??
> Thanks Russ
> "Gary Early" <g_ea…@swbell.net> wrote in message
> news:RARF9.320$Qu1.315385189@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com…
> > I have a 93 LS 400 that is showing signs of instrument cluster failure
> that
> > I have heard is somewhat common. The backlight and guages at a cold
start
> > don’t come on for about 5 minutes or so, then flicker a little, then
come
> on
> > and seem to stay on until the next cold start. Then the routine starts
> over
> > again. I would normally suspect cold solder joints, etc if not for
other
> > postings I have seen with the same problem.
> > My question: Is there any fix for this beyond replacement of the whole
> > instrument cluster? I noted that ebay has a listing for the circuit
board
> > that supposedly is the culprit–is this replaceable versus the entire
> > assembly? TIA for any suggestions or guidance.