You're the man. Soldered the resistor and permanently fixed. My gauges were off a bit afterward. I simply sat the cluster in with the needles barely on and without the lense, connected harnesses and checked the needle position. Shut it off and adjusted as needed. Saved me hundreds. Also replaced the odometer bulb while I was in there. Thank you!
I was within days of sending the cluster for repair. Watched this video, made the correction and it has been more than a month without the brake light. Thank you very much.
I had the lights on today all I needed to to is pull and push the emergency break few times!! so this is something to think about! Especially in used cars
Guess what....... I bought a used 2008 F-150 and the emergency brake light stays on. The problem was two fold, first all the pins on the connector itself was causing most of the problem so I sucked the solder off and re-soldered all the pins. The rest of the problem is with solder cracks on the resistors. You absolutely must solder the connector pins. I have two clusters that were repaired this way. No more problems. You must use flux or your soldering will cause more harm than good.
Thanks for this video, it's the best one I've found yet about this issue - I was able to repair my own cluster fairly easily, although I would recommend that anybody with hands as shaky as mine should have a friend do the actual soldering as it is a very delicate job! One twist with mine was that my speedometer needle did not light up and I couldn't find any info online about this, but when I took it all apart I found that somebody had been there before me and when they glued the needle pieces back together they used too much of a flexible, coloured glue which blocked off a small square window which feeds the light into the needle - removal of the glue from this window solved that problem - use your glue sparingly and use a transparent product like super glue.
Thanks! Did this today, exactly as shown for my 2007 F-150. I think you just saved me a lot of money in repair work. The light had literally been on for years now, but the shop said they wouldn't pass it for inspection again without fixing this issue.
Awesome advice. Absolutely worked. I looked at the joint over and over with magnification and still did not see any sort of crack or break. Did the repair anyways and it solved my problem. Also this seems to have fixed my TPMS indicator that was coming on randomly as well Just a little addition. I used a dental scraper to rough up the tiny surface on either side of the resistor. Also used super glue to glue back together the needle indicators and I didn’t wait for the superglue to cure fully before closing the unit up. Ended up with white fingerprints on the inside of my cluster enclosure which I will clean up later. Ever seen Beverly Hills cop II fingerprint scene?
Can confirm, this is the fix! I recommend to -everyone- learn how to solder! The skill takes a bit of practice and learning how to select the right soldering iron, but it’s actually not that hard. The work you can to is invaluable!
Your solder repair worked as described- no more red brake light! Two tips: 1) After breaking the first two gauge needles during removal, we switched to using two small pick "hooks" 180 degree apart under the needle to gently pry up. Using a flat pry device as shown places the pressure on the outer part of the needle which is what caused the pieces to separate (thank goodness for superglue). Using hook picks puts the lifting pressure on the center/stud portion and keeps them whole. 2) Trying to avoid putting too much stress on the needle motors I didn't press them down too far (or far enough). Now at night, a little bit of extra light escapes behind the needle base. Not the end of the world when looking at the cluster straight on, but something I'd change if I did the repair again. Thank you for the guidance!
you probably dont care but if you guys are stoned like me atm you can watch pretty much all of the new series on instaflixxer. Been streaming with my gf for the last few days =)
You are the Man!! That 821 was the problem. After searching through a sea of unproductive videos I found this jewel! Thank you so much!! Liked & subscribed.
Thanks for this, fixed the brake light on my 05 with the base cluster. BUT I found out that it's not necessary to mark the position of the needles. After putting them back on all you have to do is manually move the needle until you find the start/stop points of the motor. Once you do that you can adjust the "dead zone" allowing you to recenter the needles, then after reinstalling the cluster put it into diagnostic mode (or if you have an obd reader that has on demand self tests do a cluster test) and the first thing that happens is a gauge sweep and that will calibrate the needle positions.
Finally a permanent fix. I did what you said to do and Re-soldered resistor 821 and it fixed the problem. A another tip is to make sure the small pins just below the odometer readout display aligns into the connector when you connect back the circuit board to the cluster. I found out the hard way and scratching my head why the odometer won't come on.. had thought I had broken something until realize the cause. Thanks for sharing this video and helping me fix this nagging problem.
He briefly mentioned that in his video about "wires" that needed to be aligned properly or your odometer won't work right. I did the same thing. Put it all together and the odometer screen was blank. It took a while to get those six pins plugged in properly but I finally got it. It was more difficult to do that than to solder the 821 resistor.
Just did this last night. Perfect fix!!! Be very careful when reinstalling the LCD Odometer gage pins back into the Circuit Board. I was holding the LCD gage just a tad too tight and broke it. Odometer gage still works...the bottom half does. No worried, found replacement on Amazon for $70 (Canadian)...so like $10 U.S. lol
I'd been putting this off until I found instructions that were understandable and precise. I did discover that my soldering skills are not good, but apparently good enough to make this repair. I popped off three needles, but super-glued them back on. I appreciate you sharing the video.
Just did it today and so far everything is working, thank you for the video my local dealer ship wanted 500-1000 dollars they wouldn't tell me an exact price until they got into it. And if you decide to do it have some epoxy or something available I had 3 of the needles come apart just like in the video.
Great easy fix thanks to you. Had to trial - and - error the speedo needle. Drove wit lens off and needle lightly in place. Repositioned as required and reassembled
Thank You Sir, it's FINALLY fixed!!! Touched up the suspect resistor with a little bit of solder and Holy Smokes what do you know, problem solved. Even took it down a very bumpy dirt road for a test drive when the indicator would flash like crazy (not a blink). I'd love to send you a case of beer! Watched another video where some guy touched up the solder joints on the back of the socket connector. Tried that last year sometime, didn't work :( Was pretty PO'd after that. Have a funny feeling now that his fix never fixed his problem now....who knows??? Glad I gave your "Real Tip" a shot! Thanks again for you help!
Same here... Worked for me. I did pop one of the smaller needless... super glued it. Suprisingly, my 30 yr. old Weller General Duty Soldering Kit worked, although I really only heated up one of the joints and dropped a fairly large drop in the other. Thanks for sharing!
I've been trying to get this issue fixed for a long time now, and only ever seen people try to wedge the contractor so the light turned off or they replaced the panel. This is so much more budget friendly. Thanks for the information. I also appreciate a complete overview of all possible issues....not JUST one fix to one potential problem. Very well done.
I would not put your needles back on until you have plugged it in and let them zero When you turn on ignition and run engine then turn off key then install needles I tried this way and not not work correctly.
Yeah if soldering a connection, you are technically fixing an open circuit. I paused to read all these comments because as one other person noted, upon examination with a lighted magnifier, I could NOT see any open at the solder or on the fine lines of circuitry. I examined the whole board and this took an extra 1/2 hour+, and my only problem has been the darned light staying on for years. Because I have been skeptical (as I'm preparing my soldering iron), I took the time to read through the confirmations of many people who did the same repair. I hope this is my fix after following the same soldering. Bravo to the person who found this solution.
Sweet deal... My truck would not pass inspection because of this light.. I just followed your video and fixed it in 30 minutes. Shop wanted to charge $200 to install one. Thank you.. now to find which coil pack is causing a miss under load. 5.4 Triton.
Thank you so much this fixed mine. I would also line to add to be careful when reinstalling then pins for the odometer display. If you’re display is not working after this repair check to make sure the six pins are installed correctly into circuit board..
Well finally someone who understood that just wiggling the connector to make the light go off was not the fix. Also for me re soldering the connector pins didn’t work. Or resoldering the resistors on the same side of the circuit board as the pins. Thank you for pointing the exact location out. One thing I did instead of taking the panel completely apart was to cut away some of the plastic so I could get my iron down on the left side of the 821 resistor. Thanks again.
Repair worked well. No more red light. However there was an issue lining up the lcd screen pins...discovered that the lcd can be removed from the front with the plastic peeled back slightly, this made it easier to line up the pins.
Thank you, just confirmed The reason for my brake light being on. After watching this video with the truck running in the brake light on, I tapped the dashboard with my fingers in the approximate location where you showed the problem, the light turned off. Now to repair it. Great job on this video thank you again.
Thank you sir , this worked great, I had done everything on my 05 f150 ....soldered da 821 ...so far so good, had to glue a couple of needles, did break even carefully, besides that, all good
You just saved alot of people money and the trouble of having to send their cluster out and wait for it to get fixed. Thank you for sharing the video of your knowledge to help others
Thanks for the helpful video. I have one the both the air bag and parking break are intermittent when pressing the plug in. Any tips on how to fix the air bag light? thanks.
Hey guys just wanted to let you know my e150 has this issue it was e brake switch. Just depress ebrake and look for little gray switch. It can be pushed in by hand. Mine did not appear to be depressed enough to turn off the light.
If this is the light for the emergency brake, why would you need to check the brake fluid? Does the warning light double as a low brake fluid warning also?
Awesome info dude thanks! I had one that had the brake light issue, but also the airbag light would turn off (actually had an sir fault) when the connector was wiggled. And it had a dtc for airbag light circuit open stored. I wasn’t sure which component was for the sir light, so I soldered all the surrounding components on the board and it fixed both the brake light, and sir light malfunction.
I have 3 2013 F-150's with brake light issues. All sensors good. Ford dealership also scratching their heads. Cannot renew tags here in Tx. Please help.
I bought a solder iron, plastic removal fork, and solder for 30 bucks at autozone. I soldered my board it was the easiest thing ever. I am not a mechanic I was able to have this done in literally 45 minutes to an hour. Thanks for saving me 1100 which the mechanic wanted to put a new one in.
Another fix for this also i found is to make sure your screws for the plastic on the back are screwed in all the way, mine were not on my 2008 ford f150 xlt and it kept messing with everything but once I tightened them all the way it worked like brand new
So... I soldered it, now the speedometer doesn't work. Is that a common problem? Did I screw up and short it out with static discharge? I'm pretty sure I'll have to replace the cluster now anyway.
just did this and it worked flawlessly.. right on point.. thanks for the video.. ppl once you do all of this make sure you clip the lcd display connector back.. be gentle with it.. it's old plactic.😅
I also didn't know where on the instrument cluster to repair. After re-soldering both sides of the resistor, the light is finally out. Unfortunately, the speedometer stepper motor came apart while doing the repair and my first attempt at putting it back together resulted in a non-moving speedometer needle. After a quick but tricky disassembly and reassembly, it all tested good. Had to do a live speedometer calibration with the cover off using google navigation on my phone as the correct speed.
Thank You ! Worked perfect for the brake light!....Other issues, Air bag light will come on or off by banging top of dash and the seat belt light does not illuminate at all....also seat belt chimes with belt on....I'm sure that at least the air bag light and seat belt light are related to the circuit board. Can you point me to the place on the board that may need a solder repair?
My break light has stayed on for about 5years now. It’s very annoying. I’ve unplugged the break light under the hood and it still stays on. Different mechanics have looked at it and can’t figure it out. I’m very motivated to give this a try! 🤞🏻
Can anyone please tell me if I need to turn all needles back and fourth when putting them back on or just the speedometer needle? I want to do this to fix the annoying issue with the brake light but concerned I will mess up the accuracy of my needle guages.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video! Worked perfectly for me. I did pop off one needle like you did, they took more force to remove than I anticipated.
Thanks! This fixed my problem, but after reassembly, I seem to have the same problem with the airbag light. I have a known fault so the light stays on(code 4-9), but it shorts off and on like the brake light did, then the 25 beeps start. Any idea where this joint might be?
I had a problem with the airbag light when the LED that indicates the seat not being occupied blew (the one you see above your radio in the dash. ) It's hard to believe but this triggered the airbag warning. When I replaced the LED the airbag flashing light went away
1:33 This beautiful table is not an appropriate work table, you're going to scratch it up !! At least put a piece of clean plywood on top and work off of that !
Thanks so much for this video. I followed the directions you gave and was able to repair it myself. Auto shop was ordering a new part for me. When I saw your video, I put a stop on the order and did it myself. Saved me a bunch of money!
Been looking for this fix for awhile. Saw others that didn’t work for me. I broke every needle but one and glued them together and waiting for the glue to dry and reinstall them. I’ll add to this when I get the whole cluster back and tested.
I was a bit skeptical because I could not move the wires and get the light to go out. This was the last attempt to try and fix. I had replaced the master cylinder sensor, tested the parking break switch and could not check anything else. It worked !!! Thanks for making this video. It was simple to do once you got all the gauge needles off. That was the hardest part.
Thanks so much i have 2006 e250 and the break light comes on and beeps the entire time. Its on took 30 mins to fix and been putting up with it for 6 months or longer
Loved this video. Would also love to see a video of fixing the interior lights intermittently coming on while driving. If I smack the dash they turn off.
i remove the cluster cover and move the switch he shows moving and the light went off. does that means it be ok now or do i still have to sorder the problem is solve?
