jeffescortlx I got everything going but the gauges/needles are not lining up. I fixed everything on my cluster but the line up I can’t get could you help me out with that over an explanation? Thanks
Love your videos. is there a place to get a parts list? ie Mosfet, LEDs steppers, needles etc? I am ready to try to repair my 07 Suburban cluster and would like to get all the right parts and things to complete it.
@@DrDrax-tz8xv 07 suburban won't need stepper motors or LED's. I believe I have the MOSFET part number in the description of one of my 07 repair video's.
Dude, you're good. Real good. Also, it really surprises me that this unit is as repairable to the extent that it clearly is. I've watched a number of these videos and I've not seen anyone even attempt what you've done here. There are any number of repairs to my truck I will do for myself - even some basic electrical troubleshooting and repair. After seeing this done right, when I get ready to fix my cluster, I'm calling you. It's a pleasure to see something done so well. I enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting.
this TOTALLY was the state of a coworker of mine! 6 pads pulled!! Ran a long wire to fix the speedo too! PLUS the cluster was not going to sleep and draining the battery overnight.... Did like you starting from ground up and all is GREAT and no more battery/staring issues!!! THANKS!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the countless videos on these clusters 🤘🏼 I just did a rebuild on mine last night and went perfectly. New motors and led’s. Used a good soldering iron and a solder sucker pen worked great. Thanks again
Amazing video and thanks for the demonstration. Years ago I took a very expensive aircraft radio in for repair. An multi-pin IC chip need to be replace and I ordered it repaired. Well the butcher who assured me he could do the job did exactly what happened to this board you're repairing. I was lucky to fine a gentleman in Boston that did this kind of work and for an extremely reasonable fee did what you did here and fixed the board. It was magic to have that fixed and now I see how a professional like yourself performs such miracles. Thanks so much for the demonstration as I have always been curious how this kind of work was performed. You're extremely skilled and do impressive work. Thanks again for the demonstration. Much appreciated.
For this type of video, I just want to compliment you. It is top notch, concise language(I wish I had that ability), instruction without condescension, explanation of why’s and why nots to your chosen techniques and part selection. Slow paced when necessary, sped up during redundancy. Everything about it is very professional. I’m having an issue with a cluster, I’m currently troubleshooting, and if repair is the answer. I will ship it your way.
You are good at what you do even if you charge more that's fine I think you have the experience and know what you're doing that's big A factor great video great job!
Thank you sir for sharing all your knowledge. I finally got mine done, 2 weeks on and off and installing and removing cluster 50 or so times, couple jumpers but done! You make it look so easy man! I really didn't want to send it to you and have you make a video about a idiot and a soldering iron. I think that was my inspiration. Once again thank you!
Omg you must be the most patient person on earth. Im pretty sure that panel would up flying through the air if i was doing that. Pancake cluster frisbee!
Wanted to say thanks for the video! I did my own and everything went well except for the water temp. I did not notice I had no pad left on one prong. THEN I lost the next solder point, how I do not know. Could not get solder to reattach so I could jumper. Looking at the board it looks like the main purpose was to go to the next "small" hole. So the fix was to insert /solder a jumper wire into the hole and solder it to the motor pin. Just wanted to let you know I could not of done it without your video!! Thanks again You almost got another job:)
I just got my cluster back from Jeff, the entire process was very professional and quick. I had exactly a 1 week turnaround time from removing the cluster, to reinstalling it. 10/10 service. Even if you think you can do this yourself, it’s good peace of mind knowing it was done professionally, it’s money well spent
Hi Jeff I used to work for Diebold, which is where I first learned to solder on computer motherboards. But your skill is light years ahead of mine. I sure would like to get as good as you are.
Very useful. My tach and oil pressure gauges weren't working at all and the fuel and water temp gauges were intermittent. I ordered a kit from Amazon with stepper motors, a plastic pry bar and some bulbs (not LEDs) that I didn't use. I have small pry bars but they are metal; the plastic pry bar is very useful to keep from marring the overlay when removing the needles. It's important to use a solder sucker (I have a manual one, not the automatic one he uses). It to keep from messing up the pads when you desolder them. I replaced ALL the motors, not just the ones that were giving trouble. None of my pads got damaged. The motor leads are bent over some on the back of the circuit board. I unbent them back to vertical (breaking the last bit of solder contact with the pad) and then used a small side cutter to cut them even with the back of the circuit board before pulling the motors out from the front. I didn't re-flow any solder joints. Before removing the needles rotate them to the left until they stop and then mark that spot with painter's tape so you know where to put the needle when you put it back together (I got that from another video). I don't have the fancy tester he has; I just re-installed it in my 2005 Silverado 1500 and everything worked.
Good work. Lots of confidence. Excellent skill set and last but not least, love the camera work. I’m sure some avionics tech or aerospace engineer could talk shit, but for a auto gauge cluster you do great work. First time to your channel. Thanks for all the good info. It’s videos like this that make RU-vid so freaking awesome.
I have done this yr`s ago but i am a welder, now have to do a buddies, however my jumpers were insulated wires, thicker because of the plastic insulation, i will definitely be using these thin coated wire`s, thanks buddy
Looking to find out how to make a harness. It's 112 degrees outside so I really don't want to be running back and forth to test it. Any idea where a breakdown of connections could be found?
Watched 3 of your videos and I'm impressed by your work on the 99-02 GM dash cluster. Having built a Fisher FM tuner and separate Fisher amplifier as well as a Heath color TV, all 3 from kits, in the 1960 period, I really enjoyed your style of work and how you described every step so clearly and completely. Your video and audio are excellent. May be sending you a 2000 Yukon XL cluster for repair in a couple of months that has a wild and crazy message center issue, nonworking gas gauge as well as the odometer/tranny selector flashing off and on frequently. I would highly recommend you to anyone needing your services.
Jeff, I almost made a career out of soldering in the late 1990s... I turned it down ($30k starting salary, accepted the job for the $$ and then declined it) because it didn't sound fun and the hours were atrocious. I was a highly skilled electronics guy that hated soldering. I'm glad someone loves to solder and repair things down to the individual component. I am still a horrible solderer and desolderer. I wish you all the best, thanks for your expertise!
I enjoy learning. Don’t ever plan on doing what you do or even dabbling with this kind of work. But I really enjoy watching professionals work. Can you explain how your tools work and the various materials you use as you work sometime? What are you doing with the clear liquid and tool brush. Etc.
Jeff, I repaired a cluster today, I only replaced two of the step motors, temp and speedometer, because everything else was working. I am an experienced Electrical Engineer and I was shocked how easy it is to overheat the pads on these boards. It tells me that GM never meant for these ever to be repaired, as this is the thinnest layer I've ever come across on a board. I tested my solders afterward to ensure that I had continuity on each solder and luckily everything works as it should. I salute anyone that attempts this repair, not for the faint hearted.
Yes the pads do lift very easy on these PCB's. A good electric solder suckers helps. You can get the solder removed before the copper pad and PCB have a chance to soak up a lot of heat.
This was a good video but you didn't explain anything you speed The video up and didn't say anything about what you're putting down on the board to clean it up did you put flux on it I would like to know all that but I guess I won't know
Kind of late. 3 months late. But it appeared he didn't use flux (probably relying on the rosin inside the solder) and he used alcohol to clean the rosin off.
Dont worry about it! Most likely if u didn't know what he was doing, u should just send your cluster to him . Cause yours is gonna end up exactly like this one! If u touch it .... Lol
Your methods are nearly identical to what I've had to teach myself over the years (thanks to having to correct my own mistakes). Great video. It's good to have an idea what you're doing even if you have electronics experience before tearing into an unfamiliar part (in my case it's my brother in law's Silverado with a dim PRNDL display).
@@MoneyManHolmes We haven't pulled the dash yet since he's got the engine out for a rebuild. Once that's done and all back together we'll tackle the dash. I suspect, as has been mentioned in a bunch of videos and forums, cold solder joints on several resistors and around multiple pins for the main connector. I'll be going over every joint with my microscope and meter, but those will be the first things I look at. Unfortunately I don't have a bench test setup to quickly test functionality, so it'll be a bit longer of a process to make sure it's all good.
Love the video, I am a big fan, would you be able to tell me or show me the size of the SMD resistors such as the 511 or the 240 that help with the lcd screens. In trying to learn the sizes.
Think I found the guy who convinced me not to diy this one and send it to him. Now if I could just be sure it’s my cluster and not the vintage onStar. I’ll figure that out first. Everything works visually on my cluster but the draw coming from that fuse was nearly 3amps pulled that ipc dic whatever fuse and my 04 sub is fine all week running normally. I just pull that fuse when I park until I can figure out cluster draw or onStar. Sweet video wish you could teach me all that just for fun. One day I’ll slowly learn.
Have to say I screwed one up in my early attempts. I recovered it and IMMEDIATELY bought a Hakko FR300 desoldering gun as shown in this video. THAT tool has paid for itself time and again.
I've been using the GM key bump technique to zero down the gauges, up till now. Have you ever come across odometer error? Seems to be rare ? Please let me know if that's something you can do! Great teaching an old dog new tricks!!
Much easier to do it right and make a jumper wire than to blob on tons of solder and hope it works. The cheap irons with a bulb on them you can get for ~$15 on Amazon work pretty good in this situation. I’m amazed at how much of a mess of things people can make out of simple jobs like these motors.
Hey Jeff, your vids are awesome. I have learned a lot from you, but I have an 04 Chevy cluster and I have tried to research this. Does the cluster so a auto calibration on startup or do I require a tech2?
No GM cluster has ever "auto calibrated". The stepper motors have no feed back to the micro to tell it the location of the needle pointers. No a tech 2 is not required.
I see some improper repair around the 12:00 mark. Instead of clipping, or bending the legs away from the ground area, the legs were just left hovering over it. Gotta bend those legs back towards the proper trace. Also there was no need for the additional enamel coated wires, especially leaving them lay over top of the other traces.
I purchase my parts from an over seas vendor that has high minimum orders. It's not ideal for the average Joe to want to have to buy $500 worth of stepper motors to fix his pick up. But wholesalesteppermotor.com has given me great service when I needed smaller quantities.
Great video! What is the solution you brush on after soldering? Just curious. I have a 2003 Silverado 1500HD. There are quite a few cluster backlight bulbs out. Will those be soldered in or twist? You mentioned good quality bulbs- where do you recommend getting them from? What is the part number? Thanks for the amazing video.
That is some top notch work! I just found this channel because I’m having issues with mine. What was the Desoldering Tool you used in the beginning? Do you have a video of your preferred tools? I have experience with medical device printed circuit boards on a very small scale. This work is nothing short of impressive.
Jeff,after watching your videos and lots of pratice I gave it a shot.Where I am running into trouble is trying to initalize the gauges.Some want to keep walking.I'm frustrated and ready to give up.How much would it cost and how would I go about sending it to you and have you fix my attempt?
Jeff: Just watched this Cluster Repair video. Very nice video and the audio was nice and clear. Our son is about to get his driver's license and we would like to give him our old 'burb, but many of the instrument dials are not working or not working properly...including the speedodometer and fuel. Do you have refurbed clusters we could order from you? Or would we need to pull this one and send it to you?
Buying a reman cluster without a core is going to run you a few hundred more. I'm sorry but I'm going to be out until out the end of the month and can't take in any repairs right now.
