i have been wanting to replace my LEDs inside my gauges in the dash for a while now and im considering doing it myself, but im affraid ill rip a pad off of the gauges and then im screwed, someone whos done this already, is it really worth the risk??

 

why not just send it out? We have some great pros on this site that charged a really fair price. Then you dont have to worry about messing it up and having it cost you three times as much to replace.

 

ive actually done this myself, my only question is do you have any soldering experience? i have very minor experience and i pulled the blue led swap perfectly.

 

Never did soldering before,

Did a couple practice solders on some crappy circuit board and then went straight for the gauges. Its really easy. Just take your time and go slow. I got a friend to help.

Invest in some tweezers lol

Good Luck

 

I have a thread on soldering info and tips. It should help you out. I not only have been doing these swaps on the tC since the beginning, but have taken formal soldering training through PACE, in college along with my degrees, etc. so a lot of that info comes straight from that.

You dont need that kind of experience as long as you follow the tips I posted there.

1) I dont care who says otherwise, do NOT use the old solder on the board. The flux in solder burns off when you flow it the first time. This flux cleans the joint, so there are fewer impurities in it. If you reflow old solder, this flux will no longer be there and you will have impurities and oxidation trapped in the joint. This will seem great at first, but the joints will be 100 times more prone to fail down the road. Take the time to use new solder. I clean the pads with a solder braid (takes about 5-10 more minutes) to remove all of the old solder when I remove the stock leds.

2) Dont over or under heat the joint. Overheating will cause damage or wounding to the parts and/or cause pads to lift. Underheating causes a poor joint. And dont use too much solder. Best case is to have the solder joint form in a concave shape, not a big bubble, if possible.

3) Dont move the part while the solder is still liquid. This causes a cold joint, and these will fail down the road.

4) CLEAN the board when you are done. This is overlooked by even experienced people a lot. An old toothbrush and rubbing alcohol works pretty well. That flux I mentioned is acidic, thus can cause corrosion on the board down the road. Blot dry with a cloth and let it sit for a bit before plugging it in. As long as the board is dry before you plug it in, and you dont get moisture down in the buttons or switches, this will hurt nothing and help a lot. I clean every board in this manner when I am done. This is another one of those things that makes little difference up front, but can increase the lifespan of the work by orders of magnitude.

Those are some of the key ones, but there is a lot more in the thread I mentioned. I have repaired a good number of boards others tried to do the swaps on, and 90% of the time, the only thing causing the issues was poor solder joints.

 

i have alot of soldering experience i was just really affraid of braking something, but if i were to screw up and rip off one of the pads or something wat would i have to do to get a new one? anyone know?

 

For the HVAC, the best bet for replacement is the salvage yard (search car-part.com to search tons of yards across the US). You can get it for about $100 or less that way opposed to over $500 new. You just have to make sure you get the right year models that are compatible with your car.

For the gauges, that is a different story. The mileage is programmed in from the manufacturer (not at the dealer), so you can end up needing a brand new one (about $300 I think) plus having to get it programmed, or the mileage will be wrong.

But most mistakes can be fixed. If you get into it and break something, you can always hit me up to help you through it or even send it to me to fix. Unless it requires new parts, I typically fix them a good amount cheaper than I do the actual swaps (so less than $45ish for the gauges or $50 for the HVAC) plus the shipping back to you. Most times I find it takes me very little time to fix the ones people send me and can be as cheap as $10 plus shipping. I have had some so easy to fix I didnt even charge labor

But just take your time and dont overheat things and you will probably be ok.

 

ok well i have done some soldering on like xboxs and stuff like that, and the pads on those, if you arent carefull, are really easy to rip off and then your screwed. is it the same thing with the dash cause i really dont wanna have to buy another one of those ha, im pretty good with a soldering gun but the last thing i need it to have to buy another gauge cluster thing

 

the pads are hard to damage.. and if you've done gaming consoles before.. i see no reason why you can't do it yourself. the components that you have to deal with should be larger.

and don't use a soldering gun. use a soldering iron.. there's a difference.
temp controlled irons are your friend.

if you rip a pad off (which i doubt will happen).. you just need to salvage it by bridging the connection to a trace. if it goes there, you have me and engifineer available.

 

thanx SquallLHeart, ill prolly do it now that u say that, thanx dude