M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS

DISCUSSION => Electrical => Topic started by: SoupieMelody on June 15, 2009, 06:18:12 PM

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: SoupieMelody on June 15, 2009, 06:18:12 PM

is my cluster ruined?

(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r184/devilm2k6/IMG_0072.jpg)

(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r184/devilm2k6/IMG_0071.jpg)

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: DesktopDave on June 15, 2009, 07:48:36 PM

Not looking good...but I don't think that the back of the cluster has any traces on it.

Don't worry, clusters are pretty cheap...all you need is the circuit board, you can salvage that from just about any cluster.  Most of them have broken odometer wheels and whatnot...just be sure you buy a Motometer board, I think they all have blue backs but I'd ask to be sure.  My VDOs are white.  Somebody here will have what you need.

Clusters are a luxury anyway...just shift before the car sounds like it'll explode.

Well, I took one of my clusters apart and there aren't a lot of components on the back.  One transistor, a few diodes, maybe seven resistors.  Granted it's a VDO, so your mileage may vary.  This one is so much simpler than my e34!  You could repair that board with a little soldering iron work, but it'd absolutely be easier to replace it.  

I think that crack will just slowly spread across the entire board.  I'd scratch the traces with an x-acto knife to brighten them up a little, then flux them, then solder them with some cat5 multistrand wire.  If you use anything larger, 'tin' it first with flux & solder.

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: SoupieMelody on June 16, 2009, 01:21:50 AM

ahhh meng lol... ok well that concludes that the batteries werent the problem all along right? and why isnt the speedo working, could that be a reason as well, and if i get another cluster will all the guages begin to work? someone has offered me a VDO cluster for $125

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: ak96ss on June 16, 2009, 04:58:25 AM

I think I would ensure that whatever went wrong there doesn't happen again before I put another cluster in - wouldn't want the same thing to happen again...

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: DesktopDave on June 16, 2009, 07:10:23 AM

I'm thinking it's a defective board...looks like it overheated, but I can't think of anything there that would produce nearly enough heat...

Did you do a title check on the car?  I'd worry that its a flood salvage or something.  Maybe run the VIN before you get into the car...a once-flooded car will never end with problems.

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: SoupieMelody on June 16, 2009, 08:47:37 PM

no i didnt do a title check. it has a clear title however though.

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: DesktopDave on June 16, 2009, 08:59:03 PM

It's not that critical, I just run one for complete info.  You could just post the VIN in carfax's site and see if their teaser shows you that there are things to worry about.  

I just took out my cluster and it's a Motometer too.  They look almost identical side to side with the white-back VDO, just different colored boards.  I'll even bet that the gauges would swap too.  I swapped SI boards to see if they worked but I ran out of daylight.  I'll post my results here later.

Title: cluster good or bad?
Post by: SoupieMelody on June 16, 2009, 09:13:18 PM

do you have a spare cluster dave?