Instrument cluster.... golf 2001 1.4

NewUserHere

So in his infinite wisdom, son decided rather than getting a new o2 sensor he wanted to get rid of the "annoying" engine light by removing the cluster and putting black paint on the LED. Wise huh, just to save what, thirty quid!!

However, when connecting back up initially car wouldn't start, reconnected wires and it starts okay now but not only is the emissions light still on - the airbag light is now on. And the vehicle speedo doesn't work! Flickers slowly up and down now but not right.

I put my cheapo code reader on and in live data vehicle speed was showing either.

I'm thinking the paint has bridged some electrics? I've said to use a clean paint brush to get rid of the paint then let it dry fully to see if that works...

What do you guys reckon he's done? And what will be required to fix it.

Thanks

rich13348

!!!!ed it by the sounds of it.
If he didn't earth himself when dismantling it then he probably shorted it out.
The guys who normally fix these use earthing mats and wrist band and anti static gloves so that tells you how delicate they are.

He will probably need to get a new instrument cluster and if he doesn't pay to get the the mileage put on it then that will have to be declared when selling.

Also if the check engine light doesn't come on and go off when ignition is on that is probably an MOT failure so waste of time and then a waste of money to pay for at least a partial retest then more money to fix his !!!! up.

I don't mean to be rude about your son......but what a !!!!.

arcon5

Why would the lad need to earth himself out? This is usually done when taking airbags apart, but for taking out a cluster no. Usually a few bols and an electrical connection on it.

rich13348

arcon5 wrote: »

Why would the lad need to earth himself out? This is usually done when taking airbags apart, but for taking out a cluster no. Usually a few bols and an electrical connection on it.

And how exactly do you get past the clear plastic plastic cover to paint over the LED without dismantling it?

arcon5

rich13348 wrote: »

And how exactly do you get past the clear plastic plastic cover to paint over the LED without dismantling it?

Remove a couple bits of trim.
Unbolt cluster - two or three torx bolts usually.
Unplug one or two electrical connectors.
Unbolt circuit board from housing.

So what part of what the lads done requires him to earth himself out? He's not playing with airbags here.

rich13348

Circuit boards are very delicate with regards to static electric discharge especially ones in cars and if you have any amount of static electricity in your body it can be put into the circuit board damaging it. It doesn't matter if there is no airbags the fact he is not dealing with airbags is irrelevant. Fair enough he is not going to blow up the fu king board but he will damage it and not even notice.

I'll put it simply for you arcon

Static electric in board bad.
Teenager takes cluster apart.
Teenager not earthed.
Static electricity shorts out board.
Board now !!!!ed.
Simple enough for you?

arcon5

Whats with all the profanities?

Highly unlikely anything to do with not earthing himself op. Probably a case of the paints run and bridged electrical components which is confusing the signals.

rich13348

Because you know nothing John Snow........I mean arcon. I fix computers for a living and so have an anti static mat and wristband that plug into the earth of a socket. ESD is one of these things that you you don't notice until it reaches 1500v. 400v of ESD is enough to damage a circuit board.

OP what paint did he use to try and cover up the LED. Most water based paints when dry won't short or bridge a channel on a circuit board.

WellKnownSid

Most PCBs will have some form of conformal coating - and sufficent protection around key external IO such as the CAN to mean you'd need to be unlucky to zap it with an ESD or kill it with paint.

In my experience of dodgy electrical equipment mods, it's more likely to be poor mechanical handling that's the cause - bent pins, forced / wrongly polarised connectors, or even missing an entire connector off the back, screws too long bridging boards, over-tightening when not fully home cracking boards or straining connections.

Take a careful look and you may get lucky. Fingers crossed...

mrmot

It's not as easy as just fitting a used replacement. The dash panel insert contains the immobiliser so you'll need PIN numbers for both inserts and suitable diagnosis equipment capable of coding it to the immobiliser.

What hes should have done is remove the insert, lift the graphic and stuck a bit of insulating tape over the back of the engine light symbol.

enfield_freddy

rich13348 wrote: »

Because you know nothing John Snow........I mean arcon. I fix computers for a living and so have an anti static mat and wristband that plug into the earth of a socket. ESD is one of these things that you you don't notice until it reaches 1500v. 400v of ESD is enough to damage a circuit board.

OP what paint did he use to try and cover up the LED. Most water based paints when dry won't short or bridge a channel on a circuit board.

damage a printed circuit board , or damage a highly sensitive component soldered to the board?