[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /viewtopic.php on line 988: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'Europe/Moscow' for 'MSK/3.0/no DST' instead
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /viewtopic.php on line 988: getdate(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'Europe/Moscow' for 'MSK/3.0/no DST' instead
SolaraGuy.com • View topic - Changing Stock Gauge Panel
Stock talk about Solara

Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:45 pm

A couple years back I was messing around with LED's in the stock Odometer Gauge and somehow messed up the RPM Meter guy. I think I turned it and screwed up whatever mechanism moves it. Now, the RPM needle doesn't move at all. It never really bothered me, but I'd like to clean it up, and as the car ages and I consider adding on a S/C, it would be helpful to have it working.

That being said, I'll need to find an entire new piece. My main question (besides where to find one) is, after I find one, where does the mileage information reside? Is it in the gauge itself, or somewhere else in the car's computer?

I don't want to have to screw around with having the wrong mileage showing just because I had to replace the gauges.
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby dinoxor » Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:50 am

When changing out my guage to led, my temperature needle stopped working.
I freaked out because I used a lot of force and had no clue how to remove this small strip of green and orange tint in front of the PRND2L thing.

So I opened it back up retightened the screw touching the circuit board thing and voila it worked again!
give that a try and hopefully it might work?
User avatar
dinoxor
SolaraGuy Driver
SolaraGuy Driver
 
Posts: 439
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 6:04 pm
Location: Garland, TX

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:40 pm

Thanks for the tip, Dinoxor. I can't make it any worse by trying, right?

Does anybody else know where Solara keeps the mileage data, in the cluster or elsewhere on the "computer"?
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby ACProductions » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:52 am

It should keep its odometer data on a rom chip attached to the actual odometer. I believe. I'll have to double check that.

As for your problem, I believe since the motor for the gauges gets its power from the anchoring screws in the gauge unit, I could see the issue coming from there.
FREE CHILTON MANUAL

The speed at which a woman says "nothing" when you ask her what's wrong is inversely proportional to the size of the coming storm.

Image
User avatar
ACProductions
Regular SolaraGuy Member
Regular SolaraGuy Member
 
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Havre De Grace, MD

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:03 am

Maybe I'll play around with that screw this weekend. If I can avoid getting a new gauge and dealing with the odometer issue by adjusting that screw, that would be great!
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby ACProductions » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:27 am

Are you trying to fix the odometer or the tachometer?
FREE CHILTON MANUAL

The speed at which a woman says "nothing" when you ask her what's wrong is inversely proportional to the size of the coming storm.

Image
User avatar
ACProductions
Regular SolaraGuy Member
Regular SolaraGuy Member
 
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Havre De Grace, MD

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:14 pm

The issue is the tachometer. My only concern with the odometer applies if I have to change the entire cluster.
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:25 pm

I'm messing around with this right now and have found...almost nothing.

All of the screws to the circuit board are on tight and securely. I have no idea why the tachometer isn't moving. I think when I spun the needle, I damaged the mechanism that controls it. The only odd thing is that if I move the needle up above 0 RPM's, it still goes right back down to zero, so if it's spring loaded or something, that seems to be working just fine.

Can't tell if the problem is mechanical or electrical. Any thoughts?

Also, regarding the odometer, I see a little black chip with Denso written on it on the back of the board. It seems to be the only piece that doesn't either light something up or connect closely to a gauge. Could that be the chip that holds the mileage info? If so, could it be swapped to a new cluster if I found one?
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:58 pm

***Edit - I thought I had it figured out when I took apart the tach and saw the mechanism was unwound internally and touching another magnetic part. I wound it back...still didn't work.

I suppose I don't really need the whole new cluster, just a new tach, which wouldn't mess up my odometer, right?

To the For Sale Forum!
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:41 am

For anyone interested, I bought a used cluster on eBay for $36 and am going to try it this weekend. First I'm going to install the whole cluster and see if it works and stored my actual mileage, or the mileage from the new cluster.

If it shows the new cluster's mileage, I'm going to swap just the tachometer and see if that works. I'll update this thread with my findings.
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Tachometer Not Working

Postby FLASH » Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:34 pm

Alright guys, I really need help. If anyone, especially with electrical experiences can chip in, I'd really appreciate it.

I got a new Cluster and installed it. Tachometer still doesn't work, so I know now, after buying that new one, that the issue isn't in the cluster. I also know that the mileage is stored on the cluster itself and the new cluster had different mileage on the Odometer.

Everything I'm reading is saying it's an electrical issue elsewhere - either connecting to the ECU or the Vehicle Speed Sensor.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure where either of these are. I've checked under the hood just to make sure that all the connections I can access are tight and connected, but it's made no difference. I'm wondering it it's somewhere in the ECU, a Relay? or even something wrong in the actual connector that plugs into the cluster.

Does ANYONE have any suggestions or idea on where I can go next with this?

To Recap, EVERYTHING on the cluster works: Fuel, Temp, Speedo, Odomoter, lighting, everything, EXCEPT The Tach. It just sits there, dead. Never moving past 0. Also, no Check Engine Light, but also haven't checked for any codes in history.
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: Changing Stock Gauge Panel

Postby FLASH » Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:34 pm

No one seems to be following this thread. Not trying to get my post count up, just wanted to update anyone who IS Following, or if this is found in a search.

No idea what was wrong, but my mechanic said he re-wired everything going to the Tach and it now works. Unfortunately, I don't have anything on what he did past that.

Problem was still that I screwed up my needles by spinning it too much, so I put on the tach from the other cluster I got. That tach was labeled as a 4 cyl. It works, but I guess because I put it on a 6 Cyl, the RPMs are wrong. Just cruising, it's reading up around 4-4500 and when I'm hitting pretty hard, it's past redline (at 8 or more!) No way it's correct.

I guess the tacho for the 4 clyinder is different than the 6. Anyone have a cluster from a 6 hangin around? :lol:
==FLASH==
99 Solara SE with Many Mods (See outdated website) - Weekend Warrior
2001 Cadillac Deville Daily Driver
(Wife's) 2007 Toyota Camry LE with Basic Mods
(Sister's) 2011 "Pink Prius"
FLASH
SolaraGuy Street Racer
SolaraGuy Street Racer
 
Posts: 1802
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2003 4:00 pm
Location: South Jersey

Return to Toyota Solara OEM

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests