Re: INSTRUMENT TROUBLE AGAIN--$200 at Dealer!!! (archive)

The problem can also stem from cracked solder joints on the SI board. I pulled mine and replaced the batteries with no relief, so then inspected it more closely. The solder quality on the board was not that great, so I went over all the joints with a pen iron. No more problems.

As far as I'm concerned the biggest pain of the procedure was opening up the dash, In addition to the price of the part, your shop is going to charge you @ $85 to open the dash and reassemble.

: Dan,
: They are referring to the SI board found in the back of the cluster. The rechargeable NiCad batteries are known to fail every 4~5 years, requiring R&R. Also when those batteries fail, other associated functions of the instrument cluster also tend to fail. You can pull the cluster and try replacing the batteries yourself, you can get those batteries at Radioshack for like a few bucks each. Just make sure to charge them 100% before you install them. See BCG FAQ on this procedure, there's a detailed how-to info there. I guess one advantage to letting the dealer do this for you is that they have a newer board with Lithium type batteries which are supposed to last quite a bit longer than the NiCads. Another option is to contact Programa (www.programatools.com), they will rebuild your cluster for you for about the same amount of $$$ as your dealer, BUT they will give you an option of installing a battery-less board, which I've heard will eliminate ever having to worry about this SI board failure again.

: Good luck,
: Louis

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