rhecker

I am proud to announce that I have recently successfully gone through the process of fixing my intermitently dim / completely dead clock in my 1990 Maxima. Having limited experience in fixing things, this was quite an achievement.

But now my electronic climate control display seems to be suffering the same problem that my clock had. Sometimes the display works fine. More often, it's very dim, especially on the far right side. And sometimes the display doesn't work at all.

I ripped it apart, resoldered a few connections and cleaned a little bit, but it didn't help. I've been unable to find any info on this problem. Has anyone else fixed this problem without replacing the whole unit?

-Rich
(Wanna-be Car Guy)

tucker

Drop a line to these guys www.mrwhizard.com. This is all they do.

tmuscedere

Keep on looking for the solder joints that need to be touched up. I fixed my control the same way as the clock. Probe with a tooth pick to find out where it is.

Michael

iTrader: (21)

I have a climate controll that I got just because some of my buttons were worn. If you would like I will sell it to you (minus the buttons and lever on the side...you can transfer that from yours).

I would take $35 shipped if you want it. I will need to test it first but last time it was in the car it was fine.

Let me know.

rhecker

What am I looking to find with the toothpick? a connection that's loose? I only did a visual inspection last time I cleaned it up, and the connections looked pretty clean. In my clock, on the other hand, it was pretty obvious what the problem was - one capacitor was very corroded, and two other solder points were corroded.

Here's another question... When I resoldered on the climate control, I really just heated up the solder points to melt the solder, and moved the pin slightly. I didn't remove the old solder, nor did I add new solder... Is this enough?

Rich

harrymay

i thought the manual and the atc were not interchangeable, but i have the same problem too, soo im gonna rip it out tonight. try to fix it.

Michael

iTrader: (21)

who was this to? I may have not been clear in my post but the climate controll I was talking about selling is an ATC (auto climate controll)

-shock211-

iTrader: (1)

hey rich,

you should definately remove the old solder. if you've melted it and moved the connection of the lcd screen, the old solder could cause a weak connection due to dirt or the old solder might be touching two circuits.

if you haven't done so already...sign up on
www.torontomaxima.com for some local support and possibly another climate control unit for sale.

later

ryan

harrymay

ok my bad awsm66, i misred ur post, sorry.

good news though, poked around on my atc, found a couple of shorts, and fixed it. no my atc is bright with the lights on and with them off. ipulled my clock and found that my weak soldering on the 100mf cap was terrible, so i took it off and was gonna resolder it, but i must have dropped the cap somewhere. so whenever radioshak opens im there. and i also thing my connector to the harness might have a problem too

tmuscedere

The way I did it was took the unit apart and plugged it back into the car. Then I started probing the unit with a toothpick to find the solder joint that was loose (my display went bright again). I didn't add more solder just touched what was there again and it worked.

-shock211-

iTrader: (1)

that's damn clever man!!!

tmuscedere

Let me know, in Toronto next week.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Unfortunately, that's also not going to last long. it's an easy way to find the problem (which in fact is what most electronic repair shops do, except they usually hook an oscilloscope probe up to it instead of poking it with a toothpick)... but you really need to remove the old solder and reflow new solder into the joint. it'll last another 10 years that way instead of another 10 weeks.

tmuscedere

I guess I just had some good luck, been fixed now for over 2 years.

-shock211-

iTrader: (1)

???????????

harrymay

i poked around and strightenend up a few components and worked whenever i plugged it in, but when i drive for while with it on, it goes back to dim or no display at all.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

Because of thermal expansion would be my guess

87MustangGT

When it goes dim, just hit it w/the palm of your hand, it'll get bright again. Works for me now until I can get the time/expertise/patience to do it myself, or the cash/time to send it out to someone else...

torontomaxima

How ironic that this topic is up again... I have the exact same problem (dim ATC)... and I have spent countless hours trying to fix it - and am still trying as I post this; I've removed/replaced/resolderd as many compontents as I could and still no luck if your're like me, then you might just be SOL.

jiking

iTrader: (1)

This must be a common problem cuase I have the same problem with mine also. I've tried "tapping" the console, but i have to give it a few luv taps before it brightens up again.

torontomaxima

Yeah, mine is at that stage after countless of hours resoldering - I strongly suspect that it is the actual piece of plastic connection on the board that connects to the wiring harness that needs to be resoldered; I'd rather just stick to the luv taps though - as that would take up a lot of damn time!

harrymay

is there any particular component that can cause the dimming? kinda like the caps in the clock that need replaceing. or is it just the actual display itself?

torontomaxima

Well that's the problem - I think it must be a connection, because I replaced 3 caps on the board with no luck. It's got to be like a hairline crack cause whenever I hit a big bump the display brightens up (same thing happens with a good smack). In addition I resoldered the connections on the display too.

tmuscedere

Guys I will be up in Toronto next week, if anyone wants to get together and have a try at fixing these things let me know.

rhecker

Well, I'm continuing to resolder my Climate Control System...Every day I resolder a bunch of connections, and every day it seems I haven't gotten anywhere. What I have noticed is this: When the display is dim, if I put downward pressure on the PC Board with the connectors (i.e., not the board with the display on it), then it suddenly brightens up. I can't get any reliable results from toothpick probing. I've completely resoldered the connectors, and many of the capacitors and transistors, so that's not the problem.I'm thinking of resoldering that big chip next...

I've also developed a new problem. Sometimes the display goes completely out if the headlights are turned on AND there is a working bulb plugged in to the climate control to light up the buttons (all mine had previously blown out). Ironically, I've noticed putting upward pressure on that board fixes it. I was going to shove a wedge-shaped piece of cork in there to put pressure on the board, but one problem seems to need upward pressure, and the other problem needs downward pressure!

-Rich
Continuing the resolding. More updates to come...

torontomaxima

Ok seems to me like your board is developing more problems than mine did... however I've neglected to mention one thing that my mechanic did when he tried to fix it - you know that white "IDE" style cable that connects the two boards together? Well he says that some of the wires were not properly touching the copper contacts - so he desoldered that wire (and tossed it out) and then resoldered like 10-12 individual wires (or however many there are) in place of the white one. That solved the problem for about 2-3 days... so then (as seen in another post) I just wedged a popsicle stick in between the plastic and the board in order to have a permanent flex - again that only worked for a few days until in dimmed again. I strongly suspect that it is that wiring harness on the board - or perhaps one of those micro chips, as some of those contacts ran underneath the chip, and I could not get to them. Keep us posted.

Oh, and BTW thanks for the offer tmuscedere , but I'm just going to leave it as it for now. I accidentally broke the lighter's light bulb holder when removing the plastic cover - so I figured the CC has done enough damage for now.

rhecker

Well, I managed to fix my dim/malfunctioning Auto Climate Control on about the 5th attempt. It's been nice and bright for a day and a half now, and I think it's all good.

The last modifications I made were both on the board with the connectors (not the board with the display). I did the following:
-Resoldered all of the surface mount resistors (I think they're resistors) on the bottom of that board.
-Resoldered two things that I don't have a name for. They're right behind the big connectors, and they both have seven pins in a row.

As for my button lighting problem, I managed to find a trace that was no longer conducting, and I soldered in a little jumper wire. I believe I caused this problem in the process of trying to fix the display.

Hopefully those of you still battling this problem can try the same resoldering I did and let us know if that fixes it for you, as well.

-Rich

harrymay

i have an update, i think it might be why the whole thing goes dim in most cases.

So i take it all out and take a look, didnt find anything, just poked around. put it back in, it started just fine, nice and bright. then i turn the lights on, and it didnt go dim like it should, its not a problem coz my hu is pretty bright too and im used to it whenever i drive at nite. its been like this for about three days, and its been turned on and off. lets just hope it stays like this

torontomaxima

yeah, see its got a life of its own...

BTW what was exactly did you do, besides taking it out, for it to go bright?

harrymay

i pretty much poked around, i might have shorted something out maybe, i poke the connector especially the ide kind that connects the two boards and the harness thingy. i just drove to h-town and back to meet up with some nio dudes, and it was bright the whole way.

eyemann

I was having the same problems with the digital display on my 3d gen.
As soon as the temperature dropped to 20 degrees and below it has been
bright and consistant as when it was new. Any answers to temperature having
a positive effect on the digital display?

harrymay

well so much for that plan. the weather has stayed the same, but today i had to do something for my mom and now my display has gone dim again.

torontomaxima

yeah, in cold weather mine seems to stay bright longer too... maybe cuase comething is contracting on the board and making the necessary contact.

rhecker

Well, I thought I'd better correct my last message. I got my display to work for about 3 days, then it died again. I resoldered that IDE-type ribbon cable connecting the two boards - nothing. I'm giving up.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

Never give up!
Never!
Just keep working at it, eventually you'll have replaced and resoldered every component and it will work perfectly

torontomaxima

no... way... sorry rhecker, you fall in the same category as me - just give up otherwise, you'll become obsessed with it and it will become an addiction, until you start working on it day and night and your hair begins to turn gray! STOP NOW WHILE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR HEALTH... j/k yeah keep trying until your satisfied that you've tried everything possible... that's what I did, now I just hit mine to get it bright again.

harrymay

i wish mine would work when i hit it. is there any kind of special manuevers for the actually hitting, any input would be greatly appreciated. perhaps i just do not have the skill required for this special manuever.

Michael

iTrader: (21)

I dont understand you guys. You would rather spend countless hours working on this than buy mine for $35 shipped (yeah a little more to Canada). I know mine works and I will even touch up the solder before I send it.

But if you want to continue working with it then here is a tip...

Use silver bearing solder. I was working on some ford radios for a friend and could not for the life of me get that stupid display to work until I finally got some silver bearing solder. It worked like a charm after that. I have found that works better than regular lead/tin solder.

Just my .02. Good luck.

torontomaxima

Thanks for the tip... and the selling info... I might take you up on that offer.

harrymay: the technique is simple yet slightly complicated, and will only be mastered after several months of practice... using the palm of your hand hit just above the actual display, on the center console frame... if it does not work at first, try repeated attempts; if it does not then work, you may also want to attempt swearing while hitting the display - at which point it will more than likely work.