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Instrument cluster repairs (UK)

D

Don Turner

Jan 1, 1970
0
Does anyone know of a company based in the UK who can repair a fault on an
Audi instrument cluster. I've isolated the fault down to either a dry solder
joint somewhere on the PCB or a failing component because the cluster only
works on warm days or when the heater in the cabin is switched on.

There are dozens of vehicle cluster repair companies in the US, but I can't
find a single one in the UK.

Thanks in advance
DT
 
D

Don Turner

Jan 1, 1970
0
Don,
Try the following, they are based in Liverpool but I think they form part
of a national franchise in the UK.

www.dashboardsnorthwest.co.uk

Thanks Dave, However they are a mileage correction company. I've called
about 6 of these types of companies in London and the South East (e.g.
dashtoctor, dashtech, speedofixer etc..) and none of them are prepared to
carry out any sort of repair on a cluster, they just fix the mileage. One of
them even suggested that I try a TV repair man as they have good circuit
board experience. Before I do that I would rather start with specialists,
the immobiliser to the car is integrated into the cluster so the worst case
scenario is that the car also gets immobilised if something goes wrong.

Cheers
DT
 
D

Duncanwood

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thanks Dave, However they are a mileage correction company. I've called
about 6 of these types of companies in London and the South East (e.g.
dashtoctor, dashtech, speedofixer etc..) and none of them are prepared to
carry out any sort of repair on a cluster, they just fix the mileage.
One of
them even suggested that I try a TV repair man as they have good circuit
board experience. Before I do that I would rather start with specialists,
the immobiliser to the car is integrated into the cluster so the worst
case
scenario is that the car also gets immobilised if something goes wrong.

Cheers
DT

You're probably still better off with a TV repair shop though.
 
S

sofie

Jan 1, 1970
0
Duncanwood said:
You're probably still better off with a TV repair shop though.
- - - - - -

Absolutely correct. My shop here in the US does a fair amount of these
types of repairs... however, my customers are usually the automotive
repair shops.... you might try your local Audi dealer or a local
independent foreign car repair shop, they probably will already have a
sub-contractor that they have this type of work done for them.
 
B

Bob Minchin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ted Eboy wrote in message ...
that's a clocking guy not repairer...............somehow now a legal
business............or is it.

'Clocking'! such a brutal term! Surely not. These companies will have you
believe that they make a living setting replacement odometers to read the
same as the originally fitted units.

Bob
 
G

Grimly Curmudgeon

Jan 1, 1970
0
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Don Turner"
Thanks Dave, However they are a mileage correction company. I've called
about 6 of these types of companies in London and the South East (e.g.
dashtoctor, dashtech, speedofixer etc..) and none of them are prepared to
carry out any sort of repair on a cluster, they just fix the mileage.

http://www.speedometer.com/services.html

-> speedometer repairs .uk <- in google.
 
A

Antonio Carlini

Jan 1, 1970
0
Don said:
Does anyone know of a company based in the UK who can repair a fault on an
Audi instrument cluster. I've isolated the fault down to either a dry solder
joint somewhere on the PCB or a failing component because the cluster only
works on warm days or when the heater in the cabin is switched on.

On every car (err ... both:)) that I've done any cluster
repair work on, the hardest part has been to remove the
cluster in a manner that allows replacement after effecting
the repair!

Assuming that you can get past this stage, fixing a bad
solder joint should be child's play!

I would think that getting the cluster out, playing
with it on the bench and putting it back would be a
good couple of hours work. So you will not see much
change out of £100. Even on my Vectra the dealer
wanted something near that (including VAT) when
the odometer stopped being visible.

83p for a bulb and a few hours cursing turned out
to be a much better idea!

Since I knew that getting the cluster out was going
to be "fun", I picked up a new clock/radio/temp
display panel from a scrappie for about £12 so
that got done at the same time. (The faulty unit
I sold to someone who offers to repair such units
.... so in fact the replacement was about free ...
which is £80 less than the dealer quoted for the
part!).

I don't know how many scrapped Audis of the right
type there might be, or how many revs of the
cluster there might be, but you might find that
to be a reasonable route to go down. Practising
cluster-removal on a scrapped car certainly helped
me optimise the technique when tackling my own
vehicle!

Antonio
 
D

Duncan Wood

Jan 1, 1970
0
On every car (err ... both:)) that I've done any cluster
repair work on, the hardest part has been to remove the
cluster in a manner that allows replacement after effecting
the repair!

Assuming that you can get past this stage, fixing a bad
solder joint should be child's play!

I would think that getting the cluster out, playing
with it on the bench and putting it back would be a
good couple of hours work. So you will not see much
change out of £100. Even on my Vectra the dealer
wanted something near that (including VAT) when
the odometer stopped being visible.

83p for a bulb and a few hours cursing turned out
to be a much better idea!

Since I knew that getting the cluster out was going
to be "fun", I picked up a new clock/radio/temp
display panel from a scrappie for about £12 so
that got done at the same time. (The faulty unit
I sold to someone who offers to repair such units
... so in fact the replacement was about free ...
which is £80 less than the dealer quoted for the
part!).

I don't know how many scrapped Audis of the right
type there might be, or how many revs of the
cluster there might be, but you might find that
to be a reasonable route to go down. Practising
cluster-removal on a scrapped car certainly helped
me optimise the technique when tackling my own
vehicle!

Antonio

THe immobilisers in the cluster , which makes it a bit trickier.
 
P

Peter Bell

Jan 1, 1970
0
In message <[email protected]>
Grimly Curmudgeon said:
Dave
SE6a

.... as in Reliant Scimitar? Don't see many around these days. I sold
my SE5a in 1990, after ten years ownership, and sometimes wish I hadn't.
 
P

Peter Bell

Jan 1, 1970
0
In message <[email protected]>
Antonio Carlini said:
On every car (err ... both:)) that I've done any cluster
repair work on, the hardest part has been to remove the
cluster in a manner that allows replacement after effecting
the repair!

Shouldn't be a problem with an Audi - I can take the cluster out of my
RS6 and put it back again in less than ten minutes. Unclip one cover
plate, remove two screws, withdraw cluster, unplug three connectors. As
a Haynes manual would say, 'Refitting is a reversal of the removal
procedure'.
 
D

Don Turner

Jan 1, 1970
0
I would think that getting the cluster out, playing
with it on the bench and putting it back would be a
good couple of hours work. So you will not see much
change out of £100. Even on my Vectra the dealer
wanted something near that (including VAT) when
the odometer stopped being visible.

I can get the cluster quite easily.. and I have. However when I open it up
I am faced with literally hundreds of solder joints and that is just on one
layer. There are 2 circuit boards stacked one a-top the other ;-(.

As for Audi dealers, they are renowned for their unhelpfulness and
snottiness. I called up to enquire about a repair.. the response is that
they only replace (£800 + VAT and fitting/coding). Furthermore if I did find
one in a scrappie they would not code it to my car because that is against
AUDI UK policy. The cluster is made by Jaeger (Magnetti Marelli) an Italian
company so I contacted their technical dept and so far zilch..

DT
 
S

SFC

Jan 1, 1970
0
That's typical of modern dealers. They should be called module replacers or
something. They can't repair anything and have no understanding of there own
product.

SFC
 
SFC said:
That's typical of modern dealers. They should be called module replacers or
something. They can't repair anything and have no understanding of there own
product.

Indeed. The problem is, that it is not own product anymore, as it was
designed and built by some third party supplier (VDO, Motometer etc)
which just complies to the given specifications, but does not disclose
the "inner life" of the given component.
So, Audi (or bmw or renault or opel for that matter) are unable to
repair the thing, even if they would like to.
 
G

Grimly Curmudgeon

Jan 1, 1970
0
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\" said:
Barstow is _not_ the edge of the desert!!

Tell Hunter.

He's dead though.
 
G

Grimly Curmudgeon

Jan 1, 1970
0
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
... as in Reliant Scimitar?
Yep.

Don't see many around these days. I sold
my SE5a in 1990, after ten years ownership, and sometimes wish I hadn't.

There's a thriving OC www.scimitarweb.com and the cars are still cheap.

Go on... you know you want to...
 
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