spuds

abs,traction control,airbag and check engine lights work.Turn signal lights and bright lights work.Oddly telescoping steering wheel works,never has before.

Questions
1-Is there just a replaceable power board?
2-any special fuse to check?
3-if i get a junk yard cluster will it show correct miles plugged in,if not any tips on that? How hard to reset mileage gauge?
4-repair services available that wont be a thousand bucks?

Car needs smog in June 2025.Thanks for any advice and leads.

400fanboy

Best of luck on the cluster. I am only here to comment on the smog test:

I heard this story from an automotive journalist when he was dealing with getting old cars which aren't driven much to pass smog. If your car happens to be sitting a lot before you go get it tested, it may not pass smog for a variety of reasons. They are getting really restrictive that the emissions equipment needs to be functioning correctly, and to ensure that, they force you to unnecessarily drive the car hundreds of miles to make sure you aren't emitting too much pollution if you fail the tests.

Anyway, I've heard of scanners saying the car is good to go, but the smog computer says no. There are solutions which actually work in the real world. The first is to: drive 100 hundred miles at a constant 50-60mph once the car reaches operating temperature. Not 75mph, 50-60. The second is to: ice-cold start, drive the car until it's up to operating temperature, and then shut it off. These may need to be done multiple times, it must be ice-cold start every time. The smog guys may tell you some variation of these procedures, I would listen to their advice if they get more specific than this. I am telling this as a 2ndhand story.

Hopefully that helps prevent some headaches for you when you go into that.

spuds

So far not having smog issues.Im curious if they cant see mileage on dash it thats a fail,do you know? I have a 7 month window before smog due.I reckon a discrepancy between dash and computer miles is a fail if i go used cluster?California car. OK,google search says if check engine light works,mine does,can pass smog with dead mileage gauge in Calif,hope thats right,that would be a relief.

spuds

I sent an email to Jim Walker at... thelexpert@gmail.com
Maybe he can help if still in business,does he have a website? LOL,yes he does,it says email him.

as99east

It will be expensive to have the cluster professionally repaired, period, I have found. If you put in a junkyard cluster it will show incorrect mileage. The mileage is stored on a chip in the cluster.

Yamae

At least the 5V voltage regulator in the cluster meter unit seems to be stopped working. There is a fuse named "10A meter" under the dash and this is the first step to check.

When the fuse is OK, it needs some extra skills but the next step is to check the voltage regulator measuring the voltage of pin #3 (close to letters AP) of the IC 78DL05AP which is mounted on the heat sink. Following 2 posts may be useful to identify the IC. In order to measure the voltage and others, it would be the best to make and use extension harnesses designed for the whole cluster meter unit. But only to measure the voltage, just add 2 extension wires for pin #3 for the 5V voltage and pin #2 for the ground.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post11186359
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post11200463

This is just the beginning of the troubleshooting because the IC 78DL05AP stops to work when extra too much current is required. I mean that the load is too much. In this case, as a third step, you need to find out the reason why too much, may be grounded or a damaged component may be there.

Anyway without the extension harnesses and human's technical skills, it would not be easy to troubleshoot quickly.

Yamae

If a used cluster unit were available, it would be a good and cheaper choice. The mileage adjustment can be done simply replacing the EEPROM chip indicated by a red arrow. This photo was originally from YODAONE's post and it is enhanced with an added red arrow. All you need are a heat gun, a soldering iron and some skills.

spuds

Wow,very interesting.Sounds like the used cluster is way to go.Nephew could do the chip,it just resets from computer on car to correct miles? That sounds like the way to go,will send thread to nephew.Excited to check that fuse,wouldnt that be great if we got stupid lucky.

Reckon next step is get unit out,see the model number and go from there....

Thanks! Please keep info coming.

LeX2K

Mileage is stored in that EEPROM so swapping it over swaps over all the data, replacement cluster will have exactly the same mileage.

as99east

I will add one other thing. When you take these clusters apart, at least for the cluster you are going to put back in, you have to be EXTREMELY careful with the gauge needles. They are very delicate and will break or be thrown off calibration easily if bumped. Take your time and do not rush. I would test the cluster you plan to transplant the chip into first to see how the needles are doing. Some lose their illumination or get sticky over time. If you have any needles stuck at zero, while you have the cluster open, you may want to add needle stoppers which help prevent that issue by having the tach and speedo rest just above zero.

spuds

Absolutely test before doing any work,the above zero stoppers is a fantastic idea,will include that too,thank you!

as99east

If helpful for a cheap stopper solution see below that I posted recently but no one really cared about haha. To be fair nothing about this is a novel observation but just posting a recent low cost approach. I had sticky needles before and since doing this they have worked perfectly with no sticking at zero.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...eedle-fix.html

spuds

Pretty dang slick,i like it!
P.S. I care

as99east

Thank you for caring

spuds

Well riddle me this one.Went out to pull fuses,turned key on,everything is working,but telescoping wheel not working,makes clicking noise but no movement,so back to baseline.Tomorrow i will pull all underdash fuses and clean them and spray fuses and box with deoxit.Obviously something not right but for today im not fixing what is working,btw 258,063 miles showing so that is crazy,all dash working.Also 85 F degrees out and car in sunshine.Oh,and we washed car day before issue,it was raining,do you think.....