Well Done

[Stephen Alford]

   Over the years Jeffs FF and the great folks on here have been a great help many many times.  So if its any help to anyone I wanted to share a recent experience.
 One of the things I recently realized i take for granted is my daily runner. That ol truck sure has been a welcome site at the end of the day. The issues started with wheel sensors dinging then engine lights flashing, then fuel tank empty etc etc.  The problems did not happen all at once and were intermittent .  But after a couple months got to the drive you crazy point. Once it was realized it had to be a module failure i phoned the local electronics outfit. The guy laughed and said it could not be repaired.  The issue is complicated because its illegal here to mess with the odometer. Its also coded with doors engine etc.
  Decided to take the instrument cluster out myself. dealer wanted around 2k to put and code new one.
   Found a company in Missouri , phoned them .  The guy says send it I will fix it for 150$.  What the hay so I did. He got it on a Monday ...fixed it Tuesday...and sent it back on Wednesday.  Truck is like it just came off the lot. Everything works.  So tip of the hat to Automotive circuit Solutions.  I miss the days when all you needed was a piece of an export A pack to set the points but so nice to have someone do what they say they will in the time and price they tell you.

[chet]

I miss the days when all you needed was a piece of an export A pack to set the points but so nice to have someone do what they say they will in the time and price they tell you.

Those folks do exist, but it's getting harder and harder in the world we live in today to find those people.  :(

[47sawdust]

Great story.
"Can Do" types are indeed becoming rare.
 Missouri is also known as the "show me state" as in show me it can't be done and I'll do it.

[dgdrls]

  Over the years Jeffs FF and the great folks on here have been a great help many many times.  So if its any help to anyone I wanted to share a recent experience.
 One of the things I recently realized i take for granted is my daily runner. That ol truck sure has been a welcome site at the end of the day. The issues started with wheel sensors digging then engine lights flashing, then fuel tank empty etc etc.  The problems did not happen all at once and were intermittent .  But after a couple months got to the drive you crazy point. Once it was realized it had to be a module failure i phoned the local electronics outfit. The guy laughed and said it could not be repaired.  The issue is complicated because its illegal here to mess with the odometer. Its also coded with doors engine etc.
  Decided to take the instrument cluster out myself. dealer wanted around 2k to put and code new one.
   Found a company in Missouri , phoned them .  The guy says send it I will fix it for 150$.  What the hay so I did. He got it on a Monday ...fixed it Tuesday...and sent it back on Wednesday.  Truck is like it just came off the lot. Everything works.  So tip of the hat to Automotive circuit Solutions.  I miss the days when all you needed was a piece of an export A pack to set the points but so nice to have someone do what they say they will in the time and price they tell you.

 
Was taught a matchbook cover would get you close with the gap for points when you're in a pinch.
Great post
D

[Ed_K]

 I just went thru this with my 2010 dodge pickup. I read up on the problem on the internet, It was saying that the main computer was bad. So I went to the dealer an bought one ( $1125.00 )  dealer said bring it in when I get it in and they'll set it for another $200.00. Well it didn't fix the problem  >:( :( . A friend that works on heavy trucks said he could fix it, pulled the instrument panel out sent it out to a rebuilder they had it back in 3 day and the truck runs perfect. He also had the computer programer to reset the main puter.

[Ianab]

Having worked with computer equipment ever since is became commonplace, I can imagine the reasons for a lot of those faults. The connectors are soldered to the circuit board inside the module, but solder isn't very strong (especially the modern lead free stuff). Over time the vibration cause the solder to crack, and that makes a bad connection. Drives the computer nuts as power and/or signals from the various sensors (and other computers) aren't what's expected. It can't give any sensible error codes because it's not getting sensible inputs. 


I'd bet that 90% of the units that company fixes are simple running around the board with a soldering iron, and are an easy fix. If they are guaranteeing a fixed price repair they will also have to account for the occasional one that is actually fried, and I would guess they would re-work junk yard boards and send you one of those in the rare case where yours was beyond repair. But if you are working on the same / similar boards every day you soon find the common faults, and 90% of the fixes are then "simple".


But initially finding which module has the fault is where the voodoo comes in. Like in Ed's case it was the dashboard PCB (with it's own microcomputer on it) that had the actual fault., Knowing the main processor isn't the fault, then it's a matter of eliminating the others (or the wires between them) Dodge have a reputation of dodgy electrics anyway, so someone used to working on them would say "yeah, I've seen the dashboard PCB go bad on several of those". 


This also leads into the whole "Right to Repair" movement. Although the CAN bus equipped vehicles and their computers are complex, it's not actually black magic. See how people are already fixing these units without any manufacturer support (parts or circuit diagrams), so they can be repaired by someone with a bit of electronics experience. This is going on in consumer electronics / farm machinery and of course cars. 

[rusticretreater]

Yep, solder cracks are responsible for many problems that look far worse.  As the PCBs are built by robots now, they use the minimum amount of solder.  I fixed the dash display in my Chrysler 300 by hitting every spot with the iron.  My brothers old BMW headlight module had the same issue.  

As Ianab said, these companies learn the circuits and know how to test them quickly. The same technologies that allow diagnostic computers to access the codes and data in the vehicle systems also allow them to hook up a single component and test various circuits.  So in a few minutes, they know what is wrong or at least what circuit to examine.  Some smart engineers have probably come up with a few impressive techniques as well.