megtom2

The dash is completely out of the car.
I was going to change out a bulb socket and also check all the solder joints tonight but I can't seem to get the upper board to come out. The problem is where all of the pins connect between the two boards. Is there some secret to get them to let go because none of the tech boards even go over them besides cleaning them once the top board is out. All the screws are out but when I lift I can see they are not budging out of the top board. Thanks for any help

Rich Silvestris

I had to use a little force on that corner of the board as well. There are a lot of pins there and a couple were coated with carbon (as in burned). If I remember correctly, I wedged a screwdriver in there and twisted it gently. You need to put the force right where the sticking is going on. You don't want the circuit board itself to take any of the force or it will crack. And double check that you have removed the odometer and all the screws. There are a bunch of them. Good Luck.

86PACER

No secret. You just have to use more targeted force to seperate it. I took my time and went little by little because I felt like the darn thing might break. That connector is on tight. You want to pull as close to the connector pin area as you can get your hands/fingers in, otherwise the board may crack.

megtom2

Thanks guys. I put some electrical cleaner/lube on a Qtip and put it on the ends then moved them back and forth with an electrical pick(ice pick) type tool. Rocked it back and forth and it finally gave up. Problem is what I found inside looked to be in really good condition with no dust and all of the solder joints looked good. Just changed out the bulb sockets and now I am on to the next step of finding the bad ground.

tdr1919

use a good magnifying glass, and work in quadrants, look for cold solder or where it looks like a pin or component lead has no solder around it. Using a good temperature controlled solder iron, have new clean rosin core solder and liquid or paste flux, i dip the solder into the paste flux. make sure the solder iron tip is well tinned, and keep a wet sponge for wiping the tip. heat the pin on the board, watch carefully as the solder bubbles, apply the flux coated solder, watch it flow and it is shiny remove the solder then the tip. Wipe the tip on the sponge, and apply solder/resin to the tip, yoiu just want the tip to be silver not blobbed with solder, if you have too much just tap it, and the excess solder will fall off, be careful not to burn yourself! Also do not put too much solder into the pins you are touching up, because it can flow out the other side and cause a short. Use circuit board cleaner to remove the excess flux, do not use acetone. DO NOT APPLY too much heat or you will lift the lands off the board.

megtom2

Nah, after looking it over I think the dash has been changed out fairly recently and my short is somewhere else. All the bulbs work now though and it is pretty. With my windshield wipers not working at times I still think I need to get a better look at G104.

JrRifleCoach

WHen I had mine apart I switched over to the cheaper and less bright standard inst bulbs.
Yes, the dash is not as bright.
But, the heat is ten times less and the dash is still bright enough to see in the daylight.