cenman

Great info! Thanks!

g2103320

He fixed mine last fall for about $45 if I recall correctly. Works like new now.

MachVette

Woohoo,
I fixed my display last night, it's workin like it should, just the same as the radio display, and it did turn out to be the resistors, I just redid them all with a regular Weller Gun, a bit large, but a dont' have a small one.
The small pen type guns would work best on this. You just need to be fast and some good closeup vision with a larger one.

So, if u have the ability to take your console apart, which is just popping a couple of panels and removing a few screws,
and have the novice ability to solder, u could do this!

Now, I see Tom98 posted a link to fix the problem, lol
it's exactly what I did.
Forget the overpriced Stealerships, or sending it in

Now I can fill-er-up with the money I saved and take a cruise,,,,,,,,hehehh

RPOZ4Z

I just finished fixing mine!

It works like new!

I'll post some pics in a little bit.

basically I just touched up the soldering on the big surface mount resistors on the power supply board.


here are the pics..................................

remove the 4 screws from the back of the HVAC control, when you take it apart this is what you will see.



remove the 4 screws holding the power supply board to the back cover, and flip the board over.


there are 8 surface mount components (outlined in yellow), these are the "culprits".


with a soldering iron, touch up the solder joints on these components, be careful, due to the bad soldering, they may move from their locations on the board, if they do, use a pair of tweezers of small needle nose pliars to reposition them and hold them in place while you solder one side. don't use a soldering gun or too much heat, chip components tend to get damaged by too much heat.





(please pardon my crappy soldering, I did this in a hurry on my kitchen table right before dinner!)

RPOZ4Z

I also wanted to add that it took about 10min to remove the climate control module from the car.

RPHCRMZ51

When you first looked at the circuit board were the resistors loose , just a few or all ? It looks like you had to just solder the ends , correct ? Thanks for great pic's and I think the admin's should make this a sticky or put in tech tips ! Thanks RPZO4Z for taking the time to solve this poor quality control issue. You would think after x # of years of production they would fix this for later production years. I wonder , is the head unit a DELPHI product ?

DjCritterus

If the problem is cold soldering points, wouldn't knocking on the unit make it worse over time?

Guess it couldn't hurt becuase it already needs repair, though.

Z06ufgrad2002

I was hopeful that the dim display was just my imagination or due to my polarized sunglasses. But, to my astonishment, tapping on the display did infact make it brighter. So to the dealer it goes for a hopeful replacement under GMPP. We'll see what happens.

If not I can always yank it apart and solder it.

RPOZ4Z

could go either way, you could be causing a better connection when tapping on it or make it worse.

RPOZ4Z

you really couldn't tell which end needed soldering, both ends looked cold but one end was barely making contact, when I started touching up the joints, if I started on the "good" end, the resistor would come off the board because the other end was not holding, and you can't tell which is the "good" end.

yes, ther are pads on each end that you solder the chip component to the board with.
you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you do it.


I think it should be a sticky also!

ConvertedWS9

PERFECT FIX!!!!!! I was gonna send it in.. until I seen this link.. Took 20mins of my time with one of those cold heat tools (which broke while in use) I only did 3 of them before it broke.. unwilling to go back to walmart i decided to reinstall.. crossed fingers and it worked....


since i'll be taking the coldheat back and getting a refund the solder only cost $4.50. So.. umm what a deal... an hour of my time.. to take out... fix and reinstall.... and it only cost $4.5 in parts.... Not sure how he figured this out but probably the greatest write up ever!!!

I think i'll probably get a real iron later and redo the rest... but in teh mean time.. it works great!!!! to think i almost sent it off for $50...

I guess I can put that $50 in the mod jar now

ztron

I took my climate control display out and did the soldering trick, I have a bright display now, but the button lights not the ones that show if its on or not but the night lights on several button wont light any thoughts,, maybe need to go back and resolder again and see ?

Thanks

VA CORVETTE 757

Hey man I took your advice last weekend and did the 8 points on my control unit and it works like a charm. I also used the gun as well! You just can't get it too close to the board and have to be very careful. My buddy did it in his vette right after I did mine.

TEXASCOUPE

Same here. Was told the part alone is around 500!

PashaCorvette

I can`t believe this happened to a lot of people including me.

SteveDoten

ttt

rws.1

RPOZ4Z great write-up !
You should submit this as a tech tip.
this problem is one of the most posted problems I have seen on the Forum.. and you can help so many people with this....
rich

RPOZ4Z

I can't take credit for the fix.

I just took pics of me doing it, and posted it.

but it SHOULD be a sticky!

SR-71

My display had gradually gotten darker to the point that I could just barely make out the numbers at night. I was going to pick a unit up off ebay or send mine off to be fixed. But I hated to have my car in pieces waiting for turnaround, or paying a couple of hundred for a used unit. I bought my first soldering iron today, took the unit out and apart and went to work. In roughly an hour including everything it's as good as new. The only difference on my 2000 model was the 241 model resistors(or whatever they are) were stacked in 2 columns in the middle of the circuit board instead of the setup in the photos here. This has been one of the most helpfull threads on here for me. Thanks alot

BiggieBoy

Great info here. Thanks to all. Got to save this thread.