Vanagon Printed Circuit Board Replacement
- SlowLane
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Livermore, CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Minnesota 2
Miz might be interested in GoWesty's printed circuit board instrument cluster kit. They claim that it works for all Vanagons 1980 through 1991. Not sure how they did that, since the pinout for the connector changed somewhere around when they went watercooled. Maybe it's as simple as re-pinning the connector.
The kit is a bit pricey, close to $300, but if it solves the problem once and for all...
Update: I just viewed GoWesty's installation video for the cluster kit. I'm now of the opinion that the $300 price tag is a bargain. The R&D that went into it is quite impressive. And yes, they do show how to re-pin the aircooled connector to work with their kit.
The kit is a bit pricey, close to $300, but if it solves the problem once and for all...
Update: I just viewed GoWesty's installation video for the cluster kit. I'm now of the opinion that the $300 price tag is a bargain. The R&D that went into it is quite impressive. And yes, they do show how to re-pin the aircooled connector to work with their kit.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
- the miz
- Addicted!
- Location: Minnesota
- Status: Offline
Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Minnesota 2
SlowLane, thanks for vouching for this kit...I just discovered it this morning in an effort to find a new printed circuit board/tape thingy. Apparently, replacement printed circuit board/tape thingys don't exist anyway...and as they are obviously prone to failure, this kit might be the way to go.SlowLane wrote:Miz might be interested in GoWesty's printed circuit board instrument cluster kit. They claim that it works for all Vanagons 1980 through 1991. Not sure how they did that, since the pinout for the connector changed somewhere around when they went watercooled. Maybe it's as simple as re-pinning the connector.
The kit is a bit pricey, close to $300, but if it solves the problem once and for all...
Update: I just viewed GoWesty's installation video for the cluster kit. I'm now of the opinion that the $300 price tag is a bargain. The R&D that went into it is quite impressive. And yes, they do show how to re-pin the aircooled connector to work with their kit.
I'm strongly considering this, so if anyone else has any opinions on it, I'd love to hear them. The kustom idiot light works really pretty well, so I may wait until the off season to completely tear apart my dashboard electronics.
...also, I have other, more pressing mechanical issues to deal with at the moment.
miz
1982 Westy- Vana White
- SlowLane
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Livermore, CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Minnesota 2
Well, I can't vouch for it from personal experience, but it does appear to be a well-thought-out bit of kit. Even at $300 a pop, I can't imagine that anyone at GoWesty is going to retire on the profits from this item.Mr. Miz wrote:thanks for vouching for this kit.
I can attest that it is sometimes possible to make repairs to the printed circuit foil. By "repair" I mean bypassing burnt-out traces on the foil with judiciously-soldered lengths of wire. This approach of course just makes the whole assembly more fragile and prone to breakage while handling. It's also fraught with peril, as the heat from the soldering pencil melts the plastic foil very quickly, so it's quite easy to completely demolish a foil if you're not careful.
I upgraded the cluster in my van many years ago with a tachometer and PC foil from a later model. It was at that time that I used the Bentley manual to figure out the cluster connector re-pinning trick.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
- the miz
- Addicted!
- Location: Minnesota
- Status: Offline
Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Minnesota 2
Thanks again, I will have to weigh my parsimony (in this case) against just getting the problem fixed once and for all. I'd imagine, that for me soldering the tape will probably prove to be a waste of time, as I will just further ruin it.SlowLane wrote:Well, I can't vouch for it from personal experience, but it does appear to be a well-thought-out bit of kit. Even at $300 a pop, I can't imagine that anyone at GoWesty is going to retire on the profits from this item.Mr. Miz wrote:thanks for vouching for this kit.
I can attest that it is sometimes possible to make repairs to the printed circuit foil. By "repair" I mean bypassing burnt-out traces on the foil with judiciously-soldered lengths of wire. This approach of course just makes the whole assembly more fragile and prone to breakage while handling. It's also fraught with peril, as the heat from the soldering pencil melts the plastic foil very quickly, so it's quite easy to completely demolish a foil if you're not careful.
I upgraded the cluster in my van many years ago with a tachometer and PC foil from a later model. It was at that time that I used the Bentley manual to figure out the cluster connector re-pinning trick.
miz
1982 Westy- Vana White
- the miz
- Addicted!
- Location: Minnesota
- Status: Offline
Vanagon Printed Circuit Board Replacement
Hey All,
...after figuring out that the (now) constant illumination of my alternator/battery idiot light was not the result of a failing alternator and was instead the result of a short in the printed circuit board in my dash instrument cluster, I have been wondering how to go about repairing this issue.
Go Westy has a kit to accomplish this: http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php?id=24189
Has anyone installed/used one of these?
I've gotten a bit of input and alternative suggestions already...but any additional thoughts and opinions would be welcome.
Thanks,
miz
...after figuring out that the (now) constant illumination of my alternator/battery idiot light was not the result of a failing alternator and was instead the result of a short in the printed circuit board in my dash instrument cluster, I have been wondering how to go about repairing this issue.
Go Westy has a kit to accomplish this: http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php?id=24189
Has anyone installed/used one of these?
I've gotten a bit of input and alternative suggestions already...but any additional thoughts and opinions would be welcome.
Thanks,
miz
1982 Westy- Vana White
- sped372
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Waunakee, WI
- Status: Offline
Re: Vanagon Printed Circuit Board Replacement
I have also seen this kit referenced elsewhere, but I don't have any direct experience with either one. Good luck!
http://www.vanagon.org/instrument-clust ... epair-kit/
http://www.vanagon.org/instrument-clust ... epair-kit/
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX
- the miz
- Addicted!
- Location: Minnesota
- Status: Offline
Re: Vanagon Printed Circuit Board Replacement
Thanks for the input and the alternative suggestion.sped372 wrote:I have also seen this kit referenced elsewhere, but I don't have any direct experience with either one. Good luck!
http://www.vanagon.org/instrument-clust ... epair-kit/
miz
1982 Westy- Vana White
- Mulcheese
- Getting Hooked!
- Location: Maple Grove, Mn
- Status: Offline
Re: Vanagon Printed Circuit Board Replacement
Hey miz
Have you inspected the circuit board? Do you see any burnt spots? Is there any loose solder points? I have repaired circuit boards before ( non-vanagon). This might be of use http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658493 Look for a repair before replace.
Have you inspected the circuit board? Do you see any burnt spots? Is there any loose solder points? I have repaired circuit boards before ( non-vanagon). This might be of use http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658493 Look for a repair before replace.
"attending to things in the moment with curiosity and acceptance."
____________________
82 Vanagon Westy - aka: Honey Badger - "cause she just dont give a ...."
____________________
82 Vanagon Westy - aka: Honey Badger - "cause she just dont give a ...."
- the miz
- Addicted!
- Location: Minnesota
- Status: Offline
Re: Vanagon Printed Circuit Board Replacement
Thanks for the tip, Mulcheese...this is most likely going to be a "winter-pull-it-all-apart-investigate-repair" project...so I'll probably have a more detailed look before I drop the $300. That said...it was kind of alarming how quickly we went from:Mulcheese wrote:Hey miz
Have you inspected the circuit board? Do you see any burnt spots? Is there any loose solder points? I have repaired circuit boards before ( non-vanagon). This might be of use http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658493 Look for a repair before replace.
- "alt light tuned off with a sold rev after start...fading to faint glow at low rpms"
to
-"alt light solidly on at all times"
...well at least I know where the battery drain was coming from...also I think my "maybe not as isolated as I thought" leisure battery was helping out the whole time!
miz
1982 Westy- Vana White