Clock fades to black?

[hillbilly]

For some unknown reason, the clock on my '01 dash likes to disppear. It started several months ago, and would only fade to black for short periods of time. I could usually get it to come back by lightly tapping on it. But over time I had to tap on it harder and harder. After awhile it was just dark more than lit. I wrote it off to a loose connection and wasn't gonna worry about it till I dug into my antenna issues.:shake: About three weeks ago, I took most of the passenger side dash apart while replacing my broken power antenna with a Taco whip. In the midst of that, I had to disconnect the clock to remove the console facial. Once the Taco whip was complete, I made sure the clock contacts were clean and secure in hopes that would take care of it.

Whalla! :thumbup: Clock was back and didn't fade away. WRONG. A few days later it started again.:screwy: Now it disappears immediately after startup and stays gone no matter what I do.

Anyone else seen this?

[Erich_870]

My clock was dead when I bought it (99 4runner). I thought it might have been the connection too, but it wasn't :hillbill:

Erich

[Ric]

yea, mine does the same (99 4runner) Im not to worried about it right now, got a clock on the stereo, and usually wear a watch.
you can just replace the clock for about $70 heres a link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-TOYOTA-4RUNNER-DIGITAL-CLOCK_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33673QQihZ017QQit emZ270202655330QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[Lee]

its crazy how expensive those clocks are

[MTL_4runner]

Those LCDs are very simple (I used to work in the industry) and I bet there might be a way to take the clock apart and fix it internally, but without seeing any pics of it, I can't help you on the issue other than to say it's not likely the connection causing your problem. Best way to test this is to apply 12V to it and see if it turns on outside the truck (simple lawnmower battery works fine for testing). The other thing to look for is that these LCDs are backlit so if you look carefully you might see the LCD is still working but just doesn't have any light shining through it.

If your electronic troubleshooting skills are limited, your best bet is probably just to find a working one off ebay.

[JWBehm]

Yeah mine does the same. I work at a toyota dealership and it is still $150 my cost for a new one. . . I have a GPS with clock though so no biggie

[4LowLocked]

Mine has been dead now for a year - I attributed it to when I had the dash apart to install my in-dash video screen. It actually came back for 2 days last month and then has been gone again. I have been looking on car-part.com but wanted to know, which years use the same clock as the 98 4Runner

[Seanz0rz]

for sure 96-98 and most likely 99-02 (someone will need to confirm this). not sure if the taco clock is the same.

[hillbilly]

I have been looking on car-part.com but wanted to know, which years use the same clock as the 98 4Runner96-02's use the same clocks.

Well, I replaced the old clock with a used one I picked up from terminator2373.:thumbup: So I tore my old clock apart (I'll post pics when I get a chance). The long and short of it is, these don't appear to be fixable.:headscratch: I'm not a electronics whiz, but these don't appear to be your typical backlit LCDs. The LCD is sealed inside a gas tube, which is soldered to the circuit board. Seems the backlighting is actually more of a fluorescent type light rather bulb. There's a 35v capacitor at the lower right corner of the board which may be used to 'jump start' the fluorescent backlighting.

[MTL_4runner]

Well, I replaced the old clock with a used one I picked up from terminator2373.:thumbup: So I tore my old clock apart (I'll post pics when I get a chance). The long and short of it is, these don't appear to be fixable.:headscratch: I'm not a electronics whiz, but these don't appear to be your typical backlit LCDs. The LCD is sealed inside a gas tube, which is soldered to the circuit board. Seems the backlighting is actually more of a fluorescent type light rather bulb. There's a 35v capacitor at the lower right corner of the board which may be used to 'jump start' the fluorescent backlighting.


Definately post some pics and I'll tell you if there is anything that can be done to repair it.
I'm curious to see what one looks like torn down too (should be pretty easy).

[hillbilly]

Pics post below... (thanks Jamie).

[MTL_4runner]

It took a little while to load those pics and they are big so I'll attach them in smaller form here.

[MTL_4runner]

More pics.

[MTL_4runner]

Ok, I had a quick peek at the photos and unfortunately the LCD is toast and you can see the area that was damaged circled in red. I haven't seen many LCDs like that totally encased in glass (including the backlight) and that makes repair almost impossible. It makes sense to do that for an automotive application though because the auto market was one of the toughest testing environments I saw for any LCDs (like +140F, -50F, 98% humidity, etc) so encasing everything in glass would help with that. I suspect that a component for the backlight may have blown, but there is no way to replace it without getting a completely new LCD module and resoldering it in.

I would be curious what was under the top glass though (in the burned area) if you could remove it and snap a pic.

[hillbilly]

Geez.... picky, picky. :bowdown: :P I'll dissect it tonight. (Come to think of it, I may not be able to get to my hosting site after I leave work.)

Odd thing is, it'll still work if you smack it hard enough, albeit momentarily. :chair::screwy: Sorta sounds like my wife... :lliar::D (Hope she doesn't see this over my shoulder... :tapedshut:)

[97t4rnr]

Replaced mine twice. Dealer electronics specialist said it was a diode. Confirmed this with an electronics specialist at work.

[hillbilly]

Here's a couple shots with the glass top removed (wasn't easy without destroying the whole thing):

http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/clock/dashclock14.JPG
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/clock/dashclock9.JPG
http://www.personal.psu.edu/skr8/host/clock/dashclock11.JPG

[MTL_4runner]

Wow, yeah you can see where it just vaporized the contact in that area like an old fashioned blown fuse. It is quite possible that it came from a blown diode, but the bottom line is that there is no way to fix the clocks when they fail in that manner. Thanks for posting those pics though!