NewHilux.net

It is a known problem, I have emailed the VDO agent in Newcastle, here is a cut and paste of the email conversion:


I have deleted the price as that MAY be a special price/to stop people shopping around.

Also I apologize to admins in advance if cutting and pasting is bad, I am sorry

Peter


Hi Peter

Yes we have seen this issue in the Hilux

We can repair.
You can book in the car and drop off for EST 4hrs and we will remove cluster and repair it. $ xxx inc g.

If you cant get the car to Newcastle you can remove the cluster and send it down for repair.


Best regards
Scott



From: Peter Bialasinski
Sent: Wednesday, 30 January 2019 7:43 AM
To: sales@namiiss.com.au
Subject: Toyota Hilux Cluster

Hello,

I would like to get a quote/information on the repair of my dash cluster please.

I own a 2012 Toyota Hilux SR5, and in particular the fuel gauge only goes down to showing a quarter of a tank left, then the needle will not go down any further to the “E” position. In addition to this, the low fuel light does not illuminate any more either, which I am assuming is related to the needle position.

The Distance To Empty on the dash board still work, but I do not trust this as much as I trust the actual fuel gauge readout.

I would like to know the cost of having this repaired/rectified please?

Regards,
Peter Bialasinski

Magnum06 wrote:I've reset it a few times. Just goes back to 8.2L everytime.

Going by this figure I should be getting 850kms to a standard tank which I could only ever dream of. I get around 500-550km usually.

Hah I also had this - thought it amazing economy for a 4.0L V6 but no - it's the unit of measure that its set to - it is correct however you've got it set to klms per ltr not ltr per 100 klms.

You can change this in the settings - mine read 8.2 klms / ltr and now reads 12.1 ltrs / klm after changing the setting..(if you do the math it works out)

Hello. I have same problem. More that 1/4 fuel on gauge , 0 in tank. )

ranciog_viorel wrote:Hello. I have same problem. More that 1/4 fuel on gauge , 0 in tank. )

Owning a 2013 Hilux / Vigo truck. I had a similar problem. It showed full when I fill the tank. But, regardless the consumption it alwasy stuck 3/4 of the tank. The problem is not float or sender in the tank, but the cluster. Some soldering work need to be done on the main board behind. Contact me if you would like to learn more about the solution. You can repair it by doing yourself - save your dollars - if you have a base of general skill and using soldering gun. I am happy to help anyone out about this matter > vedat@alternatifoutdoor.com

Thanks Vedat, it would be great if you could do a write up on it here maybe with a pic or two?

The fuel guage issue is a soldering problem on the circuit board.
It is a relatively simple fix if you know what you're doing.
Takes 10-15 mins in total.

Hilux fuel guage fix by Cameron Taylor, on Flickr

Simply need to reflow the solder where I have circled

Great stuff
Thanks for posting Vedat and Cambo.
If someone was trying to locate this, is this board separate or part of a main board?

DeadlyBeast wrote:Great stuff
Thanks for posting Vedat and Cambo.
If someone was trying to locate this, is this board separate or part of a main board?

Its on the main board. Once you remove the white back cover its very noticable

CamboT wrote:

DeadlyBeast wrote:Great stuff
Thanks for posting Vedat and Cambo.
If someone was trying to locate this, is this board separate or part of a main board?

Its on the main board. Once you remove the white back cover its very noticable

Thank you ComboT acting before me... That is true. This is exactly what I have done on my cluster circuit board.
It is not complicated as it sounds. Taking out the cluster is very easy. Once you remove the white plastic cover at the back the whole circuit board is in front of you. Mainly the resistors groups on the right (marked with red) need to be resoldered.
Sorry! couldn't any option of enclosing my picture. But, pretty much same as ComboT posted.
I hope it helps everyone.

What method of reflow did you guys use. Small iron or hot air?

martynvella wrote:What method of reflow did you guys use. Small iron or hot air?

A simple soldering gun/Iron will do your job fine martynvella. Hot air version is not suitable for this purpose as it may ruin the resistors/chips.

Good work. Excellent info, well done guys.

martynvella wrote:What method of reflow did you guys use. Small iron or hot air?

Yeah small tipped soldering. I use a Milwaukee 12v battery solderng iron
Need to lightly hold the resistors in place when doing it too.

thanks Cambo & Vedat for the info on reflowing the solder joints.

ran out of fuel for the second time yesterday morning, which prompted me to pull out the cluster and do the fix last night.

pulling out the cluster only takes about 10 minutes, reflowing the solder joints takes around 20-30 minutes.

jaycar sell small tip soldering stations which make the job easy, also get one of their magnify lenses as the components are very small.

now its a matter of wait and see, i filled up yesterday so its at least a week until i can see if the repair works

tnx

GP

Thank you for your information on the fix. I can gladly say that this has repaired my issue
With the fuel gauge. The needle now goes to the empty mark and the light comes on with 5 litres
Left in the tank.

I have a 2015 SR5 and its doing the exact same thing, ran out of fuel and still indicated 1/4 tank left.
I suspect the issue affects more than the 2012 and 2013 models.

blw wrote:I have a 2015 SR5 and its doing the exact same thing, ran out of fuel and still indicated 1/4 tank left.
I suspect the issue affects more than the 2012 and 2013 models.

Last of the KUN shape?
Yes. They all eventually fault.

Get a Scanguage... good to within 2 or 3 liters every fill

My 2015 SR5 did the 1/4 tank trick to me on Sunday... are there any discussions on how to get the instrument cluster out?

$275 for a tow + $90 to fill her back up = the most expensive tank of fuel I've ever paid for....

Cheers, Doc

https://youtu.be/pKq1zZxsX3w

takes literally minutes