Line through digital readout
Discussion
Yep, had this on my old T350. 6 weeks after getting it (brand new), a line went on the LCD (went black). I asked the dealer about it, and they said it's quite a common fualt, but the only repair is for them to have the car, take the pod out and they return the pod(without the car) back to the factory for fixing. Can take up to 6 weeks apparantly.
There was no way I was being without the car for 6 weeks, so I lived with it. Luckily for me it was at the bottom, so didn't really intefere with any of the fundementals.
HTH
There was no way I was being without the car for 6 weeks, so I lived with it. Luckily for me it was at the bottom, so didn't really intefere with any of the fundementals.
HTH
I had this problem a while back and it gradually got worse and worse until I could hardly see anything and I decided to get it fixed. It took about 1-2 weeks when it was sent back to blackpool (your local dealer can't do it) and it's about £350 to sort it. I heard people had done the same thing and then got the problem back in a couple of months. Mine's still holding out at the minute.
The cheapest (and quickest) way is to obtain a second hand dash pod from a breaker (about £150) and fit it yourself which is incredibly easy, and needs two Allen keys and a pair of scissors for cutting zip ties. Don't bother sending it back to the factory unless you cannot obtain a second hand unit.
nubbin said:
The cheapest (and quickest) way is to obtain a second hand dash pod from a breaker (about £150) and fit it yourself which is incredibly easy, and needs two Allen keys and a pair of scissors for cutting zip ties. Don't bother sending it back to the factory unless you cannot obtain a second hand unit.
So how do you know that the 2nd hand unit is okay and doesn't suffer the exact same problem as your existing pod? This seems like an expensive way to find out....
Probably better off removing the existing pod and cables etc. Clean all ribbon/pod connections using an electrical cleaning fluid/spray. Check the ribbon is not damaged anywhere, check the connections on the pod aren't bent.
Push the ribbon back onto the pod firmly, turn on the ignition to check the display works okay. Spray silcon sealant over the ribbon / pod connection to help prevent moisture getting in, this should also help keep the ribbon in place. When happy the display is fixed, secure the pod back in place.
If this doesn't fix it then I'd suggest you get it looked at during the next service.
NickP_Tam said:
nubbin said:
The cheapest (and quickest) way is to obtain a second hand dash pod from a breaker (about £150) and fit it yourself which is incredibly easy, and needs two Allen keys and a pair of scissors for cutting zip ties. Don't bother sending it back to the factory unless you cannot obtain a second hand unit.
So how do you know that the 2nd hand unit is okay and doesn't suffer the exact same problem as your existing pod? This seems like an expensive way to find out....
Probably better off removing the existing pod and cables etc. Clean all ribbon/pod connections using an electrical cleaning fluid/spray. Check the ribbon is not damaged anywhere, check the connections on the pod aren't bent.
Push the ribbon back onto the pod firmly, turn on the ignition to check the display works okay. Spray silcon sealant over the ribbon / pod connection to help prevent moisture getting in, this should also help keep the ribbon in place. When happy the display is fixed, secure the pod back in place.
If this doesn't fix it then I'd suggest you get it looked at during the next service.
Well - mine was at the dealer when it first started playing up. I asked them about it, and they told me it is a common fault, and the only solution is a new display. I lived with it for a while to see if there was any change and there wasn't, so I checked the ribbon cables and connections (all tight and zip-tied into place on the back of the dash pod). I didn't go as far as trying to dry out the ECU in case water had entered!
Anyway, I bought a second hand unit, fitted it, and the problem was gone. Obviously if the second hand display was faulty I would have sent it back, d'oh! The problem lies in the dash pod itself - there's a thin multi-contact flat cable leading to each line on the digital readout, and I presume it's these that are faulty. Anyway, mine works fine now, and I feel like I've got a good value solution, so I'm happy.
I'm no electronics expert but when people deal with electronic circuit boards they take great care no to cause any electrical spikes that would cause this kind of fault.
In a car we have a nice system that just creates high voltage spikes (Electronic ignition) and when the ignition leads break down.. no wonder we have problems
In a car we have a nice system that just creates high voltage spikes (Electronic ignition) and when the ignition leads break down.. no wonder we have problems
I had this problem. It was intermittent at first. But over time it deteriorated to the stage where I couldn't read the figures clearly at certain times.
It still sometimes works perfectly. But I have got so used to relying on the large MPH digital display that last week it caught me out.
I was proceeding down a dual carriageway when the digital display virtually disappeared. On checking my analogue readout the speed appeared to me to be just over 40MPH.
However I am not used to using this dial and didn't realise that just over "4" is nearly 50 MPH. I subsequently got snapped by a mobile camera and received the action to prosecute a few days later.
The annoying thing is
It still sometimes works perfectly. But I have got so used to relying on the large MPH digital display that last week it caught me out.
I was proceeding down a dual carriageway when the digital display virtually disappeared. On checking my analogue readout the speed appeared to me to be just over 40MPH.
However I am not used to using this dial and didn't realise that just over "4" is nearly 50 MPH. I subsequently got snapped by a mobile camera and received the action to prosecute a few days later.
The annoying thing is
I have recently noticed mine started to do this.
First a black line appeared across the screen then after a couple of miles this disappeared and the text was missing.
A couple of days later it happened again followed by a different line appearing and disappearing. Now text just missing, am putting up with it at the moment as it is not too bad.
First a black line appeared across the screen then after a couple of miles this disappeared and the text was missing.
A couple of days later it happened again followed by a different line appearing and disappearing. Now text just missing, am putting up with it at the moment as it is not too bad.
Hello All,
This Gremlin has struck me now. Decided to try cleaning the connections to see if it helps. Had a brief look at it tonight - I've taken the black surround off and could see two screws in the bottom corners. If I unscrew these - does the pod come away to get at the back? If not, can anybody describe how to get the pod out?
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice
This Gremlin has struck me now. Decided to try cleaning the connections to see if it helps. Had a brief look at it tonight - I've taken the black surround off and could see two screws in the bottom corners. If I unscrew these - does the pod come away to get at the back? If not, can anybody describe how to get the pod out?
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice
T350TAFFY said:
Hello All,
This Gremlin has struck me now. Decided to try cleaning the connections to see if it helps. Had a brief look at it tonight - I've taken the black surround off and could see two screws in the bottom corners. If I unscrew these - does the pod come away to get at the back? If not, can anybody describe how to get the pod out?
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice
This Gremlin has struck me now. Decided to try cleaning the connections to see if it helps. Had a brief look at it tonight - I've taken the black surround off and could see two screws in the bottom corners. If I unscrew these - does the pod come away to get at the back? If not, can anybody describe how to get the pod out?
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice
I've posted up on the "General FAQ" thread how to remove the dash pod.
I haven't yet had this fault myself but I have seen it on other cars.
I have not seen a circuit diagram for the pod but my guess is that it's possibly a poor connections to the display (for the row of pixels concerned).
My guess (from working on this kind of thing for the mobile phone industry) is that the data for each frame of the display (& let's guess this is ~5 frames per sec) is written to the display one row at a time, then the row is 'enabled' (or data is latched), next set of data written, next row enabled and so on until the frame is complete, and then it all starts again.
I'm guessing that the enable/latch signal for the dodgy row is not getting to the display module/component itself. I've had a look at the sandwich of pcb's (when fixing the noisy fan problem), and the theory seems feasible due to the extensive use of flexes and ribbon cables.
Somewhere there is a person at the factory who will be doing all the debug - he/she is the person with the real data. So, my point is that it may be better to fix the problem rather than find a whole replacement pcb assembly, as it may just be a single dodgy connection/split flex.
What we need as the factory closes
is that the best electronics people employed there are picked up by the TVR specialists in the Blackpool area to provide a repair service. Surely some money to be made there (if you can get the drawings)- DJC et al?
(Also btw the later Sag stuff looks similar.)
J
I have not seen a circuit diagram for the pod but my guess is that it's possibly a poor connections to the display (for the row of pixels concerned).
My guess (from working on this kind of thing for the mobile phone industry) is that the data for each frame of the display (& let's guess this is ~5 frames per sec) is written to the display one row at a time, then the row is 'enabled' (or data is latched), next set of data written, next row enabled and so on until the frame is complete, and then it all starts again.
I'm guessing that the enable/latch signal for the dodgy row is not getting to the display module/component itself. I've had a look at the sandwich of pcb's (when fixing the noisy fan problem), and the theory seems feasible due to the extensive use of flexes and ribbon cables.
Somewhere there is a person at the factory who will be doing all the debug - he/she is the person with the real data. So, my point is that it may be better to fix the problem rather than find a whole replacement pcb assembly, as it may just be a single dodgy connection/split flex.
What we need as the factory closes
is that the best electronics people employed there are picked up by the TVR specialists in the Blackpool area to provide a repair service. Surely some money to be made there (if you can get the drawings)- DJC et al? (Also btw the later Sag stuff looks similar.)
J
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