2nd gen cluster

You guys should swap switches now and see if any of those work?

You can send me your non dimming switches to see if they work in my truck. I find it hard to believe I just got lucky and I’m leaning towards wire harness differences.

 

I'd be more than happy to send one out. I'll package it in a little smaller box though... No wonder these guys charged $10 shipping!

 

So...that's a total bummer. Got my new heat gun and removed the chip from the old cluster...still only reads as a 24 EEPROM in the EZP software...and with the test clip attached I noticed it started to smoke a little bit. That can't be good at all. I noticed it sort of "bit" my finger when I was adjusting the chip and didn't think much, but the smoke coming off it...definitely bad! Guess I'm back to the modifying the CH341. Yikes.

 

This actually happened to me . It was getting so hot, it starting smoking. I had the wires backwards or the chip backwards.

 

so installing the switch took like 20-30 mins. Popping out the dummy plug and installing solar sensor and wiring it up took like 10 minutes…but getting the right connectors and getting them seated properly in the bcm took me like 6hrs over 2 days of trying!! I finally figured out that using 22g wire wasn’t a recommendation and was required and when I swapped my 18g wire for the 22g wire finished the install in 20 minutes!!

 

Tried it both ways, upside down...nothing really worked. The other way it didn't read the chip at all, so I'm kind of at a loss.

 

See, this is why we're here: you're a trailblazer...you just saved me, in theory, 6+ hours of fiddling with the wrong sized wire!

 

I try to be of assistance when I can!! I ran out of swear words during that project, he’ll I think I may have even made some new ones up!!

 

Do you have a photo of the heat gun you used? I heard of hot air solder for chip removal, not a heat gun though. If you have your chip removed, send it to me and I'll see if I can program it on my set up.

 

There was no wiring harness change. The dimmer wheel was used in 2007-2013 trucks and the only thing that changed was the wiring color. Pin number and labels for each are the same across all years. The 2014 has a new cluster with the dimmer built into the ODO stalk.

 

We need more data on whos works vs whos doesn't. I still lean very strongly to a solar sensor, ecu in high trim trucks sending a signal (maybe CAN) to allow the optitron to DIM.

You guys that it is working for what trim level is your truck? Did it come with auto AC (Digital AC Controls), Solar sensor from the factory? Auto headlights?
You guys its not working for same question.

Just adding the sensor in might not be good enough as a base model say AC ecu might not sending solar sensor readings to the cluster while the higher trim one will. Hard to say right now.

One guy was supposed to report back tomorrow if his worked and he has a truck with factory solar sensor.

 

Mine works: 2012 SR5 CM / formerly Texas Edition but I didn't add any solar sensors or have any on my truck, not that I am aware of.
Edit: I have no auto AC or headlights either.

 

do you have auto headlights? Auto ac?

When I added my auto headlights my research showed that the solar sensor has 5 wires (3 have to do with auto headlights and remaining 2 were for the auto ac). So still don’t get how that would tie into optitron cluster

 

The AC ecu or maybe even body control ecu unit can report the the level from the Solar Sensor to the rest of the ECUS of the truck on the CAN bus. Basically, the AC ecu could tell the cluster hey the sensor says its really bright so its daytime or the sensor says its not bright so its nighttime. I am not sure if it is doing this but it could.

If true the cluster could be waiting for a message on the CAN bus to tell it if its day or night time and if it should allow the dimmer to work or not.

 

Mine worked SR5 2013

no auto lights or a/c

 

this is what makes it seem like there is no rhyme or reason to it. At this point I wish I had another optitron cluster just to try and see if it was actually the cluster itself

 

It's this one from Amazon:

Heat Gun, PHALANX Variable Temperature Settings 122℉~1202℉ Fast Heat Hot Air Gun with 10 Accessories for Vinyl Wrap, Shrink Tubing, Wrap, Resin, Wire Connectors, Paint Removal

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MYLSC77?ie=UTF8

I did it pretty slowly to just the point where the chip popped off.

It's the one from my original cluster, so I may give the CH341A a go again this weekend and see if I can do it myself, but if not, it's headed your way!

 

If it were me, I would’ve have used one that is specially for its intended purpose, like this one:

$60 Hot Air Rework Station Solder Heat Gun,°F/°C Display,110V SMD Hot Air Gun,Temp. & Airflow Adjustable Soldering Stations for BGA IC Electronics Repair Desoldering Tool

Hot Air Rework Station, 110V SMD Hot Air Gun Soldering Station 100-500 °C Heat Gun Temperature & Air Speed Adjustable LED Screen Display with 3 Air Nozzles Desoldering Pump Anti-Static Tweezers Cutter

 

I thought about it, but I have multiple uses for this one as well, that the other one wouldn't fit the bill for. It didn't make a lot of sense to invest into something that would have little to no use after removing a single chip...

 

I got my Optitron speedometer in and the gas gauge works fine. What is the best way to get the mileage corrected?

 

I used this guy from eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-199...-Correction-Programming-Service-/192917792692

 

I used this company
https://www.taninautoelectronix.com/

 

Gauge is back from programming and I installed a new tinted cover on from Toyota. I’m very happy with the upgrade and additional settings that I can adjust. It looks so much better than the old orange faces.

I have the all black dimmer switch. When you adjust it all the way up there is no notch for full brightness. Unfortunately it is not dimming with the headlights. I am watching this forum to see if any of the Toyota dimmer switches will correct this.

I had the dealer remove seatbelt chime when I first bought the vehicle. There are some situations like driving in on private property to go hunting that i don’t want it going off. After I installed the Optiron gauge the seatbelt chime is going off again when you are not buckled in.

 

Try these
4 PCS Car Seat Belt Clip,Universal Seat Belt Buckle Auto Metal Seat Belts Clip https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L3FPNB5

 

I could use those for hunting. There are other scenarios like backing up trailer that I don’t want seat belt chime going off. I have the cable but was never able to get tech stream working. I’ll prob have the dealer turn it off again.

 

did they charge you to turn it off?

 

the first time they didn’t charge since they were already connected for TPMS

 

I couldn’t get the Techstream to work either so I bought Carista for $40. Comes with a 1 month free trial. Let’s you plug in to obd2 port and turn seatbelt chime off, also adjust a few other settings.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-carista...MI5N_Kl7ew9wIVGrrICh1xLwrNEAQYASABEgLwVfD_BwE

 

Phew - been swamped lately but wanted to circle back here. I've noticed a couple things:

1. Installing the Optitron cluster made my seatbelt chimes start up again. I need to hook up the laptop and turn them off...
2. I noticed that the trans temp needle was WAY off to the left when cold. I worried at first that it might be broken and I just didn't notice, but it creeps up as I drive. Settles in at about a quarter way, so I think it'll just need a little adjustment.

With the above said, does anyone have a pic of where the trans temp needle should start? I'm guessing it's as simple as popping it off and re-installing in the correct starting place.

Also installed my new integrated rear camera, figured out there must have been a connection issue or something with the other cam, so I'll be re-purposing it to a front cam. Win-win!

 

I'll admit I didn't read this entire thread, but wanted to share some of my experience with non-dimming switches. The dimming function works based on 2 things. The ILL+ side is just switched 12V power that works with the tail light assembly, the ILL- is where the dimming happens. The dial to change brightness gets fed into the cluster and to a chip that converts the signal to send to the negative side of the switch lights. It can vary between 0 and 12V. 0V and you get full brightness, 12V and the lights are off (at 12V both sides of the switch light are at 12V and there is no voltage across the bulb.

In the process of installing a new switch I connected two wires wrong and shorted out the negative side of the circuit. My temp fix was to wire that side of the circuit directly to a ground. This gave me 12V of voltage difference across the bulbs, only when they were supposed to be on in the first place (12V comes through the headlight/taillight trigger). This worked fine, but no dimming.

To fix the dimming I had to take apart the entire cluster to find the issue. There is a chip K1284 that was clearly the culprit. This is the chip that send the 0-12V signal to the negative side of the circuit. With this chip blown up, there was no ground to the circuit and thus no lights. In order to fix I would need to replace that chip (and hope no other part of the circuit board was affected) or replace the whole board. I went with replacing the whole board. I have a Optitron board waiting for me when I get home today. Found it on ebay for $100 shipped. There are others on there in the same price range.

See attached picture of blown up chip.

Process for resetting the needles is simple. Remove cluster and cover. Pull off needle that needs to be calibrated. Start truck and then turn off to get dial to "off position". Dial will be in the correct spot. Reinstall needle to point the correct spot in "off position". For trans temp it should be at the low side of the dial.


Update: Installed the new cluster. Took all of 15 minutes. As suspected my switch dimming issue is fixed.