Anything Wrong With this '65 Dash Circuit Board?

[dibbons]

I don't know anything about these early A circuit boards. I do know this: no dash lights, no turn signal light on dash, no gauges working and not sure about the high beam light. The oil pressure sender is not connected so that won't be working regardless. I removed the circuit board from the bezel and now I'm trying to diagnose the problem (please inspect photos). Thank you.

 

[Murray]

Doubt your problem is in the board. Think of printed circuit board as merely "flat wiring". Those eight pins are the input to the boards functions. You can check each circuit with an ohm meter including dash lights and their path to ground. The FSM will help you understand the circuits.

 

[67Dart273]

The board looks kinda dirty, corroded. It might be right there in the connector. Here's an old thread that is very good about refurbishing the board EDIT I can no longer find that old thread...............

Anyhow the cluster pins for the connector are originally riveted/ swedged in place, not soldered. Clean it with whatever means, scrape, exacto knife, maybe one of those toothbrush sized stainless welding brushes (welding supply stores and MAYBE HD/ Lowes) Get some liquid flux DESIGNED for electrical off ebay, etc, and solder the connector pins. The thread "I cannot find" even detailed putting copper wire inside the pins that were broken to strengthen them and then re--solder

GENERALLY what goes wrong.............

FIND the common ground point for the lighting. This is bolted to the cluster housing which is only "accidently" grounded by means of the cluster mounting screws. So add a pigtail to this, bolt it to the dash frame or column support

The gauges can loose connections where they connect to the board. Loosen/ tighten the gauge studs to "scrub" the copper connections. Clean up the copper around the light sockets. Bend and clean the socket fingers, and if they are too bad you may have to find replacements. TEST the board by jumpering power to the lights, etc.

The path for the lighting is a "trick". Power to the dash dimmer comes from the tail circuit so that has to work FIRST. Then through the dimmer control, and next through the INST fuse and out on orange wires to all dash dimmer controlled lighting. So that fuse clip, the wire connections, and dimmer itself can be a problem

GAUGE LIMITER. Do you have a 3 terminal fuel gauge? If so, the gauges limiter/ regulator is INSIDE the fuel gauge. If it works "fine." If not there are workarounds. You can test gauges by applying 12V to the common ignition supply line, then substituting known resistors at the gauge sender connections, which represent L, medium or 1/2, and H or Full

 

[RedFish]

The main problem I have seen with this particular inst' panel is chassis ground path. Later boards have many more screws ( those screws are the biginning of the OEM "daisy chain" ground path ) where this board has very few. One of them is about underneath the limiter. I never liked that. Then the inst' housing that you haven't shown in a pic has little stop legs in the corners so it doesn't connect to the dash very well. You may be surprised at how much a actual ground wire added somehwere will help.
Of course you'll need to clean all contact points, positive and ground. I've used Meguires all metals which cleans and leaves protective film ( so they say ). I use a Harbor Freight dremel buffer where I can and lots of Q-tips everywhere else. Spinning dremel buffer doesn't play well at the contact pins. I found a "safety flux" at Hobby Lobby, made for brass caining stained glass. It's thinner than water. Flows into where the pins are swedged. Just a touch of small diameter silver bearing solder flows right in so good it can hardly be seen.
Please note... I spent a lot of my time and money fingering out what worked for me because I was servicing panels, gauges, and boards, for others. I supplied their ground wire.
By the time you gather all the equipment and materials that I used, the one new replacement board might be 2 dollars less. Altough I'm retired over 3 years now, proud to claim never a complaint or comeback.

 

[dibbons]

Have those purchasing replacement boards been satisfied with the quality/performance?

 

[Super-Cuda]

Have those purchasing replacement boards been satisfied with the quality/performance?

Hey Dibbons,
The circuit boards from Premium Dash Decals are excellent quality build. I bought both boards for my 68 Barracuda , replaced all the lights with LED lamps, and upgraded to an electronic voltage regulator. All this can be purchased from them. Great service BTW , ask for Brian , he's topnotch to deal with.

Mr.Heaterbox - Classic Mopar Interior Restoration Specialists

 

[RedFish]

What I know about the aftermarket boards is not exactly derogatory. If you look closely at the female terminals in the harness connector, they aren't round. They are oval. So the electircal contact/path is along 2 small lines of a fairly long male pin on the OEM board. Aftermarket does solder their pins to the trace on the board but their pins are shorter. I know there isn't a lot of current or contact required here. I do know that where the pin is soldered to the trace removing the female connector could remove the pin and peel the trace off the board with it. I've seen that. I already stated that I did add solder on OEM boards. I made sure that every pin was well secured to the board. Having said all that, the OEM board was good for many years. The replacement board likely is also. They know their shorter male pin can't be as well adhered to the female. That harness connector should pull off without removing the male pins.
Anyway... Only pins that are necessary are the lights. Contact pins for gauges, solid state regulator etc.., can be replaced with ring terminals, like violet wire on the temp gauge, dk blue on the fuel gauge. The limiter or solid state regulator doesn't need to be on the back of the inst' panel either. It can be anywhere under the dash. This just requires more wire and more time to assemble. I hope that sheds light on how/why it is how it is. Some models/panels, E-body for example don't have a printed circuit board. everything is wired direct as if it was a aftermarket or homemade inst' panel.
It's all about your coins really. If you dont have loose male pins, if you will use a soldering pen, other tools, and materials later on, renew the board you have can be the lower cost route.

 

[dibbons]

I already stated that I did add solder on OEM boards.

Exactly where did you add the solder on the OEM board pins, on the busy side of the board or on the reverse?

 

[67Dart273]

It has to be on the trace side, there is nothing on the opposite side to "solder to"

 

[RedFish]

It has to be on the trace side, there is nothing on the opposite side to "solder to"

Correct, Some housings have very little space for a screw head or anything behind the pins.

 

[cudamark]

I see nothing wrong with your factory circuit board per se, assuming the pins are all still tight against the traces. I like to test all the circuits with everything mounted on the cluster and all the wiring connected. Just use an ice pick test light to test each one. Add a ground wire to a good ground on the housing to test with the cluster hanging loose from the dash. Some circuits will have power only with the key in the on position. Some will only have it with the light switch turned on. The ammeter will have power all the time if it's still stock and connected, so, make sure you keep those connections away from anything that can ground those terminals.

 

[66 Valiant wagon]

I've cleaned up those boards in the past with a scotch bright pad and dish soap. Check all the circuits for continuity. Usually a good gentle cleaning will get them working again.