Tach problems on 06 Ram

[pjorlando]

I bought my 06 in Sept. 2010. Tach wasn't working, since I was buying the truck at the stealership, I had them replace it before I brought the truck home. They reported replacing the entire cluster. Now my right turn signal indicator flashes very dimly, I will pull out the dash tomorrow and try to see a bad solder joint, I also bit the bullet and scheduled an appointment with the stealership to determine if it is the multifunction switch or cluster itself. Shelling out cash right now isn't an option, I am praying to be covered under warranty, after all the cluster is in truck less than 2 years now.

 

[timelessconstructionllc]

if you can get them to cover it then that's awesome but i wouldn't hold my breath. i pulled my cluster out thinking i was going to see a bad solder joint too. I had no clue how complex what i was going to see was. it made about as much sense to me as if i had opened up my computer and started fiddling with stuff.

 

[nvandersluis]

My cluster did the same thing about a year ago and got it replaced. I was 10,000 over my warranty so I put a claim into Chrysler before I went into the dealer to have it looked at. Chrysler agreed to warrantied the work and all it cost me was $100.

 

[SquareDave]

I just bought a 2006 with 100,000 miles (not even broke-in yet), and the tach doesn't work at all. The rest of the truck does make up for that little glitch however. Never did come close to redline on previous diesel so I should be OK.

 

[Zzed]

Finally, a solution! At least it worked for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufQ1t4eOwkM

Along with another video on how to access the center portion of the dash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVwArVWcHE

Cause: Components on the gauge cluster PCB were soldered on when the PCB was perfectly flat. When installed on the plastic frame, there is a small gap between the PCB and plastic frame of the gauge cluster. When the cluster rear cover is screwed into place and the cluster is mounted in the dash, the right side of the PCB is "flexed". This flexing puts stress on some of the solder joints of the integrated circuits on the PCB, eventually causing one or more solder joints to crack and become "open". In this case, the chips in question are the two shown below (courtesy of Mark Reiter's Youtube video):

Solution:
1) Remove the gauge cluster from the dash.
2) Remove the black plastic back from the cluster.
3) Locate the two chips as shown in the picture above.
4) Touch each pin on both chips with a nice hot (and fine point) soldering iron to reflow the existing solder. No more than 3-4 seconds on each pin.
5) Use thick paper or thin plastic to shim the gap between the cluster PCB and plastic frame on the right side. I used two small chunks of paper cardstock, two thicknesses each (aka folded over).
6) Reinstall the plastic back and reinstall the cluster into the dash.

Low and behold, it worked! The hardest part is getting to the cluster. You pretty much have to remove every dash trim piece starting at the cup holders. The repair itself was easy.

Anyway, I thought I would close the loop on my story. Hope this helps some of you!

-=Zzed=-

 

[AMink]

Awesome! I may give this a try.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Just a suggestion, do your best not to actually touch any of the components on that board with with your hands. They are extremely ESD sensitive and one touch can immediately kill or severely shorten the components life. Touch the board by grasping the edges when ever possible.

Scott

 

[Karter]

I just attempted this fix the other night. In fact, I have a good friend at an electronics mfr that has the right equipment to work on this type of thing. We put it under some type of a magnifying glass deal and he resoldered most of the board, including all the chips in the video that was posted above. Didn't work at all for me.

I ordered a new cluster yesterday, but I'm wondering if it will need to be programmed, or if I can just install it directly in place of the old one? Btw..my tach, fuel gauge, and speedometer are all way out of whack.

 

[crabman]

Look at this link
http://www.bba-reman.com/content.aspx?content=dashboard_instrumnet_cluster_range

 

[mwilson]

Look at this link
http://www.bba-reman.com/content.aspx?content=dashboard_instrumnet_cluster_range

I called these guys a couple of years back when the Tach issue first showed up, they are located in Taunton, Mass. and assured me that they could indeed repair a Diesel Ram cluster.

Use this link for the USA phone number..

[url]http://www.bba-reman.com/US/index.aspx

Mike.

 

[nipstech]

I ended up buying a used cluster on eBay from a wrecked RAM (ouch!). Swapped out the LEDs from the old cluster and it works like brand new. I still have the old cluster and now that I know exactly what pins to touch up I'll try touching up the solder joints. Considering what a PITA it is to take out the cluster I think I'll wait until the weather gets warm before I test it. If it works I'll at least have a spare lol!

 

[Prairie Dog]

If the boards are being flexed then they may have broken traces and via's internally between the layers.

 

[Gil Moncrief]

Did the Youtube fix and it actually worked!!!! I can't believe I have put up with this problem for over five years. This is clearly problem with the manufacturing process and should have been fixed under warranty, regardless of time or milage.

 

[Chris2500]

I Just purchased an 06 and had the same issue. I mentioned it to the Seller as i noticed it on the test drive, he said it was very intermittent.
Had the truck inspected and they mentioned nothing of it at the dealer. So a week into owning it and the tach has really been bothering me since im not even familiar with what it should really be as im new to diesel. Anyhow, hours on google turned up many rediculous responses but the one i tried actually worked. Remove your cluster and on the back side remove 7 torx screws closest to (surrounding) the tach. If you dont feel that did it take out one more. polish up the thing while its out and clean up your heater vents etc and install again. I dont gaurintee this will work for everyone but it worked for me. and by the sounds of it many others and was absolutly free. I have some experience pulling interiors apart but the cluster removal was no biggie at all. Tilt the wheel to allow movement and use a flat blade to press the release on each of the 3 wiring connectors on the back of the cluster.

Cluster removal instructions can be found on youtube(may have to copy paste) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufQ1t4eOwkM
This guys vid is great for removal, he details soldering the chip which im not sure of doing. I say remove screws and try that. if no avail.. solder

 

[Karter]

I tried both the soldering and screw removals, but no dice. Ended up buying a used cluster on ebay from a wreck and its fine now. If it starts acting up, I'll send the original out to get rebuilt.

 

[ABarry]

put me down for another 06 bad tach... Happened around 65000

 

[GrantP]

I realize this is a really old thread but put me down for another bad tach in an 06, 70k ish miles.

 

[Karter]

I had forgotten my whole 06 CTD nightmare, since I finally gave up and sold it last summer, until I got an email saying this thread was updated...lol.

 

[GrantP]

I had forgotten my whole 06 CTD nightmare, since I finally gave up and sold it last summer, until I got an email saying this thread was updated...lol.

I'm not ready to give up on mine yet. I've had to do ball joints (known issue) new ac compressor and associated parts...now this. Oh there was that repair bill for transmission transducer/solenoid etc to make it shift correctly again. Geez, I was just about to say that it was trouble free.

Many, many years ago in high school auto shop my teacher told me that people that don't have any problems with their vehicles don't know anything about their vehicles. So true.

 

[SquareDave]

I'm not ready to give up on mine yet. I've had to do ball joints (known issue) new ac compressor and associated parts...now this. Oh there was that repair bill for transmission transducer/solenoid etc to make it shift correctly again. Geez, I was just about to say that it was trouble free.

Many, many years ago in high school auto shop my teacher told me that people that don't have any problems with their vehicles don't know anything about their vehicles. So true.

I still have the 2006. They flurry of repairs at 100K lasted until about 210K. The instrument panel repair is still holding up, and the bearings that I had to replace are still good. Throwout bearing went out at 205K. Dealer replaced clutch kit which worked fine for about 3 months when the new Dual Mass Flywheel failed. Unfortunately, the dealer didn't figure that out and balked at honoring the 24K warranty when another shop found the real problem. We're still going around and around about that one. Have solid flywheel now.

Had Dynatrac freewheel kit installed last week since I'm going to keep the truck. The 4WD parts will no longer be operating when not in 4WD. Will replace original shocks with Bilsteins next week.

Dealing with the 2006 has been a learning experience, but it is the last of the 5.9 and I've been advised by a number of people to hang on to it. The newer ones with their repair costs are too expensive for my blood. :--)

I'll never recover the costs, but my 2006 is still fun to drive.