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Thread: Did I break it? I think I did. (Gauges, EEPROM swap)

  1. #1
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    Did I break it? I think I did. (Gauges, EEPROM swap)

    I attempted to reset my mileage to zero. I bought a chip, and desoldered the old one. At least I tried to. 6 of the 8 pins worked, but 2 were resistant to melting. I cut the 2 pins off and tried some more. I still couldn't desolder them.
    So I just soldered the new chip in, and soldered the affected area to the old solder.

    Hooking it up, I was optimistic. Evidence shows, I shouldn't have been.

    20190125_094038.jpg

    Would you try to redo it, or do you all believe I've ruined the chip and/or board?

    I should probably try again, but you guys/gals are much smarter than me.

    Thank you.
    Last edited by Ipassgas; 02-01-2019 at 11:23 AM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member STiPWRD's Avatar
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    Is it possible you flipped the orientation of the chip? Also, can you post a picture of the chip you soldered? It's a little tough to follow what you did.

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    The eprom has to be programmed, not just soldered in as received from a seller/electronics supplier. It has specific code stored in it, which is more than just the mileage. It may well be ok electrically but without the program data, I believe you will indeed get gibberish on the display.

    Ideally you get the old chip, have a programmer read it, change the mileage part only, program all that into the new chip and good.

    K3LAG does these for $ as far as I know and has a fair amount of practice.

    I did my own only, and could do another, but I'd say you need to send me the board and the old chip.

    What model/year?

    And if you have a electronics/computer person nearby, here is how I programmed mine:

    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...rt-s-818-build
    post #4
    Last edited by aquillen; 01-30-2019 at 08:58 PM.

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    I'll get some pics of the chip on the board.

    I actually got the chip (programmed) from K3LAG. So I doubt that is the problem.

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    The plated through holes on the 06-07 boards require a fair bit of care as compared to the older ones. You may have damaged the traces on the board but before I’d come to that conclusion I’d check a few other things.

    1 look for solder bridges between the pads to make sure two pads aren’t shorted together
    2 make sure it’s installed in the right orientation
    3 examine the board closely to look for damaged traces. If the damage isn’t too bad you can probably fix it by bridging the damaged traces with small pieces of wire. Be careful not to overheat the board.

    If you can post some close up pictures of the area around the EEPROM on both sides of the board we can see if we can spot anything. Make the picture as close as you can and still have good focus. We really just need to see the area right around the EEPROM.

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    I have some pics. I'm neither a photographer, nor solder-er, so be gentle?

    I have continuity between each pin on the chip, and whatever the next couple of connections are, further along the board. I also have not been able to identify any shorts between any leg of the chip, and anything near it. Nor have I found shorts between traces. All I have is uneducated wild guesses, and those are the most dangerous type.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Ipassgas; 02-01-2019 at 11:05 AM.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Bob_n_Cincy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ipassgas View Post
    I have some pics. I'm neither a photographer, nor solder-er, so be gentle?

    I have continuity between each pin on the chip, and whatever the next couple of connections are, further along the board. I also have not been able to identify any shorts between any leg of the chip, and anything near it. Nor have I found shorts between traces. All I have is uneducated wild guesses, and those are the most dangerous type.
    The good news:
    The chip (EEprom) is installed in the proper orientation.

    Bad news:
    It is possible the inside of the chip got too hot and will never work.

    Where to go from here:
    First we need to get it cleaned up so we can get a better look at the connections. I use Flux-off spray. Think of it as brake cleaner for circuit boards.
    Without that, you can use some rubbing alcohol and a tooth brush to scrub around the chip.
    Clean up both side of the board and take some more pictures. Zoom closer and higher resolution picture are best.
    We will help you get this working one way or another.
    Bob

    Tip: When soldering a on a through circuit board. Rest tip of the soldering iron both the pin and the trace at the same time. Then touch new solder, It should wick into the hole. This process should be done in under 2 seconds. Practice, practice, practice on some junk PCBs first.
    Last edited by Bob_n_Cincy; 02-01-2019 at 04:33 PM.
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    Thanks Bob. I was hoping you'd jump in. I expected this would be your wheelhouse.
    I'm going out of town for a few days, so it might not happen for a week, but I'll do it and get better pics.

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    If you reach the point you don't want to keep working on the board yourself, I'll be glad to clean it up, put a socket on for the chip and test it. Cost you mail and that is all. Like Bob my life has been electronics - service side. I also have necessary tools and materials to work on the board. 818 to 818 help.

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    Be careful though, once your board sees Art's shop and dash display, it'll come back with a very profound sense of contempt for yours!!

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    Make sure you use flux. I think Bob mentioned to clean the flux first, which you must do in order to prevent the solder from wicking into areas where you don't want it, but after that, use a sewing needle (a SMALL one) to dab the tiniest bit of flux onto the pins and the hole, then do as Bob suggests, heating the pin and hole and then dab solder to allow it to wick. Without flux, it often won't wick properly. Ensure you are using a very tiny sharp point on your soldering pencil.

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    I have some better pictures. I cleaned it up with alcohol and a tooth brush.

    Also, in light of Art's very generous offer, I think I'll try to take him up on it, before my bumbling makes things worse.
    20190224_200657.jpg20190224_200704.jpg20190224_200724.jpg20190224_200903.jpg
    Last edited by Ipassgas; 02-25-2019 at 08:09 AM.

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    I pm'd you - send it over
    Last edited by aquillen; 02-25-2019 at 08:39 PM.

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    I don't think you did.

    For those following this thread, some details on the repair process.

    First let me say, I've seen a LOT worse soldering, some by partners I worked with who should have known better. Double sided circuit boards absorb heat rapidly, and so often getting both sides to melt/flow during rework (especially pulling parts off the board) can be challenging, even with the best tools and practice. In fact, most modern fine trace circuit boards are not made to tolerate much if any rework in the first place. I think no-one on this forum should be embarrassed if they had a bit of bad luck trying to rework one of these circuit boards. It is not a skill you learn in short order.

    The bottom line seems to be the memory integrated circuit "chip" has code in it that does not satisfy this particular circuit board. The code actually reads out fine and part of it looks like code on other Subaru chips I have seen. So it is not completely failed, but is not supplying the right code for the board.

    Some of the code on the different years is the same, but here and there Subaru uses different code values to activate/deactivate features. For example with or without "outside air temp display", or 4cyl vs 6 cyl engine tachometer.

    For the time being, ISPASS and I decided to put in an 03 Impreza chip which I had. This make the odometer read as I desired, i.e. 000003 miles. The temperature display is blank since the chip I used for the source code was for a meter without temp display. Likely ISPASS may find something else amiss and not be able to use this. But basic proof is a) board is not dead b) it reads the chip now c) may be useable after all.

    Here are the work steps:

    One foil trace for a chip pin was broken apart, may even have happened while I worked on it, so I bridged it with a 30 guage wire whisker. Breaks like this are often not easy to see, even with magnification, you just have to know what you are looking for:



    The socket soldered in and break bridged:



    The chip had two legs break away either before or after I arrived. I soldered the chip into a socket to make it readable in my programmer equipment. Then I was able to read the chip. The stored code looked reasonable because a portions of the code, especially the "initial" and "tail" sections of code match other chips I happen to already have for 2002 Legacy and 2003 Impreza chips. That is no proof it is a good data set, but is encouraging.



    I doubt that many people doing their own chip swaps get this anal, BUT, at least when working on someone else's "stuff", I get out the anti-static working mat. No need to risk blowing out a circuit board when I have the tools, and especially in the "sparky" winter season. Static electricity discharge into a component on these boards can cause immediate or even latent - later - failures. The strap goes on your wrist. When handling loose chips, they also require static-aware handling procedures. Soldering irons are grounded too.



    Some tools. Flux remover. Wet flux in brush on bottle, helps get solder "crud" to respond quicker when trying to flow/remove solder. Solder "wick" is a fine braid that draws solder out of holes and off the board surface. That "gun" is a sucker tool, not a soldering iron. $450 for that back around 1995, invaluable sometimes, but even with it, sometimes I have to apply another solder iron on the opposite side to help out. I used 3 different soldering tools working on this.



    With the 03 Impreza program installed on a new chip, and in the socket I added to this 06 WRX display, it reads the same 3 miles I have on my 03 Impreza junk box board:

    Last edited by aquillen; 03-05-2019 at 05:52 PM.

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    the code in a odometer prom

    So for the hard core, what does the code inside these chips look like? This is binary numerical data, because that is the only way these chips store values, but it is being displayed in my programmer software in "hexadecimal", which is a different numbering system (easier for humans, of course - and you say "of course").

    You know about number systems, or at least one of these... binary counts up using only digits 0 through 1. Decimal counts up using digits 0 through 9. Hexadecimal counts up using 0 through 15, but we don't have arabic numerals above 9 so we use A - F to represent 10 through 15...

    The chip doesn't have much code actually (it can store 128 separate numbers). A small portion of it changes constantly when the car is moving as it contains the increasing odometer reading, and the trip odo values. Other code doesn't change but it defines what options are in use for this vehicle.

    The key to being suspicious about whether or not the chip is actually damaged, is that looking around, chunks of data match between the two devices. Some should not match, so no suprise there. USUALLY in my experience, but not always and that also in my experience, damage to a chip is catastrophic - i.e. if it is wrong, then everything is wrong. But we don't know what happened to this chip really, so we'll just show it for what it is.

    Here is what was in the non-working chip, for the 06WRX circuit board:



    Here is what is in the 03 Impreza I have installed on ISPASS's board:

    Last edited by aquillen; 03-05-2019 at 05:33 PM.

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    Art-

    I just read through the details of the work you have performed so far. My conclusion is essentially that someone with no knowledge about these things can probably pick this up over a weekend!

    Holy smokes do I admire your skill! I could spend half a lifetime and only learn 1/10 of what you show here. Seriously mad skills!

    I also think it is awesome that you are willing to step in and help others with their problems; very selfless! Sorry for interrupting this thread. I just had to say how impressed I am both with your knowledge and skill, but also your willingness to help others. This is a perfect example of how great this forum (and the people in it) are, and how lucky we are to be sharing in it.

    Thanks Art, and to the others like him!

    Regards,

    Steve

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  22. #17

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    Steve, thanks for your kind remarks. I do like helping and teaching. Background in a lot of stuff and hobbies fill in the rest. I always think people just know from where they've been and what they've done. For sure I only know a few things really, and sharing is what makes all the world for us.

  23. #18

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    So. guys, here is what we think, the seller of the WRX vehicle to IPASSGAS probably swapped meters (the combination meter as Subaru calls it - the dashboard display unit for us USA types) at some point, for whatever the reason might be. Result is the meter unit is not likely a WRX 2006, and so the program code to zero the odo is not suited to this meter.

    If you have happen to have your meter where you can look at the back of the main case, check for this part number on white label:

    85002FE330



    If that is what you have, please post what model/year it came out of ! That info might help us get the right odometer program to zero that odo.

    FYI tracking this backward via Subaru parts has been a bust so far, including talking to dealer parts counter. None on e-bay either (so far) which is how I often back track M/Y info on parts.

    Thanks much.

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    I think I might know what the problem is. I just went back and looked at the pictures again and realized it's an automatic trans car. The cluster has the PRND321 lights between the temp and gas gauges. I bet the code is different between the auto and manual trans.

    I think the chip is likely good as the code shown in the above screen shot matches my image.

    Larry
    Last edited by K3LAG; 03-06-2019 at 08:34 PM.

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