REPAIRING THE
COMBINATION METER
It is quite likely that owners with early model Soarers will
begin to experience Combination Meter failure at some point
(most likely during colder weather). The symptoms are that the fluorescent
panels at the bottom of the speedo display will fail to
illuminate on start up. Finally clicking in when the car has
warmed up. Over a prolonged period the display will completely
fail and may even begin to affect the display on the upper part
of the meter.
A replacement Combination Meter unit costs in excess of £2000,
but thanks to the efforts and research of Iain Wiltshire, Doug
Hession, Dermot Connelly and Steve Cheetham the problem can be
rectified very cheaply. However, please note that this repair
requires some precision soldering to do it correctly.
The fault on the lower display is down to a single component. A
transistor. TR109 to be precise, which is a 2SC1213, and for
those that love taking things apart, it is conveniently located
on the outside of one of the two internal circuit boards, and
clearly labelled. Thanks to Jonathan Bailey for the photo.
If you also experience failure of the upper display you need to
replace two capacitors, C203 & C220, both 63V 10uF. Needless
to say, if you have cause to remove the Meter for either fault,
it would be wise to replace both sets of components to save
yourself a repeat job later on. All three components cost less
than a couple of pounds. The photo below (thanks again Jonathan)
shows the capacitors
Now please be warned. Whilst the Combination Meter unit itself
is not too difficult to remove, the board assemblies inside are
somewhat fiddly and it is not a task for those with little
electronic experience. Break the board, and you're a couple of
grand out of pocket. Another important point (thanks to Steven
Janda of Startrade for his input here) is that once the
Combination Meter assembly has been removed you should not
switch the ignition on until it has been put back in. If you do,
you'll notice that when the meter is replaced, the Airbag
warning light will be permanently on, and it's not easy to
reset.
Click
here for details of how to remove the Meter, Courtesy of
Steve Cheetham.
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