U TOSLOW

Well last week my DIC (Driver Information Center) died, so I did a little troubleshooting and took my IPC (Instrument Panel Cluster) out of the car and saw that the inverter for the VFD had failed. Went to a local Corvette recycler and purchased an inverter board from a parts cluster for $25.00. It was worth a shot that this would fix my problem as the alternative was an IPC refurb for around $500.00 or so. Well the part worked and I am back in order, so if anyone's DIC stops working this fix may work for you. A brief pictorial below.

A broken DIC makes me sad :-(


IPC removed from the car.


Main lighting inverter and back cover removed from IPC.


Failed inverter on the left, "new" one on the right.



Yeah I can read my mileage again, DIC repaired.


Unfortunately this is the only way I could get this part is second hand, if anyone knows any different please chime in.

Time for a beer, electronics this week have been something else for me, first this and then my TV bulb was shot, I have made my financial sacrifice to the electronic gods this week, I'm done.

dgrant3830

Wow, that sucker really failed in a big way! Surprised you didn't mention smelling it but either way, glad you found it.

GreenDream

Nice post. Does removing the IPC give you access to the driver side actuator? If so, I would think that would be much easier than removing the whole dash or blindly going up from under the dash . 4000 C5 owners want to know.... Thanks..

dgrant3830

You might want to post the name/website of the Corvette recycler that you used so the rest of us will know about them. Please check with a moderator first so you don't violate any rules. I'm just thinking it would be nice if we had a source like that for these special items.

Bill Curlee

Very nice and well documentated post. I agree about posting the name of the recycler. Were all going to need stuff like this in the future. I know of a few reclclers but,,,if there are some that provide quality parts, it will be a welth of knowledge to know of the GOOD trusted suppliers.

Bill

U TOSLOW

Oh I smelled it, last week when I was identifying what could possibly be replaced to fix my IPC the smoked transistors were only a bit bubbled. Then I put the IPC back in the car and it progressively got worse. Luckily after last night the burnt electronics smell has left my car.
I did notice the actuator, but wether or not it is easier to remove this way, I don't know; my mission was to fix my IPC. Sorry. But on a side note I can get my cluster out in about 15 minutes now, have it down to a science.
I will PM a mod asking about this.

U TOSLOW

This is as specific as I can get, Corvette Shop in Tampa is where I was able to get the salvage part from.

xtremejimmy

wow. exactly what i have been looking for. Mine was getting dim and finally today it gave up the ghost. Can you PM me the place you ordered it from? I need one ASAP! Thanks!

jrose7004

Glad it worked for you!

CamminC5

Great info!

quadman

Question: the inverter is the PC board on the left in the above photo? And that's the part that failed that caused the digital display to go out?
Reason I'm asking is I've been having problems with the digital display in my '99. First it would flicker, go out for awhile, and eventually come back. Now the digital portion is completely out.
I have tried other things: checking/cleaning grounds, removing the door accordions to get to those connectors, to no avail.
Today I removed the cluster, figuring there was a loose/corroded connection back there somewhere. nada
The analog gauges are working normally.
Also did Bill Curlee's ignition switch fix. No improvement, the digital display is still dead.
Is the inverter my next move?
Gurus?

Bill Curlee

Pull the inverter and examine the component's and look for damaged/burnt parts and cold solder joints. You may be able to match up a new component if something common (like a resistor/capacitor ) is bad. If your not good with electrical work, any TV Shop can help you out.

quadman

I will give it a go. Looks like a lot of surface-mount technology on the PC boards. I've had a ham radio license for many years, so maybe I can handle it.
Thanks for the suggestion, Bill!

rws.1

great post thanks for sharing.....

sliderhd

By chance did you save the old one? I would like to purchase/pay shipping for it. Maybe I can come up with a fix for it that we all can use.

MawneeC5

classic


Nice work!

quadman

I think that question was directed at the OP? I only have one cluster; trying to figure out why the display went dead.

sliderhd

Yeah the question was meant for the OP.

Bill Curlee

If you can repair that board, you would be considered a 2M Tech and a lot of places would hire you!

That transistor really made a mess!

The bad thing about that part,, its really tough to figure out exactly what the damaged part is and and what to replace it with.. Most of the DELPHI stuff is sans any manufacture part numbers.

quadman

Took the plastic cover off the back of the cluster to get a look at the PC boards:
Inverter:



No outward signs of damage. Looks OK?

Main board:





Does that look like water damage? Tried to remove any obvious corrosion.
Put the cluster back in the car................no difference. The analog gauges work perfectly. The digital display does not work. I don't even know if it IS the cluster.
Am I screwed? What are the chances it is something else?