| How to Repair Electronic A/C Control Panel |
| Background The Electronic A/C control panel display was intermittent on my '88 Corvette. Sometimes when I would press a portion of the display panel it would light up. The control functions worked at all times. |
| Remove the Electronic A/C Control Panel Loosen the digidash bezel enough to access the bezel screw on the driver's side of the Driver's Information Control (DIC) panel bezel. Remove the screws holding the DIC bezel. Remove the screws holding the shifter console bezel and move the bezel back from the DIC bezel. Remove the (4) screws holding the Electronic A/C (EAC) control panel to the dash. Pull the EAC control panel forward and unplug the cable from the rear of the panel. |
| Inspection Remove the two clips from either side of the EAC control front panel. Release the PCB retainers on either side at the rear of the EAC control panel. Pull the case back from the front of the EAC control panel. Remove the PCB from the card edge connector and inspect the plating on the edge of the card edge fingers. If oxidized, remove the coating; if worn repair the plating. |
| Removing Oxidation If the card edge fingers have a dark coating, burnish them with a pencil eraser till shiny. |
| Repairing Worn Plating Obtain a 25-30 W soldering iron and some very thin resin core electrical solder. Thoroughly clean the card edge fingers. Touch the hot tip of the soldering iron to the solder to pick up a small amount of solder. Briefly rub the solder across the card edge ringer till the solder has covered the surface. Repeat for each card edge contact finger. Smooth out any lumps in the solder coating and remove any resin. |
| Note I tryed the contact cleaning method and it was unsuccessful. Upon closer inspection I noticed that some of the plating had worn from some of the fingers. Further, I noticed that the socket was slightly warped possibly causing a contact problem. I have just (10/20/01) performed the solder reflow operation on my unit. Upon reassembly the display was bright and steady. I'll update this page if any problems are encountered in the future. |
| CAUTION I believe the card edge contacts were Ni plated and replating is the prefered method of service. However, solder reflow can be done easily at home and may prove satisfactory over the long haul. At this point I don't know how long this fix will be effective. |