I am having the tach problems that alot of the 06 guys have been having. While idling the tach shows 2-300RPM some times. On accel the needle will stall and then jump up and "catch up" to the true RPMs. I saw this on another forum, is it OK to post here? It is for a diesel, but looks like it may work for us, and is cheaper than $300 for a new cluster.

Here's what another member said on another forum:

Ok, with regards to the TACH issues I have a 2006 dodge ram, just bought it and I had the problem that many of you have. And paying over $100.00 closer to 200 is total crap for a 10 min fix. So here is the fix that worked for me.

1.) remove the gage cluster from the vehicle
2.) remove the screws on the back side of the cluster staring with the screws on the tach side. You will notice the circuit board will flex up about a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch as you continue to remove the screws working from the tach side across.
3.) there are a number of IC's you should now see when you remove the black plastic cover.
4.) if you divide the cluster in half and focus on the Tach Side there is four large IC's (talking very basic so everyone can understand). One that has leads comming out of all four sides and three that only have leads comming out of the two long sides.
5.) now this will test your skills at soldering. you need to apply flux (a Flux pen works good)to leads of the IC's and reflow (resolder) all the leads.
6.) When you put it back together I suggest to shim the board on the Tach side so the screws do not pull down on the board when you tighten down the screws.

I plan to put to gether some picture or a video.

Cheers and save your money.

 

fixed it so people dont have to visit another forum and search all over.

Just beware that if you do this incorrectly or bridge solder gaps(end up soldering 2 neighboring leads together) you could do more damage than good!
You have a TIPM and your SPEEDO for computers. Just be very careful if you attempt this.
Not saying it won't work, but prepare for disaster and a trip to the dealer if you start throwing codes and your TIPM locks down on you.

 

tipm?

EDIT: I read up on it. I swear, every time I read up on this truck I want to sell if for a 1965 K10

 

Would there be any problem just leaving the tach broken? I may just get a odb2 blutooth plug and the torque app to monitor the truck

 

I would think not. The signal goes into the PCM before it goes to the cluster I believe, so as long as the PCM is reading that signal you are fine.

The problem with these clusters is that if anything stops working or is reading incorrectly, you must buy a whole new Reman unit which is a pain because the dealer has to write down your mileage and the core charge is very pricey(even though you get that back). It is something you can install yourself and is auto programming except the mileage because that's only stored in the cluster.

 

Thats what I thought. I may just take the dash apart and shim it like in the instructions to see if it makes the intermittent problem go away, because it does work sometimes.

Cant solder a wire in the gauge cluster, because you could fry a $900 "fuse box/brain/mystery box", which in turn will not allow you to start your truck.

 

I pulled my cluster, and had my brother reflow the pieces outlined in the instructions. I got some plastic shims, so I will do it just as the instructions say.

I'll let you guys know how it works, there were no bridges. I spend most of my waking hours in a tractor these days, but I may have time to put the cluster back in tonight.

 

Awesome! Good luck.

 

Well I put it back together with shims and all...and the tach worked properly! It has never worked since I've owned the truck, its nice to see. However, with the shims in place, all the indicators on the left side (cruise, door ajar etc) had an orange tinge to them anytime the cluster lights were on. I pulled it all apart again and removed the shims and the orange tinge went away, and tach seems to be working great. I guess time will tell...