I am attempting to replace the MOSFET on my 2007 Tahoe. When removing the original MOSFET with Heat gun, when it came off, 2 of the 3 pads that the MOSFET were connected to came off as well. Can I reapply and how or what can I do ?

TIA,

Dane Adney
daneadney@yahoo.com

 

what are you trying to do?

 

Trying to replace MOSFET on 2007 Tahoe instrument panel, once I removed the mosfet I must not of heated up enough and the 2 of the pads came up with the MOSFET. I believe they have copper on the bottom of the pads possibly. I guess I will ship off tomorrow unless there is a simple way to repair. Thanks for your time.

 

OK so the cluster PCB. Probably an expensive item. You probably applied too much heat to the PCB resin, and not enough to the component which was probably connected to a large ground plane.


It's really hard to say without a photo, but If the pads are still attached then you might be able to glue them back down. If they ripped away, then you'll have to run tiny jumper wires but you can't do that with a heat gun. It's unusual for a transistor to fail all by itself. How do you know it's bad?

 

It would come on when I knock on the center of panel.

This is what I have now and a new MOSFET. Thanks for the time and help. I don’t know what a transistor IS ?

After researching I thought I needed to replace the MOSFET and it looked pretty simple. I’m a real amateur with a soldering iron.

 

Yeah it's f&$#ed. Not a job for a novice, nor something that can be explained in a forum post. You can try calling a SMT board repair place. I've heard there's a few that work on clusters. But it may cost more than just finding one at the junkyard.

For future reference, it's a good idea to measure and test these things with a meter to confirm a diagnosis first before going in for potentially destructive rework.

 

What part do I need to research from junkyard if I don’t get repaired ? Don’t want to mess up odometer or mileage on vehicle. I bought this vehicle in 2007 with less then 30k miles and only paid 35k. LTZ w navigation, it’s old but runs well and I just ordered a 4 door Bronco for my wife that want be here until May or June. We have multiple vehicles and I have a demo, Thanks very much for your time and help. Very much appreciate the info, I thought I had screwed it up.

 

The replacement cluster will need to be reprogrammed for your VIN and mileage at a shop.