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Engine Hour (LCD) Meter Repair
- Thread starter NorthStar
- Start date
I was more leaning toward risk the item may not work with your tach. But its less than half the price of the other link I used, so give it a shot and let us know! It'd be great to have a cheap, proven source for those LCDs which seem to go out with regularity.
Ordered on last night, delivery states about 2 wks, then it's a matter of installing it, which will be sometime in the future, I also ordered a Hobbs meter from Granger which I will pickup tomorrow. I am going to wire the Hobbs meter before the boat goes back in this spring, and just log the differential once I see if I can get the original to show me whats on the clock, if I remember correctly the last reading that was visible (2017 season) the accumulated hours were around 927 and I know that I ran roughly 27 hours during the 2018 season. Should start a pool on who can guess closest to the accumulated hours once known.......
For what it is worth, I gave up on VDO after two failed units and installed a Hobbs meter a few years ago. Last year I installed a KUS (made in China and purchased on Amazon) tachometer with hour meter display and it worked just fine. Installation and calibration was very easy. Only difference is that the KUS has a chrome bezel. You do need to know how many poles your alternator has and the pulley ratio between your alternator and crankshaft to get alternator pulses per engine RPM. You input the number of pulses per engine RPM and your all set. I compared the new tach to a strobe tach and had very good correlation.
Alright so I received my LCD replacement from China (labeled VDO/Kenworth/Penta odometer), thank you very much @tfox2069 in like a week (amazing how quick things can come across the globe) installed it in less than 30 minutes and badabing display is bright and clear 1156.7 hours showing. Disassembly and reassembly has been covered in previous posts. The hardest part is getting the old LCD up out of its nest, I used the same razor knife I used to lift the numerical face plate (as shown in previous repair vids) worked the tip of the knife into the opposite end of the screen from the ribbon cable end and just kept prying gently upward, you could hear the adhesive releasing, then it just popped up.
The new display's ribbon cable is flat while the existing is folded in an "S" shape you will have to kinda preshape this before you can make the connection into the cable socket, but after you feed the cable through the clear plastic face frame, once through the slot and the new screen seated all I did was press gently down on the numerical face plate and reseated both the face plate and the LCD display. I found the pin out online to power up the hour meter, display is just like new......... yeah!!! I am still going to mount the Hobbs hour meter in a convenient location just in case this happens again, but for now all is well.
The new display's ribbon cable is flat while the existing is folded in an "S" shape you will have to kinda preshape this before you can make the connection into the cable socket, but after you feed the cable through the clear plastic face frame, once through the slot and the new screen seated all I did was press gently down on the numerical face plate and reseated both the face plate and the LCD display. I found the pin out online to power up the hour meter, display is just like new......... yeah!!! I am still going to mount the Hobbs hour meter in a convenient location just in case this happens again, but for now all is well.
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DayDreamer,
Had the same problem with my Yanmar / VDO hour meter a few years ago. Tried the cleaning fix unsuccessfully and finally added a mechanical hobbs meter. I would like to try the replacement LCD display that you installed. I assume your installation was on a Yanmar, correct? Did it require any programming as detailed in some previous posts?
Had the same problem with my Yanmar / VDO hour meter a few years ago. Tried the cleaning fix unsuccessfully and finally added a mechanical hobbs meter. I would like to try the replacement LCD display that you installed. I assume your installation was on a Yanmar, correct? Did it require any programming as detailed in some previous posts?
@BigEasy love the screen name and avatar, yes I replaced the LCD on a Yanmar engine panel on our 2007 Hunter 41 DS no programming required, slip the old one out, put the new on in, exactly the same size. Like I said it probably took as long to write it up on here and search the pin out to power it up and test as it did to change out the LCD. I couldn't believe how fast they got the part to me, ordered from an ebay on 3/28 arrive on 4/5 from a supplier in China.
The link I used supplied by tfox2069 https://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Displa...648413?hash=item1a5e9f4edd:g:3QMAAOSwn6dbbR2S
Mark
The link I used supplied by tfox2069 https://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Displa...648413?hash=item1a5e9f4edd:g:3QMAAOSwn6dbbR2S
Mark
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Thanks for checking. Received the replacement display about 3 weeks ago. Trying to get all the exterior in shape before it gets too hot and take care of the engine maintenance also. Then there is house stuff too! The tach project will likely be delayed until July when I will be hibernating indoors escaping the heat. Let you know how it turns out. Meanwhile the dependable Hobbs hour meter is still ticking.
Sounds good. I'll stay tuned. Another marina mate is about to start this process as well. He's tracking who everyone is ordering from to ensure LCD compatibility with his Hunter 41DS.
UPDATE: Repair was successful on my friend's 41DS prior to their leaving for the Caribbean. Looks like we have several success stories now.
UPDATE: Repair was successful on my friend's 41DS prior to their leaving for the Caribbean. Looks like we have several success stories now.
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If you have access to the circuit board, inspect all component solder joints for cold solder joints. They will look a dull grey and not smooth. Take a small tip 25W solder iron with a clean and tinned tip and remelt the solder. No more than ~3 sec. on a joint...
If changing out the LCD, will the original hours still display after the correction?
Just as another update on this problem. I ordered one from this site, arrived in mail couple weeks later. Followed their You-tube proceedure and just tried out over the weekend. Worked great. Although I didn't realize I had that many hours on the engine as the meter has not worked for several years......
www.akspeedo.com
AK Speedo
www.akspeedo.com
I repaired ours during the off season last year, installed in the spring and it is still working wonderfully.Just as another update on this problem. I ordered one from this site, arrived in mail couple weeks later. Followed their You-tube proceedure and just tried out over the weekend. Worked great. Although I didn't realize I had that many hours on the engine as the meter has not worked for several years......
AK Speedo
Thanks to all who posted here, particularly Northstar and DayDreamer41.
I bought the LCD from China, and fitted it yesterday to my Yanmar Tach. It took a few seconds to light up the LCD on first power, but now shows the hours immediately upon ignition, everytime. Brilliant! Its bugged me for ages, and without a good spot to mount an aftermarket hour-meter, this is such a good fix.
One point for other Yanmar owners - It was a bit tricky getting behind the faceplate - holding it up while getting the old screen out. Would be nice if someone had advice on getting the tach needle out, so you could do the repair without the faceplate in the way (looked different than either VDO or Vovlo Tach needles, which seem to come off easily).
I would also recommend making sure you have a couple of spare bulbs on hand, so you can replace those while its out.
Otherwise it was as everyone else commented - pretty easy and straightforward.
Thanks again.
I bought the LCD from China, and fitted it yesterday to my Yanmar Tach. It took a few seconds to light up the LCD on first power, but now shows the hours immediately upon ignition, everytime. Brilliant! Its bugged me for ages, and without a good spot to mount an aftermarket hour-meter, this is such a good fix.
One point for other Yanmar owners - It was a bit tricky getting behind the faceplate - holding it up while getting the old screen out. Would be nice if someone had advice on getting the tach needle out, so you could do the repair without the faceplate in the way (looked different than either VDO or Vovlo Tach needles, which seem to come off easily).
I would also recommend making sure you have a couple of spare bulbs on hand, so you can replace those while its out.
Otherwise it was as everyone else commented - pretty easy and straightforward.
Thanks again.