I recently bought a 99 Super Duty F350 Lariat and it has an overhead computer that is not working. I checked the fuses and they appeared to be good. I also checked with a local body shop and auto repair shop and no one could help. Going to the dealer is not an option becuse of distance . Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I also have a 99 350 Lariat. In all the models though, the overhead trip computer is prone to failure due to three chips on the circuit board they come loose over time (often, the display will be significantly dimmer over time prior to complete failure).

You can drop the overhead consol and remove the circuit board and then re-solder the chips in place. It cost me about $10 for a soldering pen (DO NOT use a soldering iron or you will fry the circuit board ) and some wire at Radio Shack, and about 30 minutes total to pull the consol down, fix the loose chips, and put it all back together. Man is it bright now!

I did a write-up on this over thanksgiving (with photos) but I haven't seen it on the site. Maybe it isn't up yet (or maybe the site gurus thought it sucked and didn't want to hurt my feelings by telling me).

Let me know if you need some photos and additional advice - I'll email what I have.

Worst case, if you happen to have a display that is truly dead (not just loose chips), you can probably buy a new or used one on ebay for around $200 (lot less than the $500 my dealer quoted me). I now have an extra that I ordered before I found this site - so I've got one handy when mine eventually dies.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the info. Does the console come completly out ouf the pick up or does it stay attatched and have to be soldered in the vehicle? Thanks, Eric

 

It comes out completely. The plastic cover pops off (it takes a lot of pulling, but it WILL come off - even though I was convinced I was going to break something, I never did). Pull down from the front (near the windshield) to release the two retainer clips, then the back is held in place by a plastic "L" piece that locks into the roof - you will need to tilt down the front end after removing the wiring harness in order to release the "L" clip at the rear.

The plug for the wiring harness is on the passenger side near the windshield, just unplug it from the consol.

Then, once down (and inside the warm house/shop/garage/ etc..) the inner black plastic piece removes from the outer (truck interior colored) piece via two retaining clips in the front and one in the rear, PLUS two flexible plastic pins in the middle compartment (these were the hardest for me).

Then, once the inner plastic is seperated from the out plastic, the trip computer comes out via three torx screws (7mm I think but I don't recall now).

Once the computer is free, turn it over and all the chips are easily accessible. None were completely off on mine and I really couldn't tell which was loose. I tried the three "common" chips mentioned on this site based on their numbers and that worked.

Again, look for my write-up (same as above but written nicely and includes photos of the circuit board and chips).

If you can't find it (I can't) shoot me an email and I'll forward the photos.

Good luck.

 

I got everything apart today, very easy thanks to your info. One of the chips was missing so I took the circuit board to an electronics guy I know to see if he could fix it. Have to wait until Monday to find out.

 

Any electronics guy should be able to solder a new chip back into place. If you need photos (with chip numbers) let me know.

 

The curcuit board was fried in the computer, so now I will have to find a new one. Any how, thanks for all the useful information. FTE is awesome!!!

 

Sorry to hear that. When I used to buy these from the dealer, they wanted around $500. I started buying them on ebay whenever I could find them (usually around $200). I suggest you look there first - I've never had any luck with the auto scrap yards and parts for these trucks.

If you'd like, I can also see if I have any ebay-purchased units on our shelf. At one time we had 3-4 of these on hand at any given time to keep them working in our SD truck fleet. Since finding this site though, we have been able to fix nearly all of them, so we have stopped buying them on ebay and may have a few left on the shelf. Let me know if you would like one, and I'll check. Nearly all of our trucks have a tan interior, so that would be the most likely color we have. Also, we only have them from '99 to '03.

Good luck!