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Replacing instrument cluster

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The Revision 1 I did, the glass peeled off pretty easy... But it was already missing quite a bit of the goo. After the "fun" with the goo, I ended up getting a Reeldeal. Worked perfect, nice and NEW.
Ya, my screen had the smallest of bubbles. So not much glue had leaked out prior. Thus that outer screen was stuck strong on there. Initially, I was going to just seal it with clear silicone around the entire edge. Then for some dumb reason, I decided to try to remove the outer screen protector. Bad move. But gladly I found so many threads on here and ReelDeal, so I am not too stressed. Also, since I can still drive the car, its really not that bad. Feels like I have a Model 3 or Y, I simply use Waze as I always have for spotting accidents and cops, and now the speedo.
 
I did end up fixing the Instrument Cluster(IC) screen with some help from ReelDeal. Shout out to Chad from ReelDeal who got me a replacement screen for the IC within 2 days. I highly recommend you simply just replace the screen inside the IC, but you can also seal the entire edge of the screen with silicone to prevent anymore glue leaking out causing bubbles, or you can try to remove the screen protector that is glued on by Tesla using very cheap glue...which causes this issue. I tried the screen protector removal and I was not patient and cracked the actual screen underneath.

eN66LaX.jpg


Here is a simple and quick DIY. This is super easy. Just take your time, and if you want put painters tape up to protect your trim finish.

REQUIRED TOOLS:

Air Wedge
Torx Screwdriver set
Rubbing alcohol
Lint free towels

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Simply reinstall following the steps backwards. Then you are done. Easy.
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I'm backkk.... Like stated in this thread just buy the reeldealev screen. If I had known about them originally I would have purchased and now here I am 2 years later ordering the screen. good thing is I have had practice changing the screen haha. But now I know I have a gooey mess to clean up inside my dash :confused:
 
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Hi,

I have a 2013 Model S and when a strong light (e.g. sun) hits the IC, I can see these odd shapes at the bottom of the screen. Without the sun/light hitting the screen I can barely see them. They don't look like bubbles. I didn't find yet a photo of an IC like this. Is this a known issue or another Signature unicorn?

IMG_20210913_091119.jpg



Thanks.
 
Hi,

I have a 2013 Model S and when a strong light (e.g. sun) hits the IC, I can see these odd shapes at the bottom of the screen. Without the sun/light hitting the screen I can barely see them. They don't look like bubbles. I didn't find yet a photo of an IC like this. Is this a known issue or another Signature unicorn?

View attachment 708751


Thanks.
I agree, I have not seen one like this before, it doesn't appear to have the normal delamination issue. Well, you know where to go if you want a new one!;)
 
Just a quick PSA to anyone who replaces their own screen... be sure to throw out the old screen. I replaced my screen a bit more than a year ago and at the time I wasn’t sure what to do with the old screen. I wanted to keep it for a little while, at least, to make sure the new screen was working, so I put it in the bag that the new screen came in and then put it in the box that the new screen came in and left it on a shelf in my garage. Then I forgot about it until I was cleaning my garage tonight. I discovered that the old screen leaked goop through the bag and through the box and onto the shelf it was sitting on, and through a hole in the shelf and onto the shelf below it as well.
 
Really appreciate this thread, everyone. I've had the same issue on my 2014 for months now, and the problem started accelerating a couple of weeks ago. Ordered the replacement screen from Reel Deal for about $350 and it got here quickly. Did the swap yesterday with the help of the videos and diagrams linked in this thread. It was so easy - as with most people the most time consuming piece was cleaning all the goo off the cage. That was darn annoying. Whole thing took me about 90 minutes from start to finish, including cleaning the goo off, which took about 45 minutes itself.

Anyway, here's the pics. Didn't get a shot of the bubbled screen while it was still installed, but you can get the idea of how bad it was from the pic I took after removing it. The 2nd pic is the "after", and the screen looks great. Thanks to all in this thread for the help!
 

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My replacement this weekend didn't go well. The screen from ReelDeal is great. Chad is great. The problem seems to be with my S.

We swapped screens, keeping our same IC board, as many of you are doing but it changed nothing. In short, I'm seeing the exact same behavior before and after the screen replacement: A black screen but an IC that seems to be working behind the scenes. By that I mean that I can switch gears, drive the car, use the turn signals, and such. Because IC functions were still there, it seemed obvious that the board was working and was just the display that was dead. Replacing the screen; however, did not solve the problem. We still have that same black screen appearance after the screen swap.
  • Before doing anything, we disconnected the 12v and the HV battery, so that's not a factor.
  • We've triple checked the ribbon cables and they're fine. We even blew compressed air in the connectors and cleaned the contacts on the ribbon cables with isopropyl alcohol and blew them dry, just to be sure. (We've replaced a few MCU eMMU chips, so we're comfortable with ribbon cables.)
  • Numerous reboots of the MCU and the ICU as well as every reboot protocol we could find online. The MCU comes up fine and is functioning perfectly.
  • Waited patiently for the IC to come up.
  • We've verified the two connections on the back of the IC and they're solid.
  • We even verified that the 5A IC fuse is intact.
We can't think of anything else that could be wrong but the screen is still dark, the glow from the board when the IC is powered up that has been mentioned in this thread is not present, and the car will still shift gears and produce a turn signal clicking and the car is drivable. But still just a black IC screen.

Any ideas?
 
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I did end up fixing the Instrument Cluster(IC) screen with some help from ReelDeal. Shout out to Chad from ReelDeal who got me a replacement screen for the IC within 2 days. I highly recommend you simply just replace the screen inside the IC, but you can also seal the entire edge of the screen with silicone to prevent anymore glue leaking out causing bubbles, or you can try to remove the screen protector that is glued on by Tesla using very cheap glue...which causes this issue. I tried the screen protector removal and I was not patient and cracked the actual screen underneath.

eN66LaX.jpg


Here is a simple and quick DIY. This is super easy. Just take your time, and if you want put painters tape up to protect your trim finish.

REQUIRED TOOLS:

Air Wedge
Torx Screwdriver set
Rubbing alcohol
Lint free towels

eT3lDTL.jpg

hkNEVxk.jpg

ZLIXYCk.jpg

J5HJZNu.jpg

vTUOCLy.jpg

kNyIs9H.jpg

6xwNbp9.jpg

AL9IZKj.jpg

cukpb4T.jpg

3yUGEha.jpg

v0bt0iO.jpg

J1Nsylf.jpg

vMXJJ3C.jpg

bGaTc2X.jpg

9eJiM8G.jpg

DZIhA6V.jpg

xY5wxE4.jpg

4f5sCom.png

YfGerbI.jpg

y4TKbPW.jpg

ylEwGBA.jpg

QYIctwv.jpg

WiNgs3m.jpg

UZco7aF.jpg


Simply reinstall following the steps backwards. Then you are done. Easy.
JrzRrjN.jpg

apvrOfS.jpg

Thanks for the guide!

Just did the job successfully on my gen2 screen (sealing around the border of the screen with silicone). Just had two small bubbles in the corner so nothing to worry about - and almost no glue had left the housing. Hope it will stay that way :)
 
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Thanks for the guide!

Just did the job successfully on my gen2 screen (sealing around the border of the screen with silicone). Just had two small bubbles in the corner so nothing to worry about - and almost no glue had left the housing. Hope it will stay that way :)
Let us know if you ever get more bubbles or if the bubble grows. But I think you will be fine. Try your best to also use a sun shade even on not so sunny days. It helps the IC and the MCU.
 
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Got one bubble in the IC and immediately ordered a replacement from ReelDeal. Just got finished with the install. Not difficult at all, just had to clean up a little glue that leaked onto the metal frame with some Goo Gone. New screen works great.

Thanks to Chad at ReelDeal for the fast delivery and great installation video.
 
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Got two bubbles, and another successful replacement, with the help of Chad from ReelDeal. Excellent customer service!

Some notes from my repair may be repetitious, but here goes:

  • Find out first if you have a Gen 1 or Gen 2 screen, using Chad's link here.
  • A pool of adhesive had leaked out, even though only two very small bubbles appeared on the screen.
  • Goo Gone helps with adhesive clean up.
  • On a Gen 1 screen, the large wire harness rotates 90 degrees to release AFTER you press on the small tab on the top of the harness to allow it to rotate. The wiring harnesses on this car are very simple and robust, ONCE you figure them out!
  • Inflatable air pump to lift dash is not required, but is the right tool for the job.
  • A ratcheting torx screwdriver is sufficient, for the T15 screws.
  • Set the steering wheel to the outmost and lowest position.
  • Tape up the silver trim around the MCU and instrument cluster.
  • This repair also teaches you how to disassemble a large part of the left side of the dash, for future repairs.


Using a quote of $1,600 from the Service Center, and $300 in parts, I saved $1,300 for two hours of labor. At $650 per hour for my time, this is equivalent to a salary job making $1.3 million per year. I'll take that labor rate for my time.

Also, a big shout out to xAgyex for post #162 in this thread, with very detailed photos and explanation. Thanks.
 
Got two bubbles, and another successful replacement, with the help of Chad from ReelDeal. Excellent customer service!

Some notes from my repair may be repetitious, but here goes:

  • Find out first if you have a Gen 1 or Gen 2 screen, using Chad's link here.
  • A pool of adhesive had leaked out, even though only two very small bubbles appeared on the screen.
  • Goo Gone helps with adhesive clean up.
  • On a Gen 1 screen, the large wire harness rotates 90 degrees to release AFTER you press on the small tab on the top of the harness to allow it to rotate. The wiring harnesses on this car are very simple and robust, ONCE you figure them out!
  • Inflatable air pump to lift dash is not required, but is the right tool for the job.
  • A ratcheting torx screwdriver is sufficient, for the T15 screws.
  • Set the steering wheel to the outmost and lowest position.
  • Tape up the silver trim around the MCU and instrument cluster.
  • This repair also teaches you how to disassemble a large part of the left side of the dash, for future repairs.


Using a quote of $1,600 from the Service Center, and $300 in parts, I saved $1,300 for two hours of labor. At $650 per hour for my time, this is equivalent to a salary job making $1.3 million per year. I'll take that labor rate for my time.

Also, a big shout out to xAgyex for post #162 in this thread, with very detailed photos and explanation. Thanks.
Excellent addition to the forum! Thanks for the kind words, and hey I am also interested in your new salary job! :p
 
Really appreciate all of the folks sharing their experiences in this thread. I just did the IC replacement in my 2013 Model S last weekend, using the excellent ReelDeal screen. It took me closer to 4 hours, but a lot of that time was spent cleaning goo off the display mount and also trying to figure out how to disconnect the larger connector on the back of the screen!!

To that end, I created this short video showing how that connector works, which hopefully will be helpful to others. Side note, the little arm that swings over actually BROKE on mine, but the connector seemed to plug snugly enough into the screen that I'm hopeful it won't ever come loose.

@uscgreel feel free to use that video in your instructional content, if it's helpful. And thank you for what you do!
 
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