Category Archives: Transportation

Toyota Truck Display Fix

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Before my 2006 Toyota TRD becomes a faded memory, I wanted to share this fix. Yes, after a long ownership I sold it. Gotta pay for the NV200 Van Conversion – Phase 1 somehow. This is the last picture of this great truck prior to selling. The new owner was extremely happy to buy the truck – it only had 70K miles on it!

In the upper cab, there is a digital display for temperature and compass direction. It had not worked for several years and one day I decided to see if I could fix it. Of course, I went to the web and looked to see what other people had done.

Sure enough, it’s a common problem and takes about one hour to fix it. If you have this problem with your truck, go to the web. There are many great videos that will walk you through the repair process.

The first step is to remove the module. It’s pretty easy, a couple of screws and some tab releases, and then removal of the cover to get to the circuit board.

Just as the video pointed out, a surface mount resistor became unconnected at one end. It can clearly be seen in the lower right of the board.

I fired up my soldering iron and resoldered the resistor in place. I did the reverse order module assembly and tested.

It worked perfectly, and I saved $150.00 by doing it myself!

NV200 Van Conversion – Phase 1

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A couple of weeks ago, we dropped our van off at GTRV in Sebastopol, CA. GTRV specializes in converting all types of vans into campers.

There were vans from Utah, Texas, Colorado and other states being converted. I did not expect to get a call this soon to bring in the NV200, so it felt a little like winning the lotto!

Here is the NV200 as purchased — pretty bare bones.

A couple weeks after dropping off the van, I received an update text with photos. Wow! Window panels have all been cut and are ready for glass installation. It’s going to be nice to have all that light and actually see out the side when making lane changes.

Yep, it’s going to have a pop top too. It’s called the ‘Westy’ version. This will be so cool as I will actually be able to stand up inside! It makes a small van seem so much bigger. A 100V solar panel will be mounted on top for interior lighting.

The rear inside has been gutted and is ready for insulation and other support infrastructure.

Here is the fabricated interior wall unit. It’s equipped with sink, stove, and storage.

Can’t wait for the next update. It is really moving along and is going to be so awesome!

Very exciting to see the progress! Guess we better start planning some trips!