[s-cars] S6 instrument cluster - dead buzzer

Fri Feb 8 09:26:06 PST 2013

This is what I was able to dig out from my dusty sent box.  I still have
some photos as well, if you want to email me, I'll send them direct.  Or if
the librarian wants them..

-Stott

From: Stott Hare [mailto:stott at gwi.net] 
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 1:35 PM
To: S-Car-List
Cc: r0ssat0_987 at att.net
Subject: [Fwd: RE: [s-cars] S6 instrument cluster - dead buzzer]

Bob,

A few of us have had this issue.  To date I think that Fred and I were the
only ones actively chasing a solution.  What I ended going with was a 4ohm
speaker from radio shack (#273-092) which was a drop in replacement in size,
but had insulated wire leads instead of two long pins and was of the wrong
ohmage.  Easy enough to strip an solder in the wires, but because the rat
shack speaker was rated at half the ohms, it is half as loud as the stock
buzzer.

Fred was chasing an 8 ohm speaker, but it was going to require more custom
mounting.  I'm not sure where he ended up with his end of the experiment.

Below is the thread of information which will have more details.  I do have
pics available if you haven't ripped out your instrument cluster and taken
it apart yet.

Stott Hare
95 S6A (whadda mean the speaker doesn't work after 240k miles and 11
years.... it wasn't made by Bose!)

-------- Original Message -------- 

Subject: 

RE: [s-cars] S6 instrument cluster - dead buzzer

Date: 

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:30:03 -0400

From: 

Fred Munro  <mailto:munrof at sympatico.ca> <munrof at sympatico.ca>

To: 

Stott Hare  <mailto:stott at gwi.net> <stott at gwi.net>

Hi Stott;

What I'm looking at is a speaker from DigiKey P/N# GCO351P-1-ND. It's a 4
ohm speaker, oblong in shape 16mm x 35mm and 7mm thick. Depending on the
clearance, it might fit in there. It's actually a notebook speaker. Costs
~$6 Canadian.

Fred

-----Original Message-----
From: Stott Hare [mailto:stott at gwi.net]
Sent: October 16, 2006 11:04 AM
To: Fred Munro
Subject: Re: [s-cars] S6 instrument cluster - dead buzzer

Any further information on this front?  And for posterity, the Radio Shack
speaker I used was #273-092.
-Stott

Fred Munro wrote: 

Hi Stott;

Can you send me a photo of the speaker? I've found a source for 4 ohm
speakers in this size range; just want to take a look at the photo to see
what the original looks like.

What was involved in removing the white cover from the back of the IP? I
took a quick look at mine when I had it out to replace bulbs - looked like
the instruments may have to come out. I couldn't tell how the cover was
mounted to the board; whether it was clipped in or screwed in from the back.

Thanks!

Fred

-----Original Message-----
From: Stott Hare [mailto:stott at gwi.net]
Sent: October 6, 2006 2:40 PM
To: Fred Munro
Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [s-cars] S6 instrument cluster - dead buzzer

I haven't seen any of my replies make it to the list, but at least you will
have this Fred.

The specs on the OEM dead speaker were thus:

*	29mm diameter 
*	6mm tall 
*	(2) 13mm pc-mount pins on the lower rim, spaced 5mm apart 
*	4 Ohm 

I talked with several electronic suppliers and came up empty.  Everyone
seemed to indicate that a 4 Ohm speaker would be a special order ( you know
the type, requiring an order of 5000 units etc).  I did manage to find a
stray mini-speaker with the correct 29x6mm dimensions, but with wired leads
and at 8 Ohm.  The sales person indicated that was a fluke, they were
supposed to have returned all those items and weren't supposed to be
carrying them any longer.

I installed this last night.  Barring any markings on the original speaker
or the instrument cluster circuit board indicating positive/negative leads,
I installed this with the positive lead from the speaker going to the
circuit trace connecting with a nearby capacitor.  If I remember correctly,
the worst thing that could happen there would be the speaker ending up out
of phase.  Big whoop in this application.  The downside from using an 8 ohm
speaker vs a 4 ohm is the volume level.  Twice the resistance, drawing half
the current it use to, and ending up much quieter.  It's enough to let you
know you left the keys in the ignition or lights on, but I wouldn't trust
hearing the warning sound driving down the road with radio up or windows
down.  But replacing the speaker did resolve the initial issue of no noise
at all.

Of course I left my Radio Shack part number at home.  I can send this along
as well if anyone wants it.  ~$2 for their speaker.

For reference, one alternative supplier that was helpful was International
Components Corporation (www.icc107.com).  They sent me two samples they
thought might be close, (S100RMF-PCR and S125RL-M).  Neither however was a
drop in fit to the OEM speaker mount as the Radio Shack part was (the first
being smaller with the PC mount leads too far inboard, and the latter being
too large in diameter and without wires what-so-ever)

I do have pictures available should anyone want them.

-Stott Hare
95 S6A (now beeping away quietly)

Fred Munro wrote: 

Hi Stott;

I also have this problem but haven't dug into it yet. I was waiting for you
to do the legwork! :) My guess is that the chime from the S4 might work if
you remove it from the double length relay housing it's mounted in. That was
going to be my Plan A anyway.

Fred Munro
'94 S4
'97 S6

-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Stott Hare
Sent: October 2, 2006 12:03 PM
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: [s-cars] S6 instrument cluster - dead buzzer

So if I recall correctly, Bob Myers had this problem a while back with a
dead buzzer, as did a few others (myself included).  I finally got
bored/curious, so I pulled out the IC this weekend, disassembling it and
removing the offending buzzer.  I'm curious if anyone has found an
acceptable replacement for this speaker/buzzer yet?

 I've dropped it off at my local electronic whiz parts supplier in hopes
they can locate a suitable replacement.  The speaker I removed was (from
memory) about 27mm in diameter, 7mm thick with 2 long (~15mm pins)
leads.  The leads were soldered to a small pad, which appears to have
been epoxied to the rear of the buzzer.  The pad was loose, and there
were no visible wiring leads to the speaker, so I'm guessing an
inductive device.  The speaker clipped into a plastic housing, which
clipped into the IC circuit board, and the two leads, after passing
through the housing and the circuit board, were soldered to the circuit
board behind the fuel gauge.  The only identification mark was a screen
printed number 4 on the speaker magnet, nothing really indicating a
manufacturer or a part number.

I'll post up if I find a replacement, but I'm really curious if anyone
else has already done this legwork.

Thanks!
Stott Hare
95 S6A

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