Thank you so much for posting this thread. I just purchased my 99 T4R and after three failed attempts on my part. I brought it to my friend who solders professionally and he was able to fix it for me.

this sort of fixed it for me. I still had to push the clip hard into the clock while twisting it clockwise after the fact... and then push on the right side of the clock face after I put the dash back together... but it has stayed on for a few hours since.

Thank you for this descriptive how-to. My recently purchased 1999 T4R had a clock that would work if I pressed the buttons rapidly, but it finally quit for good. I removed my clock and just sent it to a service that rebuilds our clocks. I would not have a clue how to remove it if it wasn't for this post. Keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives all fixed.

Hey everyone,

EDIT: nevermind on this issue I typed earlier.

But, I think I fried my clock. Before I tried this fix, it showed the occasional sign of life, and after attempting this fix, there is nothing.


I think when I soldered the pins, I accidentally had some of the solder from the different pins touching each other, and I think I must have shorted out the clock or something.

Guess I need to shop around for a new "used" clock.

I've leaned on this whole site heavily to purchase my "new" 98 that's in rather fantastic condition for its age (very clean, and only 162K miles at 18 years with minimal rust underneath). The dealer I bought it from had done a bunch of work to it (hoses, belts, water pump, exhaust, tires, battery, wiring, et al) but I've been giving it some TLC, too. The clock thing was one of those things you can just accept from an 18 y/o but I wanted to mend it anyway. Like the OP's wife said, I didn't realize how much I used my in dash clock until I had this vehicle without it functioning!

AAAANYWAY, I signed up for an account just to say THANKS and this worked like a charm!!! I actually went to the local salvage and bought a clock off a scrapped 99 (I think). Tried it, and it also didn't work. So I took my original clock apart, tossed the springs aside, did a crappy soldering job, hooked it into the wiring harness, and bam! It lit right up! I put the whole dash back together and was setting the clock when it went out again.

Suspecting my suspect soldering I went back to the work bench, took apart the salvage clock, did a really NICE soldering job on it's circuit board, put that circuit in my original housing and it's worked perfectly going on a week now!! I put all the non working guts back together in the housing with the scrap yard markings and returned it for my money back! Haha! Score one for the nerds with basic circuit and soldering skills!

A couple of tips: I recommend scratching up the area on the pins where you'll solder them with the corner of a little flat head screwdriver or something, the original finish doesn't want to take the solder really without some abrasion. Also another tip to line them up nicely: get one soldered in just like you want and then use a tiny piece of tape across the top of that and all the rest to hold them in line just like you want. These little things worked like a charm to address the unique little challenges of this particular project.

All in all it was a pretty quick and simple fix!

First, thank you for this informative "How To". On my recently purchased '99 SR5 4WD I had the bad clock and this post gave me courage to remove my clock. With a bit of careful fiddling I was able to easily remove my clock. FWIW, I used a service I found on EBay that does a clock repair for only $16.00 which includes return shipping costs. My clock now works and I feel like I have a complete 4Runner again

I first tried cleaning the connectors but it still would only light up when I squeezed the back of it. I then took it apart and tried soldering the pins directly to the board, it still would not stay on.

I finally re-soldered all of the pins on the back of the board and now it always stays on. I closely inspected it before I did this and didn't see any cracks or void but apparently there was a problem somewhere.

Hope this helps

Glad that this thread continues to be of service to the community. I still pop in every now and then, so hit me up with any questions you might have.

This must be the most reliable platform in the world for there to be a SEVEN PAGE thread on the clock :P

So my clock died yesterday while installing a new radio. Read this post and prayed; sure enough, I was the next victim! Plugged the plug into the correct location and the clock is back baby!!!

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

I will have to try this out this afternoon... did it unsuccessfully on my Forester, hopefully i can get it correctly on the 4Runner.

Guess I will have to try this next time I'm home and can spare a few minutes.
Excellent information in this site along with some very helpful folks.

Like others have said...I took mine apart that wasn't working and couldn't find any cracks or degradation that I could see in the springs or anything. Soldered the pins on anyway and removed the springs and plugged it in with no fix. Then just for hell of it I took it back apart and melted every solder point on the board while adding just a touch of fresh solder and it's back 100%. Thanks for your write up! Just a bit of extra info I found

I found the best way to solder it after destroying one clock in haste while trying to do many other things while having the dash apart. I have a parts hoard so no biggie.
First of all, be relaxed and don't rush it. Pull out the pins and "tin" the ends that go in the board with a thin coating of solder. Get needle nose pliers and rubber band, or forceps roach clip would work. Hold the pin in exact position vertical, height, and plug slot alignment. You can shim the pliers or assembly to make it perfect for solder position. This makes it so you don't have to touch the pin at all while soldering, the pin cannot move while soldering. Heat the pin and float a nice small solder joint that goes around entire pin. Each pin can be lined up perfectly to the other. Mine worked perfect. Btw, putting back together, I put the clock plug in the empty ECT connection by mistake (I have a 5 speed), it fits in. I guess you could get confused on a perfect clock repair and have it not work by plugging it into the wrong connector.

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I found just reflowing the solder joints on my 98 T4R clock fixed my problem. I don't believe the 98 has springs in the clock mechanism and a poor solder job on the clocks seem to be a rampant problem.