Ford Forums banner

Five Hundred Instrument Cluster Goes On and Off

42K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Bert 
#1 ·
I have a 2007 Ford Five Hundred with 21K miles. It's in perfect condition except for one thing. The instrument cluster goes off sometimes and doesn't come back on. Time will pass and it will eventually come back on, after a couple weeks. This process repeats on and off over time.

I tracked the problem down and it appears it has to do with a wiring block under the dash. I have attached a photo. Excuse the blurriness, but you will still see what I mean.

One time, I unplugged the three plugs, plugged them back in, and that fixed it. I thought great. If it happens again, I'll do the same thing. That worked a second time the problem happened.

The last time it happened, I did the same thing, but it didn't fix it. I have unplugged and plugged these things many times, but it still doesn't fix the problem.

Has anyone had a similar problem? I'm confused at this point.

Rod
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#5 ·
I know your car is a 2007 , but is it possible it was older stock when registered and is affected with this ?

TSB 06-17-9
09/04/06
INTERMITTENT INSTRUMENT CLUSTER
OPERATION - INCLUDING GAUGES SWEEP/RESET - MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND/OR REVERSE LIGHTS STAY ON - VEHICLES BUILT BEFORE 2/17/2006
FORD:
2005-2006 Five Hundred, Freestyle

MERCURY:
2005-2006 Montego

This article supersedes TSB 06-6-2 to update the Service Procedure.
ISSUE
Some 2005-2006 Freestyle/Five Hundred/Montego vehicles built before 02/17/2006 may exhibit intermittent instrument cluster concerns with one of the following symptoms:

Very temporary intermittant condition at which time the Instrument Cluster pointers will intermittently "home" randomly after the ignition switch is in the run position. This is when all pointers travel to the low end of gauge travel, jitter for two to four seconds, and then recover. This condition may be more likely to occur as the vehicle drives over rough road surfaces.
During hard fault or prolonged intermittant condition, most functionality of the cluster will cease operation as soon as the issue is present, including all gages becoming inoperative.
While the fault exists, multiple warning lights will be illuminated, Cluster High Speed Controller Area Network (CAN) or Medium Speed CAN network communication with other module(s) will be inoperative, and reverse lights will stay on. If the fault discontinues, the tachometer and speedometer gauges will sweep and then reset. Look for U1900 diagnostic trouble code (DTC) in other electronic modules, as well as P0462/P2067 in the powertrain control module (PCM).
These symptoms could be the result of a defective solder joint on the printed circuit board in the instrument cluster.
 
#7 ·
I am having this repaired at the moment. It turns out it is a faulty instrument cluster, just like the TSB mentioned. Even though I have a 2007 model year, the car was manufactured in 2006 and the cluster is the problem.

Regarding the faulty plug I mentioned, the mechanic said it appears that when it is unplugged and plugged back in, it resets the instrument cluster. That sometimes fixes the problem. But, sometimes not.

Anyway, I came back to document this for others who have the problem in the future.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top