Cluster Help!

[Shawny122]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum but hoping someone might be able to help me.

I have a 55 place automatic focus which has an intermittent fault with the cluster. Sometimes the car won't start and all the warning lights are on and immobiliser light is flashing. Then sometimes whilst your driving all the instruments stop working so you have no speedo, no mileage etc.

I took the car to ford and they said they were 98% sure it needed a new cluster so reluctantly agreed. They have tried to fit the new cluster but say they cannot get it to communicate with the car. They can't get the necessary information out of our old cluster to put into the new cluster and they can't programme each part separately with the required algorithms as ford has corrupted them and can't use them anymore?? They have basically washed their hands of it and said they can't fix it.

Does anyone have any recommendations of what I can do to sort the problem or anywhere else I could go where they would be able to programme the new cluster to our car?

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm about to be thousands of pounds out of pocket if we can't sort the problem before its MOT and it becomes unroadworthy.

Thanks in advance

[artscot79]

cluster faults are common on the foci and have been since 1999 go back and do not accept that theres nothing they can do they can if they arent playing ball call ford uk and explain ford are and have been aware of cluster faults for years so the balls in there park

[Preee]

You can use ELMConfig , fromthe guide in my signature to backup your cluster and transfer to a new one , Ford would then have to set the mileage on the cluster and maybe the PATS.

But as Arstcot79 says , they are fobing you off , they should easily have the equipment to do this.

When these clusters fail it's usually becasue of the type pf poor solder originally used on the circuit board , sometime's if your handy with a soldering iron you can go over the solder on each section and bring it back to life.

[jeebowhite]

they took the car apart and stuffed it, they have an obligation to fix it, take it back and tell them it will be fixed by them!

it sounds not too disilimilar to an error I recently had on my CMAX, but that was because I had an OBDII adapter in the car, which did something funky...

[Shawny122]

Thanks for your replies. Ford did try to programme the new cluster but they said they couldn't take the information from the old cluster for some reason so they would need to find the exact same model of car to use that cluster instead which is "to difficult" and they rang ford head office to get the as built codes for the cluster but they have been corrupted for my model of cluster (corrupted by ford I should add) so there is nothing they can do. They are definitely fobbing me off.

Preee I couldn't see the link in your signature could you send it to me please?

Thanks