SquirrelX Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Hi All, A couple of days ago, just when the freezing at night season started (in case it might be relevant), I noticed that when I open the car, the radio/nav/phone/etc. screen in the middle remains blank, whereas it usually shows the time. No change when pressing any button there, or when trying opening/starting the car again half a day later (it used to fix the going-mute-while-playing-an-mp3 issue). The car otherwise works normally, the small dashboard screen shows what it needs to. I checked the fuse (no 108 in the manual, in case it helps) but it was ok. Is there anything I can quickly do/check myself before taking it to the garage? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 If you remove the stereo and just ensure that all connections are secure. It could be coincidence, or it could indicate moisture has gotten into the loom / radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 13, 2013 Author Share Posted December 13, 2013 Thanks! I´ll do that. I guess I don´t need special tools to get the stereo out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Just removal keys, pick em up off eBay for a fiver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preee Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Pull the front fasia off and then 4 screws to remove you won't need special removal tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 14, 2013 Author Share Posted December 14, 2013 Thanks for the info. UPDATE: I was planning to check the unit this morning, after going for a small shopping, and the car suddenly wouldn´t start. The dashboard lit up and the battery, engine, etc. lights stayed on, and after trying to start a couple of times even getting there seems to be a problem (flashing digits, shaking speedometer ´clock hand´). I´m contacting my local garage but I´m wondering if this might be battery+cold only, or it indicates something more serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preee Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Could well be the battery , have you had it tested? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 14, 2013 Author Share Posted December 14, 2013 I´m not sure if they checked it a month ago when they did something they call the ´small service´, I haven´t managed to reach the garage yet. Otherwise I´m stuck in front of the house now without the tools to check it or charge it, so can´t confirm whether it´s charged at the moment... But I´ll post an update when I figure something out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Probably is the battery. Just check that the battery terminals are secured. Its possible that one is loose (been seen before). You probably just need a jump start (booster pack) And then just leave the car to run for 15 - 20 minutes to allow it to charge the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 So, battery replaced, the car starts again. But, the radio/nav module is still blank, and battery and engine leds are on... When I enter diagnostic mode, I get the following errors and codes, I´m wondering if you guys have any ideas about them. - I´m getting a FAIL with NVM EEPROM lvl. No clue what this means or what to do about it. - DTC 9318 Low battery - I guess this is the remainder from the old battery, because the test shows the new batter to be at 12.2V (I´ll need to figure out how to remove the code then) - DTC 9681 PATS Transceiver signal not received (not connected, damaged, wiring). I don´t really know what this is. Some other forum suggested checking fuse 61 in particular, but I can´t find that in the car´s manual. I have fuses 1 to 36 and 100 to 143 listed in there. Any ideas? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 OK so the two errors you see there are most likely from the failed starting of the car with the old battery. If the engine lights and battery lights are on, there is something else amiss. Did you get a silver calcium battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 Thanks. I was a bit quick with my previous response, the lights actually disappeared next time I started the car, and it´s been working ok since, in the sense that I´m not getting any strange behaviour. I don´t really remember what the battery is like, I just went to Halfords, told them to give me compatible one to what I was holding in my hands, put it into the car and was happy that the engine started. As for the the stereo unit, I removed it, and I don´t think it went blank because of loose connections, because it was quite an effort to pull those plugs, especially the one with the many small cables and the middle one (not sure what that is, but interestingly I didn´t see such cable in the youtube video about removing the unit, though that one was without the nav screen). Can you perhaps say something about the EEPROM fail issue as well? Might that be connected to the stereo/nav unit, or is that something else? So far I couldn´t find much about what to do with that. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 that EEPROM Fail error, was that displayed on the instrument cluster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 Yes it was, when I entered diagnostic mode and went through all the checks. That´s also where I say the two DTC errors. NVM EEPROM lvl FAIL 0001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Sounds like the instrument cluster has a fault. You might find yourself needing to replace it at some point. Have you had any starting issues, or running issues at all outside of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JW1982 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 You can ignore the "NVM EEPROM LVL FAIL 001" warning. This error is only related to the internal memory of the instrument cluster (NVM = Non Volatile Memory). In the past I have seen this error before on several MK2.5 instrument clusters. My own MK2.5 instrument cluster had this same error but worked perfectly fine without any problems. After upgrading the instrument cluster firmware this error dissapeared. I suspect this error is caused by a firmware bug in some firmware versions. A defective radio can be the cause of a drained battery. Normally the CAN-bus system will go in sleep mode about 30 minutes after locking the car. At this point the power to most of the CAN-bus modules will switch off. When the CAN-bus system is in sleep mode the display of the instrument cluster will also be switched of. A defective radio or Bluetooth/Voicecontrol module can prevent the CAN-bus system from entering sleep mode. If this happens all modules are still using power which can completely drain the battery in 24/48 Hours. If the radio seems to be dead it is best to unplug the radio to prevent above mentioned problems. Unfortunately it is a known problem for the Travelpilot FX to be defective. The blank screen / dead radio is a quite common problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 No issues with starting or running since the battery change. And just to confirm that I understand you correctly, this eeprom failure is likely not connected then with the radio/nav part´s issue, is it? Or did you mean that´s also part of the instrument cluster? Hmm... the two should be somehow connected as the nav info is usually displayed at both places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 You can ignore the "NVM EEPROM LVL FAIL 001" warning. This error is only related to the internal memory of the instrument cluster (NVM = Non Volatile Memory). In the past I have seen this error before on several MK2.5 instrument clusters. My own MK2.5 instrument cluster had this same error but worked perfectly fine without any problems. After upgrading the instrument cluster firmware this error dissapeared. I suspect this error is caused by a firmware bug in some firmware versions. A defective radio can be the cause of a drained battery. Normally the CAN-bus system will go in sleep mode about 30 minutes after locking the car. At this point the power to most of the CAN-bus modules will switch off. When the CAN-bus system is in sleep mode the display of the instrument cluster will also be switched of. A defective radio or Bluetooth/Voicecontrol module can prevent the CAN-bus system from entering sleep mode. If this happens all modules are still using power which can completely drain the battery in 24/48 Hours. If the radio seems to be dead it is best to unplug the radio to prevent above mentioned problems. Unfortunately it is a known problem for the Travelpilot FX to be defective. The blank screen / dead radio is a quite common problem. I suspected that the radio and battery might be connected, so I unplugged the radio cables when getting the new battery. It´s seems I´m in need of a new radio unit. Or might it be fixable? A quick question relating to the instrument cluster: I´m not sure about this but I´ve been looking at everything with suspicion since the car hadn´t started, but is it normal for the clock/km standing to be displayed all the time? Maybe it´s just because it´s dark now both times I use the car during the day, but I wasn´t sure those numbers should be displayed when I´m approaching the car I haven´t used for like 9 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Its normally going to generate a D900 error code for CANBUS comms error, or at least thats what I have noticed (if it stays lit 24/7) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 Its normally going to generate a D900 error code for CANBUS comms error, or at least thats what I have noticed (if it stays lit 24/7) Thanks! I´ll check that though I don´t remember seeing that error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JW1982 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 There are some companies which can fix the Travelpilot FX. Repair will cost approximately €150,- to €200,-. In Holland Ford also has a trading system for the Travelpilot FX. It is possible to change a defective Travelpilot FX for a completely remanufactured one for approximately €500,-. Normally a new travelpilot FX will cost about €1500,- to €2250,- (price depends on which type of travelpilot FX you need). Normally the display of the instrument cluster must switch off 30 minutes after the car is locked. The display will light up when the car is unlocked. If the display stays on this means there is a CAN-bus problem which prevents the CAN-bus system from entering sleep mode. A defective bluetooth/Voicecontrol module is known to be causing this problem but in theory all (defective) CAN-bus modules can prevent the CAN-bus system from entering sleep mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelX Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 There are some companies which can fix the Travelpilot FX. Repair will cost approximately €150,- to €200,-. In Holland Ford also has a trading system for the Travelpilot FX. It is possible to change a defective Travelpilot FX for a completely remanufactured one for approximately €500,-. Normally a new travelpilot FX will cost about €1500,- to €2250,- (price depends on which type of travelpilot FX you need). Normally the display of the instrument cluster must switch off 30 minutes after the car is locked. The display will light up when the car is unlocked. If the display stays on this means there is a CAN-bus problem which prevents the CAN-bus system from entering sleep mode. A defective bluetooth/Voicecontrol module is known to be causing this problem but in theory all (defective) CAN-bus modules can prevent the CAN-bus system from entering sleep mode. Thanks! I actually live in the Netherlands so maybe I will just take the car to the local Ford dealer and mention this to them, especially because the new option seems a bit pricey . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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