2002 focus 1.6 petrol

[Rocky0609]

Hi can anyone help me? My dashboard clocks have stopped working, no milage no petrol gauge,no heater reading, no rev reading,no speed reading. Took clocks out, took lead out of the back, plugged back in, and everything  working. Then put all trims back, restarted car, and same thing has happened to. Any ideas?

Has my cluster failed, and I need a new one? Many thanks if someone can help. Cheers Roy.

 

[mjt]

This sounds like the classic cluster problem, bad solder joints on the connector leading to intermittent or total loss of connection. The cluster should be repairable. Any competent electrical or electronics specialist should be able to re-solder it if you don't feel confident to do it yourself. There are also companies that offer a repair service. Some of the other members probably have addesses for some of them and will perhaps post them here.

[isetta]

I have also heard of this problem and a friend had this problem. My understanding too is that it is a solder problem inside the unit. Some years ago regulations came in to phase out lead (the metal that people steal off church roofs) in solder used in manufacturing (although you can still buy it yourself for home use). Trouble is that solder that does not contain loads of lead is rubbish compared to the old stuff. It is more brittle and you end up with more failures of electrical / electronics stuff.  It is still allowed for manufacture of stuff fo military use / space / satellite stuff. So that is proof that the govt / electronics industries etc know that unleaded solder is inferior.