Hi all. 

Might be a silly question, but I'll ask it anyway. 

My lcd on the dash has stopped working, so I'm gonna replace the whole cluster as it's cheeper. 

The question is this.... 

Will the new one give me the correct readings for my car, or will it give me those of the one it came from? 

Many thanks. 

2 hours ago, Mr Huku said:

Will the new one give me the correct readings for my car, or will it give me those of the one it came from? 

Short answer is 'No'

The first minor problem will be that your car won't start but the replacement instrument cluster will probably look great.

You can't just swap the IC without reprogramming the PATS security system. Next issue is the mileage on the replacement needs to be less than your original since mileage can only be adjusted up using FORScan software.

2 hours ago, Mr Huku said:

Will the new one give me the correct readings for my car, or will it give me those of the one it came from? 

Unofix beat me to it, I was just typing in more or less the same thing when his reply showed up!

And no, Forscan can't increase the mileage past the top limit and back through zero like an old mechanical milometer, someone tried it on an old cluster. It just stopped at all 9s.

There are some very dubious sites that offer to reduce mileage, they are offering an illicit service, I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole, myself.

The LCD should be quite an easy job for an experienced repair shop, as long as it is just the LCD itself. Cheaper and easier than going down the PATS programming and mileage adjustment route. I had to remove the LCD from my 2006 IC to get it out to re-solder the connector. See:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=40491

Fantastic. Thank you both for the reply. Guess I'll just do the lcd screen instead. No issue with doing these yourself right? 

40 minutes ago, Mr Huku said:

Guess I'll just do the lcd screen instead. No issue with doing these yourself right? 

My experience is limited to the small mileometer only LCD. Many ICs have a bigger lcd, but I guess it will be similar, just a glass LCD unit connected to the main pcb by those "zebra strips". They are rubber with embedded wires or conductive strips, so they only conduct vertically from pcb to LCD, not sideways from track to track. Their alignment is not too critical as long as they cover all tracks. The LCD & pcb tracks need to be very clean before assembly, as do the zebra strips, and the LCD needs to be clamped down firmly enough to compress the rubber a bit, without breaking the glass!

There should be no programming or security problems with replacing just the LCD unit, as long as it is identical to the original.