Apologies for another instrument cluster question. I asked this in the other thread but got no replies.

The clear plastic window on the front of my instrument cluster is slightly cracked at the bottom.

Does anyone on here happen to have a spare cluster with non-repairable electronics but an intact front window panel?

If so, I may be interested in buying the clear panel.

 

Can you please check the attached picture to identify which model you have, there are several subtly different design variants that apply to older Fords like the early Mk2s (and even more model differences when you get into LCD colour and board electronics). In your other thread you linked to what I refer to (for the purposes of my cluster repair service) as a 'type 2d' design, but it wasn't clear to me whether this was the same design as your actual one.

I happen to have a few spare units from LCD / "glass" replacements. I have a type 2f, but badly cracked, and a type 2a, also badly cracked.

I am getting a type 2e unit next week to scavenge an LCD from. The screen looks intact from the pictures in the listing I bought. So if it's a type 2e you need then I may be able to help.

Thanks for the reply.

Mine is the type 2d with a single push button through a hole in the clear plastic.

From the other thread, do you know if the one with the 2d style LCD, but orange numbers should work with my LX?

I have never seen the 2e or 2f on all the cars I looked at for sale before I bought one. What models are they from?

 

3 hours ago, AntonovAN12 said:

Mine is the type 2d with a single push button through a hole in the clear plastic.

Ah okay, you'll have to resort to ebay or a breakers yard then, unless someone else here just so happens to have one. The price of an entire second hand unit may seem a bit expensive for just replacing the front part, however the unit may still be of value resold with your broken one, either to someone who may want a replacement unit (if it has a lower mileage than they already have), in which case they could swap their good part over to it, or to someone seeking to scavenge a working LCD. Though of course there's no telling how long it may take to resell it.

3 hours ago, AntonovAN12 said:

I have never seen the 2e or 2f on all the cars I looked at for sale before I bought one. What models are they from?

I actually don't have all that good an idea of exactly what models they can be found in. For most of the clusters I'm sent I'm told little to nothing of what they came from. I did do some googling a while ago to try to figure it out but struggled and gave up. I've grouped all of these together as "type 2 variants" because they all look fairly similar.

From what little such vehicle notes I do have: I've had a type 2f from a 2006 1.4 petrol Fusion. I've had a 2e from a 2007 1.4 Fiesta, and from a 2009 Fusion. I've had a 2d from a 2004 C-Max and a 2006 Focus. I've had a 2c from a 2007 Focus ST-2. I've had a 2b from a Focus. And I've had a 2a from a 2007 Mk2 Focus. All of the rest of the type 2's I've worked on are from unknown origins.

3 hours ago, AntonovAN12 said:

From the other thread, do you know if the one with the 2d style LCD, but orange numbers should work with my LX?

I really don't know.

Both being 2d it should at least fit into the space and into the same plug, however as brought up in the other thread, the fact that the two units look the same on the outside (besides LCD colour) doesn't mean they're the same or perfectly compatible on the inside... The only people who'd know for certain are the manufacturers.

Looking at the pictures I keep of every unit, I can find two significantly different circuit board layouts between the four type 2d's I've worked on so far, and similarly I can find two different layouts between the 2a's. These differences do not seem to directly correspond with LCD colour differences. If the layout is different then you have to question whether the connector pin layout may also be different. The simplest way to be certain of compatibility at this level is getting a matching part number...

Next you've got to consider the software. The microchip at the heart of these units are generic off-the-shelf chips that can be used for many different purposes. They contain a storage area for firmware (a program), along with a storage area for configuration data. When the firmware is written to the chip, the manufacturer then irrevocably enables something to block the ability to extract a copy of it. These chips are thus a "black box" from our perspective. We cannot know what if any differences in the firmware there may be between any two clusters since we can't access it to inspect it. All we can do is match part numbers and firmware version numbers on the sticker. We cannot know to what extent two different clusters with different part numbers are compatible at the software level. A lot of code may be shared between clusters, so to a large extent things may just work, but you could find vehicle features that don't work or don't work perfectly, and there's also the risk that there may be some subtle compatibility issue that may only crop up at a critical safety moment. We just can't know, only the manufacturer is in a good position to know.

Furthermore you've got to consider compatibility between the firmware and the config data that adapts the firmware in certain ways for specific vehicles (e.g. puts it into diesel vehicle mode rather than petrol). The config data is a blob of values that have some specific meaning to the firmware, but the organisation and structure of that config data is not necessarily going to be identical between different cluster models, so you can't necessarily just clone (copy) this chunk of data from one model over to another with a different product code. It may work, it may not, we can't compare the firmware code so we can't know if things are identical/compatible with respect to config data.

One further thought would be whether you could swap the LCD from a type 2d with a red one into one with a green one. This also is complicated. The green vs. red comes from a set of six LEDs providing backlighting so these would have to be swapped over. I expect that there would be no issue there. Any difference in backlight colour filter on the back of the LCDs should not be a concern. I also expect they would have the same board connector and size. Now, the green one has black text whilst the red one has white text (it just looks yellow due to the surrounding red), which indicates that one is a "positive" LCD and the other a "negative". Since these are simple segmented types (rather than pixel grid) I believe this means that the difference can only come simply from differently oriented polarisation filters (as opposed to pixels being enabled/disabled oppositely by something), in which case there should be no problem. So all in all I think swapping the LCD and LEDs may very well just work. The only way to be certain though would be to try it...

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I didn't think of the Fiesta or Fusion for the other types.

I don't want to take mine apart just in case I damage something which makes the car unusable. If that wasn't a risk I would try swapping the backlight LEDs and display.

That is why I wondered if it was possible to program and swap in another complete unit.

I will ask how much they would charge for a similar unit next time I am at the breakers. I agree that would be the easiest way to get another plastic front panel.

Does the basic type 2d fitted to my focus have any hidden menu functions?

 

 

I don't know, sorry. I'd just try the same input sequence you see with other models on youtube and see what happens.

Thanks for the reply. I tried holding the trip counter reset button down and was able to access test mode.

The menu is similar to the Mk3 Mondeo ones shown on youtube.

I am still looking for an intact clear front panel if anyone has a non-repairable cluster.

If anyone is planning to scrap a Mk2 I would swap an intact panel for my cracked one.

On 12/3/2023 at 1:50 PM, AntonovAN12 said:

Does the basic type 2d fitted to my focus have any hidden menu functions?

Yes, if you don't have a 'reset' button, just press the central button on the actual instrument cluster...

 

just by some clear plastic sheet, possibly hobby shop and cut to size

6 minutes ago, Jimpster said:

just by some clear plastic sheet, possibly hobby shop and cut to size

Now, that I'd like to see, especially getting it to curve horizontally like the original 😀

Hi, did you get anywhere with this?

Just got my cluster back from a repair and Royal Mail smashed the screen, hoping to find a replacement (2c) or creative ideas to keep dust out, if that's likely to be a problem

 

Cheers

Unfortunately not. I would still be interested myself if anyone has a scrap cluster.