Message Center Jumbled Display

[liamwynn]

Recently my message center began to display a jumbled mess (see video at link below)



I was wondering if this is a known issue or if anyone recognizes this. I am stuck in a situation where the thing lights up yellow and beeps at me on startup due to the oil life monitor, but I can't re-set it because I can't read it. I have no idea if this is just a crapped out cluster or not, everything else works perfectly other than the message center display.
Just wondering if my only option is to replace the cluster.

 

[Rcflyer330]

Well you can test it hold the reset button and turn the key to the on position (do not start the car) wile holding the reset button. It should take about 10 seconds and the cluster will go into engineering mode you can now release the reset button. You can cycle through multiple different modes including testing the message center. To cycle to different screens just press the reset button. If the screen stays funky i would say the cluster is messed up. If you get text and get to the pixel test shows no missing pixels then something else is wrong. To get out of engineering mode turn the ignition off you can also start the car once you are in test mode and it will stay in test mode.

For information on the different screens and tests just google 2006 ford explorer instrument engineering mode or something to that effect and you should find more info.

The instrument cluster is also intergrated with the rest of the vehicle and can set diag codes that can be read with the right scan tool.

Hope this helps

 

[96eb96]

I've seen 2 06's with bad clusters. One didn't have a chime and another had some other issue. Probably bad solder. There are repair places that can fix those issues. You can try the enigneering mode but that looks like something is physically not working or disconnected.