05 explorer XLT instrument cluster shorting out

[AndrewHVAC]

i don't really know how else to explain it. Every day when I leave for work, I open the door and the gauges on my cluster start shaking. The interior light flickers once.If I leave the door open for prolonged periods of time, it will occasionally do it again. Timing is completely random. The Message Center also resets, all error messages, trip, and even MPG all reset.
Every time it starts with a click that I can feel through the interior fuse box. (I'm thinking its a circuit breaker)

This also happens when I'm driving, at any speed, or idle. Happens even driving straight, no brakes, no acceleration, just keeping a constant speed. There really doesn't seem to be a mechanical trigger for it to happen.

Every instance of it happening that I have noticed, my radio goes out for a second at the same time that my gauges die, then a second or two later, all my gauges go back to normal AFTER the radio has already come on. The interior light seems to come and go in sync with the radio. The gauges always come back on afterward.

Always only lasts a few seconds. Lately the occurrences are happening more and more often. Power windows have always worked while the symptom was occurring.


My attempted repairs:
I changed the 15 amp fuse in slot 17 of the interior fuse box powering the delayed accessory relay and battery saver.
I changed the 5 amp fuse in slot 21 of the interior fuse box powering the instrument cluster.
Changed the delayed accessory relay on top of the interior fuse box.
Changed the battery saver relay on top of the interior fuse box.
Changed the 60 amp fuse in slot 6 of the engine compartment fuse box powering the delayed accessory relay.
Changed the 15 amp fuse in slot 15 of the engine compartment fuse box powering the The cluster memory.



Any help would be greatly appreciated, as registering to this site, making that first post just to be able to make this post, and typing all of this out from a cell phone has been very time consuming.

P.S. In the time it took my to write this, my cluster/radio has died twice.

 

[crankyjew]

have your alternator and battery checked, it's free. one of these on it's way out could cause what you're describing.

that being said, it sounds to me like your cluster needs to be rebuilt. all the things you're describing are connected, believe it or not they are in fact controlled by the instrument cluster.

it's a pretty common issue with 04-05 sport tracs. probably should have been a recall. i had my cluster rebuilt about a year ago, have had no issues since.

tl;dr - get your alt and battery checked at a parts store, just to start. call RT Grim Electronics in Pennsylvania about getting your cluster rebuilt. they are very friendly and easy to deal with, fast service, very reasonable rates.

 

[LONO100]

If it were a fuse problem, it would not be intermittent. The lights would either come on or stay off. I also recommend checking your alternator as cranky suggested. Its easy and you can do it yourself if you have a multi-meter. Just measure the battery voltage with the car completely off. If you get 12v, that's a good sign. Then start the engine, and with it running check the battery voltage. If it reads 14v your alternator is charging properly. Anything under 14v and your alternator is probably crapping out.

If you check your alternator and it is proper, my next suggestion before changing out your cluster gauge is to get a new headlight switch. They can be had at O'Reilly or AutoZone for under 20 bucks. There is a YouTube video on how to take apart your dash, pretty easy, then change out the headlight switch. I'm betting that your headlight switch is the culprit.

 

[koda2000]

The clicking noise you're hearing suggests a relay is not staying energized. I don't have anything newer than an '01, but IIRC newer vehicles light up the digital odometer display when the door is opened. Whatever this is tied to must also turn on the interior light. It must also be turned on and feed to the radio when the key is ON. Maybe this relay (or it's power source) is flaky. Bad relay or bad connection somewhere.

 

[LONO100]

i also experienced a clicking noise when my headlight switch was going out, it wasn't a relay clicking though, it was the switch itself and when i finally pulled pulled it after my cluster lights, stereo illumination and hvac lights went completely out, it was toasted. my stereo also had illumination problems that were in line with how my cluster and hvac lights were fading in and out much like if your alternator was about to crap out on you. it is a good call on the interior lights though, i dont remember having an issue with them when my headlight switch went out.

 

[swshawaii]

Sounds like a somewhat common issue with 2004-05 ST's with digital odometers.
Some intermittent connectors were "fixed" short term, but most required a rebuild.

Instrument Cluster Shorts Out | Ford Explorer and Ranger Forums - Serious Explorations

04 -05 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Instrument Cluster Repair

 

[LONO100]

did you ever find out the culprit to your problem? coincidentally, my gauge cluster, hvac and interior lights went out this weekend, and after checking the fuse and suspecting that headlight switch again, i started fiddling with the dimmer control and the lights came back on. i noticed that if the dimmer control is turned all the way up just before they click at the top and turn on the cabin lights, it cuts out all of the lights in my cluster and hvac. if i turn the closer to its upper limit, it starts to click and make a noise similar to a relay clicking. i am going to my local salvage yard to pull a dimmer control and replace mine which seems to be crapping out much like my headlight switch did.

 

[evolross]

I am having this EXACT SAME problem in my 2004 Sport Trac XLS. It's been happening for about two years. I've had my instrument cluster pulled several times by my mechanic and had it checked and they can't identify the problem. Apparently the cluster works fine when pulled and tested away from the vehicle.

About fourteen months into the problem my alternator started dying and I replaced that and can verify that does not resolve the problem. The dials still flicker, numeric display still flickers, and the radio and cluster all still momentarily lose power and the numeric display usually says "DIAG MODE" when the radio fails. It also loses the Trip Mileage memory from time to time (overall mileage is always fine and has never reset). I'm also getting the clicking sound too when the radio fails. Otherwise, the radio works as normal and the dials and numeric display intermittently flicker.

Would love to hear an update on this. Will continue researching other threads and will ultimately report back. Thanks to the original poster for the writeup.

 

[Everett Bartz]

Good morning, i've a 2005 Explorer XLT which I have refurbished. I got one of those shapshot things from a insurance company and that dang thing shorted out causing my battery to emit a plume of hot acid on my rebuilt engine and the dash went completly out stranding me along I10. The same insurance company tried to tow my SUV with that front end lifted and rear end on dollies, all 4 wheels off the ground.

Within a 1/4 mile one of the tires on the dolly explodes and the tow truck guy unhooks the SUV, removing the dolly and swapping vehicle ends, dragging my Explorer backwards with full weight on the frount axle, the refurbished front differential. ON the way to my garage, it pumped out diferential fluid, which spraged all over.

So, After washing the acid off several times I got a new battery and used it with an ohm metter to check out each and every circiuit, nice to have that skill. So I found that circuit 15 has/had a short to ground. It was that dang snapshot device. Totally grouded. And I think it took out my dash with it. I think that systems check feature on the dash when activated with that snapshot, shorted it all out.

Now I have to tell that insurance company. I am now looking at a used dash of which I am leanring that I can use my ForSCAN to input the SUVs actual mileage. I am not rushing through this repair. Will check every circuit but seems localized to circuit 15 that is at the battery fuse box.

Would be interested to hear from others. Thanks and good day.

 

[eevox]

Sorry for the necro thread.

This problem is driving me insane. A little over a year ago, I had my instrument cluster rebuilt. When it was my instrument, cluster gauges would die, and the stepper motors (little motors that run each of the gauge needles) would shutter from time to time. So I'm not new to the instrument cluster cold solder joints problems which plague these trucks. But those cold joints caused things to "die," not energize.

My current problem is completely different. When the car is running, no problems and no codes. After turning the truck off and parking, it is when my problem manifests itself.

A few minutes, sometimes many minutes or even hours, the gauge cluster comes alive when I turn off the truck. The odometer flashes XXXXXXX's and then goes to faint dots and dashes. ..............

If I left the radio on, it comes on and goes off. If I left the dimmer switch, so the interior lights come on when the door is opened (in other words, not all the way turned off), they come on and go off. Then it goes quiet for some time. And repeats the activity. Finally, the message center reads "check gauges" or "low fuel" level like the PCM is running its diagnostics. But because all the other sensors are unenergized, it's reporting the warning messages to "check the gauges" or low fuel. If I check the codes after this point, it's reporting problems in almost every system in the truck.

Then it goes quiet again. If I clear the codes and run the truck, the diagnostic computer informs me everything is OK.

1. Battery and alternator are good.
2. Changed out the ignition switch and key cylinder (wild guess that something was energizing the truck when the key was off and or out). --> after doing this, the problem went away for over a day. I thought I'd solved it.

But the problem came back. Now, mind you, the truck has sat idle this whole time, so it's not me moving the truck around and grounding something out.

This is the most frustrating problem I've ever come across.

PS: The instrument clusters don't short out. What happens is cold breaks in the solder connections occur. If you take the instrument cluster out and apart and look at the circuit board itself under magnification (or you have great eyes), you can find the breaks and resolder them yourself. That is all the various circuit board medics are doing. They're resoldering broken joints. Sometimes stepper motors have to be replaced because the plastic gears wear out over time, but that's pretty much it. Cold breaks in solder joints or worn-out stepper motors. If you know how to solder, you can do this work yourself.

This is a problem with all circuit boards. The hot and cold cycles eventually cause cracks in the solder joints, causing some of them to break connections. Ford just ran almost everything through the instrument cluster, so it causes havoc with different systems when the breaks occur.

https://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/VL/VLADGMRU/2013-01-20_110921_caravan_cluster_ground__issue.jpg

https://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/VL/VLADGMRU/2013-01-20_111025_vouager_cluster_ground_issue.jpg

https://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/VL/VLADGMRU/2013-01-20_111025_vouager_cluster_ground_issue.jpg

 

[Everett Bartz]

Good morning, its been 5 months and one shade tree master auto mechanic later and I am waiting on a Motorcraft alternator to replace the one I rebuilt which is producing 17.8 volts, and way too much. Since Feb, I have learned that the fuel pump and ignition switch that the shade tree said I needed were both ok and also learned the shade tree has a criminal record. But I digress.

I replaced the PCM with a rebuilt one from Flagship one. Got it started and measured 17.8 volts out of the alternator. The battery started to puff and I shut it down. I will not do a thing until the new alternator gets here. But will say that my problem is or was from the alternator and the bad battery from Walmart. (See the youtube videos by SouthMainAuto and FordTeckMakuloco, the latter slams Walmart batteries).

The headlight and turn signal switches are very intertwined electrically with the dash and will be my focus when i bolt in the alternator. So stay tuned and good luck.

I mentioned previously that the progressive device may have been the cause but I do not think so. It does however link into all of the circuits used by the dash.

 

[Everett Bartz]

I know there are Veterans and Families of Vets out there and I want to THANK YOU ALL.

 

[eevox]

Good morning, its been 5 months and one shade tree master auto mechanic later and I am waiting on a Motorcraft alternator to replace the one I rebuilt which is producing 17.8 volts, and way too much. Since Feb, I have learned that the fuel pump and ignition switch that the shade tree said I needed were both ok and also learned the shade tree has a criminal record. But I digress.

I replaced the PCM with a rebuilt one from Flagship one. Got it started and measured 17.8 volts out of the alternator. The battery started to puff and I shut it down. I will not do a thing until the new alternator gets here. But will say that my problem is or was from the alternator and the bad battery from Walmart. (See the youtube videos by SouthMainAuto and FordTeckMakuloco, the latter slams Walmart batteries).

The headlight and turn signal switches are very intertwined electrically with the dash and will be my focus when i bolt in the alternator. So stay tuned and good luck.

I mentioned previously that the progressive device may have been the cause but I do not think so. It does however link into all of the circuits used by the dash.

I was leaning towards the PCM perhaps being a problem. But again, the truck runs fine; it's when the ignition is in engine-off that the fun begins. And it's so random. Sometimes it starts going nuts the minute I reconnect the battery. Sometimes it takes only a few seconds, and other times it takes a very long time to start its antics.

How was your experience dealing with Flagship One? They've been in business for 12 years but have amassed a lot of negative reviews.

What symptoms lead you to the PCM?

 

[Everett Bartz]

Good morning. Fuse F1.18 is the power to the PCM. 2005 Explorer XLT, 4.0 with the rear AC/heat unit removed.

While driving through New Mexico, my dash started to flash off and on and then went blank. I stopped, opened the hood and the battery was puffing acid. The engine was running and it was too far away from anything so I kept driving. I drove it another 100 miles or so and then the engine just stopped. During the following weeks, I replaced that fuse 18 several times and they kept popping which meant that I could not get a response from the PCM using a scanner or scanner software. So I thought about a replacement for it. In the meantime, I purchased a Ford Wiring diagram book on Ebay, 10.00 plus shipping and learned a lot.

Flagship drug their feet the first time I tried to get a PCM. But working with them again I found that they were very responsive and I got the remanufactured PCM and took my time installing it because I wanted to go through the circuitry and learn and look for any shorts. I have learned that the PCM operates and controls so much both on the power supply side and on the ground side of many components. I kept finding that there was nothing wrong with the circuits I suspected and plugged in the PCM and after fiddling with the keys, and to my surprise, I actually made it run. I thought my dash was bad but know the PCM makes it come alive. When I got it running briefly, I measured the voltage at the battery and it was too high and stopped running the engine until the new alternator gets here in a few more days.

So this is what I think: I was trying to save money and rebuilt the alternator myself as parts are so easy to be had online. I never really checked the output voltage when I installed the rebuilt Alt. But that bad unregulated alternator, I believe, caused the dash to flicker and finally go blank and now know a bad alternator can short out a PCM.

(If anyone has more information let me know. I'm a novice who likes to work on my own cars.)

So today I wait and according to Motorcraft, their more advanced circuitry controls overcharging and the interuption of the input voltage, implying that this alternator will better protect the PCM than a third party unit. Now while waiting, I have install a charged up battery and left it alone and it stays charged for a day or two and it goes dead. I suspect a parasitic draw. You can find a lot of info about this on youtub. My hunch is that its the alternator causing the parasitic draw (I hope). In the meantime am upgrading my voltmeter to one that can measure up to 10 AMPs of current and use it to find that circuit that is sucking the power out of my battery when the key is off. I wont start my Explorer until I find that circuit that is draining my battery. May even be the aftermarket radio/navigation unit wiring.

I also know the PCM sends a 9v signal to the alternator to control charging voltage.

https://www.idmsvcs.com/2vmod/alternator/convert4g6g/pcmalternatorpdfs/napaechlin.pdf

Hope this helps. Peace.

 

[eevox]

'm now guessing it's not the PCM; it's the cluster. I caught it this afternoon, and while it did its thing, I got through every relay and fuse in F1 and F2.

Fuse 2-25 (Cluster, 4x4 module) stops everything - which cuts all power to the gauges and message center. I guess it could be 2-26, 2-27, or one of the other fuses feeding the cluster, but pulling those didn't stop anything. Only Fuse 2-25 worked.


So it's probably the instrument cluster or a short-to-ground along G300's path. But G300's mounting point looks pristine. The ground wire and the wire bundle all look good and fresh, and G300 grounds a lot of stuff, so it'd be really unusual only to cause a fault in Fuse 2-25 without it just being some bizarre circuit board problem. So, I'm not hopeful this a simple ground.

More than likely, it yet another bizarre manifestation of the instrument cluster failure. This really is a pain, and one I don't understand since this one actually only energizes after ignition is off. In comparison, driving no faults, no flaky gauges, nothing. Only when off does this one come to life. I've scoured the internet to find another example of cold breaks or faulty instrument clusters causing this kind of error and can find none. Most manifest while driving.

Fuse 2-25 is one of several fuses to the cluster and looking at the wiring diagram. It could be a lot of stuff because Fuse 2-25 is one of the few on my RWD Sport Trac that goes directly to the cluster (no 4x4 module to worry about). So I'm guessing it's the cluster again. Maybe I'll get lucky, take the cluster out, and find a cold break I can resolder something obvious. It's just that this makes absolutely no sense to me unless it's not a cold break, and instead, it's a bad diode, switch, or microprocessor on the board. ...that's way above my pay grade.

It could be F2-25's wire leading to the cluster plugs. But after tearing apart my wiring, I don't think that's likely. The max draw during its glitching is 1.4 amps, so not enough to blow Fuse 2-25, which is 7.5 amps. It's also a strong indication that it's not the PCM, which I think draws 3 amps on start.

The wires just on a causal look all look good. I guess there might be an outside chance that one of the relays in the Auxilary Relay box is faulting in a closed position. But it's not in F1 or F2; all those fuses and relays check out. I don't think Fuse 2-25 powers any of the relays in the auxiliary relay box, but I'd need to do more homework to rule one way or another. There is an outside chance it could be one of the auxiliary relays. Or, perhaps one of the fusible links...but I don't think so.


PS: Everything I just wrote may sound like I have a handle on this. I don't. I'm open to suggestions and ideas. Thanks.

 

[eevox]

This is a bad problem with '04 and '05, but Ford could have done a better job with the instrument clusters. Frankly, don't run EVERYTHING through your Instrument cluster circuit board. That makes it difficult for the average person to repair. When so many systems depend on solder and thin copper tape on one circuit board, Houston, we have a problem.

The 4.0L SOHC motor isn't bad. But their timing cassette design is flawed. It would have been very easy to use metal reinforcement to make them last longer, or at least make it serviceable without an engine out.

I think I can get my engine and transmission to at least half a million miles, but that's with diligent care from new. But the electrical gremlins are driving me crazy. The instrument cluster is trash.

 

[eevox]

I'm open to ideas.

In my opinion, this is not the typical cold break problem. Of course, MAYBE there is some diode or something in the instrument cluster sending the signal to turn on. I can't find ANYTHING on the internet to show me what that might be.

As I said, the instrument cluster performs 100% when the truck is running. It's something that energizes the instrument cluster when the ignition is off. Pulling my instrument cluster and sending it off blindly seems stupid. This is NOT the typical "cold joint break" that causes instrument clusters to fail.

When mine failed, it didn't operate when the truck was running. It's not that it was coming on when the truck was off. I can find no similar experience on the internet.

The only fuse that makes it go away is F2 (fuse box inside the driver's side door) fuse 25. If I pull that fuse, the truck doesn't go nuts (e.g., odometer comes on, beeps, relays are activated, message center comes on, interior lights come on and off, radio comes on off) when the ignition is off.

 

[Everett Bartz]

Today marks a milestone for me and my 05 XLT Explorer. I learned that the accessory relay and the battery saver relay are not built into the cluster and these relays are located on top of the fuse block beneath the drivers side dash. I can interrupt the accessory relay by opening the door. I can test the battery saver relay by opening the glove box and waiting up to 40 minutes and the light in the glove box switches off. I think my cluster is fine. I thought they both may have contributed to my over amperage problem but I was wrong.

Now here is where it gets interesting. I have a meter capable of reading up to 10 Amps DC. I hooked it up and have been reading around 0.42 Amp parasitic draw with everything off. I pulled fuses, unplugged the aftermarket radio, HVAC modules, door modules so on and so forth and nothing definitive. So I disconnect the circuit through the meter that is in series with the battery and reattached the leads and the voltage will drop to the normal .020 Amps. From what I know, I am expecting the amp draw to be .020 amps all the time, that is after the modules all go to sleep. And I think a problem is being covered up by the battery saver relay, or am I wrong in thinking this?

Anyway, when I open any door, hatch or hatch window, the amp draw bumps up to 0.4 Amps and stays steady. That is until I disconnect the test lead and again it will drop back to 0.020 amps after a few minutes.

Now the built in battery saver relay turns off after a 40 minute wait but my meter times out after 15 minutes. I need to further test after building a shunt circuit to see if the 0.40 amps also drops down to 0.02 amps after the wait. I will return after I test this out.

 

[eevox]

If I turn the dimmer switch all the way off (so interior lights don't come on in off position) and I turn the radio off manually before shutting the engine down.

At the battery, I'm showing a .65 amp (650 milliamp parasitic draw) before the instrument cluster starts to glitch out. Once the instrument cluster starts to light up and do its thing, the parasitic draw jumps to 1.5 amps. Once I start to hear relays clicking closed and open, it jumps around higher (I guess depending on which relay it is activating).

While I think we have two different problems, I'm looking forward to what you find.

 

[Everett Bartz]

If I turn the dimmer switch all the way off (so interior lights don't come on in off position) and I turn the radio off manually before shutting the engine down.

At the battery, I'm showing a .65 amp (650 milliamp parasitic draw) before the instrument cluster starts to glitch out. Once the instrument cluster starts to light up and do its thing, the parasitic draw jumps to 1.5 amps. Once I start to hear relays clicking closed and open, it jumps around higher (I guess depending on which relay it is activating).

While I think we have two different problems, I'm looking forward to what you find.

Good morning, I got frustrated and tried to get a mobile mechanic to fix the Explorer. But found no one. So I did some u tub research and learned how to conduct a test for parasitic draw. I found that fuse #15 in the bettery fuse box was my source and started to disconnect things. Then I found the following. I unplugged connector C202a and the amp draw went down to 10-20 mAmps and ohmed out a switch several times and I think I found my parasite.

It was my turn signal/high low beam/windshield wiper switch that shorted between the low beams and the flash-to-pass. Ordered a new switch.

And I found this on u tub:

I wanted to know about the Can bus system and its easy.