Instrument Cluster needs to be replaced

[MarkToledo]

New guy here. I have a 2002 Ford Explorer 4-Door with 77K miles.

I lost all my gauges, they just died. I have no speedometer, tachometer, gas gauge, odometer, etc.

The car runs just fine.

I have some power such as the headlights and the locks. The power windows no longer work. No radio.

I took it to a shop and they couldn't figure it out after two days. They gave me a new battery and checked the charging system. I took it to a Ford Dealer and they had it for two more days before deciding that it is the instrument cluster. They said it failed. I assume one or both of the shops checked the fuses.

They wanted to charge me $1,200 for a replacement and since I don't have that kind of money, they instead charged me $100 for the information.

I see a few of these on eBay for $200 or less. I'm curious if this is a plug and play do it yourself job. I don't have a lot of mechanical expertise but I'm willing to try. My first purchase was a Haynes manual. Once that arrives, I will try to get the old one out.

I will have to log my gas usage as I have no gauge or odometer to judge it by.

Someone suggested that I go to a junk yard but 1) I don't know how to check if it works before I take it. 2) I don't know if there is any programming that needs to be done once I get it and put it in.

Any advice or suggestions?

 

[BigRondo]

Welcome aboard!!

I had similar electrical issues with my '02 XLT. The dome lights would stay on until the battery saver feature turned them off, the accessory delay wasn't working, the driver side puddle light didn't work, the keypad on the door would set off the alarm when I pressed it, the door ajar light would flash and beep at highway speeds, the radio would shut off as soon as I turned the key off, the alarm would beep twice when I armed it. Recently all 4 windows stopped working. Most recently the driver door lock actuator stopped working.

A lot of electrical issues can be traced back to broken/damaged wire(s) in the boot between the body and the driver's door. I found 3 broken wires and repaired them. The thin black ground wire was broken and after repairing it all was back to normal. When the windows stopped working, I repaired the thick black ground wire and the windows now work like a champ. I had to repair the pink/black wire to fix the driver door lock actuator.

Here is the thread for removing the door panel: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=303524

Here is a great thread for checking for broken/damaged wires, thanks to synyster for this awesome write-up: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=270081

Unfortunately the pictures are no longer available in the above thread. IIRC, I believe I unwrapped the wires enough to gain access. When I have gone searching in there I had an idea of what wire I was looking for. I located the the wire I was looking for and gently tugged on that wire on the door side. The wire was pulled toward me and out of the harness. I then went inside the vehicle and gently tugged on the the wire I was looking for and was able to pull it inside the vehicle. I then spliced a length of wire to the 2 ends, completing the circuit. I then gently pulled the excess into the door.

Be sure to take your time when looking for broken/damaged wire(s). Check all the wires for breaks/damage. When you think you're done looking, look again, and again, and again. A bright flashlight can be very helpful.


I would start there. I can forward more info after you determine if you have any broken/damaged wires.

Also recommend searching for you issue. Here is a current thread dealing with the same issue: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396266

Good luck getting it sorted.

Please keep us posted as feedback helps others reading this post looking for a fix to the same or similar issue!

 

[MarkToledo]

Thanks for the response and the info. I appreciate that you found that other thread as it is pretty much identical to my situation. I responded to that thread as well. Hopefully we can put our heads together and come up with something.

 

[tommyz]

New guy here. I have a 2002 Ford Explorer 4-Door with 77K miles.

I lost all my gauges, they just died. I have no speedometer, tachometer, gas gauge, odometer, etc.

The car runs just fine.

I have some power such as the headlights and the locks. The power windows no longer work. No radio.

I took it to a shop and they couldn't figure it out after two days. They gave me a new battery and checked the charging system. I took it to a Ford Dealer and they had it for two more days before deciding that it is the instrument cluster. They said it failed. I assume one or both of the shops checked the fuses.

They wanted to charge me $1,200 for a replacement and since I don't have that kind of money, they instead charged me $100 for the information.

I see a few of these on eBay for $200 or less. I'm curious if this is a plug and play do it yourself job. I don't have a lot of mechanical expertise but I'm willing to try. My first purchase was a Haynes manual. Once that arrives, I will try to get the old one out.

I will have to log my gas usage as I have no gauge or odometer to judge it by.

Someone suggested that I go to a junk yard but 1) I don't know how to check if it works before I take it. 2) I don't know if there is any programming that needs to be done once I get it and put it in.

Any advice or suggestions?

I have a 04 XLT 48K no guages, power windows, radio, tack just bounces up and down, traced it to the Instrument Cluster went bad, sent it to Instrument Cluster store, in PA $280, now works fine, PS you have to have the rebuilt one cloned to your old one in order to have the mileage correct and for the original key to work.