I have decided to do the swap; had the mileage programmed and
all went well took less then 20 minutes. However as others here have experienced I am now minus the "door ajar" warning, key buzzer and the headlight buzzer. Not a big deal; the XLT cluster does include a outside temp reading and I believe directional indicator.
Has anyone been able to make these work without going to FORD for the "reset procedure" or whatever it is called.
Many electronic components require a reset of some kind and most are quite simple if you know what they are. Is this one of those components or does it require specialized equipment?

Thanks in advance MRC

 

What'd it cost you? did you do the swap yourself & take it in for a reset, or did they do everything? is there really a core charge for the old display?

 

Why would you switch from the XLT instrument, which has the tachometer, to the STX, which doesn't?

 

Clarificaton- cluster is from a XLT to my STX, bought on ebay gave a hundred bucks plus 10 to ship. I installed it myself hence the question on programing.

 

Gotcha!

 

I sure hope Ford is paying attention to what all you guys with STX's are doing to your trucks. I've seen alot of threads in these forums with questions about how to swap clusters to get a tach in these trucks. Let's hope Ford learned something from the first run of the '04's and includes a tach in the '05's. It would make sense to have a tach in what is supposed to be their sporty model.

 

I have fielded many questions in private regarding the swap but the answers still elude me! Does anyone have access to a Service manual or a CD rom that can be copied ?
This really is quite a simple swap it just leaves a functions disabled; but the tach is more important than the chimes. The outside airtemp I never had before so I dont miss it, just annoyed that I cant make it work like it should.......

 

If I were guessing, I would say that you are missing some sensors. Maybe someone that knows for sure will either confirm or negate this, but my XLT has two sensors between the grille and the radiator that I assume are outside temp and compass sensors... Kevin

 

You have to take it to your dealer and have them update the PCM for the XLT cluster. Shouldn't take them more than an hour. At least that's what they'll charge you for anyway. I had it done for the FX4 cluster in my XL and it was only an issue that they didn't know what was suppose to be done. The guy that did the update for my cruise control was off that day. So now 2 guys at the local dealer know what to do. I love the fact that they had to figure it out as that gave me a $$$$ break.

That is the only way to get all the functions back.

Good luck,
Matt

 

Matt,

I bought an '04 XL today, and had the dealer install the FX4 instrument cluster. I was wondering whether you have the outside temp and compass working on your truck?

 

i to have an stx and have installed a fx4 cluster. there are a couple of issues when doing this first the install is easy and flawless and makes such a difference BUT after the install no door chime no key in the igniton notifacation and the big prob. is that now the dome light doesnt work with the door swiches ie when you open the door you have no cab lights. i no its the gauge set cuz i reinstalled the old one to verify. also no temp or compass. im gonnna take it to the dealer they should be able to reprogram the module. but i dont want a hassle from them!!!

 

I have the FX4 panel sitting here, but can't find anyone in the Southern California area to adjust the mileage. Several dealerships are willing to program the pcm, or put the ip in for me, but I'm supposed to get the mileage programed elsewhere, as they don't do that. anyone have a clue to where I can get this done?
Thanks
Chris