I have a 06 XL 4x4. Intermittently the odometer keeps going out. Then I will restart the truck and it will be working again. Does not loose mileage. Very intermittent. I checked connections and they seem tight. Can I just swap out the odometer or do I need to swap out the whole instrument cluster. If I do have to swap the cluster can I throw in a Lariat or FX4 cluster and gain stuff or will it not work with my XL wiring. Thanks for any help.

 

It may be telling you that the battery is getting weak. The gauges on these trucks do some weird things when the battery starts to go.

 

X2 yes they sure do

 

x3

I recommend a Optima Yellow Top.

Or Interstate batteries work wonders too.

 

X4,

and X2 on Optima or Interstate, both great batteries.

 

I had put it on the battery tender to bring it up to full just cause I had not driven it in two weeks or so. But I will get the battery tested. There is a Salvage yard locally that has a Lariat in it. Will that gauge set just plug right in and work? Thanks.

 

Yes, it will plug in and it will work, but you have to get it reflashed at the dealer for everything to function, and they correct the mileage. Do a search on the subject and you should find several threads discussing the swap.

But, I highly doubt there is anything wrong with yours. I would definitly get the battery checked first. You may want to do the swap anyway for cosmetic reasons.

 

im in the process of putting a lariat cluster in my XLT. My odometer failed, I no longer have any black writing..... There is lost of discussion on here about this. The hard part is finding someone to correct the millage on your new cluster i have quotes from 80-300 in the Detroit area

 

I am thinking that it may be my battery. (Hopefully) I drove the truck for several hours today and after the first half hour the black letters on my odometer cam back on. It is the original battery so it is due for one anyways. There is a Lariat with a dash near me. In good shape. I was really hoping mileage was stored in ECM not dash. I will still probably upgrade for the looks ut I will ask the local dealer first how much to change my milage over. Thanks.

 

Happened to me, a squirrel had chewed through a connection.

 

I talked to a local Ford mechanic and he says no way is this an indication of a weak battery. He says $400 to fix the cluster.

 

It may not be the battery on yours, but that has been the case for several on the site. Th gauges start flashing, if you have an Edge monitor, it goes blank. If you trust them, go with what they say. How old is your battery? If it's nearing 3 years, I would change the battery first and see what happens. You won't be wasting much money as many batteries don't last much over 3 years. Mine died at 35 months. Left me stranded with no warning what so ever.

 

I had this same exact problem on my 06 stx, turned out to be the cluster, thankfully at the time it happened it was under warrantee. maybe try the battery first and then if that doesnt work try swapping the cluster. almost any dealer will only charge an hours worth of labor to reflash the pcm so roughly 80 is what you should be looking at if you install the cluster yourself. good luck.

 

holy coincidence.

i just today got back from a trip to carlilse, PA. About halfway through my display went out. after a little bit down the road in stop and go traffic, i noticed that if i went below the speed where the auto door locks kick in, it would try to lock the doors. then a little later, the display would intermittently flash. we took a break for dinner and i got a "check gauges" message, though all the needles were fine, so i turned the truck off and turned it back on. everything was fine after that.

 

I love the comforts and features of modern trucks, but these electrical/computer problems can be a bugger to solve. Sometimes i wish we could go back to simple stuff. thats one of the reasons im almost glad i have manual windows, locks and mirrors. its a few less things to break or go wrong.