thank you i just bought a 99 with the same problem and i am now going to go that and save alot of money thanks again

 

Thanks for this awesome post! Finished fixing mine and everything is working fine

 

If anyone still watches this thread, I was wondering if this has been done on a '05 or later vehicle? I finally pulled my cluster once I realized I didnt have to drop the entire dash. :/ Its actually pretty easy, however none of the photos apply to the newer dashes.

If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it. My odomter doesnt even blink any more its just a bright green block on my dash :-(

 

Steve, I own a 2006 model that had the exact same issue you're describing. (My odometer went from blinking out about half the time to not displaying at all anymore. I just saw the green backlit block with no digits showing on it.)

I saw another post on here from an '06 owner who said he tried to do the repair described here, and failed - because nothing was like the photos. (He said something about trying to pry something apart to get to the circuit board for the odometer and wound up screwing up his instrument cluster.)

I posted a message a while back, after seeing that, asking if anyone on here succeeded in repairing a 2006+ model, and heard nothing. So I finally just gave up and took my car in to the dealer for service. (Just as the article warned, Ford quoted me about $740 to do the repair; $350 or so for the instrument cluster replacement part and the rest in labor.)

I actually emailed their technician links to this message thread and one other one out there, to illustrate how common this problem is and in hopes they could do a repair instead of just swapping the whole thing. The tech. claimed he tried to do the repair but found the odometer was sealed up in the instrument cluster, and circuit boards weren't accessible.

(So what's the story here? Ford realized this is an issue, so rather than correcting the problem, they just made sure we can't repair it ourselves anymore??)

$740 later, mine works again, but as it went out with under 50,000 miles on the truck - I hope I don't have to revisit this one around 100K miles?

 

Fixed mine today

 

Thanks Kingtj, thats exactly what I was afraid of. Its a shame because it is so simple to remove the cluster. I am shopping around now to see if there is a company that repairs this particular cluster. If I find anything out I will of course post the response here.

However as far as me giving a Ford dealer $800 to fix this, they can forget about it, not happening. Oh and FYI mine went out at less that 50K abour 43K I think, but my truck was already out of warranty at this point.

 

I have a 2005 SuperCrew and it's has always blinked or flashed the odometer (outside temp, compass) But this week, at about 43K, it'll go completely blank. Lit green LCD, and it may flash on a couple times, but its hard to catch.

So I guess if I want it fixed, I need to replace the whole cluster? Is it pretty easy to take out?

Sean

 

Well, thanks to this awesome thread, I finally got up the guts to tackle the same problem with my '02 Explorer. I must say that had I not found this site, I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to do it. The design of mine wasn't anything like the one described in Greg's original post, but close enough.

My dash was a piece of cake to take apart. The only problem that I encountered was the shift indicator linkage. I remembered how someone had mentioned this in this thread and managed to come up with a third set of fingers to remove this assembly from the bottom of the cluster. Unfortunately, I broke the cable in the process. It still works just fine though.

Like I said, my cluster's circuit board wasn't anything like Greg's. The odometer display connected to the main board via a micro-ribbon connector. I disconnected it and proceeded to re-solder all of the pins even though they didn't appear to need it. What I did find was that there are four large blue resistors on the main board near this connector that had gotten hot enough to begin turning brown. The heat had caused their solder joints to weaken and some mild scorching on the board itself. I used a solder wick to remove all of the original solder and redid them from scratch. Since these resistors are fairly large, these solder joints were very easy to fix.

What I found is that each of the gauges' servo-motors connected to the main board via four posts that pass through matching connectors. Gently prying the board away with only fingertip pressure was enough to separate it from the gauge cluster panel. The only physical connection between the units was the micro ribbon cable in the left corner for the odometer display. By releasing the board and then swinging it to the left, I was able to disconnect this cable fairly easily. Reassembly was equally-easy, just using gentle fingertip pressure to push the board back down over the servo-motor pins.

Perhaps the most amazing thing to me was that I only needed three tools for this project; a 1/4" socket wrench, a Phillips screwdriver and a Torx driver. Of course, I needed the described soldering iron and solder. The optional solder wick, Windex and a shop towel didn't add much to the required materials list.

Including cleaning the cluster window, the entire process only took me an hour and maybe another ten minutes to put my tools away. I took it for a test drive and found it to work just like new. I couldn't be happier. Mine has been on the fritz for at least five years, but it didn't go out completely until this summer. Now that it has started to get colder, it did start to work, but it was very dim. Since I have to get my state inspection by the end of the month, I knew I'd have to bite the bullet and fix it.

Thanks to everyone here who has kept this most impressive thread alive. I owe a lot of people here a cold one for sure!

 

I have a 99 F150 XLT extended cab pickup. My odometer has been blanking out for quite some time and was staying off longer and longer. Taping on the dash would not get it back on. A week ago I went to start my truck and it would turn over but not start. The odometer was displaying dashes and the “Theft” light was displaying inside the instrument cluster. I called the dealership that I take my truck to and they worked with me over the phone trying to get my truck to start but never could. I had to get my truck towed to the dealership. After a day in the shop I was told the instrument cluster had to be replaced due to the odometer display malfunctioning. I pointed the service manager to this thread on how to repair the circuit board. The dealership pulled the instrument cluster, followed the directions and repaired the circuit board. My truck is now starting fine and I drive it to work everyday. I read somewhere in this thread that the odometer blanking out would not cause any issues. On some models it will not be an issue, but if your truck is equipped with factory anti-theft as mine it will cause you a problem. The dealership told me when I switched my truck on and the display shorted out, it caused the display to show dashes and activated the anti-theft system which prevented my truck from starting. So don’t wait too long like I did.

I wanted to pass along what happened to my truck so anyone who encounters the same problem would know not to replace the instrument cluster but just follow the instructions in this thread.

Thank you for the article because it saved me from having to replace the entire instrument cluster.

 

Hey Sean,
I am not sure about the super duty, but if is the same as mine the entire process took about 30 minutes to get the cluster out. My odomerter quit at 43K as well.

There are 2 bolts on the bottom valence and then 2 clips take that off the top is the same way. 4 more bolts for the shield piece and 4 bolts for the cluster itself. pop off the 2 cable harnesses lift the cluster up and release the gear selector indicator and it is out.

 

Thank's for this post, My local insp. station refused to pass my truck this year because of the odometer not always coming. Working great thank's again

 

What can i say? These forums rock!

Thanks to everyone who posted on here. Just did my odometer in less then 45 mins.

Rip

 

Just finished the fix.Awesome info.guys,thanks.The headlight switch trick,worked as said,I to needed a few shots,but yes,it works like magic.i have an auto.Anyone that takes their auto indicator out,pay attention how it slides in,once removed,if you didnt take note of how it slides out,you may have difficulity figuring how or where it slides in.Only because I didnt pay much attention ,MY 53 YR old eyes and angle I was working at,made it that much more difficult.I'm happy Ford made the access to the unit farily easy to get at .Big differance from yrs.ago.Thanks again guys,this fix and the GOTTS Mod made my sweet find that much etter. happened across a 99 f150 Lariet in pristine cond.25000 miles.Owned by a little old guy that wanted to 'TRADE HIS OLD TRUCK 'in for "CASH 4 CLUNKERS"then he thought the dealer was jerking him around because they wouldn't do the truck under the plan.Naturally they didn't want to distroy this beauty and the old guy deserverd a better trade in.i gave my old 95 f150 with 170000 and $6400,out the door.this truck is showroom.Excuse my braggin.thanks again

 

Thanks Greg! I came across this post early this morning and decided to finally fix that annoying odometer. I have been dealing with it for about a year. If I knew it was that easy of a fix, I would have fixed it along time ago. Thanks Again!

 

I just completed this fix and couldn't be happier. I think it took all of about an hour and a half. I had three solder joints that needed fixing. This is the second time this forum has saved me several hundred dollars in repair bills. The first time was my EGR system was clogged, and now (with this great write-up) I was able to fix my odometer. It's been giving me trouble for the last couple of years. I tried all the other things people mentioned, like tapping the dash, but it's just gotten worse. As I use my F-150 for business, I need to keep track of my mileage. I couldn't do that when the odometer wouldn't light up.