Help! I'm a first time F150 owner. I purchased an older Ford to use as a hunting and fishing truck. It's a 2004 FX4. I've had the truck for a couple of months and it runs and drives great but recently the gauge cluster has stopped working. When the key is turned, the only thing that lights up on the dash is the airbag light. The truck will start and run and drive fine. All other electrical components seem to work while the gauges are dead with the exception of the power windows and door chime. I've disconnected the battery and come back a couple hours later, reconnected the battery, and suddenly the gauge cluster and everything else works fine (including the power windows) and will continue to work for a few days. Then one morning I'll go to start the truck and the gauge cluster is dead again. Yesterday the gauges were dead so I disconnected the battery again and left it disconnected all night. Previously, this ensured the gauge cluster would work the next morning but today, they still wouldn't come back on. This truck isn't a daily driver so sometimes it sits for several days without being started but it's really annoying to hop in to drive it and realize that I have no gauge cluster and I need to disconnect the battery for awhile to try and get it to work again.
I should also add that when we have a heavy rain, I'm noticing a little bit of water is getting in and making the carpet wet on the passenger side. The first time the gauge cluster had this issue, it was after a heavy rain. I'm not sure if the issue has ajything do to water getting in or not. Right now, the interior is very dry because I've kept it under our carport but the gauges still wouldn't work this morning. Also, a few days ago, we had a little snow and I went out to start the truck to warm it up. The cluster worked and the truck started up. I cut the heat on and went back inside. 15 minutes later, I came back out and the truck was nice and toasty and still running but the gauge cluster had gone dead, even though it was working when I started it.

The battery is about 1 year old and is showing 12.4 volts with the engine off. Could this be a battery issue? I'm unfamiliar with Fords and really don't know where to start with this issue. I'm thinking it might need a new gauge cluster, but if the cluster was bad, would disconnecting the battery for a few hours actually make a bad cluster work again? And if this is stemming from water getting in, what are the common areas to check and fix to stop water from getting in?

Thanks in advance.

 

It sounds like you found the source of your problem. Sounds like intermittent issues with corrosion.

It sounds like a leaky windshield or if it has a sunroof, that might be leaking too.

 

Thanks for your help. There isn't a sunroof but it could definitely be the windshield. What electrical contact points should I check for corrosion? I've checked the ground from the fuse box on the passenger side and it's clean.

 

Most likely an issue with cracked "cold" solder joints on one of the connectors on the back of the cluster. Seems to be a pretty common failure point.

Pull the cluster to where you can get to the connectors and wiggle them while watching. You'll find it pretty quickly if this is the cause. Some guys resolder the joints to repair the issue, others insert a wedge into the connector to jam the connectors back closed again.

Even though it's probably not related to the cluster issue, do fix the water leak issue before that one escalates to body rot.

 

Ford F-150 1997, replace the worm gear on the odometer. No problems with installation. Started the truck and the tach, fuel, speed, stopped working.
Battery is good. What do I check now to find problem?

 

As I said in another thread you replied to, open the 1997-2003 forum and click NEW THREAD.

 

Ford F-150 1997, replace the worm gear on the odometer. No problems with installation. Started the truck and the tach, fuel, speed, stopped working.
Battery is good. What do I check now to find problem?

 

Tried to find the new thread and don’t see it?

 

Go to the forum home page. Scroll down to the F-Series Trucks section, open that section if it's not already open. Scroll down to 1997-2003 F-150 and open it. Look for the NEW THREAD button. Here is a direct link:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/1997-2003-f-150-118/