What could be causing complete instrument and radio failure?
Asked by Sean Apr 05, 2013 at 12:23 AM about the 2000 Ford Falcon
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My speedometer remains at zero, the temperature gauge is consistently at halfway, the fuel gauge typically shows 1/4 tank but at times rises to just under 1/2 (it is not an accurate reading), the digital readouts are all gibberish and the radio does not work.
The first time the entire dash died I pulled the fuse for the EEC, fuse 20 cluster batt, and the dash worked again for a short time.
However it has since failed and I can not find a way to resolve it, or figure out what the cause could be.
Any advice on this matter would be appreciated.
16 Answers
I don't have a answer. I was surprised to see the Ford Falcon name. I remember the US models from the 70's. I see that yours is Australian.
migration_judge_roy answered 11 years ago
Bad chassis ground, 1/0 cable to frame/chassis and also to engine block...assure all connections have been wirebrushed free of corrosion- that'll fix ya~
migration_judge_roy answered 11 years ago
The battery's freshness can be a contributor as well, no component likes 'brown' power, if your battery is more than seven years old is begging to be recycled~
On the radio, check the fuses. Did you do any under dash work with the ground wires?
Yes it is an Australian model. Thank you Judge, I will attend to that now and let you know how it goes.
Tenspeed, I did replace the brake switch and notice a bad connection when I installed the new one, I was able to clean up that connection though. I have also replaced the battery a couple of months ago.
Cleaned the ground connections from batter to block and block to chassis. Still no joy.
migration_judge_roy answered 11 years ago
a "global" reset of your computer by removing the positive cable and counting one mississippi, two mississippi and replacing this, resetting your electronics and hopefully your troubles will disappear. else we are going to start looking at the firewall and under the dash near the fuse block for partially vibrated loose connectors~
I have the driver side door panel off as I was sure I could here a short as I was driving, but have not been able to locate any bare or frayed wires as of yet. I have tried resetting the computer by disconnecting the positive on a few occasions and have just tried it again. Unfortunately no joy.
migration_judge_roy answered 11 years ago
would start looking for as loose paired connectors and plug into at the firewall, near the fuse box and breakers, and under the dash where the instruments plug into the mains~
hanksautoct answered 10 years ago
replace your accessory relay under the dash in your fuse panel, happened to me solved the problem
try replacing switch assembly on passenger side of gearbox
Is this problem solved? i have identical problem but im from croatia and its expensive to bring parts from australia so i have to be 100% sure in problem diagnostics
BlackBerryGoose answered 4 years ago
Hi, my console is showing some idiot lights, my two way radio does not work, neither does my intermittent wipers, power windows. I have cleaned battery terminal and replaced acc relay, swapped over fuses and checked all of the rest of the relays and fuses, I even sprayed deoxit through the fuse box and gave it a thorough clean. I have looked for loose wires and also spilled a coffee over the centre console... I will pull the centre console this weekend and see if the switch on the LHS is the problem, other than that... Show me a photo of your Croatia au ford falcon, I have never seen a LHD AU ford falcon.
