# Lost instrument cluster on 04F350



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

In the 12/30 storm, my plow was running with a short unknown to me. i assume it's connected, but may not be. The truck at the time eventually shut down all together, and had symptoms of a dead battery. Although I was able to get it started again without a jump, it ran poor and quit three more times limping back to the yard. So there may be an issue with the alternator too. I charged the batt over night, and I checked the fuses under the dash, and they are good. Any thoughts? Plow is not plugged in rights now.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

Check the alternator output, have it load tested to make sure it is working correctly. If the alternator is bad, I strongly suggest replacing it with a Motorcraft unit or a new aftermarket from a supplier like Denso, a lot of remans use the wrong regulator and it causes problems.

And fix the short.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

But what about the cluster? If its not the fuse, what else could have happened? I have removed the short from the equation already.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

The cluster will, for lack of better terms, freak the hell out if it does not have sufficient voltage.

Are all functions dead in the cluster?


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

Also, as far as testing goes, I prefer to test them on the vehicle, a lot of times bench testing them will yield **** results.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Whole cluster is dead. Batt has a full charge from the trickle charger. Fuse is good.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

I have had a few of these trucks have connection issues at a harness to the right of the steering column, its a green connector. May want to check it to see if it is loose. It is the power feed to the cluster and a few other things.


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

My 02 did that. There was a short in the shifter or column. Recheck fuse #46.


----------



## Mark Witcher (Feb 21, 2004)

I had something similar thing happen to my 2008 F450. Everything shut down , truck would lose all electrical power. Turned out to be the place that installed my plow had piggy backed into the fuse block under the hood for the plow controller. Was causing the main control to the computer to shut down. My suggestion is take it to the dealer to get it fixed.


----------



## CHCSnowman (Nov 11, 2006)

I agree with Grandview. My 2004 F250 did same thing. Wire in tilt wheel had bad spot, most likely it is happening when you put truck in reverse with plow on. Replace fuse #46 whether it is bad or not then have column repaired.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Electrical issues are the bane of my existence.. I checked out the alt and the reg is shot. Will replace that tomorrow and ill let yall know what comes of it. Thank you much.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Replaced alternator today. No dash still. Took the whole truck back to the parts store. They hook it up in truck and says failed regulator. Rip it out put another new one in, failed regulator. WTF is going on here? I checked #46 and it is good, but the question begs to be asked, what does a left low beam headlight fuse have to do with my dash? The blinkers work, the direction arrows show up on the dash too, horn etc


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

We have snow coming in on sunday and I cant afford to be having this issue right now.


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Maybe they changed position. In the 02 that fuse ran the regulator and dash cluster .So when it popped the reg,stopped charging and gauges stopped working.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

If the IP does not power up, the regulator will not work.

Did you check the connector I referred to by the column?


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/256814-fuse-panel-diagram.html

Not sure try this. #7?


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

grandview;1556109 said:



> Maybe they changed position. In the 02 that fuse ran the regulator and dash cluster .So when it popped the reg,stopped charging and gauges stopped working.


According to the manual, fuses # 45 and 31 both are associated with the instrument cluster. THey both appear to be solid.


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Need to find the regulator fuse and check it.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

You did verify you have power at the big cable out of the alternator right? There is a fusible link in that circuit that blows sometimes when a big load is on them.

Test light to ground on clip, tip of light to large battery stud on alternator with engine off. If you have a light, no problem. But I got a sneaking suspicion the fusible link is popped.


Also, there is no regulator fuse on this.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

There must be some other part or wiring that was effected by the shorted out plow.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

Check the large power feed to see if you have power there from the battery. If you have nothing, the fusible link needs to be replaced.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

hatefulmechanic;1556155 said:


> You did verify you have power at the big cable out of the alternator right? There is a fusible link in that circuit that blows sometimes when a big load is on them.
> 
> Test light to ground on clip, tip of light to large battery stud on alternator with engine off. If you have a light, no problem. But I got a sneaking suspicion the fusible link is popped.
> 
> Also, there is no regulator fuse on this.


What you say makes sense, and I accidentally arched the power cable with a socket wrench when reattaching the first new alternator. Where is this power fuse you speak of
?


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

What connector are you specifically referring to in the collum Hateful?


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

Pretty close to the main positive battery cable, there are a couple of fusible links there. That one should be an 18ga link. If you dont have power, tug on the end opposite where it is fed from the battery. If you tug on them the one that is blown will break apart.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Looking for my farkin test light right now.......


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

Personally I prefer a DMM, I think a test light should be banned from almost every toolbox on the planet.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

While I'm looking, is there any other possible reasons this is happening?


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Ill go buy a multimeter then.. I suck at electrical.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

So just put the tester on the power cable to the alt and I got a bright light. I really hate electrical problems. The alternator report on all three is coming up bad regulator, the fuses are good, and there is power to the alternator. What else do I have to check? How about relays? Am I missing anything else?


----------



## CHCSnowman (Nov 11, 2006)

I am sorry, my fuse was either 35 or 41 that was bad. Replace them even if they look good......and give it a try.


----------



## hatefulmechanic (Dec 27, 2012)

ducaticorse;1556547 said:


> So just put the tester on the power cable to the alt and I got a bright light. I really hate electrical problems. The alternator report on all three is coming up bad regulator, the fuses are good, and there is power to the alternator. What else do I have to check? How about relays? Am I missing anything else?


Well that's good in a way. The fusible link is still good.

You need to dynamic test all the fuses in the panel because there are multiple feeds to the cluster.

Pulling them out and looking at them is not an accurate way to check. Look at the top of the fuses, ya see the two little metal titties on them?










Fire the truck up, and take a test light to each spot on each fuse. First one side, then the other. Some will not light up at all (those are powered in the start position, lights on, etc) but if you get one that lights up on one side, and not the other, ya got a popped fuse.

The underdash center is the main one that feeds the cluster circuits, without knowing the build date there are a few options but most have about 5 power feeds that are fused, some are not labeled as IP or Cluster so it gets tricky sometimes.

Get the cluster working first, then recheck the alternator. Like I said before, you really gotta watch it on these units as reman, I have been bitten before with the incorrect regulator and they don't work.



CHCSnowman;1556750 said:


> I am sorry, my fuse was either 35 or 41 that was bad. Replace them even if they look good......and give it a try.


See above for better testing method. A lot of people do not know how to properly check for a blown fuse, and the method above works well at finding poor connections in a terminal socket at the fuse (typically from an installer using a fuse tap to get a power connection for an accessory)


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Off I go with my tester.... I have been doing some extracurricular research, and I have seen that thes things go dead sometimes due to a scraped and arching od cable in the dash, and/or a dead circuit board but the only symptoms that match are the dead cluster, and not the continuous alt reg fail. Really hoping I dont need to replace the ******* dash.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Fixed. 

Now I am going to take the original alt to get it tested and see if it is good or not. Seeing as all the other new ones tested bad too while the dash was still dead..


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Fixed what?


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

grandview;1559229 said:


> Fixed what?


Dash cluster.

Ended up being fuse number 45 ignition switch/run start, which to me makes no damned sense because the truck still started fine. Ironically enough, BOTH fuses linked to the instrument cluster in the manual had nothing to do with the cluster being dead. WTF?

Anyway, just got back from advanced auto and they benched the og alt and it came up bad. Everything else is running fine now. Out of pocket cost is $165 for the new alternator and a little bit of frustration.


----------



## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Also, how on earth do you silence the incessant chime alarm that is constantly going off whenever the door is ajar? It is terrible....


----------

