[Bigplanz]

Excellent! I have found my first thing to repair on my Navigator. (Busting out a rusted trailer hitch doesn't, well, really count as a "repair")

This thing drives great (except for the 12 MPH gas mileage, but no complaints). One thing, however, is that it is afflicted with the Ford "now you see it, now you don't" electronic odometer. This, I have discovered, is common to Ford/Lincolns and is related to a bad solder joint on the instrument panel. Take the panel out, solder it, supposedly the problem is gone. Attached are photos. Anybody done this repair, on a Navigator or Expedition of this era (2000)?

 

[Bigplanz]

Wow, maybe I'll just learn to love it.

http://sparkys-answers.com/2013/09/2003-ford-f150-odometer-works-sometimes.html

 

[de-nagorg]

That's an all day job just getting the dash apart.

Cold solder joints are a common malady on many PCB'S , and keeps electronic techs in grocery money.

Good luck with it.

ED

 

[r0ckstarr]

Wow, maybe I'll just learn to love it.

http://sparkys-answers.com/2013/09/2003-ford-f150-odometer-works-sometimes.html

It's not as hard as it looks. I don't have a Navigator, but I do have 2 Rangers. The process for getting the gauges out doesn't look much different. On my '96, I have had the cluster out at least 10 times. I can remove the entire gauge cluster in about 15mins. Surely getting the cluster out shouldn't take you more than an hour.

 

[Bigplanz]

I took the instrument panel out of my Villager about six months ago, to replace all the bulbs that had burned out. Only one still worked. That wasn't difficult. Two screws held in the bezel and the switches just popped off. Four more screws held on the instrument panel, then just rotate it to get to the backside to replace the bulbs. I didn't even have to unplug it. It took about 20 minutes.

This is considerably more complicated, since getting it out is the easy part. I will think about it for a while. Odometer is the least important guage on the whole panel, and everything else works great. Don't want to screw something else up to fix something relatively trivial.

 

[r0ckstarr]

I took the instrument panel out of my Villager about six months ago, to replace all the bulbs that had burned out. Only one still worked. That wasn't difficult. Two screws held in the bezel and the switches just popped off. Four more screws held on the instrument panel, then just rotate it to get to the backside to replace the bulbs. I didn't even have to unplug it. It took about 20 minutes.

This is considerably more complicated, since getting it out is the easy part. I will think about it for a while. Odometer is the least important guage on the whole panel, and everything else works great. Don't want to screw something else up to fix something relatively trivial.

How much practice have you had soldering? Got any sort of electronics that don't work that you could practice on? That's how I taught myself. On my '04 Ranger, the bulb for the passenger airbag went out. This made the airbag light on the dash light up, and prevented the truck from passing inspection. Ford's replacement was to replace the entire housing for a few hundred dollars. I found the correct bulb for less than a dollar, and un-soldered the old one, then soldered in the new one. It was a lot easier than I expected and has been working fine for the last 2yrs. I used a cheap soldering kit from Radio Shack.

https://www.radioshack.com/collecti...-piece-basic-soldering-set?variant=5717865349

 

[Brainbucket]

Typical Ford instrument cluster problems. If you can solder then you can you tube this and fix it. If not you can use circuit board medics.com I use them when the cluster is more than just resoldering the joints.:vs_cool:

 

[ktkelly]

Gotta be brave sometimes.....


I had a BMW 7 series where the entire display would go out.

Turned out that the computer was part of the display. Bmw price was $2,400.00 to replace the whole thing.

I fixed it for $3.00 with some capacitors from radio shack and four hours of my Saturday.

 

[Bigplanz]

Gotta be brave sometimes.....


I had a BMW 7 series where the entire display would go out.

Turned out that the computer was part of the display. Bmw price was $2,400.00 to replace the whole thing.

I fixed it for $3.00 with some capacitors from radio shack and four hours of my Saturday.

If I lost the whole display, then, yeah, go for it. Nothing to lose. Just the Odometer, eh, not such a big deal. Sometime this summer, I will probably take an afternoon off work, go to pull apart and take out an instrument panel on an Expedition or Nav (if they have one). Get a feel for removing it, first, then take it home and study up on taking it apart, soldering, etc. Practice on the junk yard part, not your own car, is sort of my approach.

 

[Bigplanz]

This video is exactly what i need to do. The dash trim layout and instrument panel of a 2000 Expedition is exactly like mine.

 

[ktkelly]

If I lost the whole display, then, yeah, go for it. Nothing to lose. .

Well, the only time it all went out was when I stepped on the brakes, which was only a problem for everyone behind me....:devil3:

 

[Bigplanz]

Everything on the panel is a needle gauge, except the odometer. Not sure about a BMW.

 

[ChuckF.]

Wow, maybe I'll just learn to love it.

http://sparkys-answers.com/2013/09/2003-ford-f150-odometer-works-sometimes.html

Where you live do they have to read your odometer to pass emissions?

 

[Bigplanz]

Where you live do they have to read your odometer to pass emissions?

No, Louisville eliminated its emissions testing requirement about 15 years ago. Fortunately, the odometer worked when i transferred the title from NY. The sheriff deputy had to read it for the transfer.

 

[r0ckstarr]

No, Louisville eliminated its emissions testing requirement about 15 years ago.

No emissions testing at all? That must be nice.

 

[de-nagorg]

No emissions or even safety testing in Wyoming either.

ED

 

[r0ckstarr]

If we didn't have emissions testing here, my '96 Ranger would be sporting a different motor.

 

[Bigplanz]

If we didn't have emissions testing here, my '96 Ranger would be sporting a different motor.

The had emissions testing for years, and then the state legislature decided to ban local municipalities from having one. Something about infringing on freedom or something. The city had to get some sort of permission/waiver from the EPA because of the state wide ban.

Edit to add: no yearly safety inspection required here either. Out of state transfers require inspection by the sheriffs department. Very minimal. Horn, headlights, turn signals and brake lights, no cracked windshield and you pass.

 

[r0ckstarr]

The had emissions testing for years, and then the state legislature decided to ban local municipalities from having one. Something about infringing on freedom or something. The city had to get some sort of permission/waiver from the EPA because of the state wide ban.

Edit to add: no yearly safety inspection required here either. Out of state transfers require inspection by the sheriffs department. Very minimal. Horn, headlights, turn signals and brake lights, no cracked windshield and you pass.

Interesting. They check all of that except windshield here. My windshield is cracked badly along the bottom and I pass. The last time I counted, I had 14 stars from rocks. :laughing:

 

[Bigplanz]

Interesting. They check all of that except windshield here. My windshield is cracked badly along the bottom and I pass. The last time I counted, I had 14 stars from rocks. :laughing:

Oh, I forgot, they make you turn your windshield wipers on too. Other than that, any car you can imagine can get registered to drive on the public streets in KY. Cops can (and WILL) pull you over for one headlight, no brake lights, etc. but you can register any POS car you want here.