I was one of the unsuspecting Ford Focus owners who came across this problem not so long ago. Transmission Malfunction and Engine warnings had me worried at first but it quickly didn’t add up, especially when it was intermittent. Some searching on the web had revealed that it was the pesky instrument cluster. This video helped me understand exactly what I needed to do and gave me the confidence to buy a soldering iron and try and fix the problem myself. A week later after the repair, it appears to have been successful. Whilst I didn’t have a microscope, I could still in fact see cracking on the original solder, so a re-solder of all the joints gives that extra security for any further mishaps. I will check in from time to time and update readers of this comment section but for now, the issue seems to have been fixed. Thank you to the creator of this video, you have helped so much!
@@noddyhasgame Thank you so much brother. This video and your comment gave me the confidence to carry out this repair myself. My first time soldering and everything went well, hopefully that’s the end to the instrument cluster problem for me.
My car, all of a sudden while driving, went completely bonkers, all lights, various warnings Engine Failure, Gearbox Failure. I thought the worst, did a search, heard of this common problem. Found this guide video, and within a couple of hours was all back in the car and working perfectly again. Great video, well done and thank you.
I have had to perform this fix on the wife's motor. With this guide, it was effortless but for the need for a magnifying glass. The usb microscope makes it seem like it can be seen without some kinda magnification but I found that my camera had a macro mode on it so I used that to identify the cracked solder joints. All I did was reheat the joints with a hot tip and used a tiny amount of solder but anyone can fix this with a cheap solder kit and this guide. Brilliant video, thank you.
This exact issue has been causing start up problems for a couple of months. Diagnostics scans cost £80 and that’s before any repair work takes place. Car wouldn’t start but pressing on the instrument panel brought the engine to life. So definitely symptomatic of failing connectors. Reflowed them and the engine started up first time. No warning lights since. Thank you so much for making this guide you saved me a lot of time and money.
Great video. The only thing I would advise doing differently is regarding removing the needles; they do not need to be *twisted* off. It's better to pull them directly up and off - use a fork or teaspoon to pry them up if they're stiff. When reinstalling, press them directly down in the same position that you lifted them off. By twisting them as you remove, you will almost certainly knock the stepper motor's stopping point out of position. Then when you reinstall the needles, they'll give incorrect readings. Readjusting and recalibrating them is very fiddly and time consuming.
@@paulbuswell6566 You can recalibrate them but it's very fiddly and annoying. You need to adjust the needles and stepper motor positions until they match the speed read out from the car's computer display (accessed via the service menu - Google it). A quiet empty street or large empty car park will come in handy, as you need to drive the car, but have your eyes on the read out and dials, rather than the road. Eg, if as you're driving along, the display says you're doing 40 mph, but the dials are only at 30 mph, you need to give them a slight nudge, and try again. And so on, and so on. Repeat with the RPM needle and, God forbid, the fuel one if you need to. It took me a couple of hours to get everything recalibrated when I had to do it once.
Thank you for sharing this, my wife's 2010 CMax had started messing around with engine malfunction warnings, immobiliser issues etc. The diagnostics pointed to multiple CANBUS communication issues, but it didn't seem to be related to the cluster, banging it seemingly had no effect. That said, after getting stranded in a car park with an immobilised car, I decided to open up the cluster and at each end of the connector there were dry cracked joints. I desoldered and resoldered them all to get best results and the car is working perfectly again. The garage my wife normally takes the car to wouldn't touch it, and were essentially saying it might be time to replace it, so this has saved the cost of a new car!
I had this problem a few weeks back. It wouldn't start on one occasion and a quick bang on the dash got it going which confirmed it was this particular issue so I whipped out the panel, followed the video, wasn't difficult and my focus is running fine now. This has saved me a chunk of money and hassle so a big thank you. 👍👍
@@Cripinub1 No it was difficult to see which one was faulty. In any case, it made sense to re-solder all the joints to prevent another one becoming loose so I didn't need to find the faulty one.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for this - was experiencing some problems with my car which was diagnosed as a faulty instrument cluster. Thought I would follow your video and give the repair a go, and it solved all the problems. Really clear and easy to follow. Thank you!
Followed instructions on clip. Resoldered the 32 pins under the connector. Cleared all the fault codes using ELM OBD 2 (bluetooth one), used Torque pro software to clear codes, did 25 miles driving and no problem so far. Please note that if the engine malfunction display lights up and acceleration is reduced, if you turn off engine after stopping. Then you wont be able to restart the engine. If you clear the faults using elm OBD 2 reader then the engine can be restarted and you can get home. Thank you very much for the detailed video, It's brilliant. My middle display had two connecting strips, managed to take them out by pulling out two plastic lug near the connectors.
Great video! Was having the same sorts of problems as I'd heard about, erratic dial needles, random non-starts, engine malfunction/reduced acceleration etc. Narrowed it down to this being the cause when I realised I could hit the dash above the instrument cluster to make it start up/bring the needles back to life. Was doing my head in. Saw this video and thought I'd try it myself to save some money and it worked great. My soldering is pretty sloppy and even I managed. Thanks so much!
Thank you for this video! My C Max was flashing and bleeping at me every few miles saying “Engine Malfunction, Acceleration Reduced” and then being fine again, and this resolder fixed it in half an hour. Thank you so much for posting, I’d have had NO idea how to get into that cluster!
Saved me an effing fortune this! I ended up just melting the existing solder on each pin to cover all bases as didn’t have a microscope. Piece of cake. Like one of the other comments mentioned, definitely mark the dials position before removing and prise off rather than Turn as it ruins the calibration…recaibrating was the hardest part of the job in the end.
@@Cripinub1 left the front cover off and started the car up and reset everything whilst it was running. Had to cut the cable tie that holds the wiring loom to give me the length to fiddle about with it.
Thank you for your video. I had the same kind of problems on my Focus2 (2010) : Engine warnings, and sometimes unable to start the engine (in French : défaut moteur and sometimes défaut direction assisté). I check the instrument cluster and found exactly the same cracks on connector solders. I fixed the failure one week ago, and no fault came back. Thanks a lot !
Great video. Fixed my old broken instrument cluster yesterday after buying a replacement, which was also faulty. Followed all your steps and my car runs perfectly. Brilliant
@@rangerdan8661 Good to hear, I repaired an old friends a week ago and he can't believe It's fixed the problem, He was told by the AA recovery driver that he needed a new starter motor 😡Obviously he didn't
Massive massive thank you for this video! I did some practicing on an old playstation controller, then went for the real thing and it went perfectly. Thanks again - i thought this was going to be a never ending unfixable problem
Yep, same comments as below, thanks for an informative video that showed exactly what to do. I haven't done any soldering in years so was pleased to see that I still had the skills :) although I did have to invest in magnifying glass now, I'm old.
Un enorme grazie per la dettaglita spiegazione. Un ora di lavoro e la paura é passata! Tutto sommato un'operazione abbastanza semplice per chi ha un minimo di manualità. 🎉
Great video not easy but this video got me through it brilliant ! The car runs alot better , but be warned the pins to be soldered are tiny , the LCD display is connected with a wedge system which I found very tricky and you need to rotate the dials the same way when putting them back on and make sure they hit zero so your not speeding without realising! Great Video saved me a lot of money that I don't have 🙏
Hi Jimbob5b, I read your comments about the focus cluster problems, I have had the same issue on an 06 plate, I've done the soldering which worked fine but my clocks are all over the place, tàcho falls below zero, speedo is stuck at 50mph, temp & fuel gauge are ok, any thing I can do to get them to work properly again.
@@billnolan4104 It was a long time ago and it was nightmare! I remember the way you twist the needles on the speedo was different each side , have you tried to refit the needles but setting them at zero b4 the power is on possibly, it sounds like you are almost there! It is a tricky job from start to finish. Go back over the steps and you will get there
@@newlife2281 No I didn't. To be honest I don't know what you mean with "coding" but I did nothing more than disassebling the cluster and welding the cracked connectors. I was pretty easy.
@@newlife2281 don't worry, maybe it's the right term. It's just that I don't know much about electronics. I only followed the instructions and worked. 😅
Thank you very much for your great video manual that fixed my problems with the car: acceleration reduced and engine malfunction alarms,dropping of rpm and speed needles,ESP,engine unit warnings. I found that solder on 5 of 32 pin contacts on the circuit board of the cluster were cracked...
This is why I love YT and creators like you, fixed my Cmax today suffering from this fault. only thing i would say is it would have been useful to see in more detail how you connected the LCD panel abck up as this was the part i was a bit nervous about but your hand got in the way! thank you though.
Thanks for making the video lad. Wife has been complaining of the issue past couple of weeks. 1.6 petrol auto but is coming up with same canbus errors as you had there so will give this a go tomorrow. Cheers 👍
Nice one! Glad I found this, only came looking for a video on how to get the cluster out to send away for fixing. Bought a £7.99 USB Microscope, found a couple of cracked joints, all fixed and working. Cheers. Just wish I'd thought to note precise needle positions before taking off....
My sisters focus has this issue. Car intermittently starting, dash lighting up like a Christmas tree and the Rev counter works when the weather is nice LOL. I thought it was this issue but nice to see a video about repairing it and confirming my suspicions. Thanks for your time.
I seen a spark coming from this when I was driving 6 months ago, and ever since I've been having problems with the car. Some morning id come out and the car would be dead. Do you think there's a link between the two?
Don't miss the speeded up bits, the tin cover is held on by bent tabs you have to straighten them to get it off also the that display it covers that is not plugged in it;s a ribbon so be careful if you don't know how to take a ribbon off ,,,put something thin in the first crack as this is a wedge for the ribbon it just comes up a little and the ribbon come out.....it is not a plug into the board.
Just what I was after as my 2010 Focus started exhibiting the same symptoms a couple of weeks ago and local garage won't touch electronics. Couldn't quite tell how you removed the LCD nor whether you just used a bit of flux to help the solder flow as you re-melted it, butt certainly got enough to work with. Just gotta figure out getting the cluster out of the car now! ;-)
Thanks man :) I think I´m gonna fix mine myself, after watching this :) I didn't know if you had to get the steering wheel and stuff of, to get it out. But I can see at the end of the vid, you just pulled it out after removing 2 screws ^o^ Time to dust the rust of those ol´ soldering skills :D
Almost forgot to comment, but I went for it :D It took 1 1/2 hour all in all, and I couldn't have spent my Saturday better, saving quite a bit of money :) Thx again..
I did the resoldering and the engine malfunction message disappeared. But the check engine symbol is still on. Does this mean I have another problem? The car is no longer in limp mode. Do I need to delete the fault codes or something after doing the repair to get rid of the check engine symbol?
Great video! Would this solve the problem of the light for the cluster (milage etc) not turning off after I've locked the car. It's draining my battery. Guessing it's one of these having cracks in it?
Most Ford I find take about 45 mins to fully shut down. I have a battery drain video on a VW golf if you need a process to follow on checking battery drains
Great video. My cluster currently is the basic one. Only shows milage. Can I upgrade it to have the one with the onboard computer? It's a 2006 Focus Mk2 LX.
mille grazie !! grazie al tuo video sono riuscito a sistemare il quadro della mia focus ( allla asistenza ford mi hanno chiesto 1100 euro x cambiare tutto il quadro)😀😀😀
Hi how do I calibrate the needles for it to be accurate? The needles are not accurate after I dismantled it and it doesn't work most of the time. Please help!
Might have to do this myself, my local garage just don't wanna deal with it. And I see someone who can but lives too far away. I was wondering, if you remove the instrument cluster from your car, do you just remove it with the car off right? As I can see the security red light is blinking when its off.
Very instuctive video. Got the car starting but I'm still getting the engine malfunction and reduced acceleration. I think I may have damaged the tracing on pin 1 in the process. I've tried to do a continuity test on the pins I've resoldered but I'm unable to find a point on the board for pin 1 and pin 19? Do you have access to a schematics diagram of this board or a link to where I might be able to get one?
Great video and nice clean soldering. I've had a couple of issues. Last week went to start the car and got an engine fault. Turned off ignition and back on, started fine and running sweet as a nut. Today had a similar thing happen and car displayed limited power with MPH gauge jumping up then down. Pulled over, stop, started and drove home no problems. No misfires or strange noises. Checked the codes with a cheap reader but no codes logged, pending or current. It's a 58 plate so it wouldn't surprise me if this is the problem. I will borrow a soldering iron from work and resolder to see if this cures the problem. Fingers crossed because I'm broke. 🤞
@@rmautodiag Thanks a lot. The way I see it, if it doesn't cure the problem then it least I can eliminate it without costing me anything apart from some flux. Videos like this really do help. Great work! 👍
@@chadtillotson3478 yeah I did it myself in the end. It wasn't too bad but the solders are a lot smaller than you might think so you need a steady hand. It's been months now and I haven't had any problems so it works. If you plug a diagnosis machine into your car and the code U1900 comes up then it's almost definitely the cluster. I bought a cheap diagnosis machine from Amazon for £35 to help with codes.
One question if you can mate. Isit possible to remove the silver plastic trim on the front of the cluster? I would like to change the colour of mine and was wondering if I can actually just remove the silver trim on its own?
Great video,this could actually be my issue at the moment🙏🙏 I’m getting engine malfunction and power steering fault come up on mine BUT it drives fine the immobiliser was playing up as well. I did notice that when the malfunction come up my Speedo and Rev counter stopped working as well, so hopefully this could be my answer to my problem🙏🙏🙏. Scared to hell of taking mine apart though 😬😬😬😬
Hi Richard , have you got a video on focus st rear near side light cluster no power to light . Brake light works ok . . Any idea where these go faulty .
Yes I have seen the bulb holders become faulty on the mk2 focus. If you want a quick and dirty test remove both rear lights and swap the offending bulb holder side to side and see if it moves the fault👍
Warning lights, needles and alarms would go off randomly on 2008 Focus nearly every time I drove it. Sometimes wouldn't even start, but thanks to your diagnostic video I knew to waggle the cluster to get going. I was resigned to having to get rid of an otherwise sound vehicle (42,000 miles) but thought s*** or bust and took it apart. I was reluctant to deal with a surface-mount, computer-related board but the offending connector is through-hole so no prob. Sorted! Having reassembled I found the needles had come off zero so had to be reset again. And only on it's last journey into position did I realise that the whole cluster assy will fit between the spokes of the steering wheel - I'd been forcing it behind. Duh! Many, many thanks for such a clear & concise demo and giving the wherewithal to save an expensive replacement, by which I mean car: it was unusable and unsellable. Now it has a 12 month MOT and should do me until I go EV.
Great video. Wish I was confident around car electrics. I'm lookingvto get u1900 issue sorted on my Cmax by a pro. What sort of ball park figures should I be looking at for a repair? Gives me an idea if I'm going to be ripped off.
Hey ,sweet video. Have you ever done a 2002 transit connect cluster befor ? The back lighting seems to stay on and flashing on and off and drains my battery could this be the same problem ? Thanks in advance
Thanks for the great work you showed us My car is giving malfunction warning when am switching on the headlights could that be the cluster instrument any help with this Thanks in advance
Nice work , When I lock my ford focus TDCI 1.6 2011, by pressing the key fob twice I notice every thing goes off apart from the screen between the rev counter and the speedo it stays on for several minutes befor it shuts down ` would there be an issue with anything in the instrument board or screen , Any advice would be helpfull please, bought car privat seller not so long ago. I had removed battery to change it and lost the code to radio as well,
Hi great video , could this cause a parasitic battery drain ? I have narrowed it down to the cluster . The display goes out after 20 minutes but cluster still keeps canbus awake . Possibly has a temp fault as gets to normal running temp ( according to gauge) within a minute ( 1.8 petrol mk 2.5 ) thanks Thor
I have a 2016 Ford Fiesta, I’ll drive normal and the car will randomly shut off to reduced power, “immobilizer malfunction”, “engine malfunction service now”, “traction control off”, “power steering reduced”, “transmission malfunction service now”, “parking break engaged”, and my rpms go to 0 but my engine remains on. I can press the gas pedal as hard as I can and not a single thing happens or revs. Once I shut it off after it breaks down I can’t crank it at all. I’ve had u0101 “loss comm to tcm” and another U code that said something related to CAN Bus A. Now my OBD scanner doesn’t even communicate with the car anymore. Does this sound like the instrument cluster? Ps.: I already replaced the TCM and accelerator pedal and the sensor.
Very, dry impressive. I have a 2009 mk1 Kuga, which I believe is the same dash as the focus.,!?. So I was told. I bought the car a few months ago with, as the owner told me, had a fault code of (u) V1900, not sure if u or v. Recently a garage cleared and reset all, but came up with a dpf. Fault, but the item concerned had been replaced ,new, so if it is something to do with the instrument pcb, does that also control One or two other items in the system, and is your repair way the best fix.? Thank you . Mick.
@@rmautodiag Hi again, many thanks for your reply, oh, an sorry about ‘dry’ at beginning of last mail, it should have read, very. As to the dpf, that was shown on the fault code meter, not on the dash board. Sorry for anything misleading. The previous code before a reset was u/v? 1900, and wondered if you had come across this before, and what the fix is, in with the fault it does intermittently lock the doors? Any ideas.? Thank you, Mick.
Great explanatory video. But how does the instrument cluster be removed? If the engine system fault occurs more often, I might have to follow your repair. But im wondering if ive caused the fault by accidentally touching and switching on/activating internal scanning (i think it might be an internal alarm system scanning for movement)
Hello Derek, in case you never found the answer, to remove the cluster you lower the steering wheel, lift up the trim in front of the cluster and there are two screws at the front-bottom of the cluster
Hi,if I repair the original cluster which is showing no odometer at the moment will I need to have it reprogrammed or will it work once I plug it back in after successfully repairing? It's a 2005 mk2 Ford Focus 2.0 petrol automatic. Thank u
Great video thank you very much for uploading will this solder fault also causes issues with the fuel gauge? as I have put a new sender unit in the tank and the gauge still doesn’t work ! it’s a 2007 cmax tdci
Hi, the same thing has happened with my Focus, but before i seen your video i got a set of clocks at the breakers, I was wondering how do i "sync" my key to the new clocks, can i do it myself or will i need a mechanic?
Ive got an st225 thats judt died randomly when i tried to boot it.checked for error codes and i had about 7 different codes like crank sensor position cat not recognised. Do you think this could be the issue.might try the old wack on the top trick when it dies again.
Great video mate. My car is displaying acceleration reduced engine malfunction and garage seems to think it’s the cluster and only Ford can fix it. Do you think this fix would fix it for me???
so my car does this engine malfunction alot - will sometime refuse to start, sometimes will when driving comes up, tap on the dash changes to acceleration reduced - but comes up now and then engine malfunction - do you think its the same issue, had some scans of my car that related to CAM need to ask my mate hte code he got off of it which he saved. Recon its the same issue? also when soldering do you just ensure you adding to it - not heating up existing solder as that would make the pins fall out id imagine
Thanks for this video. I took the cluster out and all the soldering looks good, no corrosion etc. Any suggestions on what else might be the problem? Thanks.
what is the reason that youre repairing it my ford focus makes a clicking noise at the front under bonnet when turning the ignition key several times,after so many turns the car makes a clicking noise at the rear of car,i wonder if its the fuel filter
I'm sure I have the same problem, not starting until I bash the dashboard, but even when it starts all the panel lights stay on and rev counter & speedo don't work , The red light flashes like crazy for a while then goes off. Sometimes after it starts it goes into limp mode until I turn it off and back on then it runs fine . My mot is due and it won't pass like it is. Do you have any videos available on how to remove the dashboard and get to the instrument panel ? I looked at your site and couldn't see any, unless I missed it . I'm in UK , It's a 1.6 2005 focus . Tia
I stripped the cluster like in this video and tried scolding it. However, it was going fine but one of these 'pins' in the top left completely fell off - what shall I do? Like there is nothing there anymore - where before there was that metal thing that you would scold...
Driving home last night about 10 miles from home, the there was the familiar "bing" which you get for something like the low fuel or icy conditions warning. However, no message. Then a bit later, it got more serious with the dashboard lighting up like a christmas tree, then an "engine malfunction" message and then it cut out. I could start it again, ran normally for a couple of miles and then it would repeat. Sometimes it would start again, sometimes I could start the engine using inertia (it's a 1.6 TDCi Mk 2 Focus diesel, although I don't suppose the engine type makes any difference). I must have gone through this sequence at least half a dozen times, with occurrences getting more frequent. Sometimes the the engine would turn over at all on a restart, although I had a dashboard of likes. However, wait a minute or two and it would catch, run normally and then the dashboard would go mad. For the last few hundred yards I trickled home on tickover as it was entirely unresponsive to the throttle. I suspect it's either this fault, or something is just scrambling the CAN bus signals. Fortunately I have done a lot of electronic soldering in my time, and it looks like I shall get some more practice. In any event, the video is extremely useful.
I was one of the unsuspecting Ford Focus owners who came across this problem not so long ago. Transmission Malfunction and Engine warnings had me worried at first but it quickly didn’t add up, especially when it was intermittent. Some searching on the web had revealed that it was the pesky instrument cluster. This video helped me understand exactly what I needed to do and gave me the confidence to buy a soldering iron and try and fix the problem myself. A week later after the repair, it appears to have been successful. Whilst I didn’t have a microscope, I could still in fact see cracking on the original solder, so a re-solder of all the joints gives that extra security for any further mishaps. I will check in from time to time and update readers of this comment section but for now, the issue seems to have been fixed. Thank you to the creator of this video, you have helped so much!
Two months later and still no issues 👍🏻
Thanks I had this problem too.
@@noddyhasgame Hi, I've got the same exact issue you described above. Is your car still going strong since your repair job?
@@HussainBukhari Has been perfect ever since brother 👊🏻
@@noddyhasgame Thank you so much brother. This video and your comment gave me the confidence to carry out this repair myself. My first time soldering and everything went well, hopefully that’s the end to the instrument cluster problem for me.
My car, all of a sudden while driving, went completely bonkers, all lights, various warnings Engine Failure, Gearbox Failure. I thought the worst, did a search, heard of this common problem. Found this guide video, and within a couple of hours was all back in the car and working perfectly again. Great video, well done and thank you.
Thanks for the comment 👍 glad to help
I have had to perform this fix on the wife's motor. With this guide, it was effortless but for the need for a magnifying glass. The usb microscope makes it seem like it can be seen without some kinda magnification but I found that my camera had a macro mode on it so I used that to identify the cracked solder joints. All I did was reheat the joints with a hot tip and used a tiny amount of solder but anyone can fix this with a cheap solder kit and this guide. Brilliant video, thank you.
This exact issue has been causing start up problems for a couple of months. Diagnostics scans cost £80 and that’s before any repair work takes place. Car wouldn’t start but pressing on the instrument panel brought the engine to life. So definitely symptomatic of failing connectors. Reflowed them and the engine started up first time. No warning lights since. Thank you so much for making this guide you saved me a lot of time and money.
Great video. The only thing I would advise doing differently is regarding removing the needles; they do not need to be *twisted* off. It's better to pull them directly up and off - use a fork or teaspoon to pry them up if they're stiff. When reinstalling, press them directly down in the same position that you lifted them off.
By twisting them as you remove, you will almost certainly knock the stepper motor's stopping point out of position. Then when you reinstall the needles, they'll give incorrect readings. Readjusting and recalibrating them is very fiddly and time consuming.
Yes - I twistd them off and its impossible to get them to the correct position again. Might drive this car off a cliff anyway
@@matthewsalmon8194Lol 😅 annoying same problem here
Any chance of making this a sticky? I've just wrecked my speedo stepper, by twisting it off...It might save some grief for others
Isn’t accuracy lost by removing them because they aren’t keyed to the shaft?
@@paulbuswell6566 You can recalibrate them but it's very fiddly and annoying. You need to adjust the needles and stepper motor positions until they match the speed read out from the car's computer display (accessed via the service menu - Google it). A quiet empty street or large empty car park will come in handy, as you need to drive the car, but have your eyes on the read out and dials, rather than the road. Eg, if as you're driving along, the display says you're doing 40 mph, but the dials are only at 30 mph, you need to give them a slight nudge, and try again. And so on, and so on. Repeat with the RPM needle and, God forbid, the fuel one if you need to.
It took me a couple of hours to get everything recalibrated when I had to do it once.
Thank you for sharing this, my wife's 2010 CMax had started messing around with engine malfunction warnings, immobiliser issues etc. The diagnostics pointed to multiple CANBUS communication issues, but it didn't seem to be related to the cluster, banging it seemingly had no effect. That said, after getting stranded in a car park with an immobilised car, I decided to open up the cluster and at each end of the connector there were dry cracked joints. I desoldered and resoldered them all to get best results and the car is working perfectly again. The garage my wife normally takes the car to wouldn't touch it, and were essentially saying it might be time to replace it, so this has saved the cost of a new car!
I had this problem a few weeks back. It wouldn't start on one occasion and a quick bang on the dash got it going which confirmed it was this particular issue so I whipped out the panel, followed the video, wasn't difficult and my focus is running fine now. This has saved me a chunk of money and hassle so a big thank you. 👍👍
Could you see a crack on the joints?
@@Cripinub1 No it was difficult to see which one was faulty. In any case, it made sense to re-solder all the joints to prevent another one becoming loose so I didn't need to find the faulty one.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for this - was experiencing some problems with my car which was diagnosed as a faulty instrument cluster. Thought I would follow your video and give the repair a go, and it solved all the problems. Really clear and easy to follow. Thank you!
I just pulled my clocks at 21:30hrs and had a go. Thanks to your guide I’ve finished and job done 22:30.
I'm so happy! Thank you so much, I just fixed my car following this steps. Working flawless 3 weeks in a row.
Thanks for your support 👍
Thank you for sharing.
My daughter drove home safely and happy after I fixed her car with your help.
Thanks for the comment
Followed instructions on clip. Resoldered the 32 pins under the connector. Cleared all the fault codes using ELM OBD 2 (bluetooth one), used Torque pro software to clear codes, did 25 miles driving and no problem so far. Please note that if the engine malfunction display lights up and acceleration is reduced, if you turn off engine after stopping. Then you wont be able to restart the engine. If you clear the faults using elm OBD 2 reader then the engine can be restarted and you can get home. Thank you very much for the detailed video, It's brilliant. My middle display had two connecting strips, managed to take them out by pulling out two plastic lug near the connectors.
Thank you so much. Genuinely can’t believe how quick this was - my car is fixed thanks to this video.
Thanks for your comment 👍 glad I could help
Great video!
Was having the same sorts of problems as I'd heard about, erratic dial needles, random non-starts, engine malfunction/reduced acceleration etc. Narrowed it down to this being the cause when I realised I could hit the dash above the instrument cluster to make it start up/bring the needles back to life. Was doing my head in.
Saw this video and thought I'd try it myself to save some money and it worked great. My soldering is pretty sloppy and even I managed.
Thanks so much!
Thank you for this video! My C Max was flashing and bleeping at me every few miles saying “Engine Malfunction, Acceleration Reduced” and then being fine again, and this resolder fixed it in half an hour. Thank you so much for posting, I’d have had NO idea how to get into that cluster!
Thanks for the comment
Mine is same, dash goes of for fraction of the second and I get Xmas tree on the dash.
Just made the operation this afternoon, you saved my car. Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge. Grettings from France, Merci. Alex
Saved me an effing fortune this! I ended up just melting the existing solder on each pin to cover all bases as didn’t have a microscope. Piece of cake. Like one of the other comments mentioned, definitely mark the dials position before removing and prise off rather than Turn as it ruins the calibration…recaibrating was the hardest part of the job in the end.
How did you recalibrate
@@Cripinub1 left the front cover off and started the car up and reset everything whilst it was running. Had to cut the cable tie that holds the wiring loom to give me the length to fiddle about with it.
Thank you for your video. I had the same kind of problems on my Focus2 (2010) : Engine warnings, and sometimes unable to start the engine (in French : défaut moteur and sometimes défaut direction assisté). I check the instrument cluster and found exactly the same cracks on connector solders. I fixed the failure one week ago, and no fault came back. Thanks a lot !
Great video. Fixed my old broken instrument cluster yesterday after buying a replacement, which was also faulty. Followed all your steps and my car runs perfectly. Brilliant
Glad it helped👍
I resoldered the original cluster, like you did. The second hand one I bought didn't work at all. Thanks again
@@rangerdan8661 I believe the clusters need coding to the ecu👍
@@leefurniss still working perfectly after 12 months with no issues
@@rangerdan8661 Good to hear, I repaired an old friends a week ago and he can't believe It's fixed the problem, He was told by the AA recovery driver that he needed a new starter motor 😡Obviously he didn't
Bedankt
Outstanding Have just repaired my wife 2008 Ford focus cluster
No more reduced power errors or failure to start
Thankyou
Thanks for the comment
Absolutely brilliant video. I followed this step by step and solved the issue straight away. Thank you so much for posting this!
Massive massive thank you for this video! I did some practicing on an old playstation controller, then went for the real thing and it went perfectly. Thanks again - i thought this was going to be a never ending unfixable problem
I just did what you already done. I hope for good results.😊 Thx for sharing
Yep, same comments as below, thanks for an informative video that showed exactly what to do. I haven't done any soldering in years so was pleased to see that I still had the skills :) although I did have to invest in magnifying glass now, I'm old.
Un enorme grazie per la dettaglita spiegazione.
Un ora di lavoro e la paura é passata!
Tutto sommato un'operazione abbastanza semplice per chi ha un minimo di manualità. 🎉
Great video not easy but this video got me through it brilliant ! The car runs alot better , but be warned the pins to be soldered are tiny , the LCD display is connected with a wedge system which I found very tricky and you need to rotate the dials the same way when putting them back on and make sure they hit zero so your not speeding without realising! Great Video saved me a lot of money that I don't have 🙏
Hi Jimbob5b, I read your comments about the focus cluster problems, I have had the same issue on an 06 plate, I've done the soldering which worked fine but my clocks are all over the place, tàcho falls below zero, speedo is stuck at 50mph, temp & fuel gauge are ok, any thing I can do to get them to work properly again.
@@billnolan4104 It was a long time ago and it was nightmare! I remember the way you twist the needles on the speedo was different each side , have you tried to refit the needles but setting them at zero b4 the power is on possibly, it sounds like you are almost there! It is a tricky job from start to finish. Go back over the steps and you will get there
This video save my day. All sorted. Thank you so much for helping us posting this content.
Thanks for the comment 👍
Thank you very much for your video. I repaired my Focus mk2 instrument cluster due to your clear instructions. Cheers!
Did you do coding after?
@@newlife2281 No I didn't. To be honest I don't know what you mean with "coding" but I did nothing more than disassebling the cluster and welding the cracked connectors. I was pretty easy.
@@willfriend79 I think coding is not right word🙊.
I think it is programming or something like that
@@newlife2281 don't worry, maybe it's the right term. It's just that I don't know much about electronics. I only followed the instructions and worked. 😅
@@willfriend79 so probably you are as good as me in electronic, understand nothing😂😂🤛
Thank you very much for your great video manual that fixed my problems with the car: acceleration reduced and engine malfunction alarms,dropping of rpm and speed needles,ESP,engine unit warnings.
I found that solder on 5 of 32 pin contacts on the circuit board of the cluster were cracked...
Thanks for the comment 👍
Can u see the cracks with your eyes?
That really is brilliant, every step explained and best of all a potential cure for this pain the arse and potentially serious problem. Many thanks.
This is why I love YT and creators like you, fixed my Cmax today suffering from this fault. only thing i would say is it would have been useful to see in more detail how you connected the LCD panel abck up as this was the part i was a bit nervous about but your hand got in the way! thank you though.
Thanks for making the video lad. Wife has been complaining of the issue past couple of weeks. 1.6 petrol auto but is coming up with same canbus errors as you had there so will give this a go tomorrow. Cheers 👍
Thanks for the comment, don't force anything and take your time👍
@@rmautodiag You're the lad. Thats it done, 5 dry joints. Might be mh imagination but display seems brighter. Thanks again saved me a good few quid 👍
@@krismcleod272 brilliant news glad I was of help👍
Nice one! Glad I found this, only came looking for a video on how to get the cluster out to send away for fixing. Bought a £7.99 USB Microscope, found a couple of cracked joints, all fixed and working. Cheers.
Just wish I'd thought to note precise needle positions before taking off....
Glad it was helpful, thanks for the comment
Hi - good video - did you twist the dials back or did you just pressed them dovn where they should be - at zero ?
Great Video .. Managed to repair my dashboard with the help from your video TY
Thanks for the comment
My sisters focus has this issue. Car intermittently starting, dash lighting up like a Christmas tree and the Rev counter works when the weather is nice LOL. I thought it was this issue but nice to see a video about repairing it and confirming my suspicions. Thanks for your time.
Thanks for the comment 👍
@@rmautodiag no worries mate, thank you for saving me buying another one and then having to pay to have it coded to the car! 😁
@@rmautodiag Hi mate does this cause a problem with the fuel gauge
Thanks. This has solved the random errors I was getting on my 2008 Focus.
No problem, thanks for the comment
I seen a spark coming from this when I was driving 6 months ago, and ever since I've been having problems with the car. Some morning id come out and the car would be dead. Do you think there's a link between the two?
Don't miss the speeded up bits, the tin cover is held on by bent tabs you have to straighten them to get it off also the that display it covers that is not plugged in it;s a ribbon so be careful if you don't know how to take a ribbon off ,,,put something thin in the first crack as this is a wedge for the ribbon it just comes up a little and the ribbon come out.....it is not a plug into the board.
Just what I was after as my 2010 Focus started exhibiting the same symptoms a couple of weeks ago and local garage won't touch electronics. Couldn't quite tell how you removed the LCD nor whether you just used a bit of flux to help the solder flow as you re-melted it, butt certainly got enough to work with. Just gotta figure out getting the cluster out of the car now! ;-)
Thanks man :) I think I´m gonna fix mine myself, after watching this :) I didn't know if you had to get the steering wheel and stuff of, to get it out. But I can see at the end of the vid, you just pulled it out after removing 2 screws ^o^ Time to dust the rust of those ol´ soldering skills :D
Almost forgot to comment, but I went for it :D It took 1 1/2 hour all in all, and I couldn't have spent my Saturday better, saving quite a bit of money :) Thx again..
I did the resoldering and the engine malfunction message disappeared. But the check engine symbol is still on. Does this mean I have another problem? The car is no longer in limp mode. Do I need to delete the fault codes or something after doing the repair to get rid of the check engine symbol?
Thanks for this video. Months of pain and money...is it this, is it that. I was quoted £300 to do this but I bought some solder and did it myself.
Great video! Would this solve the problem of the light for the cluster (milage etc) not turning off after I've locked the car. It's draining my battery. Guessing it's one of these having cracks in it?
Most Ford I find take about 45 mins to fully shut down. I have a battery drain video on a VW golf if you need a process to follow on checking battery drains
Thanks mate,
Followed your instructions,
Great help.
Thanks again
Thanks for posting this, very informative!
Great video. My cluster currently is the basic one. Only shows milage. Can I upgrade it to have the one with the onboard computer? It's a 2006 Focus Mk2 LX.
Thank you for this video. It really helped me fix my focus. You are a star
👍 glad I could help. Thanks for the comment
mille grazie !! grazie al tuo video sono riuscito a sistemare il quadro della mia focus ( allla asistenza ford mi hanno chiesto 1100 euro x cambiare tutto il quadro)😀😀😀
Hi how do I calibrate the needles for it to be accurate? The needles are not accurate after I dismantled it and it doesn't work most of the time. Please help!
Might have to do this myself, my local garage just don't wanna deal with it. And I see someone who can but lives too far away.
I was wondering, if you remove the instrument cluster from your car, do you just remove it with the car off right? As I can see the security red light is blinking when its off.
Thank you very much, really good video, looks like my car now work good.
Thanks for the comment
Very instuctive video. Got the car starting but I'm still getting the engine malfunction and reduced acceleration. I think I may have damaged the tracing on pin 1 in the process. I've tried to do a continuity test on the pins I've resoldered but I'm unable to find a point on the board for pin 1 and pin 19? Do you have access to a schematics diagram of this board or a link to where I might be able to get one?
you made my day.
now i know what to do !
THANKS MATE
Great explanation! Thanks a lot. It was very helpfull!
Great video and nice clean soldering. I've had a couple of issues. Last week went to start the car and got an engine fault. Turned off ignition and back on, started fine and running sweet as a nut. Today had a similar thing happen and car displayed limited power with MPH gauge jumping up then down. Pulled over, stop, started and drove home no problems. No misfires or strange noises. Checked the codes with a cheap reader but no codes logged, pending or current. It's a 58 plate so it wouldn't surprise me if this is the problem. I will borrow a soldering iron from work and resolder to see if this cures the problem. Fingers crossed because I'm broke. 🤞
Hopefully it solves your problem. Go careful taking the gauges off. Thanks for the comment 👍
@@rmautodiag Thanks a lot. The way I see it, if it doesn't cure the problem then it least I can eliminate it without costing me anything apart from some flux. Videos like this really do help. Great work! 👍
Did you end up trying this yourself? Did it fix your issue?
@@chadtillotson3478 yeah I did it myself in the end. It wasn't too bad but the solders are a lot smaller than you might think so you need a steady hand. It's been months now and I haven't had any problems so it works. If you plug a diagnosis machine into your car and the code U1900 comes up then it's almost definitely the cluster. I bought a cheap diagnosis machine from Amazon for £35 to help with codes.
@@chadtillotson3478 btw the code will only show while it's faulting. It won't be stored in the cars logs for some reason.
One question if you can mate. Isit possible to remove the silver plastic trim on the front of the cluster? I would like to change the colour of mine and was wondering if I can actually just remove the silver trim on its own?
Great video jus saved me hundreds thanks so much
Great video,this could actually be my issue at the moment🙏🙏 I’m getting engine malfunction and power steering fault come up on mine BUT it drives fine the immobiliser was playing up as well. I did notice that when the malfunction come up my Speedo and Rev counter stopped working as well, so hopefully this could be my answer to my problem🙏🙏🙏. Scared to hell of taking mine apart though 😬😬😬😬
That IS your issue. Solder those joints, youll be fine
There's places what do it for you 60 am paying they take it out repair while u wait an whack it bk in for u
Hi Richard , have you got a video on focus st rear near side light cluster no power to light . Brake light works ok . . Any idea where these go faulty .
Yes I have seen the bulb holders become faulty on the mk2 focus. If you want a quick and dirty test remove both rear lights and swap the offending bulb holder side to side and see if it moves the fault👍
@@rmautodiag thanks buddy I’ll give that a go 👍👍
Any tips on getting the led ribbon back in the mans hands are in the way and I cant get it back in ? Thanks
It’s actually easier than it seems maybe use tweezers ..it has 2 small clips at each side it should just slip back on
Thanks a lot for the video, much appreciated. I have been trying to fix the same problem for a while without any success. Hope this will fix it.
No problem. Thanks for watching 👍
Warning lights, needles and alarms would go off randomly on 2008 Focus nearly every time I drove it. Sometimes wouldn't even start, but thanks to your diagnostic video I knew to waggle the cluster to get going. I was resigned to having to get rid of an otherwise sound vehicle (42,000 miles) but thought s*** or bust and took it apart. I was reluctant to deal with a surface-mount, computer-related board but the offending connector is through-hole so no prob. Sorted! Having reassembled I found the needles had come off zero so had to be reset again. And only on it's last journey into position did I realise that the whole cluster assy will fit between the spokes of the steering wheel - I'd been forcing it behind. Duh!
Many, many thanks for such a clear & concise demo and giving the wherewithal to save an expensive replacement, by which I mean car: it was unusable and unsellable. Now it has a 12 month MOT and should do me until I go EV.
Thanks for the comment 👍
Foarte util!! Am rezolvat problema rapid!! 🍻
Grâce à votre vidéo j ai réparé l anmalie code defaut u1900 thank you malgré que je ne comprends pas l anglais
Do I need to disconnect the battery before removing the cluster? Thanks, great tutorial
I personally don't. But it wouldn't hurt, make sure you have the radio code
Great video. Wish I was confident around car electrics. I'm lookingvto get u1900 issue sorted on my Cmax by a pro.
What sort of ball park figures should I be looking at for a repair?
Gives me an idea if I'm going to be ripped off.
Hey ,sweet video. Have you ever done a 2002 transit connect cluster befor ? The back lighting seems to stay on and flashing on and off and drains my battery could this be the same problem ? Thanks in advance
Thanks for the vid...when input mine back the rpm and Speedo were stuck on 0 and won't move with the sweep test. Did I push them down too hard ?
Thanks for the great work you showed us
My car is giving malfunction warning when am switching on the headlights could that be the cluster instrument any help with this
Thanks in advance
Nice work ,
When I lock my ford focus TDCI 1.6 2011, by pressing the key fob twice I notice every thing goes off apart from the screen between the rev counter and the speedo it stays on for several minutes befor it shuts down ` would there be an issue with anything in the instrument board or screen ,
Any advice would be helpfull please, bought car privat seller not so long ago.
I had removed battery to change it and lost the code to radio as well,
Hi great video , could this cause a parasitic battery drain ? I have narrowed it down to the cluster . The display goes out after 20 minutes but cluster still keeps canbus awake . Possibly has a temp fault as gets to normal running temp ( according to gauge) within a minute ( 1.8 petrol mk 2.5 ) thanks Thor
Hey did you clean old solder off or just reheat and add some more
Thanks
Muito bom o seu vídeo parabéns consegui resolver o meu problema meu ford focus
I have a 2016 Ford Fiesta, I’ll drive normal and the car will randomly shut off to reduced power, “immobilizer malfunction”, “engine malfunction service now”, “traction control off”, “power steering reduced”, “transmission malfunction service now”, “parking break engaged”, and my rpms go to 0 but my engine remains on. I can press the gas pedal as hard as I can and not a single thing happens or revs. Once I shut it off after it breaks down I can’t crank it at all. I’ve had u0101 “loss comm to tcm” and another U code that said something related to CAN Bus A. Now my OBD scanner doesn’t even communicate with the car anymore. Does this sound like the instrument cluster?
Ps.: I already replaced the TCM and accelerator pedal and the sensor.
Very, dry impressive. I have a 2009 mk1 Kuga, which I believe is the same dash as the focus.,!?. So I was told. I bought the car a few months ago with, as the owner told me, had a fault code of (u) V1900, not sure if u or v. Recently a garage cleared and reset all, but came up with a dpf. Fault, but the item concerned had been replaced ,new, so if it is something to do with the instrument pcb, does that also control One or two other items in the system, and is your repair way the best fix.? Thank you . Mick.
I would be surprised if a dpf fault was relayed to the dash. What was the fault? Fuel vaporisers are quite common faults for dpf on ford.
@@rmautodiag Hi again, many thanks for your reply, oh, an sorry about ‘dry’ at beginning of last mail, it should have read, very. As to the dpf, that was shown on the fault code meter, not on the dash board. Sorry for anything misleading. The previous code before a reset was u/v? 1900, and wondered if you had come across this before, and what the fix is, in with the fault it does intermittently lock the doors? Any ideas.? Thank you, Mick.
Great explanatory video. But how does the instrument cluster be removed? If the engine system fault occurs more often, I might have to follow your repair. But im wondering if ive caused the fault by accidentally touching and switching on/activating internal scanning (i think it might be an internal alarm system scanning for movement)
Hello Derek, in case you never found the answer, to remove the cluster you lower the steering wheel, lift up the trim in front of the cluster and there are two screws at the front-bottom of the cluster
Hi,if I repair the original cluster which is showing no odometer at the moment will I need to have it reprogrammed or will it work once I plug it back in after successfully repairing? It's a 2005 mk2 Ford Focus 2.0 petrol automatic. Thank u
No programming required. You may need to change the screen if it's not working, usually they are back lit but nothing on them.
Great video thank you very much for uploading will this solder fault also causes issues with the fuel gauge? as I have put a new sender unit in the tank and the gauge still doesn’t work ! it’s a 2007 cmax tdci
Silly question but do you just put the gauge back to zero and it will be fine?
Hi, the same thing has happened with my Focus, but before i seen your video i got a set of clocks at the breakers, I was wondering how do i "sync" my key to the new clocks, can i do it myself or will i need a mechanic?
Grazie mille ho risparmiato parecchi €.. tutto chiaro e semplice...
It helps! Thank you so much!!!!!
THANK YOU! Just fixed mine! It works! At least for now :D
Thanks for the comment
Ive got an st225 thats judt died randomly when i tried to boot it.checked for error codes and i had about 7 different codes like crank sensor position cat not recognised. Do you think this could be the issue.might try the old wack on the top trick when it dies again.
Great video mate. My car is displaying acceleration reduced engine malfunction and garage seems to think it’s the cluster and only Ford can fix it. Do you think this fix would fix it for me???
If you have a soldering iron worth a go. Ford will charge you 2 arms and a leg to diagnose and solder.
so my car does this engine malfunction alot - will sometime refuse to start, sometimes will when driving comes up, tap on the dash changes to acceleration reduced - but comes up now and then engine malfunction - do you think its the same issue, had some scans of my car that related to CAM need to ask my mate hte code he got off of it which he saved. Recon its the same issue? also when soldering do you just ensure you adding to it - not heating up existing solder as that would make the pins fall out id imagine
Thanks for this video. I took the cluster out and all the soldering looks good, no corrosion etc. Any suggestions on what else might be the problem? Thanks.
Did you get it sorted, can’t see with my eyes any dry joints but will be doing it anyways
what is the reason that youre repairing it
my ford focus makes a clicking noise at the front under bonnet when turning the ignition key several times,after so many turns the car makes a clicking noise at the rear of car,i wonder if its the fuel filter
Same problem here with my ford focus 2010 damn.. engine malfuncstion etc etc
Did you take old solder off or did you put new solder over existing solder?
I'm sure I have the same problem, not starting until I bash the dashboard, but even when it starts all the panel lights stay on and rev counter & speedo don't work ,
The red light flashes like crazy for a while then goes off.
Sometimes after it starts it goes into limp mode until I turn it off and back on then it runs fine .
My mot is due and it won't pass like it is.
Do you have any videos available on how to remove the dashboard and get to the instrument panel ?
I looked at your site and couldn't see any,
unless I missed it .
I'm in UK , It's a 1.6 2005 focus .
Tia
Obrigado, me deu suporte para tudo , resumo. Problema solucionado com sucesso , parabéns !!
Excellent stuff. Steady hand needed.
Indeed, thanks for the comment
Hi.What kind of solder did you use? Is Lead Free Flux Cored Solder ok?
I stripped the cluster like in this video and tried scolding it. However, it was going fine but one of these 'pins' in the top left completely fell off - what shall I do? Like there is nothing there anymore - where before there was that metal thing that you would scold...
Do you need to disconnect the car battery
when removing the instrument cluster?
I’m having issues putting mine back together, the ribbon cable for the display is a very poor fit and very flimsy?
Driving home last night about 10 miles from home, the there was the familiar "bing" which you get for something like the low fuel or icy conditions warning. However, no message. Then a bit later, it got more serious with the dashboard lighting up like a christmas tree, then an "engine malfunction" message and then it cut out. I could start it again, ran normally for a couple of miles and then it would repeat. Sometimes it would start again, sometimes I could start the engine using inertia (it's a 1.6 TDCi Mk 2 Focus diesel, although I don't suppose the engine type makes any difference). I must have gone through this sequence at least half a dozen times, with occurrences getting more frequent. Sometimes the the engine would turn over at all on a restart, although I had a dashboard of likes. However, wait a minute or two and it would catch, run normally and then the dashboard would go mad. For the last few hundred yards I trickled home on tickover as it was entirely unresponsive to the throttle.
I suspect it's either this fault, or something is just scrambling the CAN bus signals.
Fortunately I have done a lot of electronic soldering in my time, and it looks like I shall get some more practice. In any event, the video is extremely useful.