Odd instrument cluster malfunction.

SvB4EvA · #1 (**permalink**) 06-09-07, 10:09 PM

So I take the car out today and drive about 2 miles. Park the car at a restaurant. I come back out and im driving for about 10 minutes when I look and see that my gas gauge is reading 0. This is odd cause a few seconds ago it was at 1/2. I then see that my airbag light is lit. The security light is lit. And my temp gauge is at 0. The MPH and RPM are working tho.

I pull over and try to put the car in park. It dosent let me and then the radio goes blank. Then the word "THEFTLOCK" appears on the DIC a few seconds later.

I turn the car off and try to remove the key, but it wont let me because I cant shift into park. I restart the car and everything is fine...

A hiccup in the system? Electrical problem on the horizon

? I'm not sure...

This ever happen to anyone else?

FastCTS · #2 (**permalink**) 06-09-07, 11:00 PM

Many many years ago I was told the "Mechanic's Creed," "Let It Develope."

caddy1219 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 05:24 AM

Something like that happened to me, While I was driving my doors kept locking and unlocking and my gas gauge started adding fuel whil I was driving I stopped put the car in park and reset all my settings in the DIC and it never happened again

druboi31779 · #4 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 08:34 AM

I also had a similar issue like that..but it went away-
i was driving along- suddenly my rpms spiked (just for a second) the the theftlock on the DIC- it then cleared - and everything normal- like it never freakin happened..... i still don't know what happened...

urbanski · #5 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 09:27 AM

bet it lost communication with the key fob for a minute

druboi31779 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 09:41 AM

thats the obly thing i could think of- not sure if mr policeman's radar may or maynot cause even slightest interference....i dunno

druboi31779 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 09:41 AM

correction **only**

z06bigbird · #8 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 11:59 AM

Driving near a radar installation????

All kinds of temporary electr anomalies around them.

druboi31779 · #9 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 12:01 PM

very good possibility....i do live just west of DC

z06bigbird · #10 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 12:03 PM

Years ago, I had an Olds Toronado with a strange electr door lock problem.

If you parked the car in cold temps (20 F), the passenger door lock stem would slowly move down until that door locked by itself.

In warm weather, that same lock stem will gradually move up until it unlocked.

I always intended to replace the door lock solenoid, but didn't.

10 years later, problem went away by itself.

SvB4EvA · #11 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 12:43 PM

Hum... electricity is silly. I had 2 1987 grand prix. one of them was an electrical mess. Doors locking and unlocking, windows just slowly going up and down for no reason, and the wipers would decide to turn on when ever they wanted.

I swore it was possessed. I hope with my CTS it was a 1 time thing. Hasnt happened again yet...

wait4me6920 · #12 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caddy1219

Something like that happened to me, While I was driving my doors kept locking and unlocking and my gas gauge started adding fuel whil I was driving I stopped put the car in park and reset all my settings in the DIC and it never happened again

Well, I'm not keen about gremlins locking & unlocking my doors at random, but if they start adding fuel...it works for me. I'm not about to mess with the settings.

dkozloski · #13 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 01:18 PM

My Ford Ranger is like a lot of others and developes issues with the washers/wipers and stuff that works off the steering wheel switches as well as transmission shifting. The dealer wants to change $500 switches and modules to clear the problem. I found that if I unplug and replug the control modules in the dash behind the A/C controls and behind the seat, everything is good to go for another six months. A close examination of the plugs shows that corrosion slowly developes over time. Unplugging and replugging the connectors scrapes down through this to clean metal and everything is OK for a while. Back when I worked on mainframe computers, many problems were cleared by reseating circuit boards in the backplane. It's the nature of electrical equipment. Jiggling cables, wires and connectors is the first part of my troubleshooting chain when the electrical gremlins appear.

z06bigbird · #14 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkozloski

My Ford Ranger is like a lot of others and developes issues with the washers/wipers and stuff that works off the steering wheel switches as well as transmission shifting. The dealer wants to change $500 switches and modules to clear the problem. I found that if I unplug and replug the control modules in the dash behind the A/C controls and behind the seat, everything is good to go for another six months. A close examination of the plugs shows that corrosion slowly developes over time. Unplugging and replugging the connectors scrapes down through this to clean metal and everything is OK for a while. Back when I worked on mainframe computers, many problems were cleared by reseating circuit boards in the backplane. It's the nature of electrical equipment. Jiggling cables, wires and connectors is the first part of my troubleshooting chain when the electrical gremlins appear.

Those problems would not happen if you didn't pee so much on your truck. That is why we have so many trees in the woods. They always need the moisture.

dkozloski · #15 (**permalink**) 06-10-07, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z06bigbird

Those problems would not happen if you didn't pee so much on your truck. That is why we have so many trees in the woods. They always need the moisture.

It's my dog Fergus that pees on my truck. I don't see the corrosion problems coming from urine on the tires.