Hello from the darkside of the older trucks.

I'm working on my wife's 2006 Escape. The instrument panel had some sort of episode and now all that works is the speedometer and fuel gauge. Tach and temp are dead and various check engine/ABS/battery charge lights are on. The vehicle still runs and drives and all those functions seem to be normal, but the instrument panel is not happy. Bottom line, I need to replace the instrument panel.

I am also unbelievably frugal, (cheap) and I don't want to spring for a new instrument panel. Probably would exceed the value of this vehicle, so I am heading to the wrecker's for a used instrument panel. I already pulled the defective one out and checked for any obvious poor connections. No love here yet. The question is what functions must be programmed to make the new to me replacement work?

I have programming tools and I am just dangerous enough to use them, (Forscan and Fcom and a EEPROM programmer). I have never replaced an instrument panel before and I'm working with the assumption that I must program the VIN, mileage and possibly PATS information into the cluster to make everything happy. What has me somewhat baffled is that if the instrument cluster contains the PATS info, then unplugging the cluster should brick the vehicle. I unplugged the defective cluster, put the key into the ignition and it starts up just fine without the cluster. So, does the cluster on this model not contain PATS info?

Just wondering what to expect when I plug the replacement cluster in. Am I wasting my time and money here?

 

Well, I obtained a new to me instrument panel and proceeded to see what sort of trouble I could get into.

Replacement was from a same year Escape, but a higher trim level with the message center. These trucks are getting a bit old and it was pretty tough finding the one I got, but it may be that the message center is compatible with my XLT level truck.

Plugging in the instrument panel proved the replacement behaved exactly like the original. Tach and temp are inoperative. Speedo works, mileage accumulates if the vehicle is driven and there are a variety of warning lights on. No evidence of anything bothering the PATS.

On to programming. As stated, there did not seem to be any reason to modify PATS programming and I did not see any VIN programming fields. There is a configuration file with several hex numbers, but I am a little reluctant to make any changes here (yet). I was using my Fcom scan tool and it has a handy "actuator test" that gives you a go/no go test of the connected module. Both my original instrument panel and the replacement passed. There was a fault code for CAN communication errors with both instrument panels (P1900). I have wiring diagrams, (not OEM unfortunately) which show both MS CAN and HS CAN busses connecting to the instrument panel, so at this point I am likely chasing down a bad connection.

Just posting an update in case anyone is chasing a similar problem. Will post a fix when and if I find one.

 

last year, I tried to help a neighbor lady with her 2007 Ford Escape.
Her's has the entertainment console, and I discovered a year after the fact, that you can't remove the power from it when changing the battery.

Not knowing that, I disconnected battery, and that screwed up the SYNC system, it is a Microsoft Windows piece of crap, and it will not boot up,

why?
it asks for you to hit the <enter> key, but the display is blank.
what a crock of horse pucky that is.

the cluster gauges seem to work independent of the Sync mess.

not sure how this relates to your problem, but Ford goes out of their way, to make a mess of things.

 

Fix the CAN bus fault and you'll find that the cluster will likely work again.

 

I expect that would be true. Got a few further clues as I was digging around with my scan tool and realized I could not read the PCM. All other modules were reading and anything that was expecting info from the PCM had that U1900 code.

So. I don't want to load the parts cannon and spring for a new PCM and the one I have is running the engine just fine, so back down the rabbit hole checking the integrity of the HSCAN bus. Found I do not have continuity between pins 6 and 14 of the OBDII connectorand pins 11 and 23 of C175B, (PCM middle connector). Neat trick here is to measure resistance across the HSCAN bus. Should be 60 ohms due to the 120 ohm termination resistors that should be at each end of the bus. I measured 120 ohms at the OBDII connector and open circuit at C175B. This means I had lost part of the HSCAN bus and one of the terminations. Likely suspects are C260 in the LH kick panel area and C134 under the hood. Unfortunately, these connectors were not where my public library sourced service info said they should be, so it's back down the rabbit hole once again. May need to get the vehicle up on a hoist to make any progress.

So, no solution yet, but I have a pretty good idea what the problem is and where I should be looking. This is where the time clock makes this sort of repair pretty costly. This vehicle is of minimal value and is due for replacement before I spend too much money on it. If I find a resolve, I'll post it.

 

Well, promised I would report a solution and here I am. Sorry, but this is going to be a bit long winded because I have to go back to acquiring the vehicle several years ago to explain what went wrong. There's plenty of blame to go around, including myself, so here goes.

I got this vehicle several years back in a salvage auction. It had pretty low kilometers at the time, (300K+ now). Managed to get it running and the engine was obviously hurt. Turns out the OD band in the transmission had failed, engine likely overreved and there were timing chain issues. Repaired the transmission, (easy fix, replaced the band thru the driver side cover). Replaced the engine with a low mileage Taurus engine. Had a local shop do the engine change as this is best done on a lift, which is something I don't have. Got the vehicle back and began piling on the miles. It did run quite well and I had several years of trouble free service. There were a few issues which sent it back to the shop, namely alternator failures. Another nasty job on an Escape best done on a lift. The second alternator failed after about a year and that's the start of my current trouble. It was a bit of an embarrassing moment for the shop owner who is a good friend. When he called me to come pick up the vehicle, I showed up just as he was reconnecting the battery. Just at that moment, a cloud of smoke came up from behind the engine. The heavy wire from the alternator to the fusebox went up in smoke. The shop owner made good and replaced the wire, tested the vehicle and all was well. Stayed that way for about 6 months until I started having the instrument panel issue. The rest of the story is pretty well documented in this thread. For my part, I had pretty much traced the fault to the CANBUS and the fault was somewhere in the engine compartment. I was getting discouraged looking for C134, (found it under the battery box). I was able to trace the fault by looking for the CANBUS terminations and I isolated it to the underhood harness. This vehicle is a 2006 with the 3.0 V6 and by way of the 3 connector ECM and the style of C134, it seems to be a one year, one model harness. It was the back burner for this project all summer, but I eventually did find the proper harness. Replaced it in my driveway and everything is working again! Pics of the damage. Note the white/black pair of wires is the CANBUS.




So, the question is, why did this happen? Apparently the harness is supposed to be supported on several bolted points behind the engine. Mine was hanging loose, likely a short cut taken when the engine was changed. With time, the harness fell on the exhaust manifold and melted through. I'm a little disappointed in this, but I got several years service before it failed. The shop owner had put an inexperienced mechanic on the job and this is something that missed the quality control inspection. I'm not going to blame anyone at the shop, rather I blame myself for being too lazy to tackle it on my own. These things do happen and that's why I like to do my own work.

Just glad to have the vehicle back in service.