[RobC]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

This is daylight robbery. Not at all accepted and how can RSA charge if the work done is not successful?! Do they expect customers to be stranded on the road? Unbelievable!

...

How long does it take for the engine to start when you twist the key?

Anurag.

I think what they meant was even if they are not able to fix the issue on site, they may just call for towing and I would have to pay for both, the RSA visit and the towing.

The engine would not crank at all. Blank cranks. Seemed like there was no current available at all. When the cluster lit up in between, the engine fired as normal, within a second. Looks like a contact issue, hence the intermittent nature of the problem. Couldn't be a blown fuse, could it?

Have given the car to Ford Service. Hope to have the issue resolved by today.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by RobC

The engine would not crank at all. Blank cranks. Seemed like there was no current available at all. When the cluster lit up in between, the engine fired as normal, within a second. Looks like a contact issue, hence the intermittent nature of the problem. Couldn't be a blown fuse, could it?

Wiring us getting in contact with each other so it us shorting so no cracking power there. The starter motor pulls huge amount of electricity from the battery so no other electrical load should be there at that time and even if such load is given the supply is cut-off till engine starts. I guess it is to protect the electricals system due to surge in power.

Another suspect is, could be water/moisture in the wiring that could be playing havoc here.

Please update the thread as to what Ford has to say.

Anurag.

[RobC]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Please update the thread as to what Ford has to say.

Anurag.

Got the car back. A case of loose coupling was the diagnosis and was rectified. Driven for a couple of days and faced no issues since.

Only regret was having called RSA when the issue cropped up initially. Fixing the issue at Ford Service cost way less than the RSA charges for basically asking me to get the battery checked. Duh.

[AYP]

Experienced an instrument cluster failure today.

I had recently got myself an OBD 2 connector along with the Torque Pro App. I had hooked up the same to my car today and was trying out the various functions/readings that the Torque Pro App gives.

I drove around for some time and then switched off the car with the OBD 2 connected plugged in. About 15 minutes later, I started the car with the scanner plugged in and noticed that there was no light at all on the instrument cluster. The dials weren't working either. It had gone completely dead. The sound of indicators is also absent.

I tried to restart the car multiple times but to no avail.

The car in question is the Figo 1.5 TDCi. I re-connected the OBD device after the instrument cluster failure and there was no fault code present.

Does the OBD device have something to do with this? More specifically, could this happen because I started the car with the device plugged in? Or is it just a coincidence?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by AYP

Experienced an instrument cluster failure today.

I drove around for some time and then switched off the car with the OBD 2 connected plugged in. About 15 minutes later, I started the car with the scanner plugged in and noticed that there was no light at all on the instrument cluster. The dials weren't working either. It had gone completely dead. The sound of indicators is also absent

Check all the fuses related to the accessories and instrument cluster. Perhaps one of the fuse which supplies power to the instrument cluster is blown which is the cause of this. Generic OBD devices can only read fault codes from the OBD protocol which is mainly engine and transmission error codes. But you will need a much more advanced tool to access the other controllers in the car including the instrument cluster. However if the cluster is completely dead, it would mostly not be accessible by any diagnostic tool either. But it would be best to first ensure that the IC is receiving power.

[Neel70]

Hi Team BHP, I need some advice on intermittent instrument cluster failure on my Chevrolet Spark 2011. The cluster and the LCD screen flickers on ignition but everything else works just fine. The panel comes back to life after 10-15 minutes of driving.
Interestingly, though it happens when the car has been parked for some time, overnight for example, when I park it in my office (open space) for approximately 7 hours, the panel works fine on starting the car.
I have been advised to change the cluster but am just wondering if this is a simple connection problem.

[parampath]

I also have the same issue for my 2011 Spark. When the engine is cold, the instrument cluster goes blank.. it slowly starts blinking post some 10 kms of ride and comes to life if the kms run is more than that.

Not sure if it's some loose connection. the voltage from battery is good. So don't think of it as an issue.
Yet to identify the issue. please post here in case someone had solved the issue.