Dash Instruments Posessed

[Kirk Franks]

2000 Windstar.
The Dash instruments sometimes go crazy when the car is started.
Basically the Tach, Fuel, and Temp gages all twitch up and down.
First time it did this (wife's van) I told my wife to just turn it off and try again and all was well. That was about a week ago. This morning I was driving and it happened again to me so I know it is more than just a one time event. Any ideas of what is wrong and what to do?

Video attached if it is not too large.
I put in a zip file with a "Movie Maker Project" file type. I am not sure how else to go a video file as I cannot figure out how to do the .psd files.

In a worst case scenario if I had to replace the instrument cluster with a pull from a junkyard would the (new) cluster know the correct mileage for the vehicle from the computer or would it need to be programmed in some way?

Thanks in advance for any help or ideas.

[scubacat]

Thoroughly check your alternator. That's a classic early symptom on windstars. Test battery voltage with engine off and again when running. What are the results?

[Kirk Franks]

Voltage is
Engine off = 12 V
Engine on = 13.5 V
Tested using the old style analog volt meter as I don't have a digital. Engine on may be slightly higher, but hard to tell. It is not 13.9 - 14 though.

At time of voltage test the gages were normal.
If I get it to act up again I will check the voltage at that time.

[scubacat]

It should be over 14 with engine running I believe. If you swing by autozone or advance auto they'll do the battery/alt/starter test for free. That's what I would do..

[Kirk Franks]

OK went to AutoZone this morning for the batt, starter, alternator test. Battery showed 100% charge (good.) Starter was good. He also said Alternator was good. Actual voltage was 13.8 and he said anything over 13 is considered good.

I am still planning to ride around with the voltmeter in the car so that if the gages go crazy again I can check the voltage during the episode.

Any other suggestions of things to check?

[scubacat]

Nothing simple that I can think of, unfortunately. I'm hoping someone else will chime in here with an idea because it sounds like there's a loose or corroded wire somewhere and, especially with an intermittent symptom, that can be extremely difficult to track down.

Could your belt be slipping and not running the alternator sporadically? If it were on the way out, that MAY cause the issue, but that's really just a wild guess. Usually with a bad alternator you can run for a period of time before things exhibit any symptoms.

[Kirk Franks]

Thanks scubacat for the suggestions.
it is true that the intermittent problems are the worst type. Personally I am leaning toward a bad wire type thing like you suggest or perhaps a bad diode in the rectifier setup allowing short bursts of reverse voltage. This assumes I correctly remember high school electricity class. I think an alternator actually makes AC and the rectifier changes it over to DC. May bet totally different these days.

[tomj76]

The alternator in the Windstar is a modern form of a dc generator. I don't recall the details of how IT works, but the old style generators made dc without using diodes. The voltage was regulated by opening and closing a relay to the field winding of the generator. I've seen one in a 1953 Ford farm tractor.

Make sure the battery connections (both positive and negative) are good. If a battery is not connected to the alternator, the B+ voltage can fluctuate enough to drive things crazy. The battery is needed to reduce those fluctuations, so a bad or intermittent connection can cause such problems.

[Kirk Franks]

Well I have new updates this morning.
When I started the car this morning the gages were going crazy again. Since the engine was already started I checked the voltage. It was still fine (13.8) and no noticeable fluxuations. I turned the engine off and then turned the key back to the run position but did not start. Same condition was seen. Took about 5 tries on and off to get them to act normal again.
This at least to me seems to rule out the alternator as the direct cause. Meaning that the voltage/output from the alternator is not messing up the gages since in the second case the alternator was not turning. Could still be a voltage issue to the gages.
When I got home from my morning errands I did remove both battery cables and did a good cleaning with the circular wire brush tool. Cleaned both the posts and the cable clamps.

I will give this some time to see if the issue clears up or not. If not I know there are multiple other wires cables and connections, but I don't know where they all would be.

[dartboy69]

DISCLAIMER: total amateur opinion to follow ...

I had this exact same problem in my 01 windstar a couple of years ago, 3 or 4 or 5 separate / ongoing episodes exactly like you described. I called it the exorcist gauges, lol, kinda freaky the way everything twitched in unison. For one thing the tach needle would always go all the way over to the far right side and get stuck under the gear indicator, which then wouldn't return to park position etc.

What I did to rectify it, was take apart the speedo itself, if I remember correctly it will split into two larger main pieces once removed from the dash. There is a VERY intricate PC board inside with many fine contact points and such. I used a commercially available 'switch and contact cleaner', sprayed it on the board and contacts, and then VERY VERY gingerly wiped everything down with a clean soft cloth. Re-assembled the unit and put it back in the dash. Amazingly there has not been any re-occurrence of problems since then. Coincidence or not? I don't know, just saying what appears to have worked for me.

I also saw this done years ago with my inoperative TV remote control, the repair technician split the case, simply wiped the pc board down with isopropol alcohol or whatever he used, and it too is still working fine to this day. That's where I got the idea to try the same general technique with my speedo.

[Kirk Franks]

Dartboy69
Thanks for your post. The problem did occur yesterday again after the battery post cleaning so I may need to try what you did. I do already have contact cleaner on hand.
I will wait a few days to see if anyone else has an easier idea to try first.
my tach also gets stuck behind the transmission indicator, but i am able to get it free with a bent paperclip going in through the odometer reset post.

[scubacat]

Originally Posted by dartboy69

What I did to rectify it, was take apart the speedo itself, if I remember correctly it will split into two larger main pieces once removed from the dash. There is a VERY intricate PC board inside with many fine contact points and such. I used a commercially available 'switch and contact cleaner', sprayed it on the board and contacts, and then VERY VERY gingerly wiped everything down with a clean soft cloth. Re-assembled the unit and put it back in the dash. Amazingly there has not been any re-occurrence of problems since then. Coincidence or not? I don't know, just saying what appears to have worked for me.

That's a great idea. I'd definitely try this. I didn't even think of it but I'm definitely put this on my how-to-fix list if this ever happens to our van.

Thanks for sharing!

[dog2006]

I am currently experiencing the same thing with my 99 Ford Windstar.
The instrument panel does it's own thing on occasion while I'm driving.
It's doesn't affect the engine but it does give me a scare.
Did you finally figure out what was causing the problem and did you fix it?
I read somewhere that it could be the ECM.

On another note not related to the current problem (I think), when I turn off my van on occasion the interior lights begin to flash on and off.
Any idea what could be causing this?

[scubacat]

Test alternator first. 75% of the time it's that.

[dog2006]

Thank you for the quick response.