I drive a 2001 4.0L V8 S-type. My car only has 26000 original miles on it and the place where the odometer and message center is located is now completely dark. No illumination. All of my gauges appear to be working i.e. gas, rpm, temp...etc. I looked through my owner's manual and there is no specific fuse for the odometer but multiple fuses for gauges, which are all working. I can adjust the brightness of the gauges illumination but no luck with the message/odometer box. Does anyone know a specific fuse or possible problem? Any solutions in mind?

Thank you

 

I just starting having the same problem, I did not want to start a new thread since this one was already made. I will try to remove the cluster omlrrow to see if there are any loose cables. Other than that I hope someone gives me a heads up

 

Maybe this thread is helpful. It is a common problem, and the instrument cluster of my car was changed at some point.

 

the same thing is going on with my 2000 s type and the interior lights are not coming on.

 

You have no choice but to remove the gauge cluster, and first, inspect the cabling. Disconnect the harness and spray the contacts with contact cleaner. Next, if that was not the culprit, you will need to carefully look at the printed circuit board, and inspect for any cold solder joints, which if present, are obvious. This is a common problem with Ford clusters (1999-2003) in F-150s (I've repaired 2), where the ODO would be completely blank. If this is the case, a light touch with a low-power soldering iron remelts the solder, and fixes the connection. I don't see this too often in this forum, but it comes up every 2 weeks or so in the F-150 forum.

The fact that the interior lights are out, also points to a high failure item in Generation 10 (1997-2003) F-150s - called the "General Electronics Module". That one takes out the lights, wipers and power windows at once. I bought my S-Type BECAUSE I'm waiting for a replacement module from Ford...backordered at every dealership near Atlanta!

 

It seems very rare but the above sounds very plausible. Have a look at the Electrical Guide part of JTIS - free download.

 

I just went through the download process. So far, manual looks as good as the Infiniti or Cadillac FSMs - which I used as a BIBLE - was instrumental in keeping those cars on the road - I can read schematics with the best of them - as I used to teach electronics 25 years ago. I made mention of these modules, since the symptoms are common with Ford vehicles of the same year range (Fortunately not at the same frequency as the F-150....seems weekly there's a new thread about this in the F150 Forum). It starts with a barely detectable leak from the windshield near the steering wheel, and on F-150s, this is close to the interior fuse block, and the GEM module piggybacks on that fuse block. Inspecting the area near and under the steering wheel would show areas of rust (it's bare metal in the truck), and would indicate that water got in there - and may have caused corrosion - or in the case of my F-150 - shorted out part of that GEM module.