The Tach & Speedo would start reading funny (too high, too low or just quit) and this could usually be reset via Engineering Test mode but it always returns.
They will maker a click, click noise when they start acting up.

So for approx. $1,500 I get a new one installed by the dealer vs $125 and my time to R&R. I don't think I'm the one being too hard but ...

I wasn't looking for someone to change the mileage just marry the new cluster to my car. The one I was going to buy was within 4K miles of mine so it wasn't a big deal.

My interpretation of the various sources I've read is that a donor gauge cluster will not work with my 2005 unless it gets married to my car.

Can you confirm or refute that?

 

Yes, a donor can be programmed to your car, it will just have the donor mileage on the odometer. The "marrying" of the cluster to the car, involves building the correct VID Block data as I mentioned before, and downloading it to the cluster. A second thing that occurs during the cluster programming is resetting the immobilization. That is what syncs all the modules involved with security and anti-theft so the ECM gets the 'OK to crank/start' once it reads a good key transponder.

Good luck!

 

I know all that what I was trying to confirm is whether putting in a used cluster and NOT marrying it to the car will cause a security lockout even if it's done with the battery disconnected?

 

Yes, you will have a no crank, no start and numerous messages in the message center. Possibly even a "Wrong Part Installed" message.

Sorry, the more I think about it, I believe it would be "Incorrect Part Installed".

Cheers,

 

Well I removed the wood panel and instrument cluster just fine. Thanks to these two threads.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-cluster-9268/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...t-panel-80582/

I then wrapped it up real well with handiwrap over the front of the gauge face and sent it off to:

Speedometer Repair Guy

Speedometer Odometer Gauges Repair, Calibration, Digital Parts - ABS,ECM Module

507-429-4489

When talking with him over the phone he knew exactly what was wrong with the unit and once he got it he also fixed the gas gauge which he said was about to fail as well.

So I asked if this was going to be a repetitive repair since my car has only 33K miles now. His response was interesting. He said no, that I'd be OK because they put a better quality motor in each of the gauges to replace the cheap crap that was originally used. The repair come with a lifetime warranty. Of course he's only been around for two years and ...

So buying a used instrument cluster seems like a bad move even if you can get it married to your car. In fact buying a new one from Jag seems like the most idiotic thing to do as it costs a lot more and if this repair guys is to be believed then you'll have a better quality unit once he's done.

Combined with this incident and others I've read about with these cars it sounds like Jaguar speced some components out for manufacture with an unrealistic cost requirement and they got what they paid for. It's debatable that the customer did. The headlamps come to mind ...

So I sent it out overnight UPS. He got it the next am, fixed it and it went out the same day. So I got it back the following morning.

$125 for the repair and $230 in UPS charges. Guess who's making all the money these days?

All in all a great outcome.

A little over an hour to get it out with no big surprises. Just be careful and use a small terry cloth towel to prevent damage to the gauges face. Sliding and removing/installing the cover that goes around the steering column is a bit tricky but if you're patient, careful and observant then it goes OK.

Another inch or two of harness length for the gauges would have been a big help too.

It took about 45 minutes to put everything back except for the wood panel which I haven't done as yet. I'm still examining how that whole procedure works best and I think I'll leave it out for a couple of days in case something weird shows up with the gauge cluster.

 

I think they're Visteon clusters, kind of things used in so many Ford cars and probably that's why. Makes sense as Ford immoboliser/security is PATS, as we also have on our cars. Also explains / fits with the ETM, again it's a Ford thing. Not many seem to fail so you were unlucky.

Good price for a fix - except the shipping!

 

Yes a Visteon but he says he sees plenty like this from Jags ... so?

My 2001 Ford product wagon has had zero issues like this. At 147K it's probably near the end and it needs new suspension of course but it's not worth it to do that.

But it being a Visteon means that he's intimately familiar with it and why it's a reasonably priced repair. There's $25 bump for it being a Jag though. Some things are universal it would seem ... LOL.

If I had been willing to have the car down for about 8-10 days then I could have cut the shipping to about $30. But I needed the car quickly.

At least UPS had no Jag up charge. Whew!

 

I wish we could more details on what he actually did? It seems to be a rare problem at least so far?
.
.
.

 

He said the motors that drive each gauge go bad. What I detected during my problems was that it appears that the needles are attached to the motor via some sort of a clutch mechanism (a guess) and that starts slipping. You can hear a ratcheting sound when you go into engineering test mode and reset the gauges. Then they go through a full sweep and settle down.

Mine would slip and I'd get strange readings as if the alignment was off. At times I could hear them going click, click, click too.

Like I said, I think mine were no longer staying firmly attached to the shaft.

This does bring up a question though. I suffered with this for a few months and I would periodically realign the gauges. Sometimes it only held for part of a day and other times it held for entire long term trips. But eventually it didn't seem to hold for very long at all. I wonder if resetting the gauges wears out the mechanism like the clutch holding the needle in alignment to the shaft?

He knew right away what the problem was when I described it and when I said that it was a Jaguar.

Maybe it's a generic problem with certain series of Visteon gauges and not just Jaguars?

 

Staatsof, this thread, complete with happy ending, is pure gold. The amount of tolerance you have shown while suffering through all that s**t is almost beyond belief.
In the end, we have got a whole lot of useful info, including the number 507-429-4489 for the speedo repair guy. I also own an '05 STR, so THANK YOU!

 

Are the jag needles heavier or longer or some such, thus causing the problem? The Ford ones I've seen seemed smaller/flimsier - maybe?

 

On a totally different vehicle, , my dd GM uses stepper motors, such as described above. They are a known problem and there are places locally on craigslist that advertise "cluster repair" for around $120.00 and they come to you (same day service).

I have replaced 1 stepper so far, my speedo. I have all stepper motors to replace all 6 gauges but I find myself to lazy to replace all at once. I am tackling the Tach stepper motor tomorrow about a 20 minute job from start to finsh. It is a very easy process that any novice sodderer can undertake. Stepper motors are available on ebay, mine were $22.00 for 6 with free shipping.

Stepper Motors


**Edit** believe it or not the needles are just pushed onto the little silver shafts, a fork with some protective tape on the bottom tines (prevents scratching the gauge cluster face) pops the needles right off. To replace the needles, push them on at the twelve o'clock postion and turn them to the left postion or until they stop.

 

It would appear that I was born to suffer, a DD Jaguar, vintage Maseratis and a vintage Lamborghini. All of my own undoing ... LOL

Truthfully it was just annoying as the car performed flawlessly. Whereas some of the other things you read about are an actual a PITA and strand people.

 

Thanks for stepping up Rick.