How you all going, just a quick question, I have put in new lights in my intrument cluster, but have recently taken out my stereo system and put back in. I don't know if it would have anything to do with a slight surge or a fuse blown, but I was driving for the first time last night and realised my illumination lights on my dash are not working. They were working before hand when i had put them in 3 months ago, but ever since putting the stereo back in it has plye up. I have looked at the wiring diagrams, and to what it says the left and right indicators and high beam leds light up and sit before the microprocessor. But everything sits after the microprocessor. I have a feeling that this may be playing up, or if anyone has had similar problems, please tell me! I am about to go out an check the wreckers for another cluster otherwise to get it sorted.
Thanks,

Reaper Falcon

Have you checked all the fuses and removed the stereo system to see if it is the problem?
Paul

yeah mate, checked all that, it looks like the bulb itself short circuited some how. Put another one in there and worked fine, apart from it came out of a taxi and now reads 803,653 KM on the odometer. If anyone knows how to change over the EEPROMS on the boards or any diagrams on which one to desolder.

Hi, I wouldn`t try to remove/replace your EEPROM. I spoke to Jaycar about a possible replacement for my EL Fairmont & was asked who I knew at VDO? As they were the manufacturers of the clusters they were the only company who could change a surface mounted EEPROM without totallng the cluster. I dont know anyone at VDO so I bought a s/h cluster at the wreckers. What are you driving? I now have a EL Fmont cluster for sale. From memory about 275,000 on the odometer. Bonzer

You probably can't drop in a blank eeprom, but swapping them between clusters is certainly possible and as long as you have a steady hand and a good soldering iron, should be fairly simple.

[edit]
Pictures:
http://www.fordmods.com/forums/documents.php?doc=14

Thanks for the images, but I have an AU forte series 2. The EEPROM is small on the E series. I did alot of EEPROM removal on photocopiers I used to work on, but they used to pull off and put back on with ease. My original odometer reading had only just clocked over 150,000km as it was an ex-Hertz hire car and driven from Brissie to Rockie then to Mackay. But the new odometer says 831,000km which is a massive difference that I do not want to keep.

"pull off"? I'm assuming they were a DIL package in a carrier? sounds like they were designed to be removable, the odometer records aren't.

The procedure should be pretty much the same, just a case of finding the correct chip. If you are unsure, you might find a local tv/radio/phone repair place might help out (although I'm sure they would require it to be an "all care, no responsibility" type thing, so if they kill both clusters, tough)

ha ha true. I tried an old set of bulbs in the old cluster and they all work fine. The new bulbs must have short curcuitted and taken the rest out. But they show no damage which is the strange thing. All is fine now, no trying to remove that bloody EEPROM. Thank god for that. One more thing, that link above with the E series needles, do they come standard like that on that series or are they custom made? Ive been trying to find clear or transparent white needles so I can colour them blue with LEDs.