Sadly, Another Gauge Failure!

[andymlow]

So the answer is they don't have enough gauges to examine because they disposed of all the one that got returned to them until recently? I would gladly send my fuel gauge in, but I don't want to replace it and just have it die again.

 

[BlueGT]

Just replaced a temp gauge in one car and the tach in the other...both 05's w/ less than 10,000 miles.

 

[LOVE CHP]

I am about to replace my temp guage, I puchased a new factory one from Ford dealer, but not sure after reading all the "good news" about everyone else if I should. When will Ford get us an answer. They must know something about what caused some of the failures? My 2006 GT has 5,000 miles and always on factory battery tender when not in use.

 

[GT35065]

I'd cheerfully give them my temp and tach guages, how about they give me ones that work in exchange? The temp guage is serious info, and I don't think driving the car without this guage is a good idea. Are the guages hard to remove from the dash? Is this something an owner can do on their own? I might as well donate my guages to the cause, they are not doing me any good. Can someone refer me to a thread that shows how to remove guages?
Thanks.
Rick

 

[ViperJoe]

I'd cheerfully give them my temp and tach guages, how about they give me ones that work in exchange? The temp guage is serious info, and I don't think driving the car without this guage is a good idea. Are the guages hard to remove from the dash? Is this something an owner can do on their own? I might as well donate my guages to the cause, they are not doing me any good. Can someone refer me to a thread that shows how to remove guages?
Thanks.
Rick

I do not believe such a thread exists. I would refer you to the Ford Service & Repair Manual.

 

[Kayvan]

Dashcommand app

ECU port creates gauges on screen of your iPod and saves speeds, miles, with mini digital gauges

Not a fix, but option to track guages

 

[stephen_becker]

My tach stuck at 2200 RPM last week
Dropped car off at Ford dealership for fix yesterday
Car is still under warranty so I will let you all know what Ford does

SGB

 

[GT35065]

Maybe Shelby (Elite) or Shadowman can chime in on the complexity of replacing guages. Looks like a couple of torque screws hold the panel that holds the guages in place. I don't want to attempt without some advice from those that have done it. My buddy Sinovac has all of the shop manuals so I may take a gander at them. Happy Thanksgiving all.

 

[nid4spd]

Maybe Shelby (Elite) or Shadowman can chime in on the complexity of replacing guages. Looks like a couple of torque screws hold the panel that holds the guages in place. I don't want to attempt without some advice from those that have done it. My buddy Sinovac has all of the shop manuals so I may take a gander at them. Happy Thanksgiving all.

My same situation.

 

[nota4re]

I posted a "How to" in this Tech Section.... http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?20781-Gauge-Replacement-How-to

 

[stephen_becker]

Ford replaced it, under warranty, 12/27/2010 -

 

[Ravage]

gauges

We had an cold weather period here a couple of wks ago, my car has about 40,000 miles, never a problem before. On this particular morning I fired up the engine and noticed that all, all my guages were dead, even speedo and tach. I let car warm up and still nothing with the gauges. I cut the engine, and then turned the iginition back on. All gauges came on except oil pressure and volt meter. I cut ignition off, paused and ignition on again. Everything came on. Had probem a week or so later and same process brought everything back up. I now wonder if all you guys that are having gauge failures are really gauge failures. Perhaps an ignition or wiring clitch is there an engineer out there with an opinion.

 

[cobra498]

I looked at a failed temperature gauge from a fellow owners GT, the gauge uses a microprocessor to operate the electromagnetic servo (it looks like it might even be a stepper motor). I checked the voltage regulator on the circuit board and it was working properly (5.02) volts.
What I did find was there was no clock signal on the microprocessor indicating an oscillator failure of some kind within the microprocessor. The circuitry seems to be common for all the gauges because there are spots on the board for other inputs like boost. I believe they just burn a different program into each unit depending on its usage. The bad news is these are SMD's on the board and the gauge face is spun on making repair difficult if not impossible (especially programing the microprocessor). This would explain why different gauges are failing in the same way since the circuitry appears to be common.
The gauges should be made available at reduced prices since we have to pay for installation and because it appears the design is flawed and was not properly validated by Autometer prior to production.
This percentage of failures on a high volume production car would be a disaster and would not be tolerated by any manufacturer.

 

[Kayvan]

The failure rate is not huge

We have had 5 Polls and none are >25 per 400, 1000, 4038

Wether you count active forum member, member, or all GTs....

Too many people don't drive, forget to charge or use non oem

 

[ViperJoe]

:mad

 

[GT35065]

Kayvan, not driving, forgetting to charge, using non oem... this is all Bull c$@p. Should not make one bit of diff on guage failure. This does not happen on other cars, period. Maybe you have not had the problem, that is wonderful for you. Those of us who have had problems, and there are plenty of us, it is an inexcusable problem. I, for one, would just like to know when I install new guages (which are highly over priced) that they won't fail too. Rant over.

 

[Chris A.]

Have to agree with the above post...... something tells me most gauges will fail as time goes on.

 

[Not 4N]

We had an cold weather period here a couple of wks ago,

How do you define cold weather? Where I am the GT's are stored indoors this time of year.
Just curious as I haven't had a problem but my car is never outside in the cold or even overnight for that matter.
:cheers
Trent

 

[nota4re]

I now wonder if all you guys that are having gauge failures are really gauge failures. Perhaps an ignition or wiring clitch is there an engineer out there with an opinion.

The gauge control module sometimes fails to properly initialize one or more gauges. This is typically happening when you have a low battery voltage - like in cold weather or after storage. A re-start will generally fix the problem because the alternator has had a minute or two to zap the battery. The guys that are replacing gauges have hard gauge failures - they just NEVER wake back up. For certain, the improper gauge initialization is a function of low battery voltage. The BIG question is if the improper (occasional) gauge initialization is related to the gauge failure problem or if they are two distinct problems with one being temporary and the other, unfortunately permanent.

 

[ViperJoe]

Kayvan, not driving, forgetting to charge, using non oem... this is all Bull c$@p. Should not make one bit of diff on guage failure. This does not happen on other cars, period. Maybe you have not had the problem, that is wonderful for you. Those of us who have had problems, and there are plenty of us, it is an inexcusable problem. I, for one, would just like to know when I install new guages (which are highly over priced) that they won't fail too. Rant over.

Thanks GT35065. Your post is completely consistent with what I wanted to say but at the time all diplomacy would have fallen by the wayside.