Tachometer Stopped Working

[nota4re]

Crap... that's not good news. I have a new Tach and Oil Pressure gauge here and I'm waiting to schedule in the (local) 2005 GT for replacement of these exact two gauges. I hope our experience is different than yours....

We're getting a car next week with an inoperative Boost gauge and 4-5 weeks ago we replaced a temperature gauge (successfully), but on that same car the boost gauge is now dead.

Somebody dropped the ball with respect to the quality control of these gauges, IMO.

 

[BillyGT]

Fault Isolation will continue

I just talked to Kevin at North Hollywood Speedometer. The Tach was pre and post bench tested. The unit was working when sent back to me and I am now going to get my Ford mechanic to bring home the interface and computer to determine possible other issues with connectivity or signal.
:bang I would suspect it to be a connection issue but we will see:frown

 

[GT35065]

Tach & temp guage saga

I finally got my car over to a tech at Ford dealer who has some GT experience. He is a good guy and loves GT's. Did the axle bolts on my car some time ago. He plugged the computer in and was able force the tach needle to move some, but it would get stuck in different places. Tried same with temp guage and couldn't get the needle to budge from 145 where it has been since both guages quit functioning. He pulled wiring diagrams from computer and is studying that and consulting with Ford Techs to see if we can find an answer. He said it could be the control module causing the problem, but not sure yet. He checked all fuses and they were fine. One thought is when I put my car in storage for a few months in the summer, I leave the Deltran trickle charger on it. Wonder if a power surge in the line could cause a problem? One would think this would blow the in line fuse in the charger or damage the charger if this happened. We do get a lot of lightning in the summer in FL. I think it would be a better idea to disconnect the battery from the car, and then leave trickle charger on battery. This is what I will do in the future. Don't want to go through this again if I can help it. I'll post more as we find out more. Mechanic is supposed to get back to me in a couple days.

 

[BillyGT]

Good Information

I will have the GT checked out Monday night :confused I figure at some point someone will get this resolved. :banana

 

[tpraceman]

4000 GT's only 50% spend 100.00 for a fix hmmmm $200,000

We need to find aomeone with a special skill asap

 

[Empty Pockets]

I just talked to Kevin at North Hollywood Speedometer. The Tach was pre and post bench tested. The unit was working when sent back to me and I am now going to get my Ford mechanic to bring home the interface and computer to determine possible other issues with connectivity or signal.
:bang I would suspect it to be a connection issue but we will see:frown

I truely hope the "dumb luck gods" smile upon you & the pblm is found to be something as simple as a bad connector somewhere...but, my bet is it'll be traced to that darn black box.

"Murphy" outranks the "dumb luck gods", you know...

Pessimistic Pockets.

 

[Mike's GT]

hi guys, my Speedo and tach are taking turns breaking, first the speedo stopped working had that repaired at the dealer, they said it was a bad ground, then the tach was replaced under warranty,that developed a short, now I am out of warranty since April of 09 and when i took the car for a ride the other day the speedo died again, this car has less then 2000 miles. there is defintely a grounding issue in these cars that should be fixed by Ford in or out of warranty.

 

[GT35065]

dead tach and temp guage

Update: Tech from Ford garage had me pull battery and bring it in to run some tests on it to rule out battery. Unfortunately, battery tested fine. That would have been way to easy. This was today. Now he is continuing to consult with Ford engineers to figure out next step. Not looking so good for a cheap fix at this point. More as it develops.

I too think Ford should step up to the plate on these guage problems. Shouldn't happen on a car so new. Mine has under 2000 miles as well. I'm certainly going to try and get some assistance if it involves replacing module behind guages. I have been a loyal Ford customer for 30 years.

 

[ChipBeck]

Murphy's Law #37

Wonder if a power surge in the line could cause a problem? One would think this would blow the in line fuse in the charger or damage the charger if this happened. We do get a lot of lightning in the summer in FL.

A $4000.00 electronic control module will protect a .95 cent fuse by blowing first. :bored

Chip

 

[Cobrar]

A $4000.00 electronic control module will protect a .95 cent fuse by blowing first. :bored

Chip

I suspect you are closer to the truth (re: root cause = module) than you might think. I'd think the guage supplier would be interested in helping to understand the failure mode.

 

[hollywoodstunts]

Add my tach to the list of failed tach's.

 

[GT35065]

Seems to be happening with more and more frequency.

 

[Bill Briley]

I thought I would post this here as well...............

Seriously, at $5000 for the "Black Box", $3000 for a tach +++ then have it fail again. This is nutz!!

Being an old "Hot Rodder", I will analog wire replacement Autometer Guages across the board.

It would also seem that the original guage face could be used with analog "guts".

The only problem may be with the fuel guage.
Wah-da-ya-think?

I don't believe Ford cares.

 

[hollywoodstunts]

Despite my best efforts, Ford's customer service offered no finiancial assistance with my tach replacement. Since it's 3 months out of warranty, I'm out of luck.
$5000 black box+$3000 tach= $8000!
I think Kia sells new cars for less.

 

[fjpikul]

Bill, the fuel gauge is a standard type gauge. The sending unit in the tank is the ultrasonic portion.

 

[ViperJoe]

These gauge issues are quite disconcerting!

 

[Hydra GT]

I know i am a Newbie owner....What exactly is the "black box"? where is it? What does it look like? what is its function?

 

[fjpikul]

Hydra, in the passenger footwell, under the removable footplate, you will find a piece of opaque, pastic film held on with black goo. Under this hides the SJB or Smart Junction Box. Fuses are here also.

 

[Shadowman]

Hydra, in the passenger footwell, under the removable footplate, you will find a piece of opaque, pastic film held on with black goo. Under this hides the SJB or Smart Junction Box. Fuses are here also.

fjpikul; I think that Hydra was referring to the control module for the gauges which is many many $$ and not the SJB as you referred; at least I think that this is to which he spoke.

Shadowman

 

[BlackICE]

The prices being quoted for the gauges and control module seem in the Fcar range! :ack