I have a 1987 Cougar XR-7 I was driving the other day and the electronic intrsument cluster went blank. It is still lit green however there is not gauge information displaying in any of the three sections. Is this a fuse or does anyone know how to remedy this? Someone please help! Thank you!!
Sorry I have posted this before but still is not working and I do not know why....
Are your turn signals and/or heater fan working?
Yea everything else seems to be fine other than I have three sections that display nothing but are lit green. One guy toild me that I had a cracked panel I do not know how to fix this if this is the cause but when I tap it it does not flicker so I don't believe this is the cause either. I also do not think its a fuse because other things work. Any other ideas?
Fixed!!
and the fix for it was??????????? would be helpful to know in case someone else has this problem
Sorry it is not fixed the fuse for it keeps blowing I am not sure why, It is fuse number 17. The cluster will display perfectly fine until I turn the blower fan on. I disconnected the A/C clutch this did not fix the issue and my cruise control does not work so it is not the speed control. I do not believe I have the electronic speed control (Is this an option???). The temperature and fan controls all continue to function after the fuse blows. Does anyone know why the fuse would continue to blow? I read on coolcats.net that it may be a wiring short behind the radio I am going to check this out tomorrow. Other ideas would be a big help thanks!
I got the one out of 87 T-bird won't work on my 88 for a extra because its does not have a floor shifter.
Send me a PM if you might want it>? trying to move right now so i might not check my messages everyday
what have you done to the car in the trunk or dash lately?
I have taken the radio out a few times and have had the instrument panel out a few times to replace the bulbs too, but neither since the issue started. I am a little lost right now I don't know what to do to fix it. As I said fuse 17 blows when the Heat/AC fan turns on it also dims the dash lights. This causes the panel to display green background only with the blower still working normal. I also disconntected the AC out at the compressor this should disable the A/C clutch and therefore it is not that, correct??? With this information i believe the problem is in the wiring or something else running on the fuse. However, I am not sure how to fix this, it seems very complex to me. Someone please point me in a direction to get this fixed ! Thanks
One more thing, under fuse #17 I see the "Electronic Blower speed control" listed what is this? Where is it can I disconnect it to see if it would fix the issue?
I have noticed that the fuse only blows when the engine is running, could the alternator be the cause of all this????
Let me see if I can answer some of your questions.
1.This is tough to buttstuffyze because there is no logical connection between the blower motor circuit and fuse 17.
2. Yes, unplugging the A/C compressor clutch should remove that potential load from fuse 17.
3. Speed control is what Ford's name is for cruise control. The speed control amplifier is an electronic circuit board that is powered through fuse 17.
The Electronic Blower speed control is a circuit board that is part of the Automatic Temperature Control (ATC) feature.
I am guessing you don't have this feature.
1. When the engine is not running where do you have the ignition switch? Run, Accy ?
2. The only way the alternator could contribute to this problem would be if the voltage is going too high. Check the voltage across the battery with the engine running. It should not go above 14.5v.
mercury-man had a similar problem last year on his '85. He found some wires in the engine bay shorting to ground. I PM'd him to see if he can tell more about where those wires were.
When the engine is not running I have the key turned forward one position to run, In this position the fuse will not blow and the fan controls operate as normal. I will check the voltage tomorrow with a meter. Thank you for all of this information it is very informative!
I know nothing about this, but my guess (from working on cars for 40+ years) would be you may have pinched a wire while doing all that in and out with the gauges and radio
morrison.344, After pulling everything in the dashboard area (like you have) we too could not find the short. So we started checking in our engine bay and that was where we found 3 loose wires (no insulation) on the drivers side touching the wheel house (frame). What was real disturbing is that everytime I got in & out of our cougar the fuse kept going out. My weight was just enough to move those wires and they made contact with that metal frame and the fuse kept going out. So in the end I'd say check out all wires leading in and around your "engine bay". LOL ;)
what have you done to the car lately? radio swap? amp ect?
Ok i took a volt meter and read the voltage on the battery with the car off the battery read 12.5 and with the car on the voltage read 15.1 with nothing on, it dropped to 14.9 with the headlights on. I believe it should be 14.5. Is 15.1 high enough that the voltage regulator could be bad in the alternator?
That's a little higher than typical but not enough to worry about.
If it goes higher than that when you rev it up then the regulator is bad.