One more thing

Can the experts answer whether or not a cluster is assigned to a specific car?

There seem to be some good used ones on eBay from the same MY and engine, and a guarantee that it’ll fit.

Tomorrow I’m going to swap out the bulbs back to the originals and then I’m out of ideas.

Thanks again everyone!

 

The cheap Amazon led bulbs you installed need to go. Like someone else mentioned, the original bulbs in the cluster all took about 10v, and leds are significantly lower at .5 to maybe 3v. When you shut the car down and turn off all lights these cheap bulbs will stay illuminated for a little while, mostly due to the original circuit boards for the dash being engineered for higher voltage light bulbs and built with capacitors in them which are essentially batteries, that won’t continue to illuminate the original standard bulbs when everything is turned off but will hold enough charge for the led bulbs to continue to be illuminated after a shut down until the capacitors(batteries) are depleted enough to no longer light up the led bulbs. if you are going to replace lights to led be sure they require the same voltage as original bulbs or contain/have built in resistors to keep things running smoothly. Another point is to make sure they are listed as can bus compatible or ready to avoid problems.

as far as your codes and dash acting out I would guess the extra voltage that would have normally went to the lights was redirected and could have potentially burned out other components in the circuitry of the cluster, but again this is just speculation. Try returning to the original bulbs and hard resets and see is problem persists. While replacing the lights look over the circuit board for any signs of a burnt component, leakage, or deep scratches in any of the traces or even darkened areas of the board on both sides potentially indicating a problem. Hopefully nothing major happened

 

Easiest fix in history, lol.

I think as you have now shown that the backlights are working properly, including dimming, you may well have ruled out the new bulbs as being an issue. No harm in taking them all out and trying again, but I doubt this will change anything now. BTW I assume your LED bulbs are 12V versions?

The codes you have (and the climate control error) still points to a problem with the instrument pack as the interface between the SCP and CAN networks. Additionally the instrument cluster also is the interface between the network and the climate control, so again that could be the cause of your ER and beeps.

Does the car start and run? If so I would manually check the oil and coolant level and then take the car for a drive. Your problem might be a flat battery.

If you do go the route of a new instrument cluster, there will be some programming needed as the 4.2 litre cars have VID blocks programmed in rather than a printed label in the boot (that is what we like to call progress). Someone else might know whether the new cluster will work without programming, but it might be worth trying anyway - worst case scenario is you end up with a spare instrument cluster, which would be no bad thing.

 

Attaching pics of the circuit board. Couldn’t find anything burnt out, melted or incorrectly connected. But then again, I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for.

The LED bulbs were all 12v. The car does start and run and shifts into all gears.

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be beautiful days here so I will be able to take her out of the garage for the first time in months.

Hopefully a new cluster won’t require programming, but I’m sure it can’t be that easy.

 

That board looks nice and clean - the only thing I would be looking at more closely are the component legs that have been left a little bit too long. For example by TP194 those two legs look bent over - check all of them on the board and make sure nothing looks like it's shorting.

@motorcarman might be the best one to ask if a replacement cluster needs programming.

 

Covering all of my bases. Has anyone stateside used a service called UpFix? They’re in the Atlanta area and can fix up your faulty instrument cluster. Seems only slightly more expensive than a used part which may need to be reprogrammed. UpFix - We save you money on rebuilding your failed electronics!
Still can’t believe I mucked this up.

 

Thanks @dibbit
I see those legs you’re referencing. Do I just bend them Straight again or try to trim them? Never done anything remotely close to this.

Thanks for recommending @motorcarman , I’ll try to reach out to him directly as well

 

From bad to worse.

Swapped out bulbs back to the originals, and now I’ve got nothing. Completely dark cluster and the car won’t turn over. Can get to position II, but won’t start.

To add insult to injury, one of the pivot points on the connector decided to snap off clean. SMH.

Regretting every choice I’ve made. Maybe I’m not cut out for ownership of such a fine automobile.

 

Seems to me you have some wires that are broken inside the insulation. They make contact. Then when you move the harness around a bit, they don’t make contact., Maddening of course, but maybe not expensive to fix with an ohm meter

Z

 

Not the correct way to look at it. Better to realize the lesson that we should not seek to fix a problem that doesn't exist or we can create worse ones. I get it was an upgrade (ish), and seemed simple, and I used to get myself into this kinda mess in the past as well. But now I really force myself to evaluate the actual return v. risk for any upgrades I wanna do. To each his own, but I'd never have done this kinda upgrade just because. Best you can do is learn and go forward. Good luck!

 

@farm-jag You’re right. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Thanks for putting me in check. I needed that.

So, after replacing the bulbs back to what was there (original?) I had nothing as I posted. I disconnected the battery, held the cables together for about a minute, and tried again. Same result.

Then I thought that maybe the bulbs back to original had somehow made the issue worse. Disconnected the battery and removed the cluster to put back the LEDs. While it was sitting on my lap, untouched, and still with the original bulbs it in, a little voice told me to try one more time. I was diligent about making good clean smooth connections on the black and yellow wire clusters. Connected the battery and since the door was open, I noticed I could see the mileage on the cluster as I walked back. Turned the key to position 1 and the radio came on, no ER in the climate read out. Clicked to position 2 and the dash lit up! It showed I had gas in the tank! The only error message was “trunk open”. No coolant message, no oil light or message! Turned the key and she fired right up. I sat there, dumbfounded for 5 min, then another 5!

@stevis05 May have been spot on. Could those LEDs have been diverting power away from the instrument cluster and overloading something else??? I’m not going to play around anymore to find out. Leaving in those dim old faded bulbs and I’ll be happy to look at them!!!

Only two random problems now. One is already fixed and the other may be unrelated.

After it started, it still showed “passenger door open” when it was the driver door. I figured I’d done so many hard resets, that it went back to UK mode. I was actually fine with it. What a great story. I turned it off to work on putting back the door cards, when my better half showed up. I was so excited, I showed her how it was fixed and started it back up. The message flipped to “driver door open”. Wild!

The other issue is odd. The window switch on the driver door only works for the driver window. It’s a new switch, straight from Jag. The mirrors don’t move nor does the pass window. But the passenger window switch works just fine. I’ll work on that diagnosis next.

In summary, you all were right. I didn’t break it as badly as I thought I had. What a learning experience. And what wonderful people on this forum. Hard to ignore that it’s Sunday, and if any of you went to church today and made one little mention about this new kid in Minnesota, and the problems you’re reading about, I wanted to say thank you. I’m not much for divine intervention, but Grandma Z has been up there for over twenty years, and it’s funny how much we still talk. She never owned a Jag, but she’d love this kitty.

Going to be 70 tomorrow for the first time in six months. Planning on parading the kitty around town!

Seriously though, thank you all for your support, humor and eye rolling. Learning more everyday from you all. @zray @dibbit @motorcarman, I really appreciate your help.

 

You are welcome, but don't get me wrong. If your lights are dim and hard to see, then they should be replaced. I know you are probably gun shy now, but perhaps a little more research and effort and perhaps a little more $$ to get proper bulbs proven to work. In fairness, it shouldn't have caused a problem.

 

I’m still voting for broken wire(s) somewhere. This
problem is only sleeping. I say that because by your own description nothing has been fixed, yet the problem has vanished.

Z

 

I think that connector that is broken is the prime candidate - something important not quite making a good enough connection somewhere. However if it works now, then the OP is best advised to just drive the car. If the problem comes back, at least he will have a starting point to look at it more closely.

What this really shows though is that something that appears to be absolutely disastrous, can in fact be nothing more than a loose wire.

 

Affirmative

 

ZSpot; glad to hear you are somewhat back to normal. I am in no way certified on pcb stuff or even mechanics in general but have been fixing stuff of my own for over 25 years, learning as I go and encounter new issues. For me, I am one to use the method of “f—- with it for hours before replacing anything” , reason being some times you see or find something broken, out of place or just bad. At the least you see first hand the system, wiring, connectors, physical appearance and or damage and should get a better knowledge of the system at hands’ components, even if you don’t fully understand what does what. Then with that, when you start researching the issue the information generally tends to make more sense, allowing you to further analyze components and if their functioning properly, which again isn’t always so cut and dry.

don’t get discouraged to try to improve things, just be understanding of the fact that it won’t always go as planned, but remember you won’t know
unless you try. A good example of this is when I went to replace My stock tape player with a used aftermarket Alpine high-end CD player of the era and found it didn’t work. I then went and purchased two more of the same units both in working condition. I spent months searching for the issue on the bad unit using a working unit as reference point to compare Measurements. After a lot of trial and error I finally was able to repair the unit and got it working perfectly. The cost to do so was absolutely not worth it after throwing multiple parts at it and replacing things and the time and money spent as well as upgrading testing equipment and soldering equipment, but in the end, I am more knowledgeable for it, and it was a great learning experience, that I learned a great deal from.

anyway as far as your car is concerned, always be careful with wiring harness connections as our older cars love to break old plastic that hasn’t moved in 20 plus years, ( I broke 7 of the 8 spark plug connectors and that was in warm weather being careful). It happens, just accept it, however I did take the time to use crossed zip ties when reconnecting the broken plugs, although not exactly a perfect or permanent fix, it’s holding.

the connector you pictured that broke, double check it for “s——s and giggles” and add zip ties or electrical tape for added security and peace of mind to ensure it stays making a good connection. I get an intermittent air bag light due to a bad connector in my steering column. I’ve added tape, zip ties, and even foam behind the plug to hold it, but still it pops up here and there. Other members who chimed in are absolutely also right, could just be a wiring issue, definitely harder to track down but still possible with time and ingenuity, provided some tools are available.

lastly, some times when multiple problems/codes suddenly pop up, either related or not, it may take a few driving cycles to clear them on their own, as the computer systems(aka modules) in these cars are severely outdated and not very technologically advanced in todays day and age. Consider it like your car is controlled by a windows 98 operating system as compared to windows 11, and the hardware is right there with it. Not to say it won’t work, but don’t expect today’s gig speed internet with a dial up system if that makes any sense?!?!? Cheers

 

Makes total sense! And thank you for the encouragement and support.

I do have some items for the forum when I return from a quick trip to Sint Maarten with my much better half.

One involves a code, the other is the finished stereo project! It works!

Have a great week everyone!