Hi

My instrument panel seems to lose power intermittently.

It happened a few times quite a while ago and only stayed off for a few seconds. However it has recently got quite a bit worse.

From time to time (while driving) all the dials will go off and return to zero and all the lights on the panel go off (no speedo, revs, fuel etc). Then after a while (can be up to 10 mins) they come back on, usually with the fuel gauge amber light coming on initially then the needle returns to where it should be.

The larger central LCD screen lights up but no messages or status messages are visible.

Following the initial major episode of the above, the next day I got an engine system fault which turned out to be the oil temp sensor, which I had replaced.

I put a new battery on the other week (LR one), which got rid of my HDC and Special programs off messages I have had since I bought the car.

My car is a 2006 TDV6 HSE

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

Thanks in advance

David

Hiya

Ive had this problem for a while now...its started to occur less and less for some reason. Seemed to happen more at night when the headlights were on and dash was fully illuminated. Been told that it is probably a connector at the back of the dash thats faulty

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Have you ever investigated costs to get it put right?

It sounds like it could be a pretty open ended job, unless there is a specific part which fails and is easy to detect.

I have noticed today that the parking brake light still comes regardless of all the other items on the dashboard, if this is a clue as to what could be causing this.

Would this mean that power is still coming to the cluster or is the parking brake light fed from a different source?

Same problem on mine also. Did you find the reason for this problem?

Regards Eirik

2007 TDV6

Hi

Same problem, just started after repair of turbos.

Did you get a fix? Some say connectors in the panel itself.

Bit theres lots of ref to the control bus and a long route to finding the problem.

Gajit

Hi, I had a nightmare with my dash. The first indicator something was wrong was that the HDC and special programs not available used to come up and reset when I switched off the ignition and the car went into sleep mode. This escalated to the door locks opening and closing and also the hazards would come on with no internal indication that they were on. The fault then started putting the car into limp mode with only slow speed available and the engine temp gauge would go full scale, plus all of the previous faults too
In the end I changed out the dash for a new one for £800 plus fitting and I have never looked back. I had done some research into this and there have been issues with the 2007 instrument clusters (I have an 07 ) 2.7 HSE, Audi A6 Exec, Honda Accord Exec, Volvo 440, Volvo 360

Oh mines an 07 plate as well.

With the GAP IID tool, you can now fit and program a 2nd hand IPC, and resync the odometer (upwards, not downwards)

Hi DM

We have just started getting same problems on RRS 07 TDV8 HSE, 134K. Had two electrical issues in 6 years driving until last week. few years back replaced a rear parking sensor and just before christmas had to change another one

On a santa visit to my folks before christmas we had a rear left brake light bulb blow but it did not signal on the dash, which i thought all bulbs did, A car flashed us to tell us and we called in at halfords and did both sides put in two bosch bulbs (best they had) of the correct type, Whilst up north I noticed one of the front sidelights was out, again no indication in the cab, again Halfrauds to the rescue and fitted another Bosch bulb. Then on the way back about 200 miles from home I noticed a shudder when accelerating out of roundabouts or from stops, after my wife googled we then understood LR's 150K miles gearbox oil change is woefully over the ZF manufacturers figure of 75K kilometres, huge gulp and didn't drive the car over christams as we booked in for a gearbox flush

Last week had a gearbox flush, new metal sump fitted and new filter plus 150K service with all oils changed plus the front ARB bushes changed. Got car back and experienced the faults as described, up to now only happened when driving so doors are locked

Doors unlock, sounds like all of them
external hazards, no sign inside
radio deisplay says "system fault, shutting down, then Satnav starts to shut down, buttons start greying out until it all goes out so both radio and satnav screens are blank
Heating blowers all stop
EPB flashed red for first 3 times of this shutdown
Suspension/DSC fault light illuminate amber, rest of instruement cluster stays working

After about 30 seconds the systems seem to reboot and hazards go out doors lock, blowers come back on, satnav and radio both reboot, only thing left is the amber suspension/DSC light showing. Ignition off, wait few mins and on again seems to reset until next time

In the space of a week this has now happened 8 times, so quite frequent

I have been back to flushing garage as none of this occurred before they worked on the car, they were helpful in looking at the undersaide but said they could not have done anything and would be very happy to look at "my fault"

I have had my breakdown company out twice as its happened on the road and at the second time the battery was changed as its state of charge was down to 25% even though I had driven near 190 miles and used a CTEK MXS7.0 charger to charge the battery just in case. At this visit they also diagnosed an open diode fault on the alternator, which has now been replaced with another genuinbe LR one. YLE500430

We have experienced the fault again three times and a specialist has today said their diagnosis (and talking with LR technical engineers) points to the Instruement cluster as the likely cause. Quoted over 1K to change but caviated that they couldn't guarantee it was this and I need to sign some paperwork to say I would pay for this even if it turned out not to be the fault!

I have got the car on the drive, it drove beautifull, silky smooth gear changes and no judder. Tonight I have done some googling and used both this and the disco forums to start putting together a plan of checks to do this weekend. i need to be certain all the simpler stuff is ticked off before I sucumb to the gamble of a new Instruement cluster.

My question is regarding the IID tool being able to reprogram a used/scond hand Instruement Cluster, I have been told by the garage that they can only be new ones and are VIN coded once to your car such that they are not interchangeable. Is this correct given what you mention about the tool from Pete

Lastly if anyone has any suggestions by recognising the symptoms and their sudden onset in the last 7 days, any thoughts welcome

Thanks in advance

I was driving and noticed the cluster flickered for just a second. Over a few weeks it progressively got worse but it always came back on and worked until the next time. While taking the cluster out, I noticed the wiring harness behind the headlights was VERY loose (it basically unplugged itself as I removed the unit) but I moved on to unplug the cluster to see if that would somehow magically fix the issue. For a week straight there were no mishaps with the instrument cluster. Then it started again. Just like in the beginning, it was just for a split a second but I know this will get progressively worse. I have no proof ... but I think this is somehow related to the wiring harness behind the headlight switch, which as I said was really loose. My local RR dealership is not particularly honest .... so I'm trying to avoid a new cluster as I've read they MUST be reprogrammed for the car to even start again ... I think it's a wire issue but I don't think it's the wiring harness directly attached to the cluster. I really hope it's just this wire behind the headlights. Any thoughts?

this is what happened to my 57 rrs...after lots of money spent investigating the dash was replaced and problem solved..

stricko wrote:

Hi

My instrument panel seems to lose power intermittently.

It happened a few times quite a while ago and only stayed off for a few seconds. However it has recently got quite a bit worse.

From time to time (while driving) all the dials will go off and return to zero and all the lights on the panel go off (no speedo, revs, fuel etc). Then after a while (can be up to 10 mins) they come back on, usually with the fuel gauge amber light coming on initially then the needle returns to where it should be.

The larger central LCD screen lights up but no messages or status messages are visible.

Following the initial major episode of the above, the next day I got an engine system fault which turned out to be the oil temp sensor, which I had replaced.

I put a new battery on the other week (LR one), which got rid of my HDC and Special programs off messages I have had since I bought the car.

My car is a 2006 TDV6 HSE

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

Thanks in advance

David

I have traced the fault that causes the hazards flashing, doors locking and hevac, radio shutting down intermittently to the instrument cluster area. I have been driving about with the cluster hanging out behind the steering to try and figure out if it is actually the cluster or the loom connecting to it but haven't yet sussed this out yet. Anytime this problem happens if I wiggle the wires or move the cluster it usually resolves it.

Anyone found it was actually the wiring or chances are its the cluster itself ? RRS 2.7 HSE Stornoway Grey
P38 4.6 HSE V8

Hi

This is a point I got to in my diagnostics and was convinced the cable was the issue. We had the identical issue as yourself, I did open up the dash loom and connector by carefully unwrapping as much tape as possible reaching through the binnacle opening. The conclusion after painstaking inspection on every wire, was no visible issue existed, everything metered out and I did this both static and engine running.

Now during that exercise I started to notice a pattern that led me to the answer (in my case), In doing this I had the good fortune to use an Infra red thermal camera which helped me get to the level of detail I’ll explain and how I got to the stage of saying it was the instrument cluster before groaning at the replacement cost

When the car initially started it was ok for a time period, then bingo the fault occurred which could then be reset by turning off for a while then start again all good. When the car had been running then the slightest tap or movement of the cluster created the fault, this was progress as I was starting to get a fault condition on demand.

So using the IR Camera I started to observe things through many start-ups and letting it cool down, it took some time but I found that the PCB board on the Instrument cluster, that is all surface mount components had an area just behind the left hand dial was getting warmer after the car was running, when it got above 35deg (geekish, I can say this) then the slightest movement or tap on the console created the fault. I then progressed to see if I could clear the fault by cooling the PCB. This I achieved by using an office fan on full speed blowing onto the Cluster PCB and hey presto when the temperature got below 34 deg C the fault cleared and the car was fine. (bit of hysteresis happening)

I then performed this cycle of test a number of time to ensure it was no fluke. A temperature below 34 deg C I could tap, move, flex the Instrument cluster and no issue, result

A temperature above 35 degC then the slightest movement/tap then I got the fault.

What I deduced is that the ambient temperature (time of year being warmer) played a part in the time taken to exceed this 35degC temp which meant any test drive was limited before the fault occurred, so I put the Instrument cluster(in plastic bag to protect) in the freezer to chill it, not loads as I didn't want water damage bur enough the car could be driven about 5-10 miles before the fault occurred. This allowed me to tap/knock/press etc the dash and cluster whilst on a road test, if anyone saw me, they must have thought weirdo hitting the car.

So I was then at a place, I could pinpoint the fault, I could create the fault (run the car or use a hairdryer, low setting and careful warming), I could clear the fault (office fan), I could delay the fault (freezer to cool)

So my final set of tests meant I confirmed the fault in an untouched condition, this means I took care not to move a thing to avoid any question on the wiring loom, connectors etc and I cycled the car through the fault and clear. I then confirmed the fault by introducing movement/tapping etc and I could get it to fault over the 35degC and then not fault (whilst moving/tapping around teh cluster) if I kept it below the temp.

The final test was hard as I had to wait for a cooler day and then enlisted my daughter to hole the IR camera as I drove with the cluster visible (so I was still legal) but taped so the rear PCB could be monitored, this combined with tapping when above/below the temp 34-35 degC and it faulting/clearing to order gave me the confidence it was the cluster.

This sounds a lot of work but there were so many threads of similar faults and people spending money and not solving it that I was concerned about swopping parts so a bit of investigative work was fine with me

One final note this fault occurred out the blue after nearly 10 years of the car working, no physical damage or work in this area, so why it occurred, who knows, happens I suppose

Hopefully this helps others and by using a few available things you could eliminate or confirm the cluster before changing.

To confirm the cluster was changed nearly 10 months ago and it has been clear since, i am currently investigating a lumpy/smoky startup problem and think I'm nearly convinced it is the EGR's as the traces show some erratic behaviour in their movement correlating with the real world feel and sight of smoke and lumpiness..

Gotta love these cars, they are marmite, love em hate em, but more love when running right

[Edit] Oops, apologies, I just spent 30 mins doing a response that i gave in my previous post, dang I'm losing it, just forgotting things LOL I'll leave this here as its a little more detail than before on the test process i followed