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Instrument Panel Lights Disappear.


andrewgmurphy
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Hi All,

I have been experiencing an intermittent issue with my car instrument cluster. I will be driving along the road everything is fine and all of a sudden out of nowhere the lights will dissapear in my instrument cluster. The needles will move ever so slightly, the lights disappear for a few seconds then come on again. There is no loss of power in the car and if the headlights are on the green headlight will be illuminated on the dash. I've cleaned the earth and the Battery cables and still no fix. Could this be a dodgy Battery or has anyone experienced any issues with the dash lights before? Any help would be very much appreciated. It seems to happen more frequently during town driving and less so on motorway journeys.

Andrew

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I've had two problems with dashboard instruments in the time I've had cars.

First one was an Astra where all the instrument lights suddenly went out but all the instruments otherwise worked perfectly well. This was due to a faulty variable resistor (controlled the instrument light brightness). It couldn't handle the current and burned out. A dodgy connection to that resistor would cause this effect on an intermittent basis. Modern cars seem to mostly have electronically controlled dimmers so that rules this one out (unless yours has a manually controlled dimmer).

Second one was a Jeep where the connector to the back of the instrument panel wasn't making proper contact. This one resulted in a total loss of all instruments for a few seconds every now and then. It would only happen after the interior of the vehicle had warmed up, presumably due to expansion of the various plugs/sockets, etc. Other owners complained of certain instruments only failing and others of symptoms similar to yours where the lights failed. The effect depends on which contacts in the connector were not making properly. The cure was to remove the instrument panel and very carefully twist the contacts in the plug slightly

so that they were no longer at 90'. That resulted in a better contact when the whole lot was reassembled.

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Hey,

Thanks for replying to this post. Ill have a look at your second suggestion. This issue happened before and was related to the Battery connectors but was also accompanied with the car not starting hence me asking if it would be Battery related.

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video of issue.

Charging system tested with volt meter and all readings as expected. This could happen on 10mins of a 1.5hr journey then be fine. Is that possible with a loose connection or would it be more frequent. Where are the cables / ground for the dash and what colour are they? Avensis 05 D4D pre-facelift model

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Quick update. Water appears to be gathering under the Battery tray where the cable is grounded. Think this is part of the issue. Anyone know where water could be getting in from. D4d 05 T3x

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Hi,

The water can be from the Battery. When you charge a Battery without regulation the Battery becomes hot and water get out.

Perhaps this is your case, the voltage regulation unit is out of service, that's why your dashboard back-light blinks; I believe !!!

Good luck

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Interesting that would make perfect sense. I take it the voltage regulator is in the alternator setup on an avensis? Does this require a new alternator or can the voltage regulator be replaced separately? Thanks for your help

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I think that the voltage regulator is in the alternator in your avensis.

Unfortunately, if the problem is the regulator you have to change the alternator.

have a good day

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just to further update on this. There is an intermittent drop in voltage that is causing all my issues. I bought a voltage meter for the cigarette lighter and usually with the engine running it would sit at around 13.5 - 14.1volts. However I have noticed that when the lights on the instrument cluster dissapear and reappear the voltage when the car is running drops to 12.5 - 12.8 volts. Would this point to a dodgy alternator or would there be other reasons for this? Battery has already been replaced because when it was tested it was knackered.

Thanks,

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Could conceivably be a faulty alternator but I think you should start with the basics first...it's cheaper for one thing!

Make sure the leads connected to the engine block (check that ground strap), alternator and Battery are all nice and tight, and not corroded. If there are poor connections, vibration when the car is being driven could cause intermittent problems.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just thought Id give an update on this issue. I think there may have been issues with fuel filter or something as there was rough idling, hard starting sometimes and the odd drop in power too. Weird that it would affect the instrument cluster but the issue has dissapeared, mileage is up 3mpg and the car is more lively starting and driving. Could bad fuel or a fuel line blockage cause voltage to drop slightly enough to impact instrument cluster?

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I cannot answer your question but my rear wiper was playing up last year, when I switched the wiper ON my engine temp needle would drop when I switched it off it would go where its supposed to be.

I wouldnt worry too much aslong as the fault is sorted.

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