intrument panel gone crazy

[jcamp116]

I am not sure what is going with my 03 Expedition EB. It seems for the last week or two it seems slow to turn over, almost like the battery is going bad. Sometimes after is does start, all of the gauges in the intrument cluster freak out and by going back and forth few times, then everything goes back to normal. It has never not started, and the gauges seem to be working fine. Nothing comes up wrong on the system check. It has 51K miles.

Any help would certainly be appreciated, I tried to do a search but didn't find anything.

Jarrod

 

[pronstar]

The gauge sweep is often a sign of a dying battery.

Given your other symptoms, as well as the age of your tuck, I'd have your battery checked out.

May as well make sure your charging system is operating correctly while you are at it (it's likely OK).

 

[chuck s]

The battery is probably nearly dead. Anything plugged into the outlets inside?

I kept forgetting to unplug these and my Explorer'd be dead over a weekend. Once you kill a starting battery once or twice it won't come back. I finally fitted Priority Start to the batery which cuts it off before deep discharge. On reactivation and start the dash panel does the same thing as you note.

-- Chuck

 

[jcamp116]

I ended up going to O-reilly's to have them put a test on the battery, alternator, and starter. Test showed the battery and alternator were fine, but the starter is drawing 220 amps when it starts and dropping the battery from above 12V to around 8V. Long story short, I have replaced the starter, but have the same problem.

Could it still be the battery even thought that didn't show up on the guys autometer test unit? Maybe I need to reset all the electronics somehow?

Thanks for any help..

Jarrod

 

[JUST4FUN]

how much did the starter draw after you replaced it ?
probly the same, i think you got ripped off go to interstate and get a MTP 65. 1000CA 875CCA put it in and your done.

here is a load teast you can do turn on lights before starting it
see if loghit get real dim while cranking it if they do get a new battery