C5 X7 2013 instruments fading

[Paul-R]

Well onto copying and pasting. Ta.

[Paul-R]

Update on progress.

I didn't have to go the whole hog on dismantling. For the benefit of anyone else wanting to remove the instrument panel, this what I did.

Basically I removed the upper and lower steering column half cowls. With these off you can see a pair of nuts holding the column assembly to the underside of the bulkhead. I slackened those off almost to the point of removal. There are another pair further down the column but it is not necessary to slacken those. This gave some movement of the column down but not enough to remove the instrument panel.

It did give me enough room to remove the column adjustment lever though. And once this was out I had enough movement of the column downwards to wriggle the instrument panel out.

Next step is dismantling the instrument panel to remake all connections in the hope that is all that is needed.

[Paul-R]

I undid every connector I could get at on the instrument PCB, gave them a squirt of contact cleaner, pushed the leads in and out and then clicked them closed. I then temporarily reconnected the panel back in the car, reconnected the battery and switched the ignition on. Success! Everything was readable. Let's hope it lasts.

One thing that didn't work for me was trying to make the panel light up on the bench using a 12v power supply. Do we have access to a wiring diagram to confirm that pins 1 and 3 are correct for applying power to?

[Paul-R]

Well that didn't last long. A couple of miles down the road this morning I looked down to find that the centre section of the speedo was completely blank. It sort of came back a bit and then varied intermittently but never at full brightness.

I'm torn about what to do next. Looking closely at the set-up the problem appears to be on the speedo part itself as the circular surround looks to be fully bright. So maybe taking the PCB apart a bit further would be beneficial. On the other hand I found this on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275947766129 ... R-7FuP-gZA

Providing the photo of the mileage is actually the one for sale I should be OK in that respect as its a couple of thousand less than my car.

Now, what's involved in making sure that the configuration is correct?

[GiveMeABreak]

There are stacks of different parts for the instrument panel - each different according to engine type and build date, and your original part (9677285480) to be configured was replaced with part: 9809868180. These are the unconfigured part numbers as pre-configured' are not available.

As for configuration, I strongly suggest you record existing values, but here is what they should be:

Note: Any entries coded as '2' below MUST be coded as such or risk malfunction.

Configuration Parameters	Values To Be Configured	Comments
Parking Assistance Option	Function Masked	For all vehicle types except Japan
"	Function Displayed	Japan vehicle only
Current Information Display Position	Trip Computer	Vehicle not equipped with the "Stop and Start" system
"	Specific Screen	Vehicle equipped with the "Stop and Start" system
"Stop And Start" Option	Function Masked	Vehicle not equipped with the "Stop and Start" system
"	Function Displayed	Vehicle equipped with the "Stop and Start" system
Maintenance Indicator	Function Displayed	(2)
Oil Gauge	Function Displayed	(2)
Controlled Suspension Option	Function Masked	Vehicle equipped with mechanical suspension
"	Function Displayed	Vehicle equipped with hydraulic suspension
Navigation Option	Function Masked	Vehicle not equipped with navigation system
"	Function Displayed	Vehicle equipped with navigation system
Cruise Control Option	Function Displayed	(2)
Speed Limiter Option	Function Displayed	(2)
Trip Computer Option	Function Displayed	(2)
Volume And Distance Units	Litres/100km	(2)

And of course one other - the language selection.

[Paul-R]

I bit the bullet and made an offer for the instrument cluster. We agreed on £25 delivered.

[Paul-R]

I fitted the replacement panel and all is now well.

Pleasingly the mileage was exactly the same as the old panel thus confirming that the mileage on the replacement panel was less than our car's. Even more pleasing, and totally unexpected, the two trip mileage counters and average MPG readings (as well as the third trip counter which is zeroed by the button on the speedo face) were also present and correct. This must mean that this is stored in the BSI, not the panel itself.

When I read the configuration of the original panel it was exactly as Marc posted except that the Volume And Distance Units were gallons/MPG. I haven't felt the need to read the configuration of the replacement panel yet as everything is working fine so far. Maybe I'll do it just to confirm that the Controlled Suspension Option and the Navigation Option are set correctly.

[GiveMeABreak]

Good Job.

[Paul-R]

Checked the parameters today.

The Current Information Display Position and Stop And Start option aren't there to be set. Presumably the display firmware is too old for this to have even been considered. The Controlled Suspension option was Masked and changed to Displayed. The Navigation option was also Masked and was changed to Displayed. I was expecting the first, as the VTI has steel suspension, but the second was a surprise. Anyway, all is fine now.

[Paul-R]

Well this is disappointing. While we were away in France the display started to exhibit missing pixels. Whereas before the problem was something to do with the LEDs and their brightness this time it's a couple of horizontal lines of pixels missing. As can be seen in the photographs they're at the top of the display and make it impossible to see, amongst other things, what the instantaneous MPG reading is.

The fault this time is not with the the LEDs but the mask of LCD pixels that sits on top of them. I get the feeling that it might just be a faulty connection between the circuit board and this mask. I suppose I'll have to take the speedo out to be sure but the imperative isn't that high at the moment.

Another thought that occurs to me is that maybe the mask could be transferred from the old speedo assembly. I'll dismantle it at some time to see if it's possible.

Ho hum...