Technical The mystical disappearing dash

[Leroypanda]

Worryingly my fuel gauge and temp gauge both disappeared on a trip today just leaving random lcd blocks showing. Turned the car off and restarted and it came back

Should i be worried enough to be thinking of getting rid before something major goes wrong?

 

[varesecrazy]

If its a week old..take it back..

if its a 2012.. spend some money ..

 

[Leroypanda]

yes but what would it be thats gone wrong?

 

[varesecrazy]

Power supply..

If its perfect after a restart..
then unlikely to be the dash itself

 

[Leroypanda]

like a battery on the way out?

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
We are talking electronics here. It could be literally any one component, a spike, a bit of noise on a data line, virtually anything could cause it. It may never do it again or conversely appear many times. How long is a piece of string? The big question is if it is regular will the Fiat grease monkeys be able to trace where the fault is? One thing for sure the actual component won't be found it'll be a full new unit!

 

[Leroypanda]

Its 7 years old! its going no where near fiat.

Reading the grande punto forum seems to a problem if its damp outside?
Also charging the battery up due to low milage use

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
These units will be regulated down to 5v and perhaps 3.3v. Dampness is a distinct possibility, the snag is of course electrolytic reaction on items clipped together. A friend had an old Focus that has instrument issues. He used to dismantle them and clean internal contacts every couple of years and saved a fortune on a new instrument.

 

[Leroypanda]

hmmm ok, would it be a dashboard out job on the panda and how would i remove it if it is?

 

[murphyv310]

Good question.
I've no idea, perhaps someone else can help.
Good luck.

 

[varesecrazy]

Its 7 years old!

Thanks for sharing..

 

[Leroypanda]

Thanks for sharing..

Helpful forum, i can see why theres loads of people on here.

 

[Al D]

Maybe a trip to auto electrician who can test battery and alternator (and rule them out). The speedo may be held in by screws and a cable clips in the back of it. I've had temporary blue and me failure for 10 minutes. Not done since. Life expectancy of most major bits 6 years.

See how you get on.

 

[Calomax]

Someone recently said "90% of computer problems can be cured by rebooting and most of the rest by rebooting with the right foot". Seriously my grandaughter's 500 recently lost all her electronic instruments while she was driving. They all came back when she restarted it. Garage could find no fault and it’s been fine since.