Truck goes crazy when key is out of the ignition, Instrument cluster goes on and off, beeps, ...but I don't think it's the actual instrument cluster.

[Tombstones81]

Nice! (to finally find the exact problem)
Did you buy the one from the Denaples link?
Only wondering how their service is with Specific to the year parts like that in general.
Like how I bought a cluster off ebay (salvage yard in NJ) & received an 01 to 03 cluster.
Hard to find places to buy from & have them be honest with parts like that.

Did buy a (listed as working) transmission from them for my old 02 grand am that lasted longer then the undercarriage of the car tho! haha
or else I wouldnt have suggest them.

 

[Evox]

Nice! (to finally find the exact problem)
Did you buy the one from the Denaples link?
Only wondering how their service is with Specific to the year parts like that in general.
Like how I bought a cluster off ebay (salvage yard in NJ) & received an 01 to 03 cluster.
Hard to find places to buy from & have them be honest with parts like that.

Did buy a (listed as working) transmission from them for my old 02 grand am that lasted longer then the undercarriage of the car tho! haha
or else I wouldnt have suggest them.

Unfortunately no. When I asked to confirm it was Sport Trac, they said it wasn't. But I appreciate the lead. It would have been nice to find a cheap one. I ended up paying $199 plus tax for one. But at least it works.

I suspect the one I had has something like this wrong with it. Silver Migration, I know it's something on the board that is bridging power.

Since I have it out of the truck, I'm going to look at it under magnification and see if, by chance, I can find it. I want to sell one of these clusters and recoup some cash. But I can't sell the broken cluster in good conscience. If I can't fix it, I might still get it fixed and sell it for a couple of hundred dollars, at least recoup a few bucks. Or, hell, keep it as spare since this is the one major pain in the ass problem I've had with this truck.

The '04 and '05 use the same clusters. But they're as rare as hen's teeth to find.

 

[JC2008SportTrac]

I'm really hoping it's not the gauge cluster again. First, because it's a pain in the ass to remove it, mail it off, and then wait for the return. Second, because if it is the cluster, which I don't think, that means it only lasts a year or two before it shorted out again. It's a shame; the engine and transmission are fine, and I really wanted to see how far I could make this truck go.

I think the point about the cluster is, it sounds like it started around this time, and not that they just 'go out', but more that you got a bad rebuild. Everything you're describing sounds very electrical-gremlin'y. The fact that your hard-parts all work is good, and, while the cluster change is a PITA, it's good that you can likely fix your ills easily with a cluster repair/replace/fix.

 

[Evox]

I think the point about the cluster is, it sounds like it started around this time, and not that they just 'go out', but more that you got a bad rebuild. Everything you're describing sounds very electrical-gremlin'y. The fact that your hard-parts all work is good, and, while the cluster change is a PITA, it's good that you can likely fix your ills easily with a cluster repair/replace/fix.

My cluster problem isn't what typically fails. Typically stepper motors wear out, or cold breaks occur. Most circuit board repair services only replace stepper motors, light bulbs, and resolder cold breaks. ...they really aren't qualified to do anything else.

The cold breaks occur because of the expansion and contraction due to temperature cycles over time. What I have is a circuit on the board grounding out (shorting). This is not the typical problem.

In fact, most of the popular repair services don't really address this kind of issue. They can't. Anyone with a little practice can repair 99% of the problems which these clusters run into. The guys who fix these problems can do it in under 15 minutes. $150 for 15 minutes' worth of work isn't bad.

For those rare boards like mine, they'll tell the customer it can't be fixed that it's unrepairable.

 

[JC2008SportTrac]

Thank you for your advice. I'm wide open at this point.

I do not think this is the cold joint solder problem in the cluster itself. I've had that before, and this ain't it. When my old cluster failed, the symptoms were completely different.

I believe it's a short somewhere else. Somewhere between the ignition switch and the PCM that shorts and energizes the PCM, which in turn energizes the cluster, runs its diagnostic, throws codes for every sensor in the truck because the truck is off and the PCM thinks it's on.

When the codes are cleared and the truck started ...no codes. The truck runs fine and no electrical problems. When my old cluster went out, the weird electrical problems occurred when the truck was on.

In this case, when it sat off for a few seconds, something energizes the PCM and the various relays in the fuse and relay box in the engine compartment.

I agree with you. I guess it could be moisture somewhere that caused the short, or it could be a partially broken wire that shorts under certain circumstances. The hot, dry weather might have dried up the moisture. Or moving the truck to the garage moved the wire and broke the short. That or the tech moved the right wire and eliminated the ground. ...I've no idea. I'm out of ideas. I hate electrical problems. Especially intermittent shorts because they're intermittent. Unless you pull the right fuse while the circuit is shorted, you won't find it.

I'm going to open the ignition switch again and inspect the wires and plug again. I've already ordered a new key cylinder.

NONE of that is fun. Sending good vibes your way! Elecrical gremlins are the worst! Hoping you figure it out.!