Instrument Panel Problems of Ford Mustang - part 1

Recently purchased 2005 Ford Mustang and was told upon sale that there was a problem with the fuel gauge. I figured it would be easy enough to fix so wasn't really concerned. Now a week later I noticed the speedometer doesn't work as well. It sticks on 15 mph for periods of time or then will show at least 15 - 30 mph faster than I am actually going. I searched online for a fix and found thousands of threads of individuals with the exact same issue and even copies of letters sent to owner stating that there wasn't a recall because it's not a safety concern. I bought this car for my daughter. Running out of gas late at night because her fuel gauge is broken is a safety issue. Sure can she write down mileage every time she gets gas, yes. But after reading so many comments by so many people it seems as if this issue should be resolved by Ford. Seems to be isolated on the 2005 only. In addition not know your speed limit is also a safety concern and also a financial concern should you get pulled over having no idea how fast you are driving. Its seems as if the entire cluster of gauges are faulty and need to be addressed. Your response or help in getting Ford to rectify is greatly appreciated.

See all problems of the 2005 Ford Mustang 🔎.

Speedometer not working correctly. Go anywhere from 20 to 80 mph over traveled speed. Even when sitting it sticks at 20-80 mph.

My speedometer does not work so I do not know how fast I am going. This is a problem with many 2005 Ford Mustangs. There should be a recall on the instrument cluster to fix this problem.

I was driving over a bridge and looked down and my speedometer said that I was going 120 mph. I was only traveling approximately 65 mph. I pulled into a restaurant parking lot and continued to turn the car on and off. Each time the speedometer went down 10 mph until I finally got it to 0. I turned around and drove home, but the speedometer kept sticking at around 40 to 60 mph. . Read more...

Gas gauge erratic. Then failed last August. Ford says must replace entire cluster at cost of $450-650 plus labor this seems to be a common problem on this model. Only 45000 miles on this car. Cost seems excessive. What is Ford doing to back this up?.

My speedometer has become erratic where it will stick at random intervals and doesn't report the speed correctly anymore. This makes it hazardous to operate and difficult to remain within legal speed limits.

The instrument cluster on my 2005 Ford Mustang has a shortage or is defective. Based on internet research and a discussion with an authorized Ford dealership and my long time auto mechanic, this is a part that should not fail at 73,000 miles. While Ford has not issued a recall, there is an obvious manufacture defect, as there have been numerous complaints and issues reported. When a gauge (fuel, temperature, battery, etc) fails on this vehicle, the entire instrument cluster must be replaced. This is a costly part and service fee (over $900) for something that should not be defective or have issues with a car of this age. When the instrument cluster signals an issue to the internal computer, the vehicle may go into a "fail safe mode" and the car will not operate. Ford needs to issue a recall for this part and replace it at no cost to the owner.

On my 2005 Ford Mustang v6 the speedometer often gets stuck or performs erratically and stays stuck when the car is turned off. This is a large pain as it does not register any accurate speed and one must turn the car on and off several times to get the speedometer to zero. The failure occurs randomly about once a week. The quote to replace this product is ridiculous at around $600.

Speedometer erratic - shows miles per hour way out of range of actual mph - I. E. Shows 120 miles per hour or even beyond while only going about 30; can zero out if in park and shut off and restart engine, slowly resets 5 mph each time off and on again - taking a lot of turning off and on to zero back out. Have read and heard of many, many other 2005 Mustang owners having same complaint - must be recalled by now?.

Safety issue: speedometer reads as much as 60 mph off of true speed. When at a dead stop, speedometer shows 60mph. When traveling 60 mph, speedometer shows 120 mph.

At around 60k miles, my speedometer and temperature gauges quit working. Ford dealer says I have to replace the entire instrument panel at over $1,000.

I just bought a used 2005 Ford Mustang and was told by seller that my rpm , temp, gas, and speed gauges did not work because Ford installed failing stepper motors in the instrument cluster which control the movement of the gauges. I looked it up on line and it is very clear that these parts are defective. There are multiple companies advertising to fix the problem. If I run out of gas or am driving too fast due to faulty readings bad things can happen. Ford needs to fix these gauges for free, since they are defective. . Read more...

The speedometer constantly malfunctions, which makes it impossible to know what speed you are traveling. The speedometer will either stick at zero or be 10 to 15 mph off. This is common problem based on personal experience with many other 2005 Mustang v6 drivers. The problem requires the entire instrument panel to be replaced (~$500-800), and Ford continues to give us all the run-around. A simple search online also returns numerous postings about this problem. Not knowing the speed in which you are traveling is a very unsafe driving condition. Please look into this matter promptly and issue a recall. Thanks for your help on this matter.

2005 Ford Mustang. Consumer writes in regards to faulty speedometer.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang. While driving approximately 65-75 mph, speedometer displayed an abnormal reading of 20 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the dealer advised that the instrument cluster would need replacing. The vehicle was not repaired. He called the manufacturer and was advised that there was a national back order for the part needed to repair the instrument cluster. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure and current mileages were 48,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that none of the gauges on the instrument panel were operable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was advised that the instrument cluster needed replacement. In addition, the dealer advised that the stepper motor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage 64,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang gt. While driving in rainy weather conditions approximately 40 mph at dusk, the entire instrument panel indicators and headlights failed. The contact drove onto the emergency lane for five minutes before the indicators and headlights began to operate. The contact saw water from the rain leaking onto the front passenger floorboard and on the electrical box. The identical failure occurred on a separate occasion. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the technician informed him that the vehicle exceeded the service warranty. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 71,100.

Speedometer does not work accurately, either moves erratically, or not at all.

Driving on wet roads, front passenger side leak, shorting fuse box. Car lights, turn signals, instrument panels, and radio all go dead. When car is put into park it will not shift back out. Dries out, and all is well again. This is an extreme safety issue. . . . . Imagine if you will driving on a highway late at night in traffic only to have all your lights and turn signals go out.

Driving on wet roads, front passenger side leak, shorting fuse box. Car lights, turn signals, instrument panels, and radio all go dead. When car is put into park it will not shift back out. Dries out, and all is well again. This is an extreme safety issue. . . . . Imagine if you will driving on a highway late at night in traffic only to have all your lights and turn signals go out.

In reference to TSB-08-26-7 and TSB-07-14-6, there is a difficult to diagnose water leak in the floor board of the vehicle. The water leak coming from the passenger side of the vehicle from the wheel well into the floor board of the vehicle comes into contact with the Smart junction box (sjb) of the vehicle. When water seeps into the sjb, it short circuits the majority of the electrical system of the vehicle including: headlights, tail lights, a/c, instrument panel, radio, windshield wipers, rear defroster, windows, door locks, and a variety of other items. If all the correct conditions prevail, such as, night time driving in the rain and the water seeps into the sjb and short circuits it, the driver is left in the dark with no lighting, no wipers, or instrumentation of any type. Quick fix for dangerous condition was to pull the kick panel out of the floor board, unplug the sjb connector, and allow to briefly air dry before reconnecting. Vehicle was taken to dealer only to be claimed the "instrument cluster" was bad. Even though the tsbs were mentioned by the owner, nothing was said of the sjb being the problem.

Speedometer erratic, inaccurate. Often inoperable. Occasionally works in ambient temperatures above 60 degrees f. Erratic/inoperable condition is more pronounced as ambient temperature drops below 60 degrees f. Replaced sensor assembly - engine speed, part #xw4z-7h103-aa. Problem persists.

Speedometer needle moves with speed increase, but does not reverse motion with speed decrease.

Speedometer erratic and not calculating correct speeds. More erratic in cold climate. When the car is started the speedometer is at 20mph, drive the car it gets stuck on 50mhp, and continues to rise. At times the speedometer works in warm weather, but I have to try to reset it to zero before I begin driving. I see a lot of complaints regarding the speedometer in the Mustang forums and see no resolve to the issue. I contacted the Ford motor company, and they say there are no recalls. There is obviously an issue with the speed sensors, or the speedometer needle itself. This to me is a serious safety concern. This issue continues to occur daily. The issue started some time ago, but I am reporting now since there is no resolve from the Ford motor company to fix the issue.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang. While driving approximately 60 mph the temperature gauge for the oil read 195 degrees even though the vehicle was running hot and began to smoke. The contact drove onto the emergency lane and waited for the vehicle to cool down. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for a diagnostic test and to be repaired. The dealer stated that the contact would be responsible for paying to have the instrument panel replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the contact stated that the instrument panel was still defective. The approximate failure mileage was 2,500 and the approximate current mileage was 3,064.

I have a 2005 Ford Mustang that the speedometer and odometer are not working. I have contacted Ford motor company and they said that they have not had enough complaints to warrant a recall. Apparently, they have not googled 2005 Ford Mustang instrument cluster and read all of the problems from other Mustang owners. I am in the process of getting problem fixed but I am very dissatisfied with the service that I am receiving from battlefield Ford and Ford motor CO.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang gt. While driving between 35-45 mph in light rain, the entire instrument panel and exterior lighting failed without warning. In addition, the front driver's and passenger side floor areas accumulated an excessive amount of water leakage. Water entered into the fuse panel. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, where it was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the failure was contributed to a cracked body torque seam. The vehicle was repaired at the cost of $900; however, the repair was not covered under warranty. The repairs consisted of replacing the Smart fuse box, seals, and micro circuits. The failure mileage was 42,000 and current mileage was 45,092.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang. While driving between 50-55 mph in rainy weather conditions at night, the entire instrument panel and exterior lighting failed without warning. In addition, the front passenger side floor area and fuse panel exhibited water leakage. There was extremely poor night visibility due to the failures. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road. The contact heard a clicking noise coming from the instrument panel before it and the exterior lighting resumed operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, but a diagnostic was not performed due to the cost. The vehicle has not been repaired. The vehicle was not accepted by the system. The failure mileage was 38,000 and current mileage was 50,000. Updated 5/26/09 the consumer stated the speedometer, tachometer and fuel gauge were inoperative. Updated 05/28/09.

Initially, the tachometer stopped working unsure of the date, early 2009. 5-speed. Replaced a fuse thinking that was the problem but it didn't fix the problem. In September 2009, while on the highway for about 45 minutes heading out for the weekend, the temperature gauge indicates the car is hot. We pull over and check under the hood; no smoke, no leaks, no smell, everything seems normal. We decide to return to our house, park the car until we get back to further investigate. The gauge continued to move hotter so we ran the heater all the way home. Upon our return from the weekend trip, we started the car and the gauge automatically went to hot. A search on the internet came back with many others with the same year/model and the same problem and indicated that the dealers were saying that it was a bad instrument/cluster panel that would have to be replaced and that the other gauges would also stop operating. Cost to repair about $1000 and mileage would have to be certified. We continued to use the car without any heating up problems although the gauge indicated otherwise. Recently, the speedometer has started going bad as well. Sometimes it tells you speed and sometimes it doesn't. Only thing working right now is the fuel gauge and don't know for how long. Mileage is under 25k.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that the instrument panel was inoperable including the fuel, temperature and speedometer gauges. Both the dealer and manufacturer advised the contact to replace the instrument cluster and advised her that there were no recalls associated with the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The current mileage was 121,000 and the failure mileage was 100,000.

My speedometer and tachometer stopped working around 45000 miles. I took this to the Ford dealership as there is numerous complaints online about this problem expecting this to be fixed. They said it was uncommon and I was out of warranty and would have to pay for this. This should be a recall by Ford for repair.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Mustang. He stated that the speed odometer only works after the vehicle is turned on and off. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer but it was not repaired due to the cost of the repair. The failure mileage was 75,000. The current mileage was 92,000. Updated 6/17/10 the consumer stated the speedometer was defective. Sometimes it worked when the engine was warm, but it stayed at zero until then. Sometimes, it would work after an hour of driving. The consumer stated a new instrument panel is needed. Updated 06/18/10.

The instrument cluster in my 2005 Ford Mustang gt no longer works. First the fuel gauge stopped reading property, then the speedometer would read 100 + while going about 40 and continued to be erratic until the needle ended up pointing straight down. The same thing then happened with the tach. This all occurred just after 30,000 miles. I have researched the issue on line and there are numerous reports of this issue.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Mustang. While driving at an unknown speed, the speedometer displayed the incorrect speed. When driving at a relatively slow speed, the speedometer would display a rapid speed. He took his vehicle to the dealer and they stated that he needed to replace the instrument panel cluster. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 83,000.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Mustang 🔎.

The contact leases a 2007 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that the electronic remote does not work. If the door is opened manually, it shuts downs the electronic system and the brake lights. The failure was noticed while driving 40 mph. The system will operate normally after a few minutes. The dealer replaced the instrumental panel and modules, but the failure was not corrected. The dealer information was unknown. The current mileage was 8,062 and failure mileage was 6,700. The dealer stated problem with rear axel assembly. Updated 09/26/07.

See all problems of the 2007 Ford Mustang 🔎.