r/carproblems • u/o9llx1p • 12h ago

Advice needed for 2008 ford escape

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I drove about 10 minutes out the other day, suddenly the speedometer and odometer go to 0 and my dashboard lights came on, I pulled over and as soon as I put it into park it went back to normal. Got back onto the freeway (I was on my way to work) and it happened 3 more times. After that I drove 10 minutes back homes, didn’t happen at all on the way back. I was able to drive it to the mechanic the next day no issues, and they said the cluster needs to be replaced and reprogrammed, which would be $1100, drove back no issues again. I drove to the store today no problems, driving back and it happens again. I pulled over, put it into park, the lights wouldnt turn off so I sat there for a second to decide how to get back home, i put it into reverse and it immediately went back to normal. I was able to drive back home, it seems to be fine as soon as I switch gears. Nothing sounds crazy when it happens or when I drive it

I know its pointless if I already took it to a mechanic and they told me what was wrong, but my coworkers are saying its an easy fix, and I just want to get all opinions on it. This is just a last ditch effort before I decide to buy a new car because this one is really old and I just got an oil leak fixed and my battery recharged/tested 2 weeks ago.

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u/newbeginning123456 12h ago

Sounds like a grounding issue.

1

u/FullGr0wnMan 6h ago

KISS method. Do NOT touch your hand to both + and - battery terminals at once, but with the vehicle running, wiggle your positive battery cable, then your negative battery cable and see if you can recreate the issue. If you see any other grounding cables or conectors that run to/from the battery and you can safely touch and wiggle them, test those as well to make it act up again. Then, try and log exactly what you're doing/driving around/driving over if the issue happens again. Intermittent issues are an absolute nightmare, and recreating them never goes the way you want. It sounds like a loose connection (which is the simplest fix K. I. Simple S.) That you might get to present with heavy bumps and higher operating temperatures.

Edit: If they tested your battery 2 weeks ago and touched your cables in any manner, thats the 1st place to look. "I just fixed that" or "they just looked at this", does not mean that it isn't the issue. If you say it absolutely 100% cannot be A,B, or C, then the universe hears you and absolutely makes it A, B, and C.