I have seen a number of comments on this forum and on various MX5 FaceBook entries about failures of the main instrument cluster on NDs. I have now suffered the problem with my 2019 RF.
The left hand (of three) instruments failed. I tried charging the battery fully thinking it might be due to low current to the instruments. That didn’t work.
Next I thought that perhaps it was due to water ingress (even though I was not aware of any dampness in the car). I ran a blow heater in the car for an hour to see if that might cure the problem and hey presto everything was back to normal!
However, the next time I used the car it was faulty again. The left hand instrument was either completely black or else displayed vertical lines. It did correct itself a couple of times but would only last for a short period before failing again.
I went into Burrows in Sheffield who are my local main dealer to see if they had any thoughts. They concluded that the instrument cluster had failed and would need to be replaced. They quoted £450 for the work but they would not order the part until they carried out an assessment to confirm that the instrument cluster was the problem at a cost of £139.
I booked the car in and today they confirmed that the instrument cluster has failed so I booked it in for repair next week already £139 poorer. On the drive home the instruments came on correctly and the issue appeared to have been cured. I stopped and started several times on the way home and everything kept working perfectly.
I have cancelled my appointment with Burrows and my conclusion is that it was a bad connection to the instruments which Burrows corrected when they examined the car. Fingers crossed it will be OK
Hi Macy’s
It could still be the damp problem,I keep my N .D in a garage,I think in general there is now to much electronics on cars to actually stand outside for ever,a little damp can cause huge problems,if a car is used every day probably helps keep damp free,but lots of m.x5 stand up for most of the winter,then the damp must really get in to the electrics,I think your fan heater could be a good idea from time to time,certainly if yours is stood outside a lot.
Glad it seems fixed ,all best Simon
Great to hear that the problem seems to be resolved for you and hope it stays that way.
While £450 is not inconsequential it is significantly less than the £thousands I have seen others get quoted and wonder why that would be… not suggesting you will have the answer, more a general thought. Maybe the difference of the whole cluster with all instruments rather than just one.
I had this problem on our 2019 ND. The left hand digital gauge failed, (went blank). After a day or two it came back on, but luckily I had taken pictures when it failed and booked it into our local main dealer. They replaced it, luckily for me it was still under warranty.
It’s good yours has started to work again, but I think they had problems with these gauges and I think you will find that the fault will return at some point…
My garage is dry, being integrated with the house and the car shares the space with the central heating boiler, so I don’t think its due to damp conditions. I am quite enthusiastic with the pressure washer though.
I have contacted several and visited one company that repair instruments but none of them wanted to try to repair my cluster, I think because there haven’t seen one from an ND before.
Unfortunately the instruments have now reverted to this. Car is booked back into Burrows for a new cluster and I shall retain the old one to see if I can get it repaired in the future.
This has happend on my 2019 twice in 2022 just out of warranty second time I removed the complete unit and put it on the radiator in the house for 24 hours and then replaced it the fault has as yet not returned so for me I put it down to a poor connection maybe with a little damp causing the problem …
Modern electronic parts are becoming less reliable due to the outlawing of lead in solder. For a number of years now lead free solder has been used in manufacture of items like this.
Lead free solder is less flexible and liable to crack. In vehicle applications the high vibration environment makes this more of an issue.
As components expand and contract with changes in temperature a dry joint can open and close. This could be the reason for an intermittent fault to rear its head up in colder or warmer weather.
If the circuit board is removed it can be worth looking around it to check for tiny cracks between component wires and solder pads. The most likely points of failure will be where the pins of a connector for the wiring loom are soldered to the board.
How did you get on at Burrows with the repair? I’m booked in with them later this month for the same fault. Did you have any issues with your mileage resetting to zero after the repair as some owners have reported?
All sorted satisfactorily. The original quote of £450 disappeared when I wen t to pay on the day and the price had gone up to £600! However, after a brief chat about the original quote they agreed to stick to £450.
The mileage has reset to zero, there’s nothing you can do about that unfortunately but they did record the mileage on the day on the invoice so it is authenticated.
Seems to be working fine at the moment although it is a bit slow to “wake up” when I switch on, taking a couple of seconds longer than the other two instruments in the cluster.
Hi. I used ECU Testing to repair a faulty cluster on our Fiat 500. They did a great job at a fraction of the cost quoted by dealer and with lifetime warranty. If you haven’t tried them yet they may be able to help.
