Checking Instruments in the Dashboard Self-Diagnostic Module

We assume that you belong to the mentioned pros or at least will relate to them. So, problems in the dashboard immediately catch your eye. In order to understand and classify them correctly, you must now accurately use the technique that Ford puts in every Focus for free as a hidden aid to the professional mechanic: before the professional turns a single screw, he animates a self-diagnosis in the combined instrument panel.

To do this, he presses the Reset button for the trip odometer and, in parallel, turns the ignition switch to position II or III. As soon as Test appears on the display (after about 5-8 s), he releases the key. The combined instrument panel now starts a random test module for testing all indicator instruments. If you want to continue the operation of the self-diagnosis module, click on Reset again. Continue this action until the display gives you a solution to your problem or you yourself end the self-diagnosis module by turning the ignition key OFF.

Unfortunately, the self-test doesn't always activate, but it's worth a try. Otherwise, contact your Ford dealer, who will look at you with disbelief at first, but then check the combined instrument panel with the FDS2000 tester in the workshop. But as an experienced amateur mechanic, you will be pragmatic after disappointment without the FDS2000. The oil pressure indicator light does not light up. Turn the ignition on, disconnect the wire on the oil pressure switch and attach it to bare metal (to mass). If the control light is on, then the defect is in the oil pressure switch (replace). If the bulb does not light up, check the wire connected to it, the electrical foil of the combined instrument panel and the bulb one by one. The oil pressure switch on the petrol model is located on the engine block right next to the oil filter flange, on the diesel engine the switch is located at the height of the cylinder head on the left side of the engine.


The fuel gauge does not work. Either the indicator device or the fuel level sensor in the fuel tank is faulty (float jammed). Perhaps only an interrupted current supply or insufficient contact with the ground. The fuel gauge itself allows only limited troubleshooting. In order to check the wires on the fuel tank, a number of preliminary work must be carried out in the Focus, so we recommend that you go to a workshop with a lift and have this work done there.



Signal lights do not work. First check that the corresponding fuse is functioning correctly, then the wiring connections, the power cable and the sensor elements. A multimeter will also provide valuable assistance in this case. If you have localized the malfunction, then replacing most of the sensor elements or control lights is not too much of a challenge for an amateur. But it's better not to repair the printed circuit board in the combined instrument panel: entrust it to the Ford workshop.