Speedometer and Tachometer gone crazy

[BASZ]

Hej

apologies if that topic has been described before but i wont manage to find it with my Swedish.

I have a 2004 Mondeo and both of my meters have all of the sudden gone crazy. most of the time they roll back to the end of the scale making a full circle and touching the little "rest stick" from underneath. Sometimes without any reason they jump to a random position and get stuck there as long as the engine is on. When the engine is down the roll back to the end of the scale.
I've had some cases with them before, but were fixed on the occasion of being in the garage for a different reason.

I believe it might be a common thing for Mondeos. Did you guys expereince it before? Is there a way to fix it by yourself? It seems to me that it's pure electronics, so tried unplugging the battery for a moment, but it didn't work.
I'd prefer not to go to garage with such a little thing, but it's extremely annoying and also inconvenient - especially with the speed restrictions in Sweden.

Thanks
Bartek

[Breda]

I have seen this problem many times on 2004 and 2005 focus, but not experienced it on mondeo. The fault in focus is a electrical shortcut in the instrumentpanel. I have visually checked the circut board, but never seen anything wrong. But a new, or used instrument allways fix the problem.

[BASZ]

the problem fixed itself, in a way.
i havent been driving for a while, a bit of cold came and the battery died. i recharged it, put it back and the clocks are back to normal!
I did disconnect the battery before, but only for a few seconds - what the electronic needed, was apparently a solid reboot.

[MDE6Y]

Read about someone with similar trouble on an old Fiesta. Problem was solved with a healthy battery.