MID display on my Ecosport goes blank; Ford says replace whole cluster

A lot of customers are facing this exact same issue once the vehicle is turning 4-6 years of age

BHPian jithin23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hi all, I thought I'll share one important piece of info which quite a few Ecosport owners have been facing in India of lately pertaining to the 4" MID speedometer.

Posting the rest of the content on his behalf

Hi Team BHP,

I am an avid reader of Team BHP.I really enjoy reading posts on different aspects of life like finance/investing, life advice, career, travelogues, and of course automobiles on Team BHP.

I am writing this to you to highlight a peculiar issue with 2018+ facelift models of the Ecosport, which has a bigger MID LCD display in top-of-the-line variants. I own an Aug 2018 Ecosport S Diesel, totally stock, with no accessories other than a dashcam powered via USB port. The warranty is over. The issue is that the MID screen goes blank/white all of a sudden one fine day anytime the vehicle crosses 4-6 years of age irrespective of kms covered. The rest of the instrument cluster—speedometer, rpm meter, fuel, and temperature gauge—works fine. A lot of customers are facing this exact same issue (reported in the Ecosport Owners Group on Facebook) once the vehicle is turning 4-6 years of age, and since now only the vehicles are crossing this age, such issues are getting reported by owners. I am surprised to see no owner has reported this on Team BHP though. One more issue that is getting reported by many owners is the failure of the Sync3 screen. However that is due to the LVDS cable and that can be resolved easily. Fortunately, I haven't faced that issue yet, but seeing how things are, I fear it can happen anytime.

Anyway, coming back to the issue, when reported to FASS, the only solution available as of now is to replace the entire instrument cluster, which costs a lot—INR 28k+. There are no child parts available. When I escalated this to Ford India Customer Care, my vehicle was kept for diagnosis with the Ford Technical Team for 5 days at FASS. FASS SA mentioned that they shared pictures, battery reports, etc. with the Technical Team. He also mentioned when another instrument cluster was connected, it was working fine, so there are no issues with wiring, etc. So later, as expected, the technical team has come up with a silly excuse blaming the non-Ford battery (Amaron). They are just trying to wash their hands off the issue. This is clearly a case of a substandard or low-quality product that is failing anytime in 4-6 years of age for multiple customers. Also, while searching online, I see that Ford clusters for other international models also have this issue; YouTube has many such videos where they replace just the LCD part. LCD is available on aliexpress however the customs costs does nit justify the part of pricing for the LCD if we import it individually. That part is not available here in India. Also, replacing the entire instrument cluster is not a viable option, firstly because it's too costly, and secondly since the same part is bound to fail again anytime in the next 4-6 years and the cycle continues.

I wish to know what our options are:

• Can this be escalated further? Can higher-management folks from Ford India be involved in this?
• Can we hope that Ford India owns up to this issue and does a recall or replaces the faulty part under goodwill?
• Is it really fine/expected for electrical parts to fail within 5 years? I don't think electrical parts should fail so early. It's neither a wear-and-tear part nor consumable. Such LCD displays have been in use since 2010's in vehicles, and I don't think such an issue is reported in any other brand this early that too for so many customers at the same time or gather all such owners and file a case in the National Consumer Forum since their technical team is trying to wash off their hands, giving silly excuses?
• Any other options?

This issue is similar to the Ford wheel lug nut case, where the product design itself is faulty, which is bound to fail after a few years, and then the customer is asked to replace it again with the same bolts. Those bolts were also costing a bomb; thankfully, there are aftermarket options available. But in the case of instrument clusters, there are no aftermarket options. Looking forward to your invaluable suggestions and opinions.

Thanks,

Firoz

Attaching a couple of pics from the OP

I believe this is a serious issue and Ford needs to address this issue which is feasible for both the OEM and the customer. There have been more than 500+ complaints across multiple Facebook groups on the same issue and there needs to be a viable solution.

Here's what BHPian Funny had to say on the matter:

Another reason why we need to follow manufacturer's recommendations. Stick to OEM battery guys, they last as much (if not more) as non-OEM batteries like Exide/Amaron etc. Also that would ensure that FASS cannot wash their hands off for unexpected electronic issues like the one described above.

I would suggest the owner to contact other owners who are facing similar issue and see if they have non-OEM battery installed at any point of time to ensure that it's not a consistent pattern with those using non-OEM battery. I don't think this is widespread issue, there are many EcoSports with the 4" MID that have crossed more than 5 years already, if it was happening to many users then we would've known about it by now. Electronic devices like LCD/LED screens can go faulty even with minute variations in electrical currents, so battery can have a role here unless the specs of the non-OEM battery are exactly the same as OEM battery.

By the way, didn't the 4" MID cost less than 20K something? @Jithin

BHPian jithin replied:

I've checked and verified across multiple owners groups on Facebook and some have the OEM battery itself and yet are facing issues. The 4" MID has this issue especially once it crosses 4-6 years. Moreover, Exide is the battery supplier for Ford.

A brand new diesel cluster with box costs 25k FYI.

Here's what BHPian hondaford had to say on the matter:

Our Ford Figo had a similar LCD panel issue. While it did not go white, part of it went black as if the liquid inside the panel had leaked.

We could not clearly see the mileage done, distance to empty and distance since last refueling.

It was always serviced at Ford so no question of third party battery.

They basically told us to get a new cluster panel at around 15k. Since the Speedo was working fine, we did not bother.

Sold the car couple of months back, and since it had full Ford service history the new owner didn’t bother about the mileage since it is mentioned in Ford service records.

Here's what BHPian Blow Horn Ok had to say on the matter:

My brother in law is also facing the same issue in his 2018 ecosport titanium plus petrol. Few days ago, the screen went white. The major issue is the glare it creates especially during the night.

It would be great, If anyone could bring the screens from AliExpress through different country. How is the connection behind? Is it a straight forward swap?

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.