Still trying to root out a problem that I first mentioned in this thread last year with a '99 Stratus, where when turning the ignition to the ON position, the odometer will read a faint "0" and the rest of the cluster is dead, along with the wipers and RKE. All other accessories are functional when this happens. Occasionally it will display the "no bus" message in the odometer, which I've learned is communication fault somewhere with the PCM, but can also be a fault in the PCM.

I thought it might be a fault in the junction block/BCM, since all the affected items run through them. I found an exact match for the junction block/BCM at the salvage yard and swapped that in this weekend. No change.

This all apparently started after I had done a thermostat and coolant change, and for gaining access to the thermostat, I pulled several connectors to and around the TCM and drivers side of the engine.

The problem is sporadic - sometimes it will be fine for a day or two, other times it will be fine for the first trip and then show the problem after sitting for 15 minutes to a few hours. (Heat related??) It has also been non-functional after sitting overnight.. no hard discernible pattern to it

Before I drop $180 on a new PCM, any thoughts on what else could be the problem?

 

UPDATE:

Replaced the PCM with no change. Have run the major ground points in the engine bay, cleaned them and reconnected. No change.

If I disconnect the negative battery lead to the G100 ground and reconnect it, most of the time the cluster and all accessories will function normally again. However, trying to run a self-diagnostic on the instrument cluster won't work. But it WILL work when the cluster is dead and showing the "0" in the odometer… ???

Now I'm wondering if I don't have a bad instrument cluster. ????

Used Google-fu and turned up basically nothing except the possibility of a broken solder joint, so I pulled the cluster and checked the solder points on all the major connections and found nothing damning there as being a possible cause.

 

UPDATE #2:

This has taken a turn to the bizarre..

Found a matching cluster on Ebay and ordered it last week. Have been driving the car daily and it ran without a hitch until last Saturday when it pulled it's "possum" act and the cluster went dead. Did the battery disconnect/reconnect and it was fine again and ran that way until I got home from work Friday night. Parked in the driveway, shut it off and kicked the ignition into ACC mode to listen to the radio for a minute, then turned it off and pulled the key and opened the door.. and no interior lights came on. Checked and sure enough, it was dead again.

Testing again to see what wasn't working, with the engine off, I had the parking lights on and door open. Cycling the key through the positions changed nothing. Then, by chance, I reached down and started fiddling with the door latch switch. (It had been fidgety before when things were all working and was on the "replace it when it's convenient" schedule.) So, I pressed and released that switch several times, and on the last time when I let it pop out hard.. BLAM! everything came back to life. Instrument cluster, interior and dash lights.. the whole caboodle.

So, what could having that door switch go active trigger to cause an otherwise dead lighting and cluster circuit come back to life?

New door switch went in today.

 

UPDATE #3:

New door switch; no change.
Replaced the instrument cluster; no change.

No discernable pattern for cause of the system to go dead, but it only happens when the key is off - never gone dead while the car is running.

This car is the daily driver for my oldest daughter. She reported that, after stopping to fuel it up and getting the dead systems status, it came back to life when changing the gear selector from D to R. Shades of it coming back to life with the door switch fiddling I did..

It will be fine for upwards of two weeks, then pull its possum routine. No pattern, no obvious fail-points left I can think of.. I'm stumped.

 

can you get the codes read and post them here? You will need to access the bcm to get the body codes. the bus fault message needs to be addressed. the codes are the diagnostic starting point.

 

I'm guessing that this would take something like a DRB-III scan tool rather than the standard OBD-II reader, yes?