Hello, I am new to the site and am having issues with an 05 Freestar. It will start, however I have no instrumentation as far as gauges and most of my warning lights are on on the dash. No a/c and no turn signals. When I go to check codes, all I get is an error on the code reader. I pulled the cowl cover to check the PCM in case it had gotten wet, however it looked dry and the connectors looked good. Checked all fuses pertaining to PCM, etc. and have found nothing. Could it be a bad PCM? Leading up to this... A few days ago my battery went dead. I charged it and ended up having to jump start it and it started up fine. My wife claims that the instrumentation worked fine up until today. Thanks for your help in advance!

 

I think it is worthwhile checking the alternator. My Windstar's instruments made funky things when the alternator was on the fritz. After replacing it everything was fine.
Don't forget checking for good ground connections for the alternator and the battery.

The clusters have a history of bad solder points on the printed circuit board. FAUSTOCG made a nice thread of this.

 

Thanks Bluewind. I checked voltage and it increases to around 14 when car if turned on. It dips when the headlights are turned on and quickly levels back out to just above 14 volts. The battery seems weak, so i am charging it and will have it tested. I placed a fresh battery in from my Escape and nothing changed. I may pull the alternator and have it tested just for kicks.

 

I found that the battery had a dead cell and replaced it with a new one. Alternator tested good at the auto parts store and we found that the battery is not being drained while the ignition is turned off. Since I have no instrumentation, no ABS, etc. and two code readers do not acknowledge the brain, I am thinking the PCM. Any additional thoughts would be appreciated.

 

You know what I am thinking? I think this takes the brains of hanky, grindman and hayapower!

 

If there is a defective module in the system, communication with the PCM will not be allowed.
One of the ways we find the defective module is to disconnect them from the system , until communication is allowed, then start reconnecting them one at a time until communication is halted by the defective module.
Code readers do not have the capability to work with these systems other than to read any codes. The better tool to use is a quality scan tool.
The instrument cluster is one of the modules in the system and could very well be the culprit here. A lot of this may sound complicated , but is not too bad once you have some understanding of the system. ( I don't know if I will ever understand it all) One of the things you can check is to make sure you have good power and ground connections as bluewind advised.