pfalco

New to the forum so apologies upfront if I am in the wrong place.

I have a 2013 e350 4matic with approximately 91000 miles. All service has been provided by a dealer. Started my car and recognized the console display is not coming on ( This includes, the fuel gauge, speedometer, engine temp, blinkers, and any of the "idiot lights"). Car started with no issue. I have read in several places it could be the auxiliary battery, but since I did not get any kind of warning displayed I was not sure. The car still has the original battery and auxiliary battery. I did check the ODBII codes and found u0155 -Code U0155 indicates the instrument cluster is not receiving or transmitting messages on the CAN bus.
I am capable of swapping out the either battery but was looking to see if anyone had additional insight on a possible cause.

Thanks,
Paul

pierrejoliat

I might try and disconnect the battery for ten or so minutes, see if it comes back, also getting 7-8 years out of your battery is really good, but might be time for a new one, I don't think this is the cause, but just pretty old, your secondary battery is in the dash, size of an alarm battery, mine are still original with no issue, but I'm on my second main battery in both cars.

CaliBenzDriver

I think the Instrument Cluster Module is generally well built to be reliable. It uses soldered connectors and a gold coated PCB... as good as it gets!

So I don't know of a specific failure point that can make this module unresponsive. Wiring would be my principal suspect here.
> Check your power lines!
> A-pilar water intrusion??
> Look for clues to narow down a short list...

Usually cluster acts as network gateway so you may be missing a string of other modules.

..

++++ Edits ++++
2013 Batteries:
I don't think battery issues directly intersect with this ICM fault.

Follow Pierre's advice above. Car-reboot is like candy for the sleepless SAM's. Glitches tend to drive them crazy.

Check that you have a good power supply at all time. Low voltage is only bad news.

I did not say "change your battery"... my main AGM is also an original '13.

konigstiger

https://repairpal.com/obd-ii-code-u0...er-ipc-control - see attachment.

CaliBenzDriver

Thanks Konigstiger for sourcing this interesting link. After reading my suspect here is still:
Loss of power (wiring, fuse, GND...)

FYI: I noted the following paragraph as false:

"All of a vehicle's computers (referred to as modules) share and receive information over the CAN bus.
Two lines make up the bus: CAN High and CAN Low. They are referred to as high and low because of their data rates.
CAN high has a communication rate of 500k bits/second, whereas CAN Low has a rate of 125k bits/second."

> CAN HI/LOW are the differential voltage lines of a symmetrical opposite signal: HI goes up while the LOW goes down.

HI/LOW LINES are not related to distinct bus speed.
This is a single bus, not dual channel: Not a fast bus plus to a slow bus - Nop!

This provides increased reliability instead of a flat chassis GND. Each line only carries 1/2 the signal and can still be used by itself in fail-safe mode to transfer data at reduced rate.


I just saw the 6 page PDF doc: a precious gem that requires study time.
​​​​​

konigstiger

Fuse assignment.

pfalco

Pierre, thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately It did not solve the issue. Just to be clear all I did was disconnect the positive for 10 minutes ad reconnect. Do you think it matters if I left the negative connected. I don't think it does but I thought I would ask.

Thanks again,
Paul

pierrejoliat

I don't have a great answer for that, but I always disconnect the negative, so maybe try that. It worked for me on my '07 S550, but that's a different car from a different time. Was fuse # 15 good? It would be prudent to find out where the ground wire is and if it's in good condition and if you can get your hands up there, see if the wiring harness connectors are well secured on the back of the gauge bezels?

pfalco

I made a second attempt to disconnect the battery, this time I disconnected both the positive and the negative. No change, the dashboard cluster is still not operating. I did a bit more research and have found the auxiliary battery on the side of the dash. I have not got the battery out yet. I am working outside in the north east. I did try to put the probes from the battery tester on the battery and nothing register. It is possbile I am unable to get a good connection in the position I am in so I will attempt to get the battery out of the compartment. I will keep you posted.

pierrejoliat

The battery in the dash is for putting the car in neutral if the battery dies, you access it through the removable side panel on the left end of the dash, you can search the forum for instructions. bummer the reset didn't work, fuse is good and bezel wire connectors wiggled?

bmwpowere36m3

I had a similar event on our wagon... at the end a simple SAM reset via unplugging the main battery for 10 minutes cleared it up. However, I'll add if there's a number of trouble codes it could be "gumming" up the works. So in addition to fully charging the main battery and disconnecting it for 10 minutes. If you have a proper scanner, clear all trouble codes prior to disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

In my case, almost every module was reporting the at the cluster wasn't communicating.

pfalco

All,
Thank you all for the responses. I have tried each and every one of them. Even bought the tools to get the panel off for the auxiliary battery. Unfortunately I have to resort to taking it in to MB for diagnostics. I am fortunate to have a good friend from the little league be my service manager at MB. Does his best and at least I know I only get what I need. I will keep everyone posted.

Thanks again,

Paul

pfalco

So I bit the bullet and replace the primary car battery. Can't complain about that, it was 9 years old and you could hear it struggling when starting the car. I took the car in to MB for a diagnostic and the tech came back with needed a new Dashboard Console. They did not have the part so it had to be ordered. They were charging about $1600 for the part and they did not have it in stock. Not having the part in stock was luck on my side. I paid for the part, went to get the car from the valet and the dash was working. If I had to guess, I say the old battery may have caused some kind of interrupt and the diagnostic check may have cleared some codes. I really do not know but it seems plausible. In any event when I came home I did a bit more research and can see I can get the part used for 10% of what MB was charging and there are many instructional videos on replacing it. IF it happens again I will consider that route.

Tanks for all the support. Hope my rambling made sense.

Paul

pierrejoliat

Imagine that! After it happened to me, it never went out again in the 8 years I owned the car afterward, hoping the same for you! Good lesson for all of us, don't load the parts cannon until all other avenues have been exhausted!

bmwpowere36m3

Proceed with caution on a used cluster... its not a simple swap over. It'll need to be "virginized" by an independent specialist prior installing and recoding to your car. MB will only replace and code a new cluster. For me it hasn't reoccured since (6 months) and I attribute it to a low battery start which caused all sorts of CAN errors on various modules. In my case, charging the battery, clearing the codes, disconnecting and reconnecting was enough.