Principles Of Operation

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2004 Mercury Monterey and 2004 Ford Freestar. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

NOTE: The instrument cluster and the smart junction box (SJB) must be reconfigured upon replacement. Refer to MODULE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK .

The instrument cluster is a hybrid electronic instrument cluster (HEC). The instrument cluster and the SJB use a combination of hardwired circuitry and the standard corporate protocol (SCP) communication network to transmit and receive information. It is very important to understand:

where the input originates from.
all the information necessary in order for a feature to operate.
which module(s) receive(s) the input or command message.
whether the module which received the input controls the output of the feature, or whether it outputs a message over the SCP communication network to another module.
which module controls the output of the feature.