V8 Vantage instrument cluster
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V8 Vantage instrument cluster
I have a 2011 V8 Vantage S Roadster. Was having convertible top issues...movement pause/failure, the the instrument cluster going off and on intermittently and several warnings coming up...air bag, tire pressure, emission system. All typical signs of a roof module failure. Replaced the module with a new one (not something from ebay) and had it programmed by a not-too-helpful Aston dealer. Now I'm seeing: instrument cluster dark on start-up but lights up after about 30 seconds to a minute. Roof movement pauses 3 or 4 times during open/close procedure. Air bag, tire pressure, etc warnings on the instrument cluster. The car starts and runs fine and the battery was replaced 18 months ago and stays on a CTEK when not being driven. Car is garage kept. Can anyone tell me what to check next and how to narrow this down? Terribly frustrating.
Last edited by ASchwartz; Mar 14, 2026 at 09:58 AM.
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Hey there man!
Aston tech here, I have an oddly familiar issue with a Vantage in my neck of the woods with the exact same conditions as you described, car starts, drives, reverses and what not, but the cluster keeps turning on and off and the whole body network is down with limited function of all interior modules.
Firstly, there are various grounds in the dashboard under the passenger's and driver-side footwell you can start by checking. The OEM size for the nuts is 10mm. There are usually 5 off the top of my head. Once you confirm those are tight, you save yourself from future electrical anomalies. Also, check the ground strap of the battery to chassius for tightness. I've seen some loose.
Secondly, and what I think is your issue: your cluster. I unfortunately had to condemn a cluster module, and I am actively looking for possible repairability of the module. I'll get into that later.
The body communication bus has modules in parallel and in series. The modules in the series cannot be unplugged without taking down the network, so to circumvent this you need to overlay them with jumper leads to keep the bus alive.
Modules in parralell can be unplugged and still keep the bus alive. This helps us as it will help in how we can approach this type of issue.
I would highly suggest starting by unplugging, one at a time, your seat modules, door modules, and convertible roof module, as they are all in parallel and will not take your network down if unplugged. You can unplug the door harnesses at the door harness connector under each end of the dashboard. You might find corrosion in there that I would clean out. If, when unplugging a parallel module and your cluster ceases to freak out, you have found your issue. It's that module or circuit.
Your cluster module, being a very important module to the functioning of your car's entire system, has terminating resistors for both the powertrain bus and the body bus. Yes, there are two networks, and chances are your powertrain network is alive and well proved by the fact that it runs and moves. The bus you are concerned with is the body bus. What ended up on my vehicle in specific is that I had to unplug the DIM (cluster) and add 2 120 ohm resistors to both the powertrain and body bus pins on the DIM connector with the hopes of seeing if my body could come back to life, and it did. I was able to scan all the modules on the vehicle, the radio working again and convertible roof working etc. I then proceeded to see if there were any mutual shorts amongst any of the wires on the DIM connector to eliminate that from an issue and there were none. I didn't proceed with any shortage of power or ground as this would have been evidenced when I was scoping the network. I would have noticed any wiring faults in the signal (short to ground, power, mutual high resistance or open circuit) while I was scoping. When scoping the network, you will see interruptions and the 2.5V baseline of the bus slope down to 2.1v, and distort the signal. When I had jumped the DIM with my resistors, the communication was clean and no dips previously seen, proving that the module was causing the network to not function.
I cannot speak on if installing a secondhand DIM would fix your issue, asI know the mileage of the vehicle is written onto the DIM and swapping a secondhand module will most likely not work.
We are awaiting a local PCB repair company to see if they can repair the cluster or, unfortunately, have to order a new module.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Aston tech here, I have an oddly familiar issue with a Vantage in my neck of the woods with the exact same conditions as you described, car starts, drives, reverses and what not, but the cluster keeps turning on and off and the whole body network is down with limited function of all interior modules.
Firstly, there are various grounds in the dashboard under the passenger's and driver-side footwell you can start by checking. The OEM size for the nuts is 10mm. There are usually 5 off the top of my head. Once you confirm those are tight, you save yourself from future electrical anomalies. Also, check the ground strap of the battery to chassius for tightness. I've seen some loose.
Secondly, and what I think is your issue: your cluster. I unfortunately had to condemn a cluster module, and I am actively looking for possible repairability of the module. I'll get into that later.
The body communication bus has modules in parallel and in series. The modules in the series cannot be unplugged without taking down the network, so to circumvent this you need to overlay them with jumper leads to keep the bus alive.
Modules in parralell can be unplugged and still keep the bus alive. This helps us as it will help in how we can approach this type of issue.
I would highly suggest starting by unplugging, one at a time, your seat modules, door modules, and convertible roof module, as they are all in parallel and will not take your network down if unplugged. You can unplug the door harnesses at the door harness connector under each end of the dashboard. You might find corrosion in there that I would clean out. If, when unplugging a parallel module and your cluster ceases to freak out, you have found your issue. It's that module or circuit.
Your cluster module, being a very important module to the functioning of your car's entire system, has terminating resistors for both the powertrain bus and the body bus. Yes, there are two networks, and chances are your powertrain network is alive and well proved by the fact that it runs and moves. The bus you are concerned with is the body bus. What ended up on my vehicle in specific is that I had to unplug the DIM (cluster) and add 2 120 ohm resistors to both the powertrain and body bus pins on the DIM connector with the hopes of seeing if my body could come back to life, and it did. I was able to scan all the modules on the vehicle, the radio working again and convertible roof working etc. I then proceeded to see if there were any mutual shorts amongst any of the wires on the DIM connector to eliminate that from an issue and there were none. I didn't proceed with any shortage of power or ground as this would have been evidenced when I was scoping the network. I would have noticed any wiring faults in the signal (short to ground, power, mutual high resistance or open circuit) while I was scoping. When scoping the network, you will see interruptions and the 2.5V baseline of the bus slope down to 2.1v, and distort the signal. When I had jumped the DIM with my resistors, the communication was clean and no dips previously seen, proving that the module was causing the network to not function.
I cannot speak on if installing a secondhand DIM would fix your issue, asI know the mileage of the vehicle is written onto the DIM and swapping a secondhand module will most likely not work.
We are awaiting a local PCB repair company to see if they can repair the cluster or, unfortunately, have to order a new module.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
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