2005 Engine will not start
 

Hello:

:help:I am a newbie here so please bear with me.

I have an f150, 4wd, 4.6l v8 w/ 22,000 miles. For the last several days, I have noticed that the dome light and the cargo light have been mysteriously flickering on and off for no apparent reason. I turned the dome light all the way off, though it is a PITA, and thought that solved the problem.

Evidently not. Last night in the middle of the night the lights were at it again, the lights blinking on and off like a Christmas tree.

I got up got dressed, went out and twiddled with the knobs and switches, finally slamming the door in disgust and went back inside. The light did not come back on for a few minutes, and I went back to bed. When I took the key out of the ignition, the lcd where the mileage display is said "Check Gauges", and the red battery warning light and the yellow wrench warning glowed very dimly.

This morning, now the truck will not start. AT ALL.

The headlights are strong, and all of the idiot lights come on, but the engine will not even turn over.

I do not think that I have a dead battery, rather I suspect that this is some electronic gremlin.

I have two questions:

How can I chase this down to isolate the problem? Where should I start looking.

and

Is it possible to override any electrical or electronic shut off so that I can at least get the truck running? I hate to have to call a tow and get banged by a dealer for what I hope is just a simple component replacement.

I will appreciate any thoughts or advice.

issues
 

try this.... I've had my cluster out, and it controls EVERYTHING. When you unplug it, the radio dies, the dome light goes out..... I'd open it up and see if one of the cluster conection may have come undone.... or needs to be reset... can't hurt to try right!

sit in the seat
remove lower two screws along bottom of panel in front of knees below steering wheel.
remove one small screw underside of steering column
pluff off first panel(by knees)
after first panel is off remove two screws at bottom on next panel just under the cluster, pop it up and pull toward you . cluster is held in with 4 screw and two electrical plugs(my 08 FX4) un plug the cluster, check out the plugs, and reset plugs and see if truck will start. maybe wiggle the wires to see if you get a change in the gauges. May be a bad cluster....