The odometer is one of the most important instruments on your instrument cluster because how it allows you to know the mileage of your car.
This can be very important because mileage is vital when it comes to regular maintenance and servicing.
However, what if the odometer in your Fiat, Jeep, or Dodge is blinking? What does a blinking odometer mean and how do you fix it?
Here’s why your odometer is blinking
Your odometer could be blinking due to wires that may have been misaligned. This is quite common for people who changed some of the stock parts on the dashboard such as the radio because of how the wires can sometimes misalign. Most people are able to fix it by removing the battery for a while.
The odometer blinking problem is one of the most common mysteries that Fiat, Jeep, and Dodge owners tend to experience.
And the worst part is there seems to be no universal reason or fix for this.
However, although this may be something you would end up experiencing in the future, it isn’t a serious problem and it can be an issue that can be fixed without a lot of trouble.
Why is your odometer blinking?
If you own a Fiat, Jeep, or Dodge, you are probably already familiar with the different instruments on your dashboard or instrument cluster.
All these different instruments have their own benefits, and one of the more reliable instruments when it comes to your car’s status and maintenance is the odometer.
What the odometer does is that it is responsible for tracking the total distance your car has driven since the day it first started moving.
This is often called the mileage of the car as you would need to keep track of how far the car has already driven to know its status and to see whether or not it is still in good condition because, the more miles the car has driven, the more likely it will be in a shape that isn’t too ideal.
Of course, one of the most important functions of the odometer is that it allows you to see whether or not your car already needs maintenance because the distance traveled is often the best indicator for knowing when you need to have it undergo routine checkups and maintenance.
This includes regular oil changing. In short, you have to look at your odometer regularly to know the status of your car and to see whether it needs to undergo routine checkups and maintenance so that the vehicle will still function at its best.
So, if you are often checking your car’s odometer, you might notice the odometer lights blinking.
This is a problem that is commonly shared by Fiat, Jeep, and Dodge owners for one reason or another.
In that case, if you own a Fiat, Jeep, or Dodge vehicle, you might be wondering why the odometer is blinking and why this is happening.
The truth is that there is no universal reason why the odometer lights are blinking regardless of what car you may have.
This is a problem that plenty of different Fiat, Jeep, and Dodge owners have experienced, but it wasn’t something that was too serious to the point that they experienced major issues with their vehicles just because the odometer lights were blinking.
Some owners have even learned to live with it without fixing it.
Still, if you are annoyed with the fact that the odometer lights keep on blinking, you might be wondering what caused this.
Well, one of the most common reasons why this is happening is that there might be some wires that were misaligned somewhere under the dashboard. In other words, there must be something wrong with the Controller Area Network (CAN).
What the CAN does is that it allows the different microcontrollers in your car’s dashboard to communicate with one another through the use of multiplex wiring.
These wires are somehow interconnected with one another so that they can easily send signals to one another. In that regard, the different indicators on your dashboard are all controlled by the CAN as the different processes in your car communicate through it so that it can send signals to the other instruments.
So, when your odometer is blinking, this could be because there is something wrong with the CAN such as when one of the wires may have been misaligned or something similar.
This is quite common for Fiat, Jeep, and Dodge owners who have changed a stock part on their dashboard such as their radios as the wires could have been easily misaligned when they did so.
As mentioned, this shouldn’t be something too serious to the point that it warrants your immediate attention.
Some owners actually have learned to live with it and have ignored it totally.
So, if you are someone who happens to care about what the indicators and the lights on the dashboard mean, a blinking odometer shouldn’t give you problems unless the problems are actually obvious enough that they go beyond a simple blinking odometer.
How to fix the odometer blinking?
If you do insist on trying to fix a blinking odometer because it annoys you or because you might think that it can lead to issues that are a bit more serious, there is a quick fix that you may want to try by yourself at home without the help of a professional.
So, in that regard, all you need to do is to remove the car’s battery for a while such as maybe an hour or so.
This will allow the different electronic components in the instrument cluster to “reset”, so to speak.
Put the battery back in place and try turning the car on if the solution worked.
But the best way to truly have this problem fixed is by bringing your car to your dealership and having it undergo a proxy alignment.
This is the surefire way to eliminate the problem but you may have to spend some cash for it.
So, if you want to save money, you can first start with the battery trick. And if it doesn’t work, take your car to the dealership for a proxy alignment.
Sources
fiat500usaforum.com: Odometer is blinking
