That or the BCM is flaky. I had a 2000 Saturn wagon that would do such weird things and it was the BCM. It could also be a faulty/intermittent PC board trace.

 

GM had problems with some of the gauge clusters on their trucks having a high defect rate, including the Suburban. Chevrolet issued a "satisfaction campaign" which extended the warranty on the clusters. I don't know all the details / models involved, but perhaps one of our dealer members will chime in. If not, contact your dealer to find out more. Please note that the campaign was not a recall.

Good luck.

 

One of my Jimmy's did the exact same thing, can't remember if it was my 1996 or the 2000, but I do know the truck wasn't that old, because it was still under bumper-to-bumper. The only thing they did was replace the ignition switch.

 

Thanks to all for brain-storming the issue. I reviewed the bulletin for the special care, however my Burb has too much mileage to qualify.

As it appears there's a choice of potentials for the fault, an instrument cluster panel, ignition switch, ground point or BCM

 

Its prob. the cluster and heres the TSB and info.
But instead of throwing parts at it your better off taking it to a dealer and paying the hour diagnosis charge to be sure................

If it is the cluster and you don't fall under the TSB time/mileage limits there are a few cluster rebuilders on fleabay. Its a easy DIY job!

# 07187C: Special Coverage Adjustment - Instrument Panel Cluster Gauge Needle Function - (Mar 20, 2009)
Subject:
07187C -- SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT - INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER GAUGE NEEDLE FUNCTION

Models:
2003-2004 CADILLAC ESCALADE, ESCALADE ESV, ESCALADE EXT
2005 CADILLAC ESCALADE, ESCALADE ESV, ESCALADE EXT (U.S. ONLY)
2003-2004 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE, SILVERADO, SUBURBAN, TAHOE
2005 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE, SILVERADO, SUBURBAN, TAHOE (U.S.ONLY)
2003-2004 GMC SIERRA, YUKON, YUKON XL
2005 GMC SIERRA, YUKON, YUKON XL (U.S. ONLY)

THIS BULLETIN IS BEING REVISED TO INCLUDE CERTAIN 2005 MODEL YEAR VEHICLES IN THE U.S. ADDITIONALLY, FOR U.S. 2003-2005 MODEL YEAR VEHICLES, GM WILL PROVIDE THE INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER (IPC) ONLY, AT NO CHARGE TO THE CUSTOMER FOR VERIFIED FAILURES BETWEEN 70,001 MILES (110,001 KM) AND 80,000 MILES (130,000 KM). ANY ADDITIONAL COSTS, INCLUDING LABOR TO REPLACE THE INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER, WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CUSTOMER. DEALERS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OF THE CUSTOMER'S IPC BACK TO THE ELECTRONIC SERVICE CENTER. PLEASE DISCARD ALL COPIES OF BULLETIN 07187B, ISSUED SEPTEMBER 2008.

CUSTOMERS ARE BEING INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT THE DEALERSHIP TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT IF THEY BELIEVE THEIR VEHICLE HAS THIS CONDITION. THE CUSTOMER IS BEING ASKED TO PROVIDE THE VIN SO THE IPC CAN BE ORDERED IN ADVANCE OF THE SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT. THIS WILL ELIMINATE THE NEED TO KEEP THE VEHICLE OVERNIGHT. DEALERS ARE TO OBTAIN THE VEHICLE MILEAGE WHEN SCHEDULING A SERVICE APPOINTMENT. THE VEHICLE MILEAGE WILL BE REQUIRED WHEN PLACING AN ORDER FOR THE IPC.

Condition

Some customers of all 2003-2004 model year and certain U.S. 2005 model year Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT; Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe; and GMC Sierra, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles have reported that one or more of the instrument panel (IP) cluster gauges stick, flutter, or become inoperative. This may cause inaccurate readings, including the speedometer and fuel gauge. Special Coverage Adjustment This special coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 7 years or 70,000 miles (110,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership.

Dealers are to replace the instrument panel cluster after the condition has been verified. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.

For verified failures between 70,001 miles (110,001 km) and 80,000 miles (130,000 km) on U.S. vehicles, dealers are to provide the customer with an instrument panel cluster (IPC) only. Any additional costs, including labor to replace the instrument panel cluster, will be the responsibility of the customer. Dealers are responsible for the return of the customer's IPC back to the Electronic Service Center.

For vehicles covered by Vehicle Service Contracts, all eligible claims with repair orders on or after September 28, 2007 for 2003-2004 model year vehicles, and March 23, 2009 for 2005 model year vehicles, are covered by this special coverage and must be submitted using the labor operation codes provided with this bulletin. Claims with repair orders prior to September 28, 2007 for 2003-2004 model year vehicles, or March 23, 2009 for 2005 model year vehicles, must be submitted to the Service Contract provider.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************

 

Thanks for the TSB Sonjaab.
The IPC's speedometer dial sometimes sticks when outdoor temps
are below freezing, so the TSB would probably cover that, though not with
my mileage (250Km). As for the entire IPC, when it goes dead,
its complete, including the odometer and shift position indicators.
No lights, no movement.

On a recent occasion with the IPC being dead upon engine start-up,
I checked with an OBD scanner and confirmed that the
signals are alive, but just not being displayed by the IPC.
As I slowly turned the ignition key counter-clockwise from RUN mode to
Accessory mode, certain led's suddenly began to glow faintly
on the IPC. This made me think of Ed's comment that the ignition switch
module may be failing.

I'll post back when I solve the mystery.

 

I just signed up cause I was looking for the same answer,But the puzzle may be over.
I just got 2 of my trucks fixed today.o3-Chev & 04-GM.G.The service manager unknowingly gave it up.I was told that in order to have it fixed for free, the criteria was met,year and km.AND one other not mentioned anywhere.very specific defect.When the cluster is removed and sent out for reconflguring they are looking for 1 specific thing(didn't make sense to me at first either)GAS GAUGE.
Are you like me when I drove to remote areas and put as much gas in till no more could go in?That's when my problems began.At 1st intermitent,finally all gone.Over filling your tank will snap or over exert and sends a message back to mother and shut you down.Thinking back every time I lost my instrumentation was when I did just that.UNBELIEVABLE.
Check with your dealer to confirm this,if they concur,game over.....
AS far as criteria? both trucks well over 200k.BEWARE ,,I took them to 2 other dealerships before this one,both said I wasn't covered,they want to collect from you and GM.

 

Wow! Someone sure fed you a bunch of crap. :yup:
Fuel has nothing at all to do with the IP cluster problems.

 

The problem with the IP clusters is the "stepper motors" that operate the guages. One motor on each guage.

 

YES! That's it. :yup:

 

i have a 2005 gmc sierra z71 and truck starts but all gauges are dead only thing on is battery light and the abs thing i thought it was battery but put a new one and same thing truck starts and drives but all gauges dead,nothing as far as power windows or locks no longer work even the key fob for the locking and unlocking of doors wants to work anybody had this issue? Or know what it might be? Please let me know.

 

Yes, if you read earlier posts in this thread, you'll see that it is the gauge cluster, itself and it needs to be replaced.

BTW, I think you said the only problem is that the cluster is dead, except the battery light is on. Everything else works, including windows and door locks. You typed a small wall of text without any capitalization and 2 punctuation marks (? and . at the end). It would be easier to understand if you would put it together a little nicer.

 

Hi, I have an 04 GMC Sierra that I just bought and the instrument cluster will only work about half the time. When it is off the only thing that works is the little engine light symbol. Sometimes I can tap on the cluster several times (hard) and everything will click on and all works fine. Its all or nothing. I took it all apart and can find nothing loose anywhere. If the stepper motors were going out I think I would have individual gauge problems and not all gauges at once. You can wiggle the wiring harness all you want with no effect. sometimes there are weird shapes on the digital display like the signal was messing up. Any ideas anyone? There is a sticker on the back dated 06 that I think indicates that the stepper motors have been replaced. When it is not working the mileage and hourmeter is still being kept right but no display. Thanks, wmfike

 

Replace the cluster.

 

Common problem with these clusters, we repair them and many other cluster problems visit http://www.mrwhizard.com for more info. Say you saw this here on gminsidenews and get 20 bucks off!

 

Well I had my instrument cluster (IC) repaired by Mr. Whizard back in January 2011. All was fine up until this years winter season debut, when suddenly the IC gauges went dead, mileage and odometer kept displaying. So I sent the IC off to Mr. Whizard and they found that the IC was fully functional. After re-installing the IC the only output I get is the turn signal and occasional engine light upon start-up.

So I suspect the problem lurks somewhere before the IC. Could it be a faulty wire connection directly at the ECM? I'll be checking for fault codes with a Tech2 this weekend, hoping to find a solution. I'll post my findings.

BTW, any one try testing the output signals from the wire loom just before the IC, with a DVM?

 

Well I had my instrument cluster (IC) repaired by Mr. Whizard back in January 2011. All was fine up until this years winter season debut, when suddenly the IC gauges went dead, mileage and odometer kept displaying. So I sent the IC off to Mr. Whizard and they found that the IC was fully functional. After re-installing the IC the only output I get is the turn signal and occasional engine light upon start-up.

So I suspect the problem lurks somewhere before the IC. Could it be a faulty wire connection directly at the ECM? I'll be checking for fault codes with a Tech2 this weekend, hoping to find a solution. I'll post my findings.

BTW, any one try testing the output signals from the wire loom just before the IC, with a DVM?
[/QUOTE

Well I had my instrument cluster (IC) repaired by Mr. Whizard back in January 2011. All was fine up until this years winter season debut, when suddenly the IC gauges went dead, mileage and odometer kept displaying. So I sent the IC off to Mr. Whizard and they found that the IC was fully functional. After re-installing the IC the only output I get is the turn signal and occasional engine light upon start-up.

So I suspect the problem lurks somewhere before the IC. Could it be a faulty wire connection directly at the ECM? I'll be checking for fault codes with a Tech2 this weekend, hoping to find a solution. I'll post my findings.

BTW, any one try testing the output signals from the wire loom just before the IC, with a DVM?

did you ever figure out the problem?

 

So I tried checking for codes with a Tech2, and the Tech2 could not communicate. Kept indicating to check the harness. I tried hooking up a regular OBD scan tool and it worked. Does anyone know where to find the communication failure?

 

After further research, I found the problem was related to a burned out IPC 10A fuse (located under the hood in the main fuse box). How irritating.

 

I have a 2005 Chevy Avalanche and my battery went dead during the winter and I tried to boost it off but I had to buy a new battery. Ever since my battery went dead, all of my gauges will go off at the same time and they will come back on. It does that constantly. They will come back on and stay on for about 5 seconds and then they all go off like you were to turn off the ignition. Also, the radio or Onstar won't work and when you turn on the air conditioner, it won't blow out cold air. I listened to see if the compressor was kicking on but it doesnt. Also on the gauge cluster, the security light is on.

The truck will run and drive fine, the only thing is that none of the stuff that I mentioned works and it stinks not being able to listen to the radio. I have tried to see if I could find out and possibly fix it but I'm stuck and don't know what to do. I don't want to have to take it to the dealer if it's something I can do but I will if I have to. Can someone please help me and give me some advice on what I need to do...

 

I bought a 2003 Chevy Tahoe Z71 with 135,000 miles on it. 3 days after I bought it (of course) I was driving and all of a sudden all of the gauges stopped working. The digital display that shows the gear selection still worked, as did the digital display that shows mileage, fuel consumption, etc. still worked, as did the warning lights (low fuel, check engine, etc.) Just the needles themselves on ALL the gauges wen't left and stopped. I checked IPC/DIC Fuse in the fuse box under the hood with a fuse tester and it showed fine. I then checked the IGN E fuse and it too showed fine. For some reason, I pulled out the IPC/DIC fuse and put it back in. It was not blown, as indicated. But when I put the fuse back in, the gauges started working again. They've worked ever since. I don't know, other then maybe it needed a reset or something.

 

I realize this thread is a bit dated, however a concise explanation of these dash cluster problems and the appropriate remedy to correcting them has eluded me after months of research online. I did find plenty of people that said they could fix it, but they didn't say how. I found people that said it was a power issue (vague, but they were right). Here is what I've learned....


Ok, first of all, my dashboard cluster WAS fine in my 2003 Avalanche. About 6 months ago I took the cluster apart because most of the bulbs were blown and I didn't feel like paying GM 200-300$ for a whole new cluster, which is what they tell you is needed. The bulbs were soldered to the board, I simply unsoldered them and replaced them with 194 bulbs. This did work. However, when I reinstalled the cluster, sometimes it would work fine, sometimes it would act dead (i.e. no activity at all) except the blinkers did work and the bulbs I installed. I later went back in and replaced the bulbs with LED's since I never wanted to have to replace the bulbs again.

I checked all connects and everything seemed fine. I noticed putting pressure on connections or parts of the board sometimes made it "spring to life" and start working for a while. I thought maybe I had damaged something with the board. Then I was searching online and I found where other GM vehicle owners had experience the EXACT SAME THING but had never done anything at all with their clusters...


* Intermittent power (sometimes cluster works, sometimes not)
* Gauge works sometimes, sometimes doees not.
* Gear shift select indicator dim (or bright sometimes, dim at others despite all headlights etc. being off)

If you are experiencing anything like the above, your problem is most likely the same: There are some power resistors and diodes on the cluster board that were only soldered on at the factory "so-so". Sometimes vibration or messing around with the cluster can cause the the solder connections on these parts to weaken and only connect INTERMITTENTLY. This is a simple problem, but sometimes elusive to locate.

There are a couple of ways to test this. The first involves de-soldering the parts and testing them and reinstalling/replacing as necessary. This is the most "scientific" but there is another method that can be performed by just about anyone and it's a lot quicker and easier. This method may not find the bad soldered point all of the time but I've seen YouTube videos where people have tried it and it worked for them, and it also worked for me! What you do is take a NON-CONDUCTIVE pointed object (I used a plastic inkpen housing) and started gently pushing on various resistors and components around the board while it's hooked up to your vehicle, NOT working and vehicle ignition switch ON. In a section of the board I found several possible parts that when pressed upon made the board spring to life. One of the surface mount resistors actually fell off the board when I pushed! WOW it was barely on there. Fortunately I didn't lose it.

Solution: I fluxed and re-soldered every resistor in this area and and reinstalled in my Avalanche. For the first time in 6 months I haven't had to beat the cluster with my hand after starting the vehicle. The gauge cluster has worked FLAWLESSLY (for several weeks now at the time of this writing). I am so relieved to have found the problem and corrected it to what is actually better-than-factory condition. The soldering is better, the LED lighting is better and should last the life of the vehicle.

 

I will try this tonight

I

There are a couple of ways to test this. The first involves de-soldering the parts and testing them and reinstalling/replacing as necessary. This is the most "scientific" but there is another method that can be performed by just about anyone and it's a lot quicker and easier. This method may not find the bad soldered point all of the time but I've seen YouTube videos where people have tried it and it worked for them, and it also worked for me! What you do is take a NON-CONDUCTIVE pointed object (I used a plastic inkpen housing) and started gently pushing on various resistors and components around the board while it's hooked up to your vehicle, NOT working and vehicle ignition switch ON. In a section of the board I found several possible parts that when pressed upon made the board spring to life. One of the surface mount resistors actually fell off the board when I pushed! WOW it was barely on there. Fortunately I didn't lose it.

Solution: I fluxed and re-soldered every resistor in this area and and reinstalled in my Avalanche. For the first time in 6 months I haven't had to beat the cluster with my hand after starting the vehicle. The gauge cluster has worked FLAWLESSLY (for several weeks now at the time of this writing). I am so relieved to have found the problem and corrected it to what is actually better-than-factory condition. The soldering is better, the LED lighting is better and should last the life of the vehicle.

 

Hello, I recently purchased a 2014 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD crew cab and had the dash instruments turn off while driving. Truck still drove ok - just no gauges. ABS light came on as well. I pulled over turned truck off and re-started - all appears to be working ok for now. Anyone else have this happen to their 2014? Thank you, Mike

 

Mike,
I've never heard of it in a 2014, but obviously it's still under warranty. I'd guess that in your case, it's probably a loose wiring harness, rather than a bad dash, or bad dial motors, or anything like that.

 

Instrument Cluster ....replaced the servos and light bulbs on my 2003 gmc yukon xl 1500 flex fuel 5.3 and it was all working nicely until today (8 hours later),
now none of the gauges or idiot lights work however if you turn the headlights on the lights in the dash come on.
all of the warning lights even the high beam indicator will not illuminate. none of the needles move either.

"Its Dead Jim"

I have tried reseating the plug into the instrument panel. disconnected the battery for a half hour. Cussed at it, pounded on the dash, drank a beer, and posted to this forum.

285K miles on the truck so I am confident it's out of warranty.
going to try to replace the ignition switch.

By the way, the reason I went and replaced the servos and lights was that the RPM indicator was bouncing and several of the lights were not working. so I replaced the servos and the incandescent lights with LED white lights. burned my fingers twice with the soldering iron. that was about 18 hours ago.

I did read about the recall. It does not apply to me as I just did the recall and replace the servos.

Any ideas would be helpful.
Thanks

 

oh and by the way the P R N D 3 2 1 is dim... looking for that answer too.

 

Tried the ignition switch and that did not help... meanwhile when disconnecting the cluster to check the board. i reconnected it and let the smoke out. so i went to the parts store and bought a new one it should be here in a week. 180 bucks.. and i handed them mine so no core charge. LOL
trying to drive the truck with out it is kind of unnerving but i use the odb2 interface to get the data i need LOL
if it isn't one thing its another.

 

LOL i let the smoke out of mine.. reconnecting it. "its dead jim" bought a referb one.

 

What ended up being the issue? I am dealing with the same issue today. Please help.

 

sspower76 what ended up being the issue? I am having that same issue today. Please help.

 

Thank you! I used this test procedure... it worked. :drive The key is having the cluster non-operational when applying pressure. This can be determined by plugging it in to the wire harness with the key off; one or more of the stepper motors starts when first plugged in. If there is no sound, the cluster is dead. There were actually multiple resistors that were either cracked, or showing signs of corrosion. Using my Bernzomatic butane solder iron with fine tip, I re-soldered all the connections, works like a champ. The sad part is this cluster had already been replaced (by the dealer) for the speedo not working 7 years ago. It was apparently not replaced with a new one, but a salvaged one as it has typical yard markings written on it with grease pen. :slap: