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All Gauges On Dash Dead


Darcane

Question

I have a 2003 Silverado, ext cab 2wd work truck. 4.8L, Auto, 110k miles.

 

A few days ago, I started up my truck and all the gauges weren't working. Not just one or two, all of them... When I turn the lights on, the dash was still backlit, and the digital readout still displays info (odometer, etc). Radio and HVAC works as do all lights, turn signals. Dash warning lights are briefly displayed as normal when I start the truck.

 

I know about the stepper motor bulletin, and I don't think this is related. I have the stepper motor problem on the speedometer gauge and I know how it acts.

 

I tried searching for similar posts. I saw a few, but none had any sort of resolution.

 

I figured it might be a fuse, but I checked all the fuses that appeared to be relevant and they were all intact.

 

Any tips as to where I should be looking?

 

 

A few things that may or may not be relevant:

The gauges failed when I started my truck up to tow a boat trailer with... questionable wiring. Maybe a short on the trailer?

I use a device called an Ultragauge that pulls info from the OBDII port real-time. Using this, I can see that most of the sensors are working (I can display RPMs, Coolant temp, Speedo, battery voltage) and they read at expected levels.

I left it sit for a couple days and drove another car I have. I tried to start it this morning and the battery was completely dead.

 

 

Thanks for any help,

Mike

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Hello,

 

Did anyone find a resolution to this? I have a 2003 Sierra 125KMS, one day I got in the truck and there were some of the LED segments were lit before I started. After starting same thing. Now no life in the instrument panel at all. Even the PRND321 is not lit.

Wondering where to start? I see the problem posted many times, but I cannot find a solution.

 

Thanks in advance

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'03 was one of the years that clusters that could die. Do the gauges sweep at all when you start the vehicle?. You may need another instrument cluster. Or replace all the stepper motors. Any good at soldering?

 

After re-reading your post, certainly look into a battery and/or a connection issue as suggested below. I know of one person who had a similar situation and his cluster was just bad

 

 

No sweep or anything. They just sit still at the far left side of the gauge.

 

As I mentioned, the Speedo was already acting up and I've been looking into replacing that stepper motor per this instruction:

http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=48886

 

I'll look into getting the battery charged up and/or replaced (I think it's the original) and see if it starts working again.

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Mine was a bad battery that caused it the first time. Then the stepper motors went after that.

 

 

When the stepper motors went bad, did they all go bad at the same time?

 

I guess I'll look into the battery first.

 

 

 

I find it unlikely that all the steppers would go bad at the same time. I only had two that went bad but ended up replacing them all. When I had the bad battery all gauges were acting funky. If it does end up being the battery, you should probably expect the stepper motors to go bad eventually anyways.

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I have a 2003 Silverado, ext cab 2wd work truck. 4.8L, Auto, 110k miles.

 

I use a device called an Ultragauge that pulls info from the OBDII port real-time. Using this, I can see that most of the sensors are working (I can display RPMs, Coolant temp, Speedo, battery voltage) and they read at expected levels.

 

Thanks for any help,

Mike

 

It sounds like you are losing the data to IPC to me. Is the ultragauge hooked up at all times? If so I would remove it and see if the problem persists. Any thing on the data line that loses power, or shorts to ground will cause certian sections of the data line to pull low and cause what you describe. I would start with the things on the data line that are not there from the factory first. Data line issues, especially intermittant ones, can be very difficult to find even for someone that has lots of hands on knowledge of how everything works and how the lines go down.

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'03 was one of the years that clusters that could die. Do the gauges sweep at all when you start the vehicle?. You may need another instrument cluster. Or replace all the stepper motors. Any good at soldering?

 

After re-reading your post, certainly look into a battery and/or a connection issue as suggested below. I know of one person who had a similar situation and his cluster was just bad

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