08 Silverado 2500HD - Gauges do not work when cold

takethebounce · January 5, 2015

I have searched high and low for other issues like this one and cannot locate anything that matches the issue I am having with my truck.

When it is cold out and I start my truck none of the gauges in the cluster come on. No Tach, speedo, fuel, oil, temp, nothing. The display on the heater will also show in Fahrenheit rather the Celsius I normally have it set in.

Once the truck is warmed up, most times if I shut the truck off and start it again everything comes on. Sometimes this can take a 15 minute drive.

I had an 02 prior to my 08 and know all about the PRNDL issues with those trucks but this issue is affecting all the gauges.

I checked the grounds on the fire wall, the grounds on the battery are fine as well. I haven't ruled out it being a tumbler issue, but figure it could be a BCM issue as well and when its cold its not communicating.

If anyone has an idea on where else to look let me know. It has to go in for the recall for the module under the seat but I don't want to spend thousands of dollars while it is there for them to chase this issue.

servantsalesmen · January 5, 2015

GM clusters are garbage and they go bad. The stepper motors in them just quit working. My truck used to do that then they just quit working all together. There are a gazillion places that repair clusters for about $100.

takethebounce · January 6, 2015

I do not believe this is simply a bad cluster. A cluster shouldnt affect my center console temperature controls display. I also have no turn signal sounds when it does this.

When the ignition is turned on, nothing comes on except the back lighting in the cluster.

15 minutes later when the truck is warmer I can restart the truck and everything is fine.

servantsalesmen · January 6, 2015

Now that is interesting. I didn't realize that you had issues with even the turn signals! Well to be frank, I can't help much now lol! Thought I knew but I am stumped. Good luck man!

takethebounce · January 11, 2015

Yes I was reminded after I posted as I drove to work and remembered the turn signals also make no sound.

I love my Chevys but their modular control with the BCM and data transfer is BS.

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jake111 · February 9, 2015

I've heard that low voltage on startup may cause a number of systems, such as the cluster, to not start up properly (maybe not "boot" if it's computer startup?!?) Common causes would be weak batteries (which would especially show up when they're very cold) or bad connection(s) (battery cables/connections, grounds).

I believe some have found (assuming it's a diesel with 2 batteries) that only one of the batteries had a bad connection, which caused marginal voltage in cold weather (along with glow plugs sucking a lot juice).