Jump to content

Battery Drain & Instrument Cluster Issues

Bulldog8
 Share

Recommended Posts

Bulldog8 New Member

Bulldog8

Posted
Posted

I have a 2003, 1500 Silverado with battery and instrument cluster problems. I checked my VIN and my truck is not covered in the instrument cluster recall.

 

Issues with both seem to be all over the internet, but I wanted some more insight before throwing parts at it.

 

1. In cold weather the battery will drain to almost completely dead in 3 days and in the summer it start after 5 days of no use, but no longer.

 

2. Once the battery is dead, connecting the charger or jumper cables will cause the truck to go into panic mode and the horn will sound the panic beeps until hitting the key fob to turn it off.

 

3. I had a gauge stepper motor problem a few years ago and the stepper motors were all replaced by GMGaugeGuy.com. (the battery drain may have started around this time, but I don't remember which happened first) My instrument cluster has a tach, Speedo, fuel, battery, oil press, and coolant temp gauge.

 

4. Yesterday when I started the truck all of the gauges stayed off and the LED display portion of the cluster was lit, but wasn't displaying information. (the bottom half of the LED display had all fields lit and the top portion was off)

 

I disconnected the battery ground for about 30 minutes, reconnected and had the same dead cluster. I then followed one of the youtube guides that showed how many people found loose resistors.

 

I disassembled the cluster and was getting ready to test for loose parts. When I connected the cluster harness (ignition key off) The stepper motors powered and moved the gauges to the "zero" position. When I turned the key to "on" the gauges and LED worked normal without me doing the eraser press test on any of the parts. I poked around at the connections and everything stayed powered up. I then re-assembled the cluster and drove the truck to work today with no issues.

 

I'm tired of kicking this problem down the road and don't mind to replace the cluster but am not sure if it's truly a cluster issue or a power to the cluster issue.

 

I attempted to use my DVM to test for current draw but it seems like whatever is causing the issue powers down when I disconnect the negative battery cable to put the meter in line.

 

Does anyone have any troubleshooting suggestions?

 

SpartanAutoworx Enthusiast

SpartanAutoworx

Posted
Posted

Sometimes the processors in this style cluster just fail and cluster replacement would be necessary.

 

The other more common issue should have been addressed by the re-builder. Granted the issue may not have been present at the time. So without inspecting the cluster its really hard to point the finger at one of the two problems.

Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted (edited)

I repair these every day, 03-04 have this problem of cold solder ( made in Mexico ), the cluster failing to fire up is usually the 3 24Ω resistors clustered together to the right of the right speedometer background bulb.

 

three%2024%20ohm%20resistors_zps9ubxq0vw

 

Do not use an iron hotter than 750°F or you'll pull the copper foil off the board. Sometimes with the 03 the 2 bigger glass diodes above the speedometer motor will also get a cold solder.

 

diodes_zpsadih08qs.jpg

 

If the PRND321 display is on but not the odometer then it's the lone resistor 1200Ω to the left of the voltage multiplier coil at the left of the tach motor

 

1200%20ohms_zpsjgjojhek.jpg

 

As far as your other problem, your cluster is suppose to shut down after 20 seconds, there's an electronic timer between the speedo motor and the 4 gauges to the right. This one is a bit more complicated to repair and will often necessitate the cluster board to overnight in the freezer to pin point. Did 2 yesterday that wouldn't fire up, they haven't called back to complain. Do not attempt any of these repairs if you are not familiar with a fine point low temperature soldering.

Edited by Coby7
  • Like 1
Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just finished a repair on a manual Silverado cluster, notice no PRND321 display.. This one was dead to the world when I got it. It had corrosion on the back side of the board, cleaned it and covered the spot with cutex.


2016-10-27%2011.56.20_zpsl7teczlb.jpg

Edited by Coby7
  • Like 1
Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just finished 2 more 2003 clusters for son and dad, both were dead. They're back alive, Both fully refurbished and LEDed in cool white.

 

2016-10-27%2017.22.04_zps42xmnwos.jpg

 

2016-10-27%2016.11.47_zps9ngqozjm.jpg

Edited by Coby7
  • Like 1
Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted

Here is a video of the timer shutting down after 20 seconds. This is a test I perform on all repairs to make sure the timer works. You'll see my hand reach behind to shut the ACC power in the beginning.

 

 

  • Like 1
  • 4 months later...
Deon Boudreau New Member

Deon Boudreau

Posted
Posted

Hey Coby7,

 

I'm in Cape Breton and I have an 06 Sierra 2500HD 6.0l. It seems that the IPC is the cause of the battery drain. Before I pull the fuse, the IPC is drawing around 250mA and once the fuse is pulled it drops to 15mA shortly after. There is a little delay before the current drops off to 15mA. Would you mind elaborating on what needs to be repaired? My trade is electrical. I could send it to you for an overhaul but I'm would like to repair the drain myself, if possible.

 

Deon

Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted (edited)

That problem can sometimes be hard to find, especially if it's intermittent. I sometimes have to use a heat gun and overnight it in the freezer to find the exact location of the problem. The delay shut-down circuit is on the right hand side of the speedometer stepper motor. This problem would be very hard for me to explain in words. The last one I did with this problem was for a guy in Halifax and it took me 3 days on and off to find the problem then I spent one day testing my solution to make sure it would shut down every time. That one ended up having a small metal whisker found under microscope between 2 pins on that big integrated circuit to the left of the oil pressure stepper motor .

 

Feel free to PM me for more info or questions!!!

Edited by Coby7
  • Like 2
Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted (edited)

Oops I posted my email by mistake......

Edited by Coby7
  • 4 weeks later...
Formulabruce Enthusiast

Formulabruce

Posted
Posted

That problem can sometimes be hard to find, especially if it's intermittent. I sometimes have to use a heat gun and overnight it in the freezer to find the exact location of the problem. The delay shut-down circuit is on the right hand side of the speedometer stepper motor. This problem would be very hard for me to explain in words. The last one I did with this problem was for a guy in Halifax and it took me 3 days on and off to find the problem then I spent one day testing my solution to make sure it would shut down every time. That one ended up having a small metal whisker found under microscope between 2 pins on that big integrated circuit to the left of the oil pressure stepper motor .

 

Feel free to PM me for more info or questions!!!

Great posts! and thanks! Have you ever had to replace the timer? Mine does Not go off, and will sometimes make a fast clicking sound as iff to turn on a stepper ( all are replaced and made sure no cold joints) My cluster is draining my battery I have found. I removed the cluster and the world is good , but cant stay like that .. Thoughts?Thanks, Bruce

Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted

Never had the timer circuit go bad, it's always filings,cold solder or copper oxide bridging.

  • 4 months later...
zlrig New Member

zlrig

Posted
Posted

Hi Coby7

As with the other posts, My battery drains as well over time, But my instrument cluster powers up.

2003 s10 loaded options. After 10-15 seconds of turning off the truck the instrument cluster powers up and will run down the battery. inserting the key, opening the door or pulling the key out will stop it. For the 10-15 seconds and then it powers up again.

Tried body control module, no help and visually inspected cluster connector and back board for corrosion, cold solder joints, none found.

you mention the 20 second power down. could that chip be causing my issues?

Thanks, Zlrig

Coby7 Senior Enthusiast

Coby7

Posted
Posted (edited)

Sounds like your having RAP relay issues. RAP stands for Retained Accessory Power and this is sent to Instrument panel, radio power, window and sunroof so you can play with these after you have turned off the key. To me it sounds like this relay is stuck ''ON'' . Check the RAP relay on the BCM . Contacts may have welded themselves together. If your cluster is ''ON'' with no key check if windows will go up or down....

Edited by Coby7

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Forum Statistics

    250.5k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts

  • Member Statistics

    342,981
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    Clark_Elite
    Newest Member
    Clark_Elite
    Joined

  • Who's Online   3 Members, 0 Anonymous, 492 Guests (See full list)

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • PunchT37
      AFM Experience

      By PunchT37 · Posted

      I wonder how much carbon is on all those high mileage valves?
    • Atlas
      AFM Experience

      By Atlas · Posted

      When I had a Bumper subscription for a few days when I needed to run title histories on cars I was looking at, I decided to look up a few of my old/past vehicles.   My 2015 Silverado was still actively registered and it last sold in 2024 with 160k on the clock. No idea if that's on the original engine but someone's keeping it on the road or the original AFM stuff is still going.   It used 0w20. I remember feeding it Mobil 0w20 AFE for the first 30k of its life on <5k OCI's.     Edit: Just did a nationwide search on Autotrader for 2015-2025 Silverados with 5.3's and sorted by highest mileage first.   357k 352k 292k 291k 290k 277k 271k 268k 266k 259k 256k   High mileage on a modern 5.3 doesn't seem all that uncommon, but that's just searching mostly dealer ads on Autotrader. FB Marketplace has all kinds of high mileage 5.3's going back to 2007    
    • Chuck FB
      Bridgestone vs Goodyear tires?

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I can't say I have ever heard of someone getting that type of mileage out of a set of tires even though they rotated on a regular basis but without a doubt if the front end gets wear and those tires are no longer able to track straight it scrubs them off, and driving style and road surface make a huge difference as well.    However that is not what prompted me to comment as it was the new tire theme of sitting in storage waiting to be used scenario. I am sure some tires can last for quite a while in storage if its not too warm and out of the sunlight but unfortunately some tires the way they their rubber compound is formulated they can age and dry out even in a reasonably decent storage location. My brother ran into this maybe three years ago when he was looking at the tires that were on his dually truck and a combination of wear on the rear ones and noticing that the front tires had some cracks around the sidewall of the tire not far from the bead but he had replaced only the front ones not long ago with 2 of the remaining 6 he had left from the initial two sets of takeoffs he had all bought at the same time .... 10 years ago ! ( the years fly by, a truck that only gets used a bit to haul a camper during the summer and sits in a shed for a large part of the year ). That second set of 6 tires, two he had put on the front prior like I said and they had very little wear but those cracks were now present. So we go into the shed where the other 4 tires had been stored all this time and every one of them had the same cracks in the sidewalls and so in the end it amounted to throwing away 6 brand new but 10 year old takeoff tires into the dump that he got a deal on at a tire shop because they aged out. They were a Ford factory equipment BFG tire and those tires did not age well compared to some tires I've seen far older then that and did not show that type of aging. True, they always say up here anyway that 7 years is sort of a limit for age by rights, we don't have the intense prolonged heat that many of you have down in the states that just cook tires and depends on where the vehicle sits when not in use. GB, another words maybe had you bought a set of tires to store it would have been fine as long as you used them up fast enough but there are no guarantees when it comes to rubber, tires or of that other type stored in some guys wallets 😆
    • Head South
      Open Door Chimes When Key is Out

      By Head South · Posted

      2020 2500 HD...I had some trouble getting the key into the ignition switch but went in fine after applying some extra effort. Since then, the door chimes when open when the key is out of the ignition. Also, when I lock the doors with the switch on the arm rest, the driver door locks but then unlocks. (I can lock everything fine with the fob) The message on the little screen displays the "Engine Hours"...kinda weird.   I'm guessing something happened to the ignition switch and it thinks the key is still in there. I unplugged the batteries for 20 minutes, no change. There are a number of videos on YouTube but nothing I can find that address this specific issue. Ideas appreciated, thank you.
    • newdude
      Seems to be Missing a lot of Updates

      By newdude · Posted

      Based on what I can tell, yes.   As for updating it, its a mixed bag.  Updates do fix a lot of issues, but occasionally can create some oddities.  They do more good than harm though overall.     Here's what the most current one does and a  V171 Improvements Important: Improvements will vary by model, build configuration, system, and sales region. Not all vehicles have all features. OnStar and Wi-Fi may not work after remote start CarPlay may not automatically reconnect Part of the Driver Attention messaging screen may be in English even though the language is set to something else XM may not work After a dead 12V the radio may set to Arabic at each startup Bluetooth contacts might not be able to sync with the vehicle During an OTA the 12V battery may drain Customer might see a screen telling them to return to the dealer After changing the Wi-Fi SSID or password a device may not disconnect If a device is connected on the 2.4Ghz band, nothing will connect to the 5Ghz one, which could show as slow Wi-Fi speeds Customers might have noticed Wi-Fi dropping in certain areas and reconnecting later Customer might see the top of the screen blinking during Android Auto Android Auto may not connect CarPlay audio might momentarily cut out The "Add Phone" button may be grayed out The radio may not start up   V167 Most Notable Improvements:   Outside Air Temperature is incorrect. -You may see a popup message for Engine Shift. (Corvette Only) After changing the exhaust sound they get a popup that "mode change not applied", even though it was. -When changing volume, the volume bar is for Traffic instead of Audio. -(Corvette Only) Improvements to the placement of buttons and text. -If the customer receives the message "Apple CarPlay Could not connect", the cursor might move in the opposite direction than expected when using the control knob. -Android Auto automatically starts playing their music, even though they have turned that off in settings. -Intermittently they have a red OnStar LED with no OnStar function and/or no audio. -The minimum length of the Wi-Fi password was increased to 12 characters. -The popup message "Driver Attention Check, check your mirrors or Super Cruise will shut down" may not have come up on the display when it should have. -Startup animation added for 20th anniversary of the V-Series on Cadillacs. -The Navigation app received location improvements when going under long underpasses. -In the Navigation app there are filters for charging points that the vehicle cannot use.   V164 Most Notable Improvements Most notable improvements contained in this release may include: Apps Intermittently, an “SD Card Removed” message will pop up in the Navigation app. While in the audio app, the radio may stop working. Trailer Tire Pressure sensors may not be learned in the Trailer app. Not being able to return to the home screen while in the Camera app. After an ignition cycle, the radio might go to a black screen or stop working if using Sirius XM. Spotify icon truncated on Audio app.   SXM When changing power modes with the ignition switch, the HVAC pop up might appear. During startup, the radio will show the brand splash screen then go blank. Receiving a confirmation pop-up when changing drive modes. A “Return to Dealer” message may appear on the radio screen. SuperCruise setting toggle may not work. System After an ignition cycle, the radio might go black or stop working if using Sirius XM (SXM). Settings When performing a factory reset, the radio may stop working. After performing a factory reset, the radio may stop working when trying to switch users. When trying to go into the Language section quickly after startup, the radio may stop working. Projection Wireless CarPlay cannot be connected after unpairing another wireless Android Auto device. When the Android Auto screen comes up to connect wirelessly, the screen may freeze if the Cancel button is pressed. Removed the Apple CarPlay Cannot Connect screen when a device fails to pair during the autoconnect process. CarPlay information may not show up in the audio app. Near Field Communications (NFC) chime may be heard when NFC does not work. The Cannot Connect screen does not pop up after the first connection on wireless CarPlay fails. Apple CarPlay is now functional in Guam. Over the Air (OTA) When a software update is cancelled, the downloading logo may still be displayed. Energy When using the Energy app, the radio may stop working. When plugging in the vehicle, the display might show “Now” instead of “Charging Upon Plug In.” Instrument Cluster Voice recognition can be started while on an OnStar or phone call. When downloading contacts, there is a progress bar and circles on the Recents page of the cluster. The temperature on the cluster and the display may be different. After receiving and ending a call on the secondary paired phone, the cluster may get stuck on the phone menu. Bluetooth Intermittent Bluetooth connection loss.

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...