Info on fixing instrument clusters - Fixed my own

VictoryRed2003 · February 8, 2007

For those of you with gauge(s) that are acting up or not working at all like 2 of mine were....I did some research and repaired my own for a fraction the cost of a new cluster. For around $300 you can buy a new cluster and then have to have the odometer transferred...more $$$$. I found a guy on eBay that apparenetly owns a speedo shop in Florida that sells the stepper motors for $14.95 each. In a nut shell i bought 4 new stepper motors (2 spares) for $65 dollars to my house and replaced them in about 1 hour total disassembly and reinstall. If you can desolder the old ones and solder in the new ones it's a cinch. The person I bought them from on eBay was charlieboats08. Very fast transaction. To get the needles back on in the correct position you may need some specialty tools. I had access to a handheld tach that is calibrated to set the needle for the gauge. For the speedometer I used my handheld GPS receiver to figure out where to put the needle. I drove around with the clear lens off of the cluster and lightly placed the needle on the speedometer stepper motor shaft so I could adjust it as needed. It is dead on from 0-100mph according to my GPS receiver. As for the gas gauge I completely filled my truck to the max and then put the needle at the full position. The temp, voltage and oil pressure I set at zero with the key on and the engine cold. Seems to all work pretty well so far. Let me know if you need more info.

beasleyiv · February 8, 2007

For those of you with gauge(s) that are acting up or not working at all like 2 of mine were....I did some research and repaired my own for a fraction the cost of a new cluster. For around $300 you can buy a new cluster and then have to have the odometer transferred...more $$$$. I found a guy on eBay that apparenetly owns a speedo shop in Florida that sells the stepper motors for $14.95 each. In a nut shell i bought 4 new stepper motors (2 spares) for $65 dollars to my house and replaced them in about 1 hour total disassembly and reinstall. If you can desolder the old ones and solder in the new ones it's a cinch. The person I bought them from on eBay was charlieboats08. Very fast transaction. To get the needles back on in the correct position you may need some specialty tools. I had access to a handheld tach that is calibrated to set the needle for the gauge. For the speedometer I used my handheld GPS receiver to figure out where to put the needle. I drove around with the clear lens off of the cluster and lightly placed the needle on the speedometer stepper motor shaft so I could adjust it as needed. It is dead on from 0-100mph according to my GPS receiver. As for the gas gauge I completely filled my truck to the max and then put the needle at the full position. The temp, voltage and oil pressure I set at zero with the key on and the engine cold. Seems to all work pretty well so far. Let me know if you need more info.

Sweet. I just bought a motor from him to fix my noisy Tach. Can you detail a bit more on how you calibrated the tach?

VictoryRed2003 · February 8, 2007

With the clear lens removed from the cluster and the cluster plugged in I turned the key to the ON position (NO ENGINE RUN) and after a few seconds of power the stepper motor will zero itself. At that point I lightly placed the needle in position so that I could move it easily, but it would still register. It seemed spot on first try, but I used my dads handheld tach to verify the reading was accurate and it was within 50 RPM's. I figured I would never notice that while driving so I pressed the needle on and left it. It reads identically to what it did before at 70 mph (around 2300 RPM).

n0ssy · April 5, 2007

I also had two guages that were acting up. I purchase 6 new motors (from eBay for $9.85 each.)

I went ahead and replaced all 6 as I didn't want to pull the cluster more that one time.

The replacement of the stepper motors is a snap, if you have good soldering skills.

From start to finish it took me a little over an hour.

For instructions go to http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254501 . These are good instructions for replacing the motors.

lerbud · April 6, 2007

i havent done much soldering but i replaced my tach stepper motor a couple weeks ago. its really easy to replace. i had installed a gauge overlay and the tach died. mine is still under warranty but i didnt want to hassle with the dealer so i bought 2 stepper motors and replaced one. still have a spare for down the road.