Instrument Guage Cluster?

HDdave · November 22, 2007

I think the guages in my dads 03 d-max are starting to go bad... When it sits for a while and he goes to start the truck the instruments will not start working until a minute or two of the truck running. If it is indeed the problem, how much approx. will it cost to fix? His truck has 190k on it, so its way out of the free off- warranty repair offer..

StoneyPgh · November 22, 2007

I believe that should be covered in GM's letter extending the warranty on instrument clusters.

jsncariker · November 23, 2007

Yeah, I had been wondering what to do about this to.

Sometimes it works, somtime it stays like it's broke, and other times it thinks it's at 40mph when it's not going anywhere so it will say I am doing 90 when really it's like 50.

So far this is the only issue I have ran into so I am not going to complain.

Like a Rock!!

LS1POWERED · November 24, 2007

Yeah, I had been wondering what to do about this to.
Sometimes it works, somtime it stays like it's broke, and other times it thinks it's at 40mph when it's not going anywhere so it will say I am doing 90 when really it's like 50.

So far this is the only issue I have ran into so I am not going to complain.

Like a Rock!!

Sorry man your SOL on getting gm to replace it for free, I just opend my letter today from gm and they said they will cover it if under 70k. I just sold my 03, cluster was not working. I did some shoping and found a replacement online for about $300 its a simple swap. Stealer quoted me $550 to replace.

StoneyPgh · November 24, 2007

Just got my letter too. That 7 year extended warranty is worthless with a 70K mileage limit.

Needgasmoney · November 25, 2007

Just got my letter too. That 7 year extended warranty is worthless with a 70K mileage limit.

Got my letter today too and noticed the included statement about not taking your vehicle to the dealer unless you were experiencing problems with the gauge cluster. You can sure bet that when my odometer reaches 69K, I WILL be experiencing problems.

StoneyPgh · November 25, 2007

A few weeks ago, before I even received my letter, I tried to get my dealer to warranty my cluster. He asked me if I was having an instrument cluster malfunction. I said that it was acting-up intermittently. He said sorry, we can't help you unless we can observe the problem.

Guess I'm screwed, unless my cluster fails in the nest 20 miles.

2004GMC1500CC · November 26, 2007

A few weeks ago, before I even received my letter, I tried to get my dealer to warranty my cluster. He asked me if I was having an instrument cluster malfunction. I said that it was acting-up intermittently. He said sorry, we can't help you unless we can observe the problem.

Guess I'm screwed, unless my cluster fails in the nest 20 miles.

Not if you have it documented that it had an intermittant problem.

StoneyPgh · November 26, 2007

What type of documentation are you referring to?

The only way to "document" it is to have the truck at the dealership at the time it would malfunction. They made it very clear that it had to be visually verified by them to qualify me.

jsncariker · November 26, 2007

I have only got 53k on my truck.

So does this mean I can get it fixed?

ws6_guy · November 26, 2007

I have only got 53k on my truck.

So does this mean I can get it fixed?

should be able to

tomrex · November 26, 2007

Ok, so I am not condoning this activity at all....but one way to make it "experience" issues would be to pull the cluster out, pull the plastic cover off the cluster, plug it back in, and start the truck. Take a regular dinner fork, pry gently under the tach needle, reposition the pointer wherever you want it, and push it back on. Then, when your truck is idling, you can make it say 4k rpms. Then the dealer can see that it's messed up. My buddy with an 04 did this at 69,972. they didn't even ask a question. Enjoy!

jsncariker · November 27, 2007

I have only got 53k on my truck.

So does this mean I can get it fixed?

should be able to

Sweet!

Thanks!

Stripe1966 · December 4, 2007

I have a 2003 Silverado 1500HD 4x4 that just had the instrument panel go out in mid-November. The speedometer showed 35 mph more than the actual speed - standing still the needle came to rest at 35.

I already have 116K miles on the truck so the warrenty was no good and the local dealership didn't want to do a "good will" free fix for me so I took it to our local regular repair shop.

What I found out: It turns out that the replacements are actually refurbished units. A new one costs $600+. The refurbished units cost $325.

They ordered the unit. It gets "programmed" somewhere out east, and it arrived in 2 days. They replaced it within 15 minutes. Everything worked great!

But here's the catch....... even though all the model numbers, stock numbers, vehicle numbers, & part numbers were identical, I now have different DIC options than I did before.

The original DIC options showed RANGE, AVERAGE MPG, INSTANT MPG, and OIL LIFE %. The other button showed ODOMETER, PERSONAL MILES, PERSONAL MPG, BUSINESS MILES, BUSINESS MPG, TIMER, and HOUR METER. Also when I would start the truck, it would show DRIVER A or DRIVER B, depending on which remote was used to unlock the doors.

The new DIC options are RANGE, FUEL USED, AVERAGE MPG, and OIL LIFE %. The other button now shows TRIP A, TRIP B, TIMER, ODOMETER, and HOUR METER. There also is no longer a DRIVER A or DRIVER B at start up.

Either way is good I guess, but now it's like having to re-learn the buttons all over again.

HDdave · December 6, 2007

The cluster they replaced it with must be from a newer GM vehicle. My mom's 05 tahoe has those features on the DIC, and my dads 03 D-max has the ones that you had to start with. I would have been kinda pissed because I like the 03 features better.