No dash guages on startup

[BD]

Folks,
I have an intermittent problem on a new 03 Chevy D/A CC with a little over 1000 miles (3 weeks old) and thought I would check with the board prior to taking it into the dealer. Several times when I first start up the truck for the day the engine will start - but no activity on the dash guages. If I shut the engine off and restart it - everything comes back to life and after that for the rest of the day the guages always come one.
I thought maybe I was not waiting long enough for all of the computers to be satisfied - so I have been waiting until all of the lights ( glow plug, airbag,etc) go off before I start the engine.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Bill

[mackin]

BD

What you would like to hear is a magic fix but I don't have it.....

I can just offer a suggestion....Next mourning or when it does the disappearing cluster lights trick, drive it straight to the dealer without shutting it off.....

Have the service manager see it, to avoid the "Could not duplicate syndrome" and have him write up the service ticket right then right now....This way if you can't leave it, he can leave it open....

Probably or hopefully they'll just swap out the cluster, without delay.....

Good Luck....


MAC

[king D]

have the same problem gm told me it was because of my aftermarket gages,i said yeah right i didnt have em when the prob first started.any way i took it in when it didnt work left it for a week and they found jack nada nilch.said made a record and if the prob arose and wouldnt go away bring it back then, if not and a report of this prob comes up we will contact you.i have checked a few times still says gmc has no info to understand.if you find any thing out please let me know.jess

[dmaxalliTech]

sounds as if something is'nt getting the' wake up call' from the pcm. I have to agree, take it in directly when its acts up, if it stays dead on you. I know that there is nothing more frustrating for me, the tech and you, the customer for finding NPF's

[Nixter]

The same thing started happening to my truck at about 400 miles. I was also getting a low coolant warning, and the headlights would flicker. The dealer tech detirmined that all three symptoms were due to poor grounding of the electrical system. After he made the corrections I haven't had any problems.--Nick

[BD]

Gentlemen,
Thanks for the ideas - I will take it in the next week or so after it fails like Mac and Tech suggested - why didn't I think of that!
I will post with the dealers response ( and cure - hopefully).
Thanks,
Bill

[BD]

Here is the update as promised. I took it to the dealer Tuesday and left it overnight. I also had the 4WD pushbutton system go nuts and the SES trigger so I figured they could look at all of it at once. Next morning they went out and had the guage panel be non-op. They reloaded the software in an attempt to fix it - said it would fix everything but to let them know if it did not work and I drove it home. Called them up this morning to tell them the problem was still there - so their tech is now doing a little more research before I bring it in next week. I will let you know what I find out next week
Bill

[BD]

Well, got the truck back today after the second visit to see if they could repair the problem with the guage panel - was not a success. They claim that they tried to reload the software to the panel and it would not reset - is there anything on this truck that is not driven by software!
Anyhow the dealer now has a new guage panel on order which should be in within the next two weeks.
I will update again once the new panel is installed.
Bill

[mdadgar]

I had this problem and it turned out to be a bad fusebox. Replacing it under warranty fixed the problem.

- Mark

[DonG]

I had my first issue with my truck this morning. After it fired up with no problem, all the dash gauges shut down. All except the odometer, it continued to click off the miles.

I drove it to the dealer and showed them the problem before I shut it down. Then on a whim, I shut it down and restarted. Still no guages. I shut it down again and left it for them. When they started it to take it into the shop, the gauges all started working again.

They played with lots of connections but could not get the gauges to fail. At least I have documented the problem with the dealer.

Odometer reading is about 6600 miles now.

Don

[DanB]

Hi,

My magic trick is to play with the dash light intensity control wheel. After turning it a few times the lights come on and then you can adjust them. This happens to me very infrequently.

Good luck!
Dan

[BD]

Another update - the dealer replaced the cluster today and when they pulled the truck up for me to pick it up - the guages weren't working. I know they did something - because my odometer is now reading about 500 miles less than when I drove it in this morning.
The service rep ended up telling me that the only factory repair for an intermittent failed cluster authorized at this time is a reflash of the cluster. They went beyond that as the reflash did not work and tried putting in a new cluster - with no success.
He claims the factory is aware of the problem as they are seeing about 1 vehicle a month with this issue. He had no idea of what they could do next to fix the issue. \
I will be taking it in next week for the 4wd fix - so I may suggest some of the electronic troubleshooting that has been recommended here.
Thanks,
Bill

[wheeler]

2003 2500HD. Three weeks ago I noticed no dash gauge lighting-- no display on the radio though it was playing, no display on the HVAC though air conditioning was working, no DIC, etc. Rotated dash light dimmer wheel and they came back on. Okay.

For two weeks now, pretty much every first start in the morning all the gauges don't move at all. Speedo, fuel gauge, etc., all of them, the needles are flat at zero. Restart truck and the gauges work normally for that trip.

Spoke to dealer today-- service advisor said he'd never heard of this. Wanted to schedule service appt. but he can only proceed if he sees this intermittent problem show itself. I'm on a trip now and hate to start a protracted repair process... just wondering if anyone has found an effective solution to this problem. Thanks. --wheeler
(RV webpage: http://homepage.mac.com/gadgetnut/PhotoAlbum3.html

[DonG]

Well the instrument gauges have gone South again. Nothing I have tried works. The odometer works, but no gauges, no speed reading, no fuel level, etc. However, the cruise control works, even though I do not know how fast I am going. When I make it home again, back to the shop it will go again. I currently have 15,000 miles on the truck.

Don

[DonG]

After two days with no dash gauges, which included many shut downs and re-starts, the gauges all started working this morning with the first start of the day.

After suffering without them for the past two days, I was hoping they were permanantly bad, so I could get the dealer to fix them.

Now everything is working, and continued to work all day, so I have nothing to show the dealer.

That is how it goes somedays. Don

[dmaxalliTech]

Don, speaking of intermittant problems, Is your ABS still acting up? I never did check back with you on that

Eric

[DonG]

Hi Eric,

The ABS system you fixed for me has been working without a flaw. We drove back home through the same hot weather as we did when it acted up regularly, and no problems at all.

The truck has performed flawlessly until the instrument dash issue a few days ago.

Thanks for the A-1 treatment in Michigan.

Don