Burning up the dash and heater, again

[movemyrv]

I don't know if this has been discussed lately, but I am for the second time getting only posistion #5 on the heater control. Last time it cost me about $300 to replace a seriously melted unit on the heater system. that is in addition to another round of dash lights burning out. I have in 56k miles replaced the heater controls, the radio head unit, that heater relay thing (see above) and have more lights, such as in the steering wheel controls burning out, and of course the fried tachometer (they want $500 to replace that one!). I do see a lot of comments on some review sites about poor quality dash issues.

Can anyone point me towards solutions that are more economical than the many hundreds for the dealer?

Would there be a warranty on the heater box relay thing that they have replaced and seems to have melted again?

I love this thing, but it's nickle and diming me to death!

Mike

[Zapper]

$300 for blower motor relay replacement sounds crazy. Did you have it done at a GM dealer? I bought a new switch for $28 and replaced it in about an hour, could do it in half the time now. Speedway autoparts store here in Indy had a Delco and a Standard. I had the parts lady pull them both, absolutely identical even down to the brown paper bag they were in, inside the box, both were made in Slovenia. I have had no problems with any dash lighting or radio.

[More Power]

One of the first things I was taught during the electroncis training I underwent in the U.S. Navy was to look beyond the obvious failed part to determine why it failed. In your case, you've had a series of electrical component failures that could be caused by something you may not have considered. Examples could include an overcharging or otherwise funky alternator, or perhaps a bad chassis, cab or engine ground.

Jim

[movemyrv]

One of the first things I was taught during the electroncis training I underwent in the U.S. Navy was to look beyond the obvious failed part to determine why it failed. In your case, you've had a series of electrical component failures that could be caused by something you may not have considered. Examples could include an overcharging or otherwise funky alternator, or perhaps a bad chassis, cab or engine ground.

Jim

Interesting...Thanks for the advice. I'll look at all of these possibilities. I am due for new starting batteries, so I will look the whole system over.

Zapper: Thank you for that advice. I found the part online for $25 and am about to dig-in. The good new is, Chevrolet just sent out a letter saying they will replace the instrument clusters in the 03 and 04s so my tachometer problem will finally be fixed......and I won't have to pay for it.