Chevrolet Avalanche Instrument Panel Problems

feymovfeymov Member Posts: 1
in Chevrolet
I recently had my 2004 Z71 Avalanche experience a problem with the instrument panel. The electrical charging gauge was pegged past the upper limit of 19 volts. Once on an analyzer it was assured that my charging system was fine but I was told that the gauge was bad and I had to replace it. Has anyone had this problem? Does anyone know where I can find a used or original replacement cluster? The dealer price is unbelievable. any help is appreciated. Have searched a little on line tonight with no luck.
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  • cosmiccharliecosmiccharlie Member Posts: 3
    EBay has many sellers of reconditioned Clusters, will put you mileage into the new one
  • grneyedgrneyed Member Posts: 2
    Have you checked to see if this is covered under the current pending class action suit? I know there was a large number of vech that were listed and when I took my 04 Avalanche in for problems with the gas gage mine was a problem with the sensor in the tank and was not covered under this only if it was a circut problem. So becuase its not covered they are saying its going to be something like $600.00 for the repairs. I know you can find information on this case at http://www.speedometersettlement.com after November 6, 2008 or you can google gm speedometer settlement for more information. Did you receive a letter on this issue?
  • crewcutcrewcut Member Posts: 2
    I have the same problem with the fuel sensor unit on my 2002 Avalanche Z66, but I probably have a new twist and could use some advice. My battery is going flat in less than a week. It is a brand new Interstate so it is not the problem. I put it in thinking the old one had seen better days after it died. My problems started when I ran to low on fuel and the warning indicators came on. It got my attention and sent me to the gas station, but now the warning lights come on almost all the time and the gage reads empty. I took it to the dealer (useless) and the starched shirt with tassles (service mgr) told me they fixed the battery issue. NOT... Any ideas and could the fuel sending unit cause the battery drain due to the on-board comupters not shutting down? I have right at 86k miles on mine and for the most part trouble free until now.
  • rdmasterrdmaster Member Posts: 1
    i see i am not the only one having problems with my dash cluster hope they will recall them too be fixed and was wondering if anyone knows if the rear window motor will fit and work in the front door of theses trucks if anyone knows please let me know ...thank you for any info in this matter :mad: :confuse:
  • billdm8billdm8 Member Posts: 2
    My 02 Av North Face edition is also having instrument cluster problems and draining my battery. After turning off the engine, exiting the car and locking the doors, the high beam and cruise indicator lights come on and stay on. I think that's what's draining my battery, but have no idea how to fix it. Have you had any luck with the recall since you are past 70k?
  • robert152robert152 Member Posts: 2
    I just took my avalanche to chevy to day they told me cluster was under warranty only because i was under 70 thousand
  • robert152robert152 Member Posts: 2
    Is any one having a problem with there left front fog light on there avalanche if so what did you do to fix it.
  • steeler03steeler03 Member Posts: 1
    I have an 03, and I continuously get an indication on my instrument panel that my left rear door is open. If i use my factory alarm and lock the doors, it randomly sets off the alarm because the computer thinks the door has opened. Driving down the road, the instrument panel will spontaneously indicate that it is open. I can't leave my dome light in the auto position because at some point during the night it will come on and drain my battery thinking that door has opened. Not sure where to even start troubleshooting on this. Any one with similar problems?
  • crewcutcrewcut Member Posts: 2
    Sorry to hear of so manu folks having problems with their Avalanche SUV's. I have not followed up with this problem for a long time and have been living with it. I have to disconnect the battery at night to avoid the battery drain problem. I have since replaced my fuel pump (died in the Norfolk Tunnel at rush hour) needless to say I was unhappy and thousands of others were to until they cleared me from the tunnel. Those bridge tunnel gals and guys deserve medals. Anyway, I was not aware that a pendinig class action is in the works. My instrument cluster has gotten worse, now my odometer is out and the trip meter does not work either. It restarts from zero each time I stop and start. Since I do not have a good working fuel gauge and the odometer is out too, it makes trips pretty tough. It is interesting regarding an other comment about the dome light coming on. I wonder... I am thinking about dumbing down this truck since I still like the design. Oh yeah, anybody have to replace the rear discs due to the emergency brake cable failing and leaving a small piece of metal to ruin the rotors. I had to replace mine after a state inspection. Not cheap!
  • bigdogonthepobigdogonthepo Member Posts: 4
    I like many others have been plagued with electrical problems with my Avalnche. All three of my Chevy trucks have in some cases the same problems and some problems that are unique to that model. The Avalanche has the loss of instrument read outs. The Speedometer sometimes will show you going faster or slower than you really are. We use our GPS to make sure on the highway we are within the speeds.The tackometer drops off line from time to time, and the oil pressure guage does pretty much the same thing. Some times it works and other times it just falls off line. I find that a lot of it happens with the second key that we have for the truck. My wife has key 1 and has less problems when using that key. I have key 2 and it seems to have default problems four times as often. I also notice that the problem times seem to happen when the outside temp is the highest. I do not think it is the instrument cluster it's self. I would tend to believe it is more of a computer problem from the on board computer. I'm even more concerned that General Motors doesn't know as much as I do about some of these problems. Example. I have had problems with the radio in all three trucks. It was going to cost more to replace the Delco/Bose with a rebuilt radio than it was to purchase on line a complete double din radio with GPS/Back up camera/DVD/AM,FM radio. So now the only problem was the wiring diagram. I went on line using my vin number and down loaded a wiring diagram. It didn't match the wiring in my truck. I called dealerships, went to auto parts stores, went back on line and finally ended up on Ask. An on line question site. Even after supplying them with all the information about the wiring and the truck, it took them three days to identify an orange wire in my harness that did not show up on the wiring diagram. You guessed it! It happens to be a wire from the on board computer. This morning I will be removing the battery from the Avalanche and it's tray to get to a ground wire that is supposed to be mounted under the battery tray that another guy told me tends to get corroded from the battery. I'll post the results of that fix if it is the problem. The on board read out on the dash keeps going into another language and will not reset by just holding the button it. The A/C slips from cold to heat on one side and you have to restart the truck to get it back on cold. This problem I believe has more to do with the little relays that are located in the fuse compartment under the hood. I swaped them around one day and days later had the A/C slip into heat on one side again, but this time it was the opposite side of the dash. What a night mere this wiring is! Some of these problems are life threathning and GM had better start paying better attention to those of us that have invested in their products! I for one have been a GM fan, but unless something changes soon will probably not purchase another GM product. Poor out sourcing of parts and assembly in less than quality facilities could be their down fall.
  • bigdogonthepobigdogonthepo Member Posts: 4
    along with all the electrical problems with my three Chevy trucks comes the latest issue. Our 2004 Chevy Avalanche has 56,000 miles on it. The wife drives this truck and most of the miles put on it over the years have been from road trips on vacation and visiting the kids. After returning from Jacksonville a couple of weeks ago a noise from the wheels kept getting louder and louder. So Off to the auto parts store I went to buy a new set of wheel bearing and races for it. Come to find out you can not just replace the wheel bearings and races any longer. You have to purchase wheel hubs. At close to $300 each this was the replacement to the old wheel bearing so that you could go longer with out having to worry about greasing them and having to change them as often. I then went to my local Chevy dealership to question if they were covered under the extended warranty that I paid so much for when I purchased the truck. Nope. The warranty ran out in April but if you'll just leave it we will take care of it for you. As most of you the trust in dealerships to do only what is required at a good price has gone out the window years ago! I ended up going to Firestone tire shop near my home and asking them about all of this. Everyone agrees that 56,000 mile is a bit premature for this to happen to, but none the less they have to be replaced. At least Firestone was priced quite a bit cheaper than the Chevy dealership and along with it came a warranty that no matter where I might be, no matter what state I might be in, all I would have to do is to go to the local Firestone dealer in that area and get it replaced. Total bill ended up being $738 for both sides, parts and labor. Seems like every time they redesign something to work better it is nothing more than a more expensive part that doesn't last as long.
  • bigdogonthepobigdogonthepo Member Posts: 4
    I owe you a big thank you for your posting of the class action law suit having to do with the speedometer and instruments in my 2004 Avalanche!!! I went on the link you posted. Read it closely and then printed it out. Got out my registration and we called our dealership where we purchased the truck this morning. Even though this dealership is one of the ones that has not been able to sell new Chevy vehicles over the past year, they are fighting GM and still doing the warranty work. At any rate they had me bring the truck in this morning and it took about an hour for them to remove the cluster to get the serial numbers off it and verify the mileage. Ends up the new instrument cluster is due in tomorrow and will be installed at no cost to me.
    While there I talked to the service manager about some of the other problems with all three of my trucks. I was advised to keep all receipts for anything else that I have repaired and as the law suits appear, I'd be able to put in a claim and be reimbursed. Thanks again and anyone else looking in with problems with there trucks, check out the on going suits and call your dealership and inquire about your problems.
    Thanks again.
  • dusty007dusty007 Member Posts: 4
    What fixed your problem with the cruise and high beam light coming on and staying on? I am having the same problem. Thank you so much for responding.
  • billdm8billdm8 Member Posts: 2
    Unhooking the battery. Or spending $400 for a new instrument cluster. There's an online site you can send your old cluster to and they'll refurbish yours and send it back. It's supposedly pretty easy to take out.
  • dusty007dusty007 Member Posts: 4
    Thank you! I did have my ABS replaced several months ago and this is when this problem started....Go figure today for the first time my ABS light came on and stayed on...makes me wonder if there is something connected??? I think you are correct though...new cluster!!! :cry:
  • nursegadjtnursegadjt Member Posts: 1
    I see all the issues you are having with your avalanche. When I first purchased my 2007 avalanche, I started having the same issues with the hot vs cold blowing out different sides. As I started researching the issue, I noticed that it says to make sure that your air conditioning, radio, etc. be turned off before disconnecting the battery. Apparently, if any of these are left on while the battery is changed or disconnected, the computer cannot properly 'resync' itself. I did find out that they put a new battery in my vehicle. It also stated to not restart the vehicle for 10-30 minutes after you change the battery as well. I decided to disconnect the battery and reconnect. Then I waited the appropriate amount of time and then started it. And low and behold, I have not had an issue since. You may have already figured this out through the forums. But, I thought it might help.
    nursegadjt
  • streetrodder1streetrodder1 Member Posts: 1
    I have the same problem, did you find a fix ?
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    Hello streetrodder1,

    I understand you're looking to hear back from steeler03; we can check to see if there are any open recalls on your vehicle, or check into warranty information if you like. Please send us the last 8 digits of your VIN and we'll do so! Our email is socialmedia@gm.com
    Best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • ava2004ava2004 Member Posts: 1
    Which lawsuit is that? Can I get the information?
  • braokbraok Member Posts: 1

    I have a 2005 Avalanche with 34,000 miles and the dash gauge quit working. If anyone knows, do all the dash gauges go out on this model at one time?

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