Wondering if anyone has encountered this: I was off on a 3000 mile highway road trip with my truck a couple of weeks ago and an hour into the trip, as I was slowing down the speedometer decided to stick at 60 making that the new 0. I stopped at a dealer and was told they would have to replace the instrument cluster and it would take 4 days…couldn’t do, so I decided to chance it and continue on down the road. I could time the mile markers to my watch to find my speed and found the speedometer to be relatively accurate- ie. 120mph was now 60mph. As the day progressed I found that every time I stopped the speedometer would zero a little lower and by the middle of the second day it was back to normal and has remained that way since. I realized that it had been a while since I had driven the truck at steady highway speeds and the regressive zeroing got me to wondering if there was something like a clock spring that pulled the needle back to zero? I realize that the needle is electically powered in the forward direction…but to zero? If that’s the case then it was probably just a little sticky from lack of use and dust. Anyone ever get inside of one of these? mk1
I had a 2004 Silverado 1500 with a very similar problem. The dealer had to replace the entire instrument cluster, I believe. Fortunately it was under warranty. Good luck with yours.
I stopped at a dealer and was told they would have to replace the instrument cluster and it would take 4 days
Sheesh, isn’t that typical of dealers? They don’t actually fix anything, they swap in new assemblies. Probably cheaper for you as the consumer considering their labor rates though.
The gauges in your truck are actually stepper motors. It is quite simple to change one if it eventually fails. You can buy the replacement motor on-line and many include the instructions on how to replace. You need to be handy with a soldering iron and pay attention to details but it’s not rocket science…
mk1: My speedometer in my K1500 Silverado '04 slowly dropped to zero one day while going down the highway. After doing this a few times, it worked again but then my temp gauge died. I did some research and here’s what I found out:
Every gauge in the cluster has a little stepper motor that moves the needle. From 2001 to 2007 GM used faulty motors that would die during normal use. Instead of recalling all of those vehicles, GM issued a service bulletin to its dealers instructing them to replace defective motors for free if customers complained. Here’s the catch, if your truck has more than 80,000 miles on it, GM won’t pay and the dealer will charge you…
You can buy new stepper motors online and solder them in. There are some Youtube videos that show you how. They cost about $5 each. You can also ship your instrument cluster to a repairer who will replace all of the motors for about $100. (Yes, its legal to drive without an instrument cluster if it’s being repaired) .If your truck is low mileage, take it to the dealer and insist that they replace all seven of those motors for free.
Those are your options. Good luck and shame on GM for not issuing a recall.
Unfortunately, I believe that the truck may be too old for the free repair. I believe 7 years is the limit.
Oops, db4690 is right. An '04 is too old. Good catch.