HeyThanks. I am a 65 year old gramma and with your instructions i was able to fix my 2003 Avalanches, instrument cluster problem that was going to cost $680. I'm not sure why you put it on you tube. but i love ya for it, kiddo!
@@triciabrightwell1019 You don't want to use acid core on anything electronic. You need a rosin core solder. Acid core is for soldering things like radiators. Rosin core is for soldering electronics.
This comment right here makes me have faith in humanity thank you for being a woman that has a can-do attitude I tell girls all the time that just because they're female doesn't mean they can't fix things it all boils down to your attitude
I just pulled my panel and inspected the socket. Everything looked fine but I decided to re-solder anyway. Some fingernail polish remover - acetone - took care of the coating. I applied it, let it evaporate, and brushed with a nylon brush. The coating turned to a white powder and brushed away and did not interfere with the soldering iron. The intermittent problem is now solved. Thanks!
I can give you a few hints on soldering and removal of the film. I worked for 2 years at Model electronics where I fixed radios and speedos. 1 Get a thinner tip on the iron. 2 get thinner solder 3 buy some resin remover 4 NEVER USE A METAL BRUSH. 5 Keep up the great job!!!!!
Thank You Brian, I have had this exact problem with my 2003 chevy, I went to the local chevy dealer, and they said 300.00 just to take a look at it, of course I passed on that, so for about 6 months I did nothing about it. I found and watched your video and was able to fix my cluster in about 10 minutes!!! Now I want to work in the local chevy service center, 300.00 bucks for ten minutes of work, I'm in lol,,,,,,, aganin thanks alot. Robb
If you use a magnifying glass sometimes you can find a conical fracture around some of the pins. This was the case on my 88 Honda Civic. You could only see it with a magnifying glass and it was quite clear on 2 of the pins. They were on a relay coil which heated up. The coil itself was fastened to the board so when the leads expanded, the only thing that could give was the solder. 5 minutes and it was fixed.... Years of headaches gone. 2 shops said they couldn't fix it because they couldn't repeat the problem. RUclips to the rescue! Thanks for the great video.
Brian. I posted on your other, related video, how I was having an issue with an instrument cluster that had malfunctioning gauges and glitchy speedometer. I lived with that for several months but this past weekend, on a -15 / -18 below zero morning, the cluster died completely. Your two videos are sheer brilliance. It took me half of President's Day, but I was able to replace all the stepper motors AND repair the connector pins. I WAS terrible with soldering and really was apprehensive about tackling this job, but even your tips on soldering helped a LOT. The first motor took me 20 minutes to de-solder and repair. The next, maybe 6 or 7 minutes. The subsequent ones.......less than five. Thank you VERY much. You saved me a lot of money and helped me learn a valuable skill. Take care and keep up the great work.
You need a flux pen. Trust me. Apply some flux from a flux pen and it will re-flow the solder as if it was brand new. The flux together with the heat from the solder iron also cleans your contact surfaces and gets the solder to stick properly.
Brian, I replaced my stepper motors in my 2003 GMC Envoy instrument panel and bought a solder sucker from radio shack and replaced the old solder with new it was the balls worked excellent!
You saved me a pile of money. Guy I bought the Tahoe from had put in servos and gave up. Sold it to me for half of true value. Spent an hour removing the cluster/ heating those pins and refreshing solder/ re-installing and BAM! Plus one and thanks for this valuable resource.
Easy to see why the dealer would just replace the part rather than spending time. But for those of us who pay for everything and do our own work, this is gold.
I’ve just bought a 2002 GMC 2500 HD, with the LB7 Duramax, this last week. It runs really well but the dash cluster is a wreck, it looks like a Christmas tree sometimes then resets itself randomly. I’ve checked codes and it only showed ABS related data. The water pump crapped out two days into checking it out. Lol Your channel was a great help in figuring that out, anyways I’m back now with the dash cluster issues. Once again thank you so very much for putting out these videos man this is so cool and the information is most helpful your way of explaining things this is on works very well thank you sir
Hey just a heads up and a thank you. You inadvertently mentioned the resistors for the PRND123 readout next to one of the stepper motors. We had fixed the others and had no idea there were more. They had cold joints we fixed them and all is good. With your help we fixed 2 instrument clusters. Thank you
Great narration and use of proper terms. Seems like some times the more you get in it and mess with it, the more problems pop up. If I do this I think I would de-solder first then clean start over. Old and dirty solder like any other types of welds can be tricky as it gets re-worked and being so small and bad eyes don't help. I had lots of issues like this doing real fine exotic TIG welding on light gauge material that had to be 100%, even under x-ray.
Brian I think I found my problem with my Cluster. After almost ripping my hair out, I came across your video. I had a leak from one of my heater core connectors going to the top of the block on my 03 suburban. I thought it was a bad ground that was oily and wet from the leak. But after watching your video it seems like that would be my issue. I don't have soldering skills but seems to be an easy fix. THANK YOU
Thanks Brian! My cluster gauges were wagging, every one of them from min to max. I touched up the solder joints of the male connector on pcb that the wiring harness plugs into, cleaned with contact cleaner and put it back together. No more wagging!!!
have 250k + one with 330k miles on all my GMs these years. Except for minor issues original motor trans. This is a common problem plagues many.Also had one dash cause parasitic draw on battery causing it to go dead in two days. Nice video thanks for helping others keep their ole Chevy going. Ps World record for miles on original car is the Volvo with 3million and a Chevy Silverado with 1.7 million. Motors not rebuilt nor transmission.
Brian, just want to tell you thanks!!! This worked on my '04 Suburban. Dash suddenly went dead, no lights, nothing. Followed your lead, and voila! Works perfectly again. Much appreciated!
Small advice: do not try to connect the cluster back in the car, without the back cover. High chance of touching something metallic (ground) and short a component. When reflowing solder connections, use flux and a small quantity of fresh solder. Clean afterwards with ethanol or isopropanol and an old toothbrush. While you are there, you might as well replace the bulbs with LEDs (you need much more experience with electronics, though).
Great video… 60-70% isopropyl alcohol is good for cleaning circuit boards. Also a little bit of flux on the pins before you try to re-flow the joint will make things a lot easier and produce a better joint.
Thank you so much! I just did this to my 2003 yukon. I just cleaned the back with acetone then brushed it and sprayed it with electrical cleaner fluid from walmart and it works beautifully! My PRNDL is still out but thats ok. My next step was to call the dealership and fork it up, but thanks to you its working again!!
Thanks. I pulled the instrument panel off. Then tapped on the very top of the cluster where the plug is and everything came back on. I will do your trick later when it goes out again. for now its working fine again.
PRND321 has 7 resistor on other side of board. That's the common source of the dim or dead display. My vid shows were they are and you'll see how bright it gets back to once you reflow them. People think it's the pins because the heat warps the board enough to make contact again. They are surface mount 1206 resistors, lead free solder cracks on them
Hey can you leave a link for the video on your channel that you are referring to. I checked your channel but didn't find it. The whole gauge panel in my 2003 Silverado is down, well I do have prnd etc, and the odometer shows but that is it. Got NO $$$$ for a new one so I gotta do this myself.
Same problem. All Gauges stopped working. Fuses were all normal. I watched this video. It was so easy to fix. All it took was a little solider. That fixed it.
Pretty good video, as far as your went. However, the stepper motors are a well known problem on that vintage of truck, especially 04 05 tahoe Yukon Escalade Sierra Silverado.... You could take that case apart, put painters tape on the face of the cluster, mark where all your needles are, and then gently pull the needles off with a fork. Then, you can take the cluster apart. On the other side of the green PC board, there will be white circular stepper motors. The speedo one often goes bad, as mine did. The motors can be had for $10 apiece on Ebay. There are sellers on EBay, who, if you just pull out the cluster, and sent it to them, will replace ALL the stepper motors, and send you your cluster back, for around $200, which, for most people without soldering skills, is probably the right option. The truck CAN be driven without the cluster. Obviously, you will have no gauges, so use extreme caution, but it will start & run completely fine, and the mileage is kept in the ECM, so that's no problem either. The Dealer wanted over $1000 to do mine. To the commenter who was wondering about the oil sending unit, it could very well be a bad stepper motor also. The stepper motors on the back are ALL THE SAME, so if you really want to isolate your trouble, swap one for another, put it back together, and see if the trouble "moves" with the motor.... Or just replace them all.... That was a good video Brian, I am just saying, there was more to the story than you showed.....
The cluster on my 2004 Silverado has been going in and out for several weeks now. Just recently, if I would hit the top of the dash over the cluster with my fist, it would come back on, but now even that is not working. I suspect I have the same problem you had. Thanks for the video.
Same issues here with 2004 Silverado 3500. Did this fix yours? So far smacking my dash is still working on mine with the exception of a couple times. Pretty sure it won't be much longer before it stops completely as well.
I sent my gauge cluster to Todd Haines of www.gmgaugerepair.com/. He usually repairs in the same day and sends back via FedEx. I'm very happy with his work and would highly recommend him. $110.00 which includes return shipping. Can't beat it. But to answer your question, I did pull the cluster and was going to try the repair in this video, but my connections looked fine.
@@gig777 Ok, thanks for responding and thanks for the link. I'll be sure to contact him when mine finally dies. I just can't see spending $400 on a new one that will eventually do the same thing.
@@nopenottanoway with a good rebuild the problem shouldn't come back to haunt you. But keep in mind a genuine dealership reman cluster might NOT have the issue corrected.
@@jeffescortlx yep, that's what I'm afraid of. That's why I'd much rather send it for repairs. A friend of mine mailed me the kit to fix it with but I think it's more than I can probably do.
The indicator in park is probably an issue with a weak shifter spring. It's a tiny spring. My spring is now broken completely. My console was going all haywire on me one day. I'm guessing I will be doing this one day. Great job and good video.
Thx again Brian. Once again you've helped me tackle another one-off the list. Old faithful is back to normal and glowing PRND123. Nice to see the mileage again too (194,xxx)
For the Park indication, you need to adjust the transmission shift cable at the park/neutral switch at the transmission, just slightly out of whack. That should fix it.
The PRNDL on my wife's 03 Impala works intermittently. So thanks for that easy fix! Also took me forever to figure out what was killing my battery on my 01 Astro Van. Seems if I leave the dome override switch on, it keeps the BCM alive for some reason. I'm just going to put a switch on the dome light, so I can turn it off, when I want.
great info, dude! I had this same problem on a chevy wiper motor c-board. when I saw this, I thought "why didn't I think of this"! this can save viewers hundreds of thousands of $.
Great info,when I got my truck cluster apart I could not see anything wrong when I put it back together it worked perfectly 3 weeks now no problems if it happens again will consider soldering
Before taking all of this apart and doing the soldering, try an EASY fix! Check the cigarette lighter on the right side. I just used a USB adapter with a light to see it didn't work. Picked up a 15A fuse at OReilly's and 10 minutes later, with the fuse replaced for the cigarette lighter, the gauge panel worked again!
Thanks for the video..helped me narrow down issues with loss of power to the cluster. Used the pin out diagram and touched up pins A12/B12 grounds and 12v pins B11/ B9. Zero'd up the gauges before putting it back and seems to be working now. 👍👍
Thank you for your video. It saved me much time and much money. All I needed was a soldering iron and some time. Anybody can do this fix due to your taking the time to make this video
Hahaha dude!! You're hilarious!! Sub'd Edit: that out of bounds footage....with that camera lens it was deceiving how far you actually traversed. But when you turned back to watch your friend (A.K.A. possible food source if shit goes south) catch up to you, that truly put both the distance traveled and the grade into proper perspective.
Thanks Brian! Very helpful. I'm a little nervous, this will be my first "learning solder" project. But like you said, "it can get worse, it's already not workin'. Thx again!! Great channel!
One tip for you brian as a certified solderer :) first use a solder sucker and remove ALL the old solder, never reuse old solder, it will never reflow good, wet all points good with a good brand solder flux and use a good brand soldering wire and resolder them, the lead type soldering wire is the shit, that new envirronmentaly friendly unleaded stuff sucks :) but hey you got the job done anyway :)
oil pressure switch is broken! location is on back side of intake and very difficult to replace. they usually run about $50-90 through gm. normal oil pressure is 30-40
I wish I would have watched this video before I followed the advice of the other video. I'm going to re-pull mine and see if this is the issue. 3rd time is the charm 🤞
I know it's not ok but my cluster would do this off and on. I hit the top of the dash and everything worked it would go a few months then do it again. every time I'd hit top of dash they all come to life. but now seeing what you did to fix it right I need to do your way. hate for to mess up and catch fire. 2003 I got new at dealer have 230,000 miles and she's been a dream to have. thanks for info
My instrument gauges stopped working again on my 2004 Silverado. They went out before but started working again while driving down the road. I read somewhere that it could be the ignition switch so when I turn the ignition on I wiggled the key some and all the dash gauges started working again. Will probably replace the ignition switch which is a $20-$35 parts but so far everything is still good.
I've got 99 Chevy Silverado every day my battery light comes on and all my gauges except oil pressure will jump all over the place. It started out doing that in short bursts and here lately it's doing it more times and for longer times. Hope u can give me some ideas on what to do. Thanks I've learned a lot from watching your videos
Oh and snow I wish I could send you some. I live in the catskills NY and we got more snow than I remember in the last 25 years. We have 3 feet right now and snow drifts over 26 feet. Plus it has been colder to - 21f with wind chill -41 f . It sucks being disabled can not enjoy the snow and it makes it a lot harder to get around .
Other than virtually every system on these trucks having issues, they’re good trucks. I know, I’ve got one that’s always been babied and it’s the only truck I’ve ever owned that has broke down just sitting in my carport.
My dad had an 03 Silverado except it burned up in 2013 the gauges seats everything on the inside melted send they had to split it in half and then scrapped it I was asking for the gauges but they melted
Brian, those Gm's are notorious for the little stepper motor for the guages to go bad. You can get them on Ebay for about $5 each and solder new ones on. Look up X27.168 on Ebay. Cheers.
man, i'm betting you've got a 30 watt soldering iron, (the solder melts so slow) get a 40 watt iron. your soldering tip is also black, not enough contact, i'm not down grading just helping.
I am doing this tomorrow, tried installing a new touchscreen deck in my 1999 silverado (I've done decks before) but today I believe there was a power surge and stopped my Odometer, gas gauge, and RPM from not working. Taking it apart tomorrow to see if something happened on the back side of the board, I hope like hell my new 300$ deck will turn on when I fix it, it wasn't turning on after the power surge from the battery cables on the deck's surge.
I can’t see very well but it looks like your soldering iron is black and burnt, it needs to be clean and “tinned” bright and shiny with clean solder. The solder will flow much better too!
My gauges just went out today. Before that though my start up chimes and sounds were pretty muffled and would cut in and out. Is that indicative of the same problem?
Hey buddy thank you I just fixed my cluster in my 03 Silverado with your help on how to do it it is fixed my cluster doll shows 195 on the miles more than what I thought but oh well thanks again
hey there, i just want to say i love your videos. That being said, your soldering could use some help =) So here comes yoiur help. Get some conformal coating remover. you just brush it on with a nylon bristle brush and let it set for a minute and then brush it off using alcohol. next put flux on the area you would like to solder, it helps protect the joint and most of all helps the solder lay flat and spread quickly and evenly. and not tinning the tip of your iron is really effin with my OCD ;P Great videos man you have really good info. So when i saw a chance to help you I jumped on it.
Hey Brian, thanks for this video. I own a 2003 GMC Sierra with the exact same problem. It started years ago with the speedometer intermittently moving up to 120 mph. I had the "instrument panel" replaced under warranty and everything worked for a few years. Now there is no PRND2L indicator and occasionally the instruments are inoperative until things heat up. It seems that for the price of this item they should build a better product. Thanks again for the info.
cool...i hope I can fix my friends cluster...the clear stuff is called .. con-formal coating its used to create an air tight and rust free environment...what probably happened is they used too much and it prevented the solder paste from melting correctly thats why you have that problem on the connectors...thanks!
What temperature is your iron? As for the dirty connector, you can spray it out with electronics cleaner and fill each pin hole with dielectric grease. Just a little more effective than working the plug in and out.
Could the solder be the problem with my fuel gauge being all jumpy or is it likely to be the sending unit on the fuel pump? 2001 Blazer 4x4 4.3L. The rest of my gauges work fine.
Use just a tiny amount of flux paste on each joint before you heat them up - it really helps. Thinner solder also helps if you cant get enough heat into the joint. I usually go with 0.8 mm.
all the gage arms come off easy they all recalibrate when the truck starts so you dont have to put them back in the exact place but i like to put them as close as possible but in order to fix the light bulbs you need to take it apart
You suggested to find out how much the instrument cluster cost to replace before beginning this project to make sure your are going in the right direction and to feel more confident. Then you mention that dealerships want to reprogram your VCM and make sure mileage is correct. If I replace the cluster myself, will the mileage automatically remain recorded with my engine when i plug the cluster back in after repair.? By looking at the mileage when you plugged this back in, it seems that it does.
Great video sir , my tac and my oil pressure gauge has went out on my 05 Chevy avalanche, I am going to show this video to my friend to c can he do this.
7:30 that's not a burned/damaged board. It's just dirt stuck to the conformal coat. If the joint was bad you would see a dark ring in the joint around the pin.
By the way the solder there probably was lead-free solder (ROhS compliant or something), which is mandatory to use in production in most countries now (pollution concerns), but it has very bad longevity issues, which is nice for planned obsolescence and bad for the users.
Thank you a bunch. I suppose its cluster month. I have an 04 silverado with many of the same problems and I have a 95 ford van with only 55k with a blown PSOM in the cluster.
![MISSING: SLIM SHADY [Expanded Mourner’s Edition Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xh8qgHrOO1g/mqdefault.jpg)
2:36 put me in laughter 😂
HeyThanks. I am a 65 year old gramma and with your instructions i was able to fix my 2003 Avalanches, instrument cluster problem that was going to cost $680. I'm not sure why you put it on you tube. but i love ya for it, kiddo!
What kind of solder are u using acid core and what size
@@triciabrightwell1019 You don't want to use acid core on anything electronic. You need a rosin core solder. Acid core is for soldering things like radiators. Rosin core is for soldering electronics.
@@triciabrightwell1019
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This comment right here makes me have faith in humanity thank you for being a woman that has a can-do attitude I tell girls all the time that just because they're female doesn't mean they can't fix things it all boils down to your attitude
I just pulled my panel and inspected the socket. Everything looked fine but I decided to re-solder anyway. Some fingernail polish remover - acetone - took care of the coating. I applied it, let it evaporate, and brushed with a nylon brush. The coating turned to a white powder and brushed away and did not interfere with the soldering iron. The intermittent problem is now solved. Thanks!
I can give you a few hints on soldering and removal of the film. I worked for 2 years at Model electronics where I fixed radios and speedos. 1 Get a thinner tip on the iron. 2 get thinner solder 3 buy some resin remover 4 NEVER USE A METAL BRUSH. 5 Keep up the great job!!!!!
Thank You Brian,
I have had this exact problem with my 2003 chevy, I went to the local chevy dealer, and they said 300.00 just to take a look at it, of course I passed on that, so for about 6 months I did nothing about it. I found and watched your video and was able to fix my cluster in about 10 minutes!!! Now I want to work in the local chevy service center, 300.00 bucks for ten minutes of work, I'm in lol,,,,,,, aganin thanks alot. Robb
If you use a magnifying glass sometimes you can find a conical fracture around some of the pins. This was the case on my 88 Honda Civic. You could only see it with a magnifying glass and it was quite clear on 2 of the pins. They were on a relay coil which heated up. The coil itself was fastened to the board so when the leads expanded, the only thing that could give was the solder. 5 minutes and it was fixed.... Years of headaches gone. 2 shops said they couldn't fix it because they couldn't repeat the problem. RUclips to the rescue! Thanks for the great video.
Good job with the explanations. I've done repairs like this for decades and what you showed was really the way it goes.
Brian. I posted on your other, related video, how I was having an issue with an instrument cluster that had malfunctioning gauges and glitchy speedometer. I lived with that for several months but this past weekend, on a -15 / -18 below zero morning, the cluster died completely. Your two videos are sheer brilliance. It took me half of President's Day, but I was able to replace all the stepper motors AND repair the connector pins. I WAS terrible with soldering and really was apprehensive about tackling this job, but even your tips on soldering helped a LOT. The first motor took me 20 minutes to de-solder and repair. The next, maybe 6 or 7 minutes. The subsequent ones.......less than five. Thank you VERY much. You saved me a lot of money and helped me learn a valuable skill. Take care and keep up the great work.
You need a flux pen. Trust me. Apply some flux from a flux pen and it will re-flow the solder as if it was brand new. The flux together with the heat from the solder iron also cleans your contact surfaces and gets the solder to stick properly.
1998 Chevrolet 1998 Chevrolet C1500 no instrument cluster lights
Great vids, I just changed 6 stepper motors on my '03 silverado, now I have to order 8 bulbs for the cluster A BIG THANKS for a great vid.
bill48m I hear you Bill, and you're welcome! Thanks for clicking that thumbs up!
Brian, I replaced my stepper motors in my 2003 GMC Envoy instrument panel and bought a solder sucker from radio shack and replaced the old solder with new it was the balls worked excellent!
You saved me a pile of money. Guy I bought the Tahoe from had put in servos and gave up. Sold it to me for half of true value. Spent an hour removing the cluster/ heating those pins and refreshing solder/ re-installing and BAM! Plus one and thanks for this valuable resource.
Easy to see why the dealer would just replace the part rather than spending time. But for those of us who pay for everything and do our own work, this is gold.
This has really brought to my attention the need for more tips and tip prep equipment- currently on order.
briansmobile1 You've got a Haiko electric iron but the one you were using looked to me like a gas iron. Is your Haiko working?
I’ve just bought a 2002 GMC 2500 HD, with the LB7 Duramax, this last week. It runs really well but the dash cluster is a wreck, it looks like a Christmas tree sometimes then resets itself randomly. I’ve checked codes and it only showed ABS related data. The water pump crapped out two days into checking it out. Lol
Your channel was a great help in figuring that out, anyways I’m back now with the dash cluster issues. Once again thank you so very much for putting out these videos man this is so cool and the information is most helpful your way of explaining things this is on works very well thank you sir
Hey just a heads up and a thank you. You inadvertently mentioned the resistors for the PRND123 readout next to one of the stepper motors. We had fixed the others and had no idea there were more. They had cold joints we fixed them and all is good. With your help we fixed 2 instrument clusters. Thank you
Great narration and use of proper terms. Seems like some times the more you get in it and mess with it, the more problems pop up. If I do this I think I would de-solder first then clean start over. Old and dirty solder like any other types of welds can be tricky as it gets re-worked and being so small and bad eyes don't help. I had lots of issues like this doing real fine exotic TIG welding on light gauge material that had to be 100%, even under x-ray.
Brian I think I found my problem with my Cluster. After almost ripping my hair out, I came across your video. I had a leak from one of my heater core connectors going to the top of the block on my 03 suburban. I thought it was a bad ground that was oily and wet from the leak. But after watching your video it seems like that would be my issue. I don't have soldering skills but seems to be an easy fix. THANK YOU
Thanks Brian! My cluster gauges were wagging, every one of them from min to max. I touched up the solder joints of the male connector on pcb that the wiring harness plugs into, cleaned with contact cleaner and put it back together. No more wagging!!!
Nice work!
have 250k + one with 330k miles on all my GMs these years. Except for minor issues original motor trans. This is a common problem plagues many.Also had one dash cause parasitic draw on battery causing it to go dead in two days. Nice video thanks for helping others keep their ole Chevy going.
Ps World record for miles on original car is the Volvo with 3million and a Chevy Silverado with 1.7 million. Motors not rebuilt nor transmission.
Brian, just want to tell you thanks!!! This worked on my '04 Suburban. Dash suddenly went dead, no lights, nothing. Followed your lead, and voila! Works perfectly again. Much appreciated!
Thanks Brian! Bro, you saved me $800. Dealer didn't even know what to do/wished to rip me off. Your a Tahoe-Saver buddy.
Thank you I would never thought of looking at that part particularly I'm learning all about Electronics all by myself thank you very helpful
Small advice: do not try to connect the cluster back in the car, without the back cover. High chance of touching something metallic (ground) and short a component. When reflowing solder connections, use flux and a small quantity of fresh solder. Clean afterwards with ethanol or isopropanol and an old toothbrush. While you are there, you might as well replace the bulbs with LEDs (you need much more experience with electronics, though).
Great video… 60-70% isopropyl alcohol is good for cleaning circuit boards. Also a little bit of flux on the pins before you try to re-flow the joint will make things a lot easier and produce a better joint.
Thank you so much! I just did this to my 2003 yukon. I just cleaned the back with acetone then brushed it and sprayed it with electrical cleaner fluid from walmart and it works beautifully! My PRNDL is still out but thats ok. My next step was to call the dealership and fork it up, but thanks to you its working again!!
Thanks. I pulled the instrument panel off. Then tapped on the very top of the cluster where the plug is and everything came back on.
I will do your trick later when it goes out again. for now its working fine again.
this fix works. I have a1999 silverado and now it works great
PRND321 has 7 resistor on other side of board. That's the common source of the dim or dead display. My vid shows were they are and you'll see how bright it gets back to once you reflow them. People think it's the pins because the heat warps the board enough to make contact again. They are surface mount 1206 resistors, lead free solder cracks on them
Hey can you leave a link for the video on your channel that you are referring to. I checked your channel but didn't find it. The whole gauge panel in my 2003 Silverado is down, well I do have prnd etc, and the odometer shows but that is it. Got NO $$$$ for a new one so I gotta do this myself.
Same problem. All Gauges stopped working. Fuses were all normal. I watched this video. It was so easy to fix. All it took was a little solider. That fixed it.
Pretty good video, as far as your went. However, the stepper motors are a well known problem on that vintage of truck, especially 04 05 tahoe Yukon Escalade Sierra Silverado.... You could take that case apart, put painters tape on the face of the cluster, mark where all your needles are, and then gently pull the needles off with a fork. Then, you can take the cluster apart. On the other side of the green PC board, there will be white circular stepper motors. The speedo one often goes bad, as mine did. The motors can be had for $10 apiece on Ebay. There are sellers on EBay, who, if you just pull out the cluster, and sent it to them, will replace ALL the stepper motors, and send you your cluster back, for around $200, which, for most people without soldering skills, is probably the right option. The truck CAN be driven without the cluster. Obviously, you will have no gauges, so use extreme caution, but it will start & run completely fine, and the mileage is kept in the ECM, so that's no problem either. The Dealer wanted over $1000 to do mine. To the commenter who was wondering about the oil sending unit, it could very well be a bad stepper motor also. The stepper motors on the back are ALL THE SAME, so if you really want to isolate your trouble, swap one for another, put it back together, and see if the trouble "moves" with the motor.... Or just replace them all.... That was a good video Brian, I am just saying, there was more to the story than you showed.....
Patrick Morrissey Thanks for the information
The cluster on my 2004 Silverado has been going in and out for several weeks now. Just recently, if I would hit the top of the dash over the cluster with my fist, it would come back on, but now even that is not working. I suspect I have the same problem you had. Thanks for the video.
Same issues here with 2004 Silverado 3500. Did this fix yours? So far smacking my dash is still working on mine with the exception of a couple times. Pretty sure it won't be much longer before it stops completely as well.
I sent my gauge cluster to Todd Haines of www.gmgaugerepair.com/. He usually repairs in the same day and sends back via FedEx. I'm very happy with his work and would highly recommend him. $110.00 which includes return shipping. Can't beat it. But to answer your question, I did pull the cluster and was going to try the repair in this video, but my connections looked fine.
@@gig777 Ok, thanks for responding and thanks for the link. I'll be sure to contact him when mine finally dies. I just can't see spending $400 on a new one that will eventually do the same thing.
@@nopenottanoway with a good rebuild the problem shouldn't come back to haunt you. But keep in mind a genuine dealership reman cluster might NOT have the issue corrected.
@@jeffescortlx yep, that's what I'm afraid of. That's why I'd much rather send it for repairs. A friend of mine mailed me the kit to fix it with but I think it's more than I can probably do.
I’ve watched 5 videos and everyone had a different issue.
Guess I’ll execute one at a time.
Great show my friend
The indicator in park is probably an issue with a weak shifter spring. It's a tiny spring. My spring is now broken completely. My console was going all haywire on me one day. I'm guessing I will be doing this one day. Great job and good video.
Thanks man I did everything in a half an hour. And my dash is on working like new I didn't have none of those problems you had .Thanks again
what did u do bro?? did u just clean it out?
Clicked for the instrument cluster, subscribed for the skiing.
Thx again Brian. Once again you've helped me tackle another one-off the list. Old faithful is back to normal and glowing PRND123. Nice to see the mileage again too (194,xxx)
For the Park indication, you need to adjust the transmission shift cable at the park/neutral switch at the transmission, just slightly out of whack. That should fix it.
Thanks for the video. Been living without gauges, most notably the gas gauge for a years. Fixed and ready to go!
Nice work!
I also love whenever you said oh there's our prndl it just had to warm up
Thank you. I pulled her out and gave her hell on the solder. Fixed it all up
The PRNDL on my wife's 03 Impala works intermittently. So thanks for that easy fix! Also took me forever to figure out what was killing my battery on my 01 Astro Van. Seems if I leave the dome override switch on, it keeps the BCM alive for some reason.
I'm just going to put a switch on the dome light, so I can turn it off, when I want.
Was able to watch your video to fix a gear shift indicator light. Thanks a million.
great info, dude! I had this same problem on a chevy wiper motor c-board. when I saw this, I thought "why didn't I think of this"! this can save viewers hundreds of thousands of $.
Great info,when I got my truck cluster apart I could not see anything wrong when I put it back together it worked perfectly 3 weeks now no problems if it happens again will consider soldering
Before taking all of this apart and doing the soldering, try an EASY fix! Check the cigarette lighter on the right side. I just used a USB adapter with a light to see it didn't work. Picked up a 15A fuse at OReilly's and 10 minutes later, with the fuse replaced for the cigarette lighter, the gauge panel worked again!
Brian! Your vids helped me swap my clutch on my subaru! Love seeing your channel have a vid topic.
Thanks for the video..helped me narrow down issues with loss of power to the cluster. Used the pin out diagram and touched up pins A12/B12 grounds and 12v pins B11/ B9. Zero'd up the gauges before putting it back and seems to be working now. 👍👍
Thank you for your video. It saved me much time and much money. All I needed was a soldering iron and some time. Anybody can do this fix due to your taking the time to make this video
What a great fix for us DIY-er's! Thanks for your help!
Hahaha dude!! You're hilarious!! Sub'd
Edit: that out of bounds footage....with that camera lens it was deceiving how far you actually traversed. But when you turned back to watch your friend (A.K.A. possible food source if shit goes south) catch up to you, that truly put both the distance traveled and the grade into proper perspective.
problem fixed because of your video.. had a few issues untill i pulled up this vid... thank you so much...
Thanks Brian! Very helpful. I'm a little nervous, this will be my first "learning solder" project. But like you said, "it can get worse, it's already not workin'. Thx again!! Great channel!
I died laughing at the "130mph in my garage... AAAHHH!" thing. How high were you? Lol
VERY! I'm always high on life!
One tip for you brian as a certified solderer :) first use a solder sucker and remove ALL the old solder, never reuse old solder, it will never reflow good, wet all points good with a good brand solder flux and use a good brand soldering wire and resolder them, the lead type soldering wire is the shit, that new envirronmentaly friendly unleaded stuff sucks :) but hey you got the job done anyway :)
I spent about $80 on new tips, a sucker, copper tip cleaner, tinning block, flux pen etc. I learn a lot from you guys and I listen!
oil pressure switch is broken! location is on back side of intake and very difficult to replace. they usually run about $50-90 through gm. normal oil pressure is 30-40
There is defiantly something wrong with the oil pressure gauge/sender.
Thanks to your video I was able to get my instrument panel working again, thank you
I wish I would have watched this video before I followed the advice of the other video. I'm going to re-pull mine and see if this is the issue. 3rd time is the charm 🤞
I took my cluster out & FEDX ed it to Circuit Board Medics, as I don't do soldering anymore. Glad this guy can do his own dash.
I know it's not ok but my cluster would do this off and on. I hit the top of the dash and everything worked it would go a few months then do it again. every time I'd hit top of dash they all come to life. but now seeing what you did to fix it right I need to do your way. hate for to mess up and catch fire. 2003 I got new at dealer have 230,000 miles and she's been a dream to have. thanks for info
My instrument gauges stopped working again on my 2004 Silverado. They went out before but started working again while driving down the road. I read somewhere that it could be the ignition switch so when I turn the ignition on I wiggled the key some and all the dash gauges started working again. Will probably replace the ignition switch which is a $20-$35 parts but so far everything is still good.
you da man! you made my little project a bit more pleasurable .. thanks man! your funny as hell...
Make sure your gauge cluster is plugged in all of the way. Mine ended up not being clipped in fully, plugged it back in, and now it works
I've got 99 Chevy Silverado every day my battery light comes on and all my gauges except oil pressure will jump all over the place. It started out doing that in short bursts and here lately it's doing it more times and for longer times. Hope u can give me some ideas on what to do.
Thanks
I've learned a lot from watching your videos
Oh and snow I wish I could send you some. I live in the catskills NY and we got more snow than I remember in the last 25 years. We have 3 feet right now and snow drifts over 26 feet. Plus it has been colder to - 21f with wind chill -41 f . It sucks being disabled can not enjoy the snow and it makes it a lot harder to get around .
Other than virtually every system on these trucks having issues, they’re good trucks. I know, I’ve got one that’s always been babied and it’s the only truck I’ve ever owned that has broke down just sitting in my carport.
Lmao
My dad had an 03 Silverado except it burned up in 2013 the gauges seats everything on the inside melted send they had to split it in half and then scrapped it I was asking for the gauges but they melted
Brian, those Gm's are notorious for the little stepper motor for the guages to go bad. You can get them on Ebay for about $5 each and solder new ones on. Look up X27.168 on Ebay. Cheers.
man, i'm betting you've got a 30 watt soldering iron, (the solder melts so slow) get a 40 watt iron. your soldering tip is also black, not enough contact, i'm not down grading just helping.
Think the old oil pressure gauge is a bit optimistic lol
I am doing this tomorrow, tried installing a new touchscreen deck in my 1999 silverado (I've done decks before) but today I believe there was a power surge and stopped my Odometer, gas gauge, and RPM from not working. Taking it apart tomorrow to see if something happened on the back side of the board, I hope like hell my new 300$ deck will turn on when I fix it, it wasn't turning on after the power surge from the battery cables on the deck's surge.
I can’t see very well but it looks like your soldering iron is black and burnt, it needs to be clean and “tinned” bright and shiny with clean solder. The solder will flow much better too!
I'm convinced everyone has that matco pick
Fantastic Video, especially the skiing at the end!
Very informative, ....but....your oil pressure probably shouldn't be pegged
great bass line. Perseverance wins the day.
My gauges just went out today. Before that though my start up chimes and sounds were pretty muffled and would cut in and out. Is that indicative of the same problem?
Makes a big difference to clean while soldering, clean the iron periodically with a wet towel.
Hey buddy thank you I just fixed my cluster in my 03 Silverado with your help on how to do it it is fixed my cluster doll shows 195 on the miles more than what I thought but oh well thanks again
hey there, i just want to say i love your videos. That being said, your soldering could use some help =) So here comes yoiur help. Get some conformal coating remover. you just brush it on with a nylon bristle brush and let it set for a minute and then brush it off using alcohol. next put flux on the area you would like to solder, it helps protect the joint and most of all helps the solder lay flat and spread quickly and evenly. and not tinning the tip of your iron is really effin with my OCD ;P Great videos man you have really good info. So when i saw a chance to help you I jumped on it.
Hey Brian, thanks for this video. I own a 2003 GMC Sierra with the exact same problem. It started years ago with the speedometer intermittently moving up to 120 mph. I had the "instrument panel" replaced under warranty and everything worked for a few years. Now there is no PRND2L indicator and occasionally the instruments are inoperative until things heat up. It seems that for the price of this item they should build a better product. Thanks again for the info.
cool...i hope I can fix my friends cluster...the clear stuff is called .. con-formal coating its used to create an air tight and rust free environment...what probably happened is they used too much and it prevented the solder paste from melting correctly thats why you have that problem on the connectors...thanks!
What temperature is your iron? As for the dirty connector, you can spray it out with electronics cleaner and fill each pin hole with dielectric grease. Just a little more effective than working the plug in and out.
Could the solder be the problem with my fuel gauge being all jumpy or is it likely to be the sending unit on the fuel pump? 2001 Blazer 4x4 4.3L. The rest of my gauges work fine.
anything is possible, crack that bad boy open and have a look =)
Use just a tiny amount of flux paste on each joint before you heat them up - it really helps. Thinner solder also helps if you cant get enough heat into the joint. I usually go with 0.8 mm.
Oh, and go over the entire board with either a magnifying glass or a microscope.
all the gage arms come off easy they all recalibrate when the truck starts so you dont have to put them back in the exact place but i like to put them as close as possible but in order to fix the light bulbs you need to take it apart
Thank you bro. we got it to work thanks to you. exactly like you said.
You suggested to find out how much the instrument cluster cost to replace before beginning this project to make sure your are going in the right direction and to feel more confident. Then you mention that dealerships want to reprogram your VCM and make sure mileage is correct. If I replace the cluster myself, will the mileage automatically remain recorded with my engine when i plug the cluster back in after repair.? By looking at the mileage when you plugged this back in, it seems that it does.
PRINDL? London Tipton taught us well
Great video sir , my tac and my oil pressure gauge has went out on my 05 Chevy avalanche, I am going to show this video to my friend to c can he do this.
7:30 that's not a burned/damaged board. It's just dirt stuck to the conformal coat. If the joint was bad you would see a dark ring in the joint around the pin.
This worked for me and saved me some money thanks for the help
hey brian, great vid. i was surprised that u didn't pull the fuse out for the airbag. u got guts lol.
This whole time I was picturing you a waaaay different person.lol Loved the VID!!! Thank you
Haha both my trucks are manual which I have always driven, you had me with the prndl for a few minutes
Thanks man. I’m gonna check them joints now
By the way the solder there probably was lead-free solder (ROhS compliant or something), which is mandatory to use in production in most countries now (pollution concerns), but it has very bad longevity issues, which is nice for planned obsolescence and bad for the users.
Thank you a bunch. I suppose its cluster month. I have an 04 silverado with many of the same problems and I have a 95 ford van with only 55k with a blown PSOM in the cluster.
The dim PRNDL is a result of fractured solder joints at the PRNDL display resistors on the front of the board.
& years later appreciate it.