Rocket Man's 2008 Bagged CC Silverado Build AKA "THE MACHINE"

[Rocket Man]

^Stories like this^
Make me never want to unplug anything, EVER. It is my luck a simple repair turns into a week long event. Probably because I don’t have a spare vehicle.

Well @George B you really shouldn’t worry. Unless you’ve done a bunch of stuff to your factory wiring like this truck has had done.

I had gone out to work on it yesterday and was reminded I set the factory alarm by hitting the lock button and closing the driver door. I didn’t do it on purpose. So anyway as soon as I unlocked the door and opened it up the horn starts going off. And since the ignition switch wasn’t working right I had no way to turn it off since you have to turn the ignition on to disable the alarm. And that battery…so hard to get to especially when the horn is going off in my face. I was pretty pissed off and bleeding by the time I got it disconnected. That was it for me for the day.

Then of course at about 1:00 in the morning last night I’m laying awake in bed, couldn’t quit thinking about it. As I was going over everything in my head that I had done while replacing that dash, I went over the things I knew were showing symptoms. Number one, the BCM was throwing no codes except no communication with the radio. That was always like that, it’s aftermarket. There was no communication with the cluster though but no DTC. I had also found a blown fuse for the cluster lighting. The ignition switch was turning on the hvac controls so it was at least partially working. I was thinking- is it possible to plug the cluster in backwards? It has an Escalade cluster with a custom harness that I made but I seemed to remember it used to have a latching thing where it plugs in but it didn’t have that this time. Hmmm.

So this morning I pulled the cluster and checked. Yep, it can be plugged in either direction. There’s no tabs. I don’t know why that is, I don’t remember it being like that. So I left it out, hooked up the positive battery post and I heard the sweet sound of chimes. Ahhhhhh. Then the alarm goes off and there’s that horn in my ear. ARRRRGGGHHHH. But this time I turned the ignition on, the alarm turns off, stereo and every turns on. AHA! I started the truck and hit the breaker for the compressors and they came on. It’s back! I just have a few things to put back together including figuring out which direction that cluster plug goes and then mark it so this never happens again. Ahhh the world of custom sh*t. At least it was an easy “fix” if I can even call it that.

 

[George B]

Glad you figured it our Mark. My comment was just to highlight my crappy luck.

 

[Rocket Man]

Well I forgot to see if the cluster works. Nope. I have something to figure out still.

 

[Rocket Man]

I have battery, ignition and ground to the cluster but it’s blank. I ordered another from LKQ online for $113, not too bad. I’ll deal with the mileage programming later if it works when I plug it in. Hopefully that’s all it is. It could have been worse.

 

[iamdub]

This thread is such an emotional roller coaster!

You might have to change the name from "The Machine" to "The Period". After all, it is kinda blood-colored.
















... You're welcome.

 

[Rocket Man]

This thread is such an emotional roller coaster!

You might have to change the name from "The Machine" to "The Period". After all, it is kinda blood-colored.
















... You're welcome.

Oh yeah thanks…

 

[George B]

 

[Rocket Man]

Upon closer inspection of the back side of the PCB where the

connector is I’m pretty sure those are burned traces. The batt+, ground and ACC + got connected kitty corner from where they’re supposed to be.

 

[iamdub]

Anyway, I ordered a 23224747 last night for $450.46 total including shipping. As I expected, they emailed me this morning to tell me it was backordered and they were cancelling the order and refunding me. I have one more trick up my sleeve to avoid paying $600+ for a dash, but it'll have to wait until next week.

The "trick up my sleeve" came through. Ordered the dash this afternoon for $483.60. It's coming from Michigan, so it'll be about a week.

 

[iamdub]

Upon closer inspection of the back side of the PCB where the View attachment 350149connector is I’m pretty sure those are burned traces. The batt+, ground and ACC + got connected kitty corner from where they’re supposed to be.

That looks like flux paste to me. Regardless, reversed polarity and/or supply power on data circuits doesn't do electronics any good.

 

[George B]

Upon closer inspection of the back side of the PCB where the View attachment 350149connector is I’m pretty sure those are burned traces. The batt+, ground and ACC + got connected kitty corner from where they’re supposed to be.

Bummer. Fixable?

 

[Rocket Man]

That looks like flux paste to me. Regardless, reversed polarity and/or supply power on data circuits doesn't do electronics any good.

Nah it’s not flux paste. I used to be an electronics tech, repairing Chrysler Electronics at component level on clusters, stereos, etc just like this board. They’re coated in clear after they’re originally assembled, after cleaning any remnants of manufacturing like flux paste. If they’re ever reworked, that clear is removed in the repaired area but it’s obvious. In that case, if the repair facility is sloppy and doesn’t clean the board there may be paste residue. Not the case here. If you look close at this you can see the traces as tiny lines and the ones in the area of that connector are a dark brown, burnt color. They don’t appear to be on either side of the board so they must be in the center. But anyway… yeah voltage applied to the wrong pins most likely burned SOMETHING for sure. I’m hoping all the BCM outputs still work but from what I can see with the Tech2 it’s good. I do have a new one sitting on my bench in case. If I don’t need it I’ll return it to Amazon warehouse. That might be awhile, LKQ is slow af to ship things so who knows when that cluster will come. Lol, I don’t remember how much fuel was in the truck…

 

[Rocket Man]

Bummer. Fixable?

I doubt it. I would need the schematic to even try. I ordered another cluster for $115 but I’ll still need to send it out to have the mileage programmed.

 

[Fless]

Lol, I don’t remember how much fuel was in the truck…

The Tech 2 might tell you; it does on my '04.

 

[Rocket Man]

The Tech 2 might tell you; it does on my '04.

I think you’re right, thanks!

 

[Rocket Man]

First off, the tech2 will only tell you the fuel level if your cluster is working, the menu for that is under instrument cluster and if you have no communication with it, no fuel level.

But I wasn't driving it anyway. So today I got the new used cluster. I plugged it in, nothing. damn. I started thinking maybe the BCM was damaged after all. I have a new one here ready. But I decided to see if it was a ground issue. I had checked battery and accessory power but not ground. so i rigged up a jumper and stripped a bit of the insulation from the ground wire at the cluster band connected it. Still nothing. Then I was checking the power at the connector at the back of the cluster and suddenly the acc power went away. I looked closer and the wire going to that pin was only held on by the plastic insulation. I tugged it and it came right off. AHA! It must have been making contact when I pushed the test light in and when I wasn’t pushing in it, nothing.

The new cluster had come with the original style connector and I really wanted that type of connector anyway so I replaced the one that could go on backwards with the correct, keyed one that locks in place. That took awhile but I got it done and checked to see if the cluster worked now. success! then I checked the original cluster that has the correct mileage. Success! I was winning but I kept thinking something is gonna go wrong, remember @iamdub nicknamed the truck 'the period" because it's an emotional rollercoaster. But it was going soooo good. I swapped out the bezel because my original was pretty messed up and the clear part of the lens had a crack that always bothered me. I went to put it in and found out I needed to trim part of that bezel for it to fit. Done. then I went to screw it into place and it wasn't going back in the hole far enough. It was the new connector- it sticks way out. But it looked like plastic that I can just trim out of the way so out comes the Dremel again. Cut the plastic out and...it's metal behind that. I tried it again but it's still not fitting. So now I have the decision to make- try to cut or smash that metal back or replace the plug with the ****** one. I had to quit, the roller coaster caught up with me.

 

[iamdub]

First off, the tech2 will only tell you the fuel level if your cluster is working, the menu for that is under instrument cluster and if you have no communication with it, no fuel level.

But I wasn't driving it anyway. So today I got the new used cluster. I plugged it in, nothing. damn. I started thinking maybe the BCM was damaged after all. I have a new one here ready. But I decided to see if it was a ground issue. I had checked battery and accessory power but not ground. so i rigged up a jumper and stripped a bit of the insulation from the ground wire at the cluster band connected it. Still nothing. Then I was checking the power at the connector at the back of the cluster and suddenly the acc power went away. I looked closer and the wire going to that pin was only held on by the plastic insulation. I tugged it and it came right off. AHA! It must have been making contact when I pushed the test light in and when I wasn’t pushing in it, nothing.

The new cluster had come with the original style connector and I really wanted that type of connector anyway so I replaced the one that could go on backwards with the correct, keyed one that locks in place. That took awhile but I got it done and checked to see if the cluster worked now. success! then I checked the original cluster that has the correct mileage. Success! I was winning but I kept thinking something is gonna go wrong, remember @iamdub nicknamed the truck 'the period" because it's an emotional rollercoaster. But it was going soooo good. I swapped out the bezel because my original was pretty messed up and the clear part of the lens had a crack that always bothered me. I went to put it in and found out I needed to trim part of that bezel for it to fit. Done. then I went to screw it into place and it wasn't going back in the hole far enough. It was the new connector- it sticks way out. But it looked like plastic that I can just trim out of the way so out comes the Dremel again. Cut the plastic out and...it's metal behind that. I tried it again but it's still not fitting. So now I have the decision to make- try to cut or smash that metal back or replace the plug with the ****** one. I had to quit, the roller coaster caught up with me.

It's just not your time of the month, bro.


Oh, and I vote to trim the metal. With your luck, you'd eff up the connector or pins or SOMETHING much more tedious and expensive to fix than notching out some metal. Or, is it that round metal tube that it's hitting?

 

[Rocket Man]

It's just not your time of the month, bro.


Oh, and I vote to trim the metal. With your luck, you'd eff up the connector or pins or SOMETHING much more tedious and expensive to fix than notching out some metal. Or, is it that round metal tube that it's hitting?

Yep it's that round thick walled stuff. But I have an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. It's too much for the Dremel. I'll look tomorrow, I also have an air powered die grinder that might work. But yeah, reworking that connector again...I don't even know if I have any more pins for it. If there's something in the way, I've always found a way to remove it. I just got frustrated.

 

[iamdub]

Yep it's that round thick walled stuff. But I have an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. It's too much for the Dremel. I'll look tomorrow, I also have an air powered die grinder that might work. But yeah, reworking that connector again...I don't even know if I have any more pins for it. If there's something in the way, I've always found a way to remove it. I just got frustrated.

You're retired- you'll get it tomorrow. Or the next. There's many times I wished I could've just stepped back from a project gone sideways and approached it later with a calmer mindset. I'm often in a time crunch. This usually just fuels that snowball.

 

[Rocket Man]

Exactly. I always have to make myself step back even when I have time. Otherwise I’ll just keep plowing ahead even if I need to redirect myself down another path. Which usually ends with me getting pissed off and failing or doing something I’m not happy with later and I always end up redoing it anyway.


So I was thinking and due to the tight area at the back of that dash hole I think I’ll drill holes all around the perimeter, making each one join with the one next to it and remove the rectangle that way, and then use my die grinder to clean up the edges. I have done that with aluminum a lot at work, cutting door hinges into storefront frames in the field. Those had to be perfect, and it was nice flat soft aluminum, but I’m sure I can do an acceptable job on this slightly rounded steel.