speedometer acting up

[Yuk_Nali_6.0]

Speedo works fine 90% of the time but every now and then it goes crazy. The other night I was on the interstate and look down at the speedo its stuck at 6 mph. Stays like that the whole trip - bout 60 miles. When we leave from friends house a few hrs later speedo is working fine. It's done this twice before. Any suggestions?

 

[NJ04HOE]

Sounds like the stepper motor is going....from what I've heard it's not expensive to buy the new motors but they have to be soldered.

Check out this link it pretty much covers everything..http://z71tahoe-suburban.com/iboard/index.php?showtopic=19909&st=0

 

[blueflamed03]

yep, stepper motor, recall good to 70K for free.

 

[ecordell]

Well hot damn, can't beat that. Roll into the stealership and say "Yo yo yo bishes, someone needs to be fixin my shit!"

 

[Yuk_Nali_6.0]

Too bad I have 110k.

 

[firehill]

Yeap, just had this done on wife's 03 Suburban. Weird thing is speedo worked fine, it was the other gauges that were screwing up. 100,000+ miles so $400 bucks later, its fixed.

 

[Eagle]

ouch...

7 motors cost me $31 shipped.
desoldering iron cost $11 at radio shack
new pencil iron was $6?

Total cost under $50, and it took about 35-45 minutes to do.

 

[ecordell]

^ extensive knowledge on these trucks..............PRICELESS!

Eagle, you should start offering your services for a fee, hell you could charge $200 and they ship both ways and it's still be cheaper for everyone....

 

[firehill]

ouch...

7 motors cost me $31 shipped.
desoldering iron cost $11 at radio shack
new pencil iron was $6?

Total cost under $50, and it took about 35-45 minutes to do.

Damn, OUCH!!!!!

The only thing similar is the amount of time. My mechanic charged 45 minutes labor ($65.25). On the parts, it says "Replacement Instrument Cluster" @ $308.95 so i figure with 100% markup it was really $150 bucks.

 

[Eagle]

yah, the dealer swaps entire clusters, then reprograms the new cluster with the odo info. (thus the 1.5 hours = swap + programming)

Seriously though, I'm a complete Noob at these trucks... if I can do it, most anyone can.

 

[firehill]

I just edited my previous post on the mechanics time. I mean't to put 45 minutes instead of 90. Although i payed, i know your great info will help others in saving some money.

 

[Eagle]

sorry I didnt post anything sooner, I figured ti was common knowledge.

 

[gmcjohn]

This happened to mine last winter. Drove around with the gps as a speedometer until a couple months ago. lol but like you said sometimes Id turn it off and it would be fine on restart. One day falls down a well and goes crosseyed, a few months later gets kicked by a mule and the eyes go straight again.. I dunno

 

[ilmk123]

I had a buddy replace all seven of mine. He works with
electronics. It took him all of 20 mins. It was really easy and if you can solder then you can do this.......Scott

 

[WrenchGuy]

I have to do the stepper motor routine myself.

I'd like to LED the gauges too. Post 03 is just soldering new bulbs in right? I wanna do the whole thing while its out.

 

[toddis32]

If anyone here needs their gauges fixed it is best to replace all the motors behind every gauge. The stock clusters have plastic gears in them and it is only a matter of time before they all fail. The new motors have brass gears in them and WONT fail. If anyone needs some help with the steppers motors or backlighting hit me back. You also need to know where to set the pointers(needles).

 

[toddis32]

Send your cluster to us at www.gmgaugerepair.com We now have a few upgrades including White Gauge Faces(SS)style, we also have the white face gauges with a deer printed on them,camo pointer needles and mossy oak lens covers. check it out!
And of course we do instrument cluster rebuilds if your speedo or gauges are wacked out! ALL GM models from years 2003-2006.