In my mother's 2013 Chevy Malibu LS, the Instrument Cluster Panel (ICP) is not working. It is not coming on, can't see how fast she is going, how much gas is in the car, etc. At first, this was an intermittent problem. Sometimes the ICP would not come on when starting the car, sometimes it would - but go out while driving. Sometimes it would reset while driving. Now it just does not come on at all. I searched high and low on-line for the cause and fix. Cannot find a fix, but found many others having this same problem. Could you please help, scared to take it to dealer for reasons of high potential cost. Since I have seen it work, just afraid she will be told it is the ICP itself, even though from time to time it does work. I just don't want her to get caught up in potential fixes, that ultimately doesn't fix the problem, thus causing her to hemorrhage monies that she can't afford. Her son, my brother, a retired Army veteran, Bronze Star recipient, is dismayed by this, of course believing his mother should not have to go through things like this in our commercial society - a society he has risked his life to help protect. Please help.

NOTE: I checked the 5 AMP fuse, even swapped with another, no luck. Last time it was working, I could hear the stepper motors tick as the needles moved up, then back, during ICP start up. Also, noticed - when working, as I open the door to get in, a half-inch thick blue line appears at the bottom where the digital speed displays. Simply, when I open car door to get in, if this blue line appears, everything works after starting car. If it doesn't appear, nothing but engine trouble light (engine icon) shows for a second as the ICP is starting up.

 

Just giving everyone an update. The only thing I have done thus far is clean the battery cables and used dielectric lubricant when reconnecting the cables to the battery. I also used the dielectric lubricant on the fuses involved, the one for displays and the other for the ICP itself. The ICP still did not come on just after applying. But, a few weeks later, the ICP came back to life, for a few weeks. I had noticed the temperatures at night were warmer than in recent weeks when it started working again. Also, the night before it stopped working again, it was cooler at night. The morning of 7/16/2020, I went out to see if it was working again, since it was very warm last night. Believe it, or not, it is working again. I'm just not sure how warm and cold temperatures, or humidity, play a role in all this. I would appreciate some feedback from those that have knowledge of electrical circuits, where the power comes from a battery, and how colder weather would make the circuit not work.

 

This morning, 7/22/2020, The Instrument Cluster Panel (ICP) is working again. It has been very warm lately, but last night it rained. I'm very confused on how weather would make the ICP work, or not work. The last time it did work, I was driving it to a friend's house on July 4th. On the way there, everything worked fine. On the way home, it worked, but it did recycle itself 3 times just seconds apart from one another. Since metal expands when hot and contracts when cold, I would have expected it to work more on warmer days.

 

I just went out to my corner store, 7/22/2020 7:30 AM, and the Instrument Cluster Panel (ICP) is not working again. Just thought I would post, since I posted that on 7/22/2020 3:00 AM the ICP was working. The one at 3:00 AM, I just opened the driver side door to see if the digital speedometer lit up, as every time it does when opening the door, it stays working after starting the car. The weather conditions at 7:30 AM, were that it was just starting to rain again and was 71 degrees. The temperature was about the same at 3:00 AM (not raining, but did recently rain as the ground was wet).

I hope that tomorrow 7/23/2020, if it is not raining, as I do not have a garage, to locate the BCM (passenger side under dash, I believe) and use dielectric lubricant on the connections.

 

It also makes sense that since the ICP resets itself sometimes while driving, that small vibrations that occur while driving is causing/resolving problems with the BCM connections. I have also seen the ICP reset itself while using the button to unlock all doors as well as using the turn signal, but not always (actually rarely) on either.

 

It sounds like you do have an intermittent electrical issue, but there are a lot of possibilities. For your cluster to go dark like you describe, you must be losing either power, ground, or communications at times, or an internal cluster problem as well. I'm not sure I would recommend messing with the BCM connections without a reason, as it is not difficult to cause other issues by bending pins or spreading terminals.

Since you are concerned about fixing it correctly, without unneeded repairs, the only way to be sure is to go right to the electrical connection at the cluster, and test the circuits to see what you are missing. Otherwise you are just guessing. DTC Assist, as shown in my signature can help you with this, and lay out a plan of what to test and how to track down the issue. It's a much more affordable option than taking it to the dealer or trying parts. You can PM me if you have any questions.

 

My research to this point has pointed out that "fretting corrosion" has been a big problem with these vehicles. Advice given was to do the following with the connectors connecting to the BCM.

1. Clean connectors with cleaner, I'll be using CRC 5103 Quick Dry Electronic Cleaner.
2. Burnish by unplugging and plugging back in a number of times, maybe 5 to 10 times.
3. Dielectric grease to help prevent moisture from causing further corrosion.

I will be as careful as possible, plugging and unplugging. I will be trying all this tomorrow 7/23/2020 as I do not have a garage and it is raining, supposed to stop by 7:00 AM on the 23rd. I will post results when I have them. This actually may be the last thing I try on this issue, so I will keep DTC Assist in mind, if I cannot resolve myself.

 

Problem has been SOLVED. It was a fractured resistor at location R203 on the circuit board that makes up the Instrument Cluster Panel (ICP). This problem seems to be common on 2013 to 2016 Chevy Malibu Limited(s). I found the following link (YouTube video - ) when searching on-line and sent the ICP to him to fix.

He did so, sent it back, and I installed back into the car and everything now works. He charges $100.00 + return shipping to fix. My cost was $25.00 to ship to him via UPS and he charged just under $112.00 which included return shipping via USPS. So my total cost was under $137.00 (appears that it would have been less if I used USPS to ship to him), which is a lot better than paying over $800.00 to have the dealership replace with a new one. So, it is well worth your time to watch the video and you can get an email address from it to contact him.

I also used what I learned in another link (YouTube video - ), to learn how to remove the ICP. It is pretty simple to do, but be advised, that in the video, he already has the parts he is removing already partially removed. I learned, while actually removing, that I needed to pry, with a tool made for the removing trim and molding, the lower piece on the right side of the steering wheel. The only other obstacle I encountered was the hump that covers the top of the ICP. I was able to use my hands to pry away from the ICP. All of the molding is inserted with clips that go into slots, so you will have to pull, towards yourself, these pieces to get the clips to release from their slots. The last bit of advice I have, is to disconnect the battery before removing the ICP, this is just a precautionary step.

There are other places that do this kind of repair. But I can attest, to the guy in the first YouTube video, that he can fix this problem and at a reasonable cost. He told me, his turnaround time, after he gets the ICP, is 4 days or less (not including shipping time). I hope this helps others, and I do believe that Chevrolet should perform a recall on this, as it appears they use a different, weaker, type of solder that eventually malfunctions.

 

However, there's rebuilder in GA that repairs them for $99, so this is what I went with. Myairbags.com call them first see if they can do it.

 

My DIC isn't working properly and when you hit the menu button it just goes back to the speedometer reading. What can I look at?