I've got a 2005 Silverado with the bad instrument cluster where the speedometer won't work until it's nice and toasty outside. I've been using the speedometer on my GPS to figure my speed. The oil pressure gauge also has a mind of its own. The fuel gauge seems close, but has never really been spot-on.

I thought the odometer was OK because it moved even when the speedometer didn't, but the last tank of gas my mileage was down from 20 to 17.5. I filled it up and drove about 90 miles and was below 3/4 on the gauge so I filled it up and now I'm down to 16.5mpg. The truck seems to run OK.

So my question is - does anyone know how the digital trip odometer works? Is it tied in to someplace underneath, or is it tied into the speedometer at the dash? If it's at the dash then I could be OK because of all the miles I drove where the speedometer was reading 0. But if it's wired to some sensor on the axle then I might have some other problem going on.

thanks
Joe

 

Welcome to the forum...
I believe all of that information comes from the Body Control Module that collects it from various sensors... no direct link to the Instrument Panel...
You might want to pull the IP out and check/re-seat the connections to it...Also do a search in the forum for instrument panel repairs... there are several good how-to's

 

Thanks, I was really hoping someone would say it was related to the bad instrument cluster so I didn't have to try and track down a bigger problem. So many little/big things have gone wrong with this truck since I bought it last year that I don't even trust it anymore.

I have checked out the instrument cluster repair options since the problem with the speedometer started last summer. Unfortunately I can't solder very well, I don't do ebay, and I live in a remote area by myself with no other vehicle - 5 miles outside a little speed trap of a city, so mailing it for repairs isn't an option. The dealer wants close to $700 because I'm over whatever mileage chevy set for their recall. So now I'm waiting on someone up in Tucson to total their silverado so I can get their IC at the pick-n-pull for $50 and mail it off to get the stepper motors fixed.

 

Sounds like a plan... However you can drive/use you vehicle without the instrument panel installed, if you choose to send in your current instrument panel.

 

Yes, I could keep using the gps speedometer while I mailed off the IC, but I don't trust the rest of the truck right now either so I'm paranoid I would miss a check engine light, or not have the pleasure of seeing the temp gauge climb to max before blowing something up, or watching the oil pressure gauge drop to zero...