Speedometer Problem

[Betsy]

I own a 2005 Chevy Cavalier and the speedometer is not working. This happened during the summer a couple of times. Now that it is winter, it is not working at all. I have tried to look in the manuel for some results but no luck. The gauge does not given register on the meter and also the RPM gauge is not working properly. So, I would like to know what the problem is and how can I go about fixing it. And also, how much would it cost for me to get it fixed. I have only owned the car for about 2 years. Thank you for your help!

[M Ggggg]

There must be a cold fault in a circuit board somewhere. I am having similar problems with my gauges, altho speedo OK. A couple of recent hiccups when starting lead me to think it's time for a new battery. Any comments would be appreciated.

[Nancy]

I was told that if the speedometer or any other gauge is not working, that the entire cluster has to be rebuilt. This cost about $500. I wonder if the speedometer is temperature sensitive. I never had a problem until we had a really cold night in Florida and then when it warmed up the gauge was working properly. I'll wait to see if it happens again before spending money to repair it.

[jason steele]

Betsy wrote:

I own a 2005 Chevy Cavalier and the speedometer is not working. This happened during the summer a couple of times. Now that it is winter, it is not working at all. I have tried to look in the manuel for some results but no luck. The gauge does not given register on the meter and also the RPM gauge is not working properly. So, I would like to know what the problem is and how can I go about fixing it. And also, how much would it cost for me to get it fixed. I have only owned the car for about 2 years. Thank you for your help!

mine is an '03 and my hole gauge bloo out when i put in a voltage stablizer and forgot to disconect the battery.. it cost $300 to replace it. part only. what is in there is a curcuit board. you might have to replace the board. get back to me if this has helped. [e-mail] also if you can tell me if i need to sign up for this forum to recieve feedback? thanks.

[jason steele]

M Ggggg wrote:

There must be a cold fault in a circuit board somewhere. I am having similar problems with my gauges, altho speedo OK. A couple of recent hiccups when starting lead me to think it's time for a new battery. Any comments would be appreciated.

you know what? a voltage spike can overload the gauge board. so i think you are correct in suspecting the battery. p.s. i live in the high sierras where temps get low to high, so temps have no effect on the gauge.

[jason steele]

if you want to save money on labor repair costs, i highly recomend HAYNES REPAIR MANUAL for your cavy. it has any repair/maintainance you can think of. from $20-$30. i put in new white face gauges, cd player, a typhoon kandn cold air intake, performance mods, replaced plugs, fuel filter, oil change, and more using the manual.

[jason steele]

jason steele wrote:

<quoted text>you know what? a voltage spike can overload the gauge board. so i think you are correct in suspecting the battery. p.s. i live in the high sierras where temps get low to high, so temps have no effect on the gauge.

oh and if you want to check out your gauges personaly, get a HAYNES REPAIR MANUAL for you year cav, and you can replace the gauge yourself since the hole gauge cost $300 to replace. if you do, here is a tip, while unpluged hand turn the diles clockwise to a position where when plugged in is where they should be. i did it a number of times and it still was working. that is if you don't record where the diles should be first, like me.

[jason steele]

Nancy wrote:

I was told that if the speedometer or any other gauge is not working, that the entire cluster has to be rebuilt. This cost about $500. I wonder if the speedometer is temperature sensitive. I never had a problem until we had a really cold night in Florida and then when it warmed up the gauge was working properly. I'll wait to see if it happens again before spending money to repair it.

yes the gauge is actualy a curcuit board and it alone is $300. and no the cold isn't a problem because i live in the high sierras with extreme highs and lows. my '03 cav gauge got overloaded by a voltage spikefrom the battery. so be carefull when replacing battery. if you want to take a look at it personally, save on repair caosts, and have the time, get HAYNES REPAIR MANUAL for your year car.$20-$30. it has everything you need to do repairs or maintainence.

[Wenis]

Sorry guys, HAYNES don't do shit, I own a shop and when the instrument cluster goes bad it's bad, no fixing in the back yard, it doesn't care if it's cold or hot outside or where you live.
The fact is that it's electronic and can't be fixed by a shop or even the dealer.

We've had this problem coming into our shop for a few years now and we've tried to fix them, can't do it.

The dealer says the only fix is to replace it, relax and watch for a recall, it is a safety issue so it may happen.

[john]

I saw a post on another site that says there is a stepper motor in the cluster that goes bad. There are places that rebuild the clusters, but no DIY info that I can find.

[Wenis]

Good post but from what I've seen the stepper motor just runs the speedometer, the problem goes one farther then that. The typical thing we see is that the whole dash goes wack-o, speedo, gas gauge and the like.

[Justin]

i got a question for everyone, i have a 2005 cavilier in my shop, all the needels are going crazy, the speedometer needle goes up and down like a second hand clicks on a clock, replace the instrument cluster 3 times and have had the same problem with all three.email me at [e-mail] if anyone has an idea, thanks.

[kelolea]

my 2004 speedometer and tach sometimes work correctly but then Once I get up to speed and if I slow the speedometr does not go up again and everytme I slow down it goes even lower. all the way to Zero. If I come to a complete stop- sometimes it resets and works fine and then sometimes not. I have replaced the fuse and that is not it.