Ok...
So I cant finally drive--- got my license back! :-p I was driving last night and I noticed that my gauges were lighting up fine, however the odometer was NOT lighting up. I can't see how many miles/nothing...

Any ideas as to why this is happening?

Chris Osborn
2003 cavalier

Bulb blew?




“Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that’s even remotely true."

If thats the case... is ther bulb hard to replace?

Thanks
C.

I had no idea there was a seperate bulb for that... Could it be a fuse? I wouldn't think so.. but then again, GM made the car.

C.

Listening...

This same exact thing just happened to me. I disconnected my battery so I could install a gauge bezel. I didn't disconnect any of the harnesses from the back of the gauge cluster, I just popped the clear plastic cover off and installed the bezel. I put everything back together, reconnected the battery and then started the car. I got in the car to pull it out of the garage and I noticed that my odometer wasn't lighting up at all. I can't see the miles or anything either. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

mine did that and a nice hard whack was all it took to fix it, temporarily tho , so i just ordered a new cluster off ebay today, and now i will finally have a tach !!!

my 01 cavy did that VERY often... best bet is to smack the hell out of the dash above the cluster. worked with the cluster I had at the time and got the cluster I got from Black Car to light up.

Now the bulb for the odo is a LED that is attached to the circuit board UNDER the LCD display. it is VERY small and a HUGE PITA to fix if, even if you know what your doing.

Best bet is if your car is still under warrenty have a dealer put in a new cluster. Otherwise get one off of Ebay or a bone yard.

Most clusters on E-bay gor for around $100. The 2 I've gotten from there were both under $50, so you can get a deal, just gotta be patient. The one i got from a bone yard was $25.

Now don't ask why i went through 4 clusters... lets just say that I did not have the best of luck with them

So, I went out last night and gave the dash a good whack and the odometer came back on! Thank God! Then this morning I was moving the car around and I noticed it had gone off again. So, I gave it another good whack and on it came. I guess I am just doomed to have to keep pounding my dash every once in a while to keep my odometer lighting up .

On a side note, a friend of mine who used to be a Chevy mechanic told me that the light that lights up the odometer is known for having a bad connection, so apparently it's just one of those weird GM faults.

J TO ENVY wrote:On a side note, a friend of mine who used to be a Chevy mechanic told me that the light that lights up the odometer is known for having a bad connection, so apparently it's just one of those weird GM faults.

yup. it's a bad connection. either keep smacking the hell outta it or get in there and re solder it.

on a side note, at least this GM fault isn't as bad as the one the 1st gen neons had. the whole cluster is known to have a bad connection. in my old neon (1996) the whole cluster would die and i would always have to smack the dash to get it working again.




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my odometer seems to be doing this too, would you believe they failed me in inspection for it? it keeps mileage, and every few hours, i can read it. i'm so mad. i'm gettin a new one from a junkyard for $55 but i have to pull it myself.
any tips on how to take everything apart/out?


mods come once every great while... man i wish i wasn't so cheap..
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Ya'll listen up.

This is a common j-body problem. Eventually smacking the dash will not work anymore.
The problem is the led in thye cluster for the odo. You have to get a new cluster. Or you can do as some others have and unsolder the circuit board from the gauges (DO NOT TAKE THE NEEDLES OFF. Taking the needles off will destroy the cluster.) Once you get to the led unsod=lder and replace. While you are there you might as well change the leds to a color that you like.

in mine the bulb was removable but not replacable, the bulb was mounted in a small brown plastic cradle that screwed into the back of the cluster, gm said i had to replace the cluster, so i said @!#$ it, took a small bulb with wire contacts, bent the contacts out at 90 degrees and soldered it onto the board, took 20 mins including removing the dash, been fine for almost a year and a half now

I beleive that is only able to be done on the pre 2k cluster. I assume you removed the needles.

Hey,

I think I'm experincing the same issue with mine.
It hasnt gone out it just flickers in and out. The numbers all change and funky stuff.
A nice hard tap on the top of the dash brings the real reading back but then it goes back to it's funky reading.
This is a 2002, is it a matter of soldering something
I'm pretty sure even with my contacts at gm they will not warranty it, I have Black Cat Customs gauge overlay.



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