Dash went blank

mac2881994

Member
Oct 17, 2009
47
1
8
Have any of you ever had the dash partially quit working while driving? Driving home from work and the battery light and security light came on along with the gas gauge and oil pressure gauge dropping to zero. I tried to change one of the monitored gauges on the edge insight to the battery to verify if the battery light was an actual charging issue, the voltage gauge was still showing just a little over 14 volts. when it tried to reload it gave me a cannot communicate with vehicle, confirm the ignition is on message and then shut off. I scanned for any codes when I got home and there were none. I only have a cheap Actron scanner from Autozone though. I am going to check for blown fuses now. Is there any other issues I should check?
 

mac2881994

Member
Oct 17, 2009
47
1
8
Went back out and checked the two fuse blocks, nothing out of the ordinary. Started the truck back up and the dash was back to normal. plugged the insight CTS2 back in and had to reset it due to it being plugged in two or three times during my initial troubleshooting when I first got home. You have to love electrical problems that fix themselves and give no indication what caused it to happen to begin with. At least the truck would still drive when it went stupid earlier.
 

036.6turbo

Active member
Jan 17, 2014
714
61
28
Weak batteries will often cause weird issues.

If it's not your batteries I would start looking at any aftermarket electronics you have hooked up.

My 03 never liked my aftermarket remote start. I would get the security light and all the gauges would read zero. It didn't stop until I removed the system.

Keep us posted.
 

Dkatubi06

Member
Dec 30, 2015
114
0
16
My 2002 swapped to 05 does it all the time. It only lasts about a minute. Haven’t looked into it. One thing I did notice it started doing it after I put the aftermarket radio in.

Also a word of caution, don’t pull over and shut it off and try to restart the vehicle unless your local to home. I did and it wouldn’t start. Again only lasted a minute or so and everything was fine
 

mac2881994

Member
Oct 17, 2009
47
1
8
Thanks for the additional ideas. My batteries are only about 6 mths old, so I am hoping that is not the issue. As far as after market electronics I replaced the stereo and added a 10" sub and Amplifier many years ago so I don't think that is an issue.

The truck was still running so there was no way I was going to turn it off until I got home. I have had the CTS2 act slightly stupid in the past but have never had it cause issues with the gauges on the dash.
 

MAXX IT OUT

<<<IT WORKS
Mar 1, 2013
1,780
37
48
Des Moines, Iowa
I had issues like this every so often, I have always disconnected the Gauge cluster, then reconnected it and it worked fine again. Granted it was on a 01 LB7, but its worth a try.
 

BlkMax

Member
Sep 1, 2008
743
4
18
Wasilla, AK
The gauge cluster can get corrosion on the boards. I have personally had 3 clusters go bad, and helped other friends get theirs repaired. You can get them fixed for <$200 from numerous eBay folks. I would take the cluster out, send it to the repair shop and drive the truck without the cluster until it came back. While they had the cluster I would also have them replace all the stepper motors. I used these guys the last time: https://www.fixmygauges.com/



The caution here is that the only place where the mileage of the vehicle is stored is in the cluster. If it totally smokes, you will lose actual mileage.