Instrument Panel problems of the 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche - part 1

My speedo and fuel gauge either do not work or peg out in the instrument cluster. I never received the recall notice for my z71 Chevrolet Avalanche and Chevrolet is saying that they put a limit on the year and mileage. If I would have known it was a recall I would have taken in my vehicle to have it fixed for free. Chevrolet is saying I have to pay for this. . . . This is not right.

The contact owns 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche. The instrumental cluster gear light indicator failed and she was unable to see what gear the vehicle was in. The manufacturer had a voluntary recall which included a limited warranty up to 70,000 miles; therefore, they would not offer any assistance with the repairs. The mileage on the vehicle exceeded the warranty mileage. The failure and the current mileages were 83,600. Updated 10/01/2010 updated 10/05/10.

Speedometer stopped working.

Speedometer stuck at 52 while stopped. Will not accurately measure rate of speed. Speedometer zero's at 52. Odometer appears to function correctly. No apparent cause other than defective equipment. Car make: Chevrolet year: 2003. Model: Avalanche 1500 4 door. Mileage 102,000.

The speedometer quits working while driving or stops working all together.

When driving my Chevrolet 2003 Avalanche my speedometer would stick and eventually fall to zero. After further investigation I have found that a majority of this model from 2003 -2004 have this problem.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 mph, the speedometer seemed to be defective. The speedometer failed periodically which caused the cruise control to fail. The vehicle had not been inspected but the dealer, when called, stated that the contact would be responsible for any repair expenses. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000. The current mileage was approximately 155,000.

Speedometer on 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche not working, stuck at 120mph. Complete cluster needs to be replaced. I never received any recall notice after purchasing vehicle in 2003. Gm will not correct problem because it is out of warranty.

My speedometer isn't working properly. It gets stuck while I drive and I don't know the speed of my truck when I drive and I seen that this is a known issue to Chevrolet.

Speedometer does not read zero while vehicle is stopped. It reads approximately 60 mph.

Speedomoter will not work, then stick and then not work.

The instrument panel to include the speedometer, oil pressure, and battery gauge have stopped working on my 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche. Being unable to tell the speed of my vehicle is a safety issue that I have been unable to get gm to resolve. The vehicle has not been involved in any type of accident the speedometer just started going from 10 miles per hour to 100 miles per hour. I called gm service, went to the local dealership and called the dealership where the vehicle was purchased. I received no help even when I tried to explain that not being able to tell the speed of the vehicle was a problem.

All of a sudden I realize that my speedometer is not working and other gauges on my panel are not working correctly. I can not understand why there are only complaints and no defect investigations on this website. Since this is a safety issue I would have though there to be more of a concern. Thus we question why there are so many deaths on our highways. I also received a service issue from Chevrolet but my Avalanche is over the mileage specified. Like many of the other complaints I read. There is an obvious defect with the part so why is the no investigation? does someone have to die first?.

The speedometer will stop working after a short time of driving. The needle will either slowly fall to zero or not work all together. Cruise control is not affected by this failure. Chevy has issued a warranty extension, but it ends at 70k miles. My truck has 78k. I would like a recall to be issued after reading that many other owners of the same model truck are reporting the same problem.

Speedometer failure on 03 chevy Avalanche. Apparently there was a lawsuit against gm because they used inferior parts within the instrument cluster that are prone to fail. They have since settled the suit in late 2007 and agreed to fix all vehicles with less than 70k miles. However, what about the rest of us with more than 70k miles that are driving without a speedometer because gm is charging $500 to repair the most important instrument in the car, the one that should last the life of the vehicle according to the lawsuit. . . . . . I've even gone so far as to try to find the parts for the speedometer, but they are not available. You have to purchase the entire instrument cluster as a unit. If that is not enough, I can purchase the cluster for $275 and install it myself, but the unit has to be programmed to the vehicle in order to work. This programming will cost $150. 00 by the dealership. So basically, gm has everyone in my situation hostage for negligence on their part. It is only a matter of time before I get a speeding ticket or worse, hurt somebody in an auto accident because I am not aware of my speed of travel.

I have a 03 chevy Avalanche and the speedo is not functioning properly. It does not register the right mph on the gauge, sometimes it registers at different speeds example is that when you are doing the speed limit it will register 120 mph and when you are stopped it says your are going 50 mph. This is a product defect and I think gm should recall this problem. The only thing that they have done is extend the warranty on this to 70,000 miles, so if you are over this mileage then you have to buy a new cluster for 300+ dollars. This is not right gm should stand good for their defect. . . They have recognized this problem by extending the warranty so they know this is a problem and should stand good for it.

Speedometer started sticking, wouldn't reset to 0, shows between 40 - 80 mph when sitting still.

Shortly after 75, 000 miles the speedometer in my 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche started to register incorrect readings. At a idle it would register that I was going 60 mph. At approximately 65 mph it would register that I was going 0 mph. There was no rhyme or reason.

Problems with instrument cluster. Speedometer stuck at 30. Other problems have occurred with oil pressure reading incorrectly. Today, the speedometer is stuck at 30 and it won't move.

My speedometer in my Chevrolet Avalanche has started to malfunction. It will often read 40 mph when at idle and during driving speeds on the freeway it extends much over 120 mph and will stick there as I decelerate. This has caused me to get multiple speeding tickets as I have no accurate reading of my speed. I called the local Chevrolet dealership as well as gm direct and they stated that since it was not a defect that is related to "safety" issues that they have not recalled it and expect upwards of 400$ for a replacement gauge cluster. There are numerous other consumers throughout the internet who have reported identical problems with this same vehicle.

I have a 2003 chevy Avalanche. It has about 70,000 miles on it. Just last week the speedometer started going haywire. It will read anywhere from 20 to 60 mph when stopped. When driving it will read anywhere from 70 to 110 mph. It is constantly changing so there is no way of knowing how fast you are really going. It is very dangerous to drive if you do not know haw fast you are going. I looked all over the internet to see if it was something simple I could fix. There seems to be alot of people with the same problems not only with the Avalanche but with gm models in general for the 2003-2006 years. If it is such a problem there should be a recall. I will be printing the complaint forums and taking it to the dealer to see what they will do.

General motors mailed me a notice advising that my vehicle (2003 Avalanche which I purchased new in oct 2003) "could develop a condition where one or more of the instrument panel gauge needles may stick, flutter, or become inoperative. " it was additionally noted that "this condition may cause inaccurate readings, including speedometer and the fuel gauge. " remedy of replacement was offered for vehicles within 7 years of original date placed in service or 70,000 miles, whichever occurs first. My vehicle exhibits this problem in speedometer. My vehicle has over 80,000 miles and is not included in the repair offer. The condition in mine is exhibited when temperatures are below 45-50 degrees (typically in winter), and began last winter. I associated it with the weather and didn't think too much about it. However, now that I know it is a defect, I believe gm should be expected to correct this defect in all affected vehicles. I believe it can be considered a safety issue - no speedometer - no fuel gauge reading, especially when they are working properly sometimes and at others not at all or inaccurately.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche. The contact was driving approximately 60 mph; however, the speedometer reading was 100 mph. The speedometer and odometer displayed inaccurate readings. The odometer continued to increase the mileage traveled by one mile. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer advised the contact that a service letter was mailed to him prior to the failure regarding the odometer and a repair was also performed; therefore, they vehicle could not provide any additional free remedies. The vehicle had not been repaired when the complaint was filed. The failure mileage was 45,000. The current mileage was 98,000. Updated 11/16/10.

Speedometer broken. Can read anywhere between 40 and 120 mph when stopped. I have no idea what speed I am going. This seems very dangerous and something the manufacturer should fix.

I have a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche that I purchased new from the dealer. It has approximately 104,000 miles on it. The problem is that my speedometer is acting erratically. Some times it will say I am doing 120 mph on the highway or city street and sometimes it will not move at all. When I turn off my vehicle, it is often stuck at some speed such as 65mph. I can hear a physical grinding noise in the speedometer itself. This does not seem to adversely affect the odometer. I cannot reliably tell what speed I'm going, and my vehicle will not pass the texas state inspection with this problem. I contacted the dealer, and was told by the service advisor that this was extremely common, but that there is no recall. They said it will cost over 500. 00 to fix this problem. I researched it on the internet and found literally hundreds of cases of this exact same problem. I pointed this out, and the dealer said basically that Chevrolet will not address this issue.

Speedometer started jumping all over until it finally quit one week later.

All the gauges on my tec are going crazy. You can not tell how fast you are going or how much gas you have left or if your oil is okay or if your radiator is hot or not. Gm sent a letter advising they had extended the warranty to 7 year or 70,000 miles, guess what my Avalanche is 80,000 and they will not fix it.

Failure of my speedometer to work properly on my 2003 chevy Avalanche.

Faulty speedometer and gas gauge.

The accessory lights on my steering wheel that operate radio volume, souce, on-star, etc are not all working. I was told at bradshaw Chevrolet that they have had to repair alot of these and would not be included as recall. This is a safety hazard and you can't see at night which button to select. Also now the light for my mileage and engine operation has faded out until I can barely read it.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500. While driving approximately 30 mph, the speedometer displayed 100 mph. The contact stated that the speedometer decreased from 100 to approximately 5 to 10 mph. The failure has occurred several times since September of 2007. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current mileage was 50,000 and failure mileage was 48,000.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500. While driving at any speed, the speedometer is slow to react to the change in speed. It would also remain at a speed and then jump to another or display a lower speed with the cruise control activated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not serviced. The current mileage was 110,000 and failure mileage was 75,000.

My speedometer started reporting errors in speed and now shows 60 mph when parked and immediately goes off scale when driven at any speed above 30 mph.

Speedometer displays erroneous speeds. Most of the time less than what the vehicle is actually traveling which creates a public safety hazard. There is no indication to the driver of a problem. All other indications are normal. It was not until a gps with speed indicating capability was installed in the vehicle that the erroneous speedometer indication was known. Further investigation reveals the speedometer operates correctly until the dash/instrument panel heats up. At this point the indicated speed can gradually vary, sometimes drastically from actual vehicle speed unknowing to the driver. After reviewing the NHTSA site, this does not appear to be an isolated incident and because of the public safety implication of a speeding vehicle, at the minimum I recommend a notice be sent to all current owners of this type of vehicle advising them this condition may be present or occur in the future. This vehicle is currently awaiting repair parts.

My speedometer, oil gauge,gas gauge has stopped working in the dash approximately 9 moths ago and we have contacted our local gm retailer and they said that there is not a recall on a manufacturer defect. I was told that it was a cluster that was the problem by my personal mechanic and that it is very expensive to fix. I do not think that I should have to fix this problem since it is a manufacturer defect. I have several friend that have a Chevrolet with the same problem. I paid alot of money for this vehicle and I think that gm should fix the problem that we did not know we were purchasing in the first place.