general problems of the 2003 Chevrolet Suburban - part 1

The cluster of the speedometer.

My entire instrument panel does not always work when I start my truck. It will occasionally come to life after driving a bit or sometimes it doesn't work at all. No pattern as to when, where or driving conditions. Started a few months ago where it would always work shortly after I started the engine and has progressively gotten worse,.

Saturday, I was driving approximately 45 to 50 mph on a split two lane road to pick up my grandchildren and all of a sudden my instrument panel stopped working. All gauges went to 0. There was no digital readings either. It just went dead. Pulled over and turned the vehicle off and back on, nothing changed. Plugged my garmin gps in for my speed guide and filled my gas tank so I knew that it was full. Called mechanic to bring vehicle in for him to check out on Tuesday. Tuesday, (today) on my way to work, driving on 4 lane interstate, 60 to 70 mph, all of a sudden, all of the gauges and digital readings came on and began working correctly. I still took my vehicle to the mechanic, he stated that he will look at it and call me later. I depend on my car, just like everyone else. I can not just go out and buy a new one every time something goes wrong. I pray that this does not cause an accident. I transport my grandchildren and worry about their safety. I am a safety director and safety is very passionate to me. There must be something that can be done about this issue. I love my Suburban and plan on purchasing another one some day. It has always been a very dependable vehicle but this issue has me spooked.

Vehicle suddenly started going into reduced power mode and providing an error code indicating a problem with the throttle control sensor. From the hundreds of online posts (some by gm mechanics) this is an ongoing problem with many 2003-2008 trucks and suvs made by gm. When I began trying to repair this problem myself, I found out from my local chevy parts department that "they can not keep these throttle control assemblies in stock because we are replacing so many of them. . . " there seems to be a know problem that gm is not adequately being proactive about. This happens while driving highway, local streets and at startup. This becomes a serious safety issue when the vehicle goes into reduced power mode while the vehicle is in traffic.

When driving vehicle kept falling dead on highway and city streets.

The rear lift tailgate and window will not unlock when using the remote key button, or when using the unlock button on the drivers door arm rest. There is no manual key lock for the rear lift tailgate or window, nor any inside button to manually unlock the tailgate. When sleeping in the rear of the Suburban you have do way to exit the car except by climbing over seats and exiting using the front doors. Driving the car and stopping to try to unlock the rear lift gate will eventually allow you to unlock the tailgate, some times after many tries. Also it some times will unlock when alternating between the driver door unlock button and the remote unlock button. This could be a dangerous problem . This failure of the rear tailgate is a common problem with Suburbans. . Read more...

All gauges in instrument cluster went low or no reading, including speedometer, fuel, tachometer, temp. The repair was done at willie's auto repair inc. At 901 s. Cliff Ave. In sioux falls, sd. The gm remanufactured instrument cluster part was $453 and labor was $126, with tax the total cost of the repair was $613 which gm should be paying for !! I know several people at work that have had to have this done to their gm trucks and tahoes, Suburbans. This is so widespread there should be a class action suit !! you know the component they replace can't be much on a board in these "remanufactured clusters" gm needs to replace these at their expense !!!.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The failure recurred multiple times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 99,000.

I am a teacher and got a call in my classroom that my Suburban was on fire parked in the parking lot. The fire department was called and when I got outside, sure enough there was smoke all in the Suburban and smoke coming from the roof of the vehicle (not the hood). When the fire department arrived, they entered the vehicle, disconnected the battery, and proceeded to tear out my rear headliner to extinguish the electrical fire that was occurring. My insurance company had the vehicle towed and it was deemed reparable, which I was not too happy about seeing as we don't really know the cause of the fire beyond electrical. The fire originated near the rear dome light and burned the headliner and melted the paint off the roof the the vehicle. The location of the fire was not a in a place where any mechanic could check to have prevented this from occurring and I am concerned about the safety of the vehicle moving forward. I am not in a financial position to afford a new Suburban and do love mine, but am now just concerned. I am thankful no one was in the vehicle and that no one was hurt. . But had a parent dropping a kid off to school not noticed the smoke coming off the roof of my car in the parking lot, things could have been much worse. I had also just filled my tank up the day before so the car was sitting with 30 gallons of gasoline in it. I am also thankful that I was not trying to scramble to get my 4 kids out of the car (and yes we do use the 3rd row seat daily). I think this incident needs to be looked at to prevent any other owner of a 2003 Suburban from having a similar experience. There were no recalls on my vehicle that would have lead to this issue.

I can unlock truck with key or remote put key in start and dash lights come on but no start. After being told it was the fuel pump, the started, and key I know it has something to do with the anti-lock. I have reprogrammed it several time but each time a different way. I have research it on line and it is a on going problem with gm cars and trucks. However I am not sure if it is a recall. I am recently the second car owner of this truck and experiencing this major problem. I am a single mother with children and grandchildren and this is not good for me at night or during the day if at a shopping center. I have had to have it towed to my home then the next day it started. If any one can help me please email jenterprise1@aol. Com. Thank you sj.

Ever since we purchased this huge pile of junk, it has been every problem to changing fuel pump several times, catalytic converters,batteries,major electrical problems, every gauge in the vehicle is off from gas gauge to speedometer to coolant! there is not anything that is not wrong with it. After thousands of dollars and so many times of being stranded on the side of the road with 4 little kids in the dead of winter with no heat. I would like a lifetime warranty from Chevrolet to cover any expense incurred while owning such a piece of crap and for the humiliation I have incurred by being seen in a chevy because they are junk!!!!!or would like book value of vehicle so I can go buy a Ford because they run for 250,000 miles plus!!! not 125,000.

I was driving my Suburban back from work one day and my front a/c blower stopped working. I turned a/c off and reached home. When I took the plastic cover over the blower motor apart to see what is going on I figured that the electrical connector to the blower motor resister has heated up and melted. I replaced the blower motor resister thinking something was wrong with that only to find out it happened again 15 days later. I searched the problem online and found that yet another engineering disaster by gm. It appears to be a known problem in gm trucks. For some reason the blower motor resister is overheating and melting the plastic connector and wires connecting to it. This is a fire hazard. I called up a chevy dealership near me to find out if there was any recall on this they said no. Hence reporting this to you.

I was driving my 2003 Chevrolet Suburban down the road and my speedometer stopped working. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that the interior lighting, onstar device power in the rearview mirror, fan motor, and door locks lost power intermittently. The failures recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that an electrical short in the dashboard needed to be repaired. The failure was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

Just finished driving vehicle for 1 hour at highway speeds without incident. Parked car for 5 minutes, upon trying to restart, the car displayed "reduced engine power" on the driver information console. Approximately 8 restarts and the message did not display. Drove car 5 minutes and parked it for 1 hour, upon restart displayed same message, car was virtually undriveable. 3 restarts later message no longer displayed. This message has now intermittently occurred ever since seemingly without any pattern. The message is related to a failure in the "drive by wire" system that allows for the elimination of a physical cable from the gas pedal. It causes the car to be completely undriveable until seemingly randomly fixing itself.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact stated that while idling at a stop sign, the speedometer provided an erroneous reading of 60 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the speedometer cluster needed to be replaced. The vehicle not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 103,000.

I was driving to a store in my city when it felt like I was not doing the speed limit and going slower than normal. When ii got to the store and turned off the car, I saw that the speedometer was registering 20 mph. I started the car back up and it dropped the speed reading by 5 mph. I did this 3 more times till it registered zero mph. When driving home, I noticed that I was still driving slower than normal and when I got home and turned off the car the speedometer reading was showing 25 mph. I looked online and saw that others are having the same problem. This problem continues to occur every time ii am driving my 2003 Chevrolet Suburban. I have not taken it to get fixed yet and have contacted Chevrolet to see if they will fix the problem for free since it should not be happening. This could possibly affect the vehicle speed control when set.

We are having serious electrical issues with our 2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 z71. It started with the seat warmers only workiing occasionally, then when I was trying to start it one day the ds automatic power seat deployed me and smashed my chest and legs all the way into the steering wheel and dash I was pinned against the steering wheel and dashboard until my husband heard me screaming and came to get me - it did this on its own, I hadn't touched a thing other than turn the key to start position. Then the ds power seat buttons starting working in reverse I. E. Pushing forward on the button sends you backwards and pushing back sends you forward, then the service 4wd light came on the dic and stayed on for awhile, the seat warmers started to work again on occasion and then quit altogether. . . Again. , now the cluster panel . . . Speedometer, rpm and other gauges are incorrect more often than not. We are having to use a gps to maintain speed limits.

Got a 2003 chevorlet surburan. The rear door be showing open n the oil gauge,temperature gauge,rpm, n speedometer not working.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact was driving approximately 25 mph when the speedometer suddenly failed. In addition, the gear shifter indicator light would not illuminate and the rear center seat belt would not function. When the left turn signal was engaged, the hazard warning lights would illuminate sporadically. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was awaiting a diagnosis of the failure. In addition, the contact stated that the fuel kit had to be replaced twice as well as a fuel injector cleaning. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

My Suburban goes to reduced power unexpectantly and the engine will stall causing a loss of power steering and control of the vehicle. My Suburban has been taken in to the dealer I purchased the vehicle from on five occasions and the dealer is unable to fix the problem. . The most recent time was 9/1/2011. It went to reduced power 10 miles after leaving dealership and stalled as I pulled out into traffic from a restaurant. A number of cars had to brake excessively and swerve around me until I could angle my Suburban off the road without power steering. The truck weighs 6700 lbs and I needed all my strength to turn the wheel enough to get off the road. I am fearful about driving my Suburban and the high probability of injury to myself or others.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact stated that the speedometer began to fluctuate erratically while driving. The failure began as an intermittent problem before progressing to a contact issue. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 69,000.

My '03 Chevrolet Suburban has developed what appears to be a very common condition where the entire instrument cluster becomes inoperable. For example, while traveling at low, in town speeds, the speedometer will have readings in the 60s, 70s' and 80s. While in the park position, the speedometer will read 55mph. This is absolutely a safety issue and I am really shocked that the NHTSA hasn't forced a recall. There are literally thousands of reports online of this exact problem. General motors is aware that this is a wide spread problem, as they even extended. General motors even provided owners with a special coverage that extends the warranty on the instrument panel cluster for the condition described above, as long as the vehicles age and mileage falls within certain parameters. Those parameters are the main reason for my complaint. Those parameters are 1) 7 years of the in service date, and 2) 70,000 miles, which ever occurs first. My claim to have the instrument cluster in my vehicle repaired under the special coverage was denied on 9/4/09 because the mileage of my vehicle was 93,000 miles at the time of my request. I believe that this is a large scale safety problem that warrants a recall by general motors rather than an extension of warranty with unreasonable mileage parameters. Extending the warranty alone is a clear admission of a known widespread issue. Is NHTSA in bed with gm too? I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

The speedometer on our 2003 Chevrolet Suburban randomly stops working. We understand that it is a defect and that it will only be replaced by Chevrolet if the vehicle has less than 70,000 miles. Our Suburban has 85,000 miles on it. Since it is a defect in the instrument cluster, and not because of wear and tear, Chevrolet should replace it free of charge. We can't afford to pay the $550+ to have it replaced so we will drive it without the speedometer working, which is unsafe.

I have a 2003 z71 Suburban. The speedometer broke today all of a sudden, said I was driving 60mph when I was barely doing 25. When I shut the car off it remained at 30mph. I called the chevy dealer and they knew right away what the problem was and how much to fix it. $600. 00. Now I know why, after reading the complaints on here. Everybody has the same problem. My truck has 91,000 miles on it. Why won't gm repair this regardless of how many miles the vehicles have on it. A defect is a defect, regardless of what the mileage is when it occurs! let's see, food in my kids mouth and a roof over their heads, or $600. 00 to repair my defective truck. No wonder why gm is going under. I know I will never buy another gm vehicle. You people should do something. I see there a tons of complaints for the same thing. This obviously is a safety issue.

Revving of engine to point of screeching tires. Sometimes feeling of being in neutral for a second then clunk in tranny/rear end? acts as engagement of cruise control increasing speed, not able to disengage by hitting brake. Computer did not show anything. Next time putter "locked out" tech's. Puter replaced. Worked good for two weeks. Engine revved, hit patch of ice, totaled out z-71. Thank god, no injuries. Fighting it for appx 16000 miles. 72000 to 88000.

I have 2003 Suburban 1500, that keeps getting a error message "reduce engine power". The vehicle will all of sudden while driving, reduce speed and I can't accelerate above 25-30mph. I will have to pull over and turn car off for 10-15 seconds before it resets, however it will continue to happen over and over again! it is very scary and dangerous when I have my kids or my wife drive it because you never know when the car will have this happen. Strangely, when we drive on the highway we can use the "cruise control" feature when we reach 25mph and use the cruise control to accelerate that way with minimal occurances. I have taken the car to "2 chevy dealers and 3 mechanics" nither can tell us whats wrong! this is frustrating because we only have on car, and we know this a "safety hazard" and extremly dangerous and somebody has to look into this! I only hope someone who reads these complaints has the power to help me and everyone with this problem.

The issue started with the drivers memory seat not remembering the seat position and the easy exit pushed the seat forward in to the steering wheel instead of back. Then came the issue with the speedometer. I received the letter identifying this problem however like so many other people my vehicle has more than 70,000 miles and although it has been identified as a problem gm will not consider it a recall and I would have to pay to have it fixed. This is obviously a wide spread problem that gm should fix free of charge no matter the mileage. My husband also has the same issue with his 2005 3/4 ton silverado.

Speedometer has failed. Shows 120 mph, even when shut down. It slowly began to go from zero at startup, to 35 at startup, to 70 at startup and now to 120. Apparently, there is a known defect in the instrument cluster which chevy and dealers are aware of.

: the contact stated the vehicle had keyless entry and the power supply failed, which resulted in no way to get in or out of the vehicle. The contact expressed concern that if someone was to be inside the vehicle when the power supply failed, they would not be able to exit the vehicle and could cause a life threatening concern.

Vehicle is 2003 Chevrolet Suburban, purchases new. Speedometer won't read correctly; at first it would read 20-30 mph fast; then it finally only reads between 30-120 mph; had same problem with gas gauge; ran out of gas with tank showing almost half full, in an area with no cell phone reception. Very dangerous. Dangerous to not be able to determine your actual speed. Gm refuses to cover this problem, even though dealer has had several instances of these failures. Gm must be aware of problem, but refuses to acknowledge.

My 2003 chevy Suburban's speedometer and volt meter indicate wildly false readings. I never know how fast I am really driving and I don't know if my electrical system is really at 30 volts or 0. I believe this is an unsafe condition.

My electric is all messed up ,works don't,radio turns on after driving awhile,4x4 sometimes works,airbag light ,they wanted 150 to reset,I talk to so many same problem,same year ,online,I bet there is recall ,there must be I paid a lot for this truck to,when get cold out wont start,nothing works,I'm disabled,so it's hard for me to do anything,it's all about money,so many with same problem online.

The consumer owns a 2003 chevy Suburban. The consumer stated that she had the vehicle in the shop at least once a month since she purchased the vehicle November 12, 2003. The electrical system has been going bad, the feature record showed it was reprogramming it self, shutting her car off after she started it, unlocking the doors by itself. She almost hit someone because the vehicle accelerated by itself. She also states that the last time it was in the shop her rpms went up to 3000. The dealership said they couldn't duplicate the problem. The dealership has spoken to the gm specialist and they could not help either.

The contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban. The same day the vehicle was purchased, the contact attempted to apply the parking brake and the vehicle rolled forward. The vehicle has been to the repair shop three times and each time the mechanic stated that everything was fine. The emergency brake has not worked since the vehicle was purchased. The current mileage was 62,000 and failure mileage was 1. The consumer stated the sunroof leaked, a blown fuse was replaced. The temperature gauge in the rear view mirror was inoperative, the dealer tightened the connection, there was a rattle coming from thee left side of the vehicle when going over bumps in the road. Updated 10/24/07.