Dash cluster not working after installing it another truck

Tiny
KENHALL
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 CHEVROLET TAHOE
  • 4.8L
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 180,000 MILES
I took mine out of my truck and put it in a friends truck and it worked, but his did not work in mine. I have checked all grounds and fuses multiple time and they are all good. I can't put a scan tool on it because it wont communicate with my truck. Door locks act weird they lock and unlock multiple times and my four wheel drive buttons wont work. What could cause this? Any help would be very much appreciated.
Tuesday, October 8th, 2019 AT 2:35 PM

9 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Hi,

What was the other truck and are they identically equipped?

More than likely the trucks not being the same is causing his cluster to not operate in yours but it didn't effect his. More than likely your clusters may look the same but are equipped differently and it is causing issues in your truck. I would swap back and hope your issues straighten out.

What was the reason you swapped in the first place?
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Thursday, October 10th, 2019 AT 4:59 PM
Tiny
KENHALL
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
I bought the vehicle and the cluster did not work. The guy I bought it from said it needs a cluster so I put one from 2002 Yukon in it to see if it would work and nothing. So then I put mine in the Yukon and it worked why does it work in his truck but not mine. Again I have tested fuses and cleaned all ground wires to make sure they have a good connection and didn't see any lose wires. The truck runs and drives fine, but I have no dash lights or gauges and my four wheel drive buttons do not work they all light up. My door locks don't work and they lock and unlock sometimes all by themselves when you are driving. Someone told me it could be my BCM. Not sure.
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Friday, October 11th, 2019 AT 12:06 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
That makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying.

So to figure out why the good parts won't work in your vehicle we need to start with actually checking for voltage on the two wires highlighted on the wiring diagram. The pink wire will only have voltage in run so just make sure you check it in that position.

You need to check it at the cluster connector so we can see if the power is actually getting to the cluster.

Which ground wires have you cleaned? I know you said you cleaned them all but which ones specifically because the cluster has a couple grounds.
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Friday, October 11th, 2019 AT 7:37 PM
Tiny
KENHALL
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  • 5 POSTS
I did the 2 under the drivers floor the one to the fire wall and the one on the radiator support. Don't know of anymore.
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Friday, October 11th, 2019 AT 8:53 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Okay. Here are a few more that we need to check that are for the cluster. If these check out then we need to make sure you have power coming into the cluster on that wiring diagram I provided last time.
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Saturday, October 12th, 2019 AT 7:17 PM
Tiny
KENHALL
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
I have power to the plug that goes to the cluster and all grounds under dash are good, but still have the same problem. Also cluster is receiving data at the dataline on the ipc and dic.
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Wednesday, October 16th, 2019 AT 1:53 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
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Okay. We are missing something because if that is the case it should be operating or the cluster is the issue. What were you voltages on the data-lines and which wires were they (color or pin location)?
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Friday, October 18th, 2019 AT 3:53 PM
Tiny
KENHALL
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Thank you so much for your help. We finally found out what it was that was making the cluster not work and it was real simple and stupid. We had no idea the cluster was a earlier year and didn't know it wasn't a 2003 or newer tried a cluster out of an 2004 and it all worked just fine. Again thank you so much for your help.
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Sunday, October 20th, 2019 AT 2:27 AM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Haha. Well that makes more sense. Funny how simple it is when you we know the answer. Thanks for the update. I am sure that info will help others that may be in a similar situation. Thanks
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Sunday, October 20th, 2019 AT 11:41 AM

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