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Replaced all stepper motors on instrument cluster, now temp gauge is not working

lrickley

Full Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2016
Messages
10
I had a few of my instrument cluster gauges stop working (2004 1500 AV 4x4), indicative of the bad stepper motor issue.  So I ordered the kit from drspeedometer on Amazon and was able to easily remove and install the new motors and replaced a few of the burned out bulbs while I was in there.  Put everything back together and it all worked great.  The next day I went out to drive the truck again, and the gauges are all working except for the temp gauge.  It is is reading about 100 degrees hotter than actual temp.  I used my OBD II dash commander to see what the actual temp was so I knew it wasn't right.  Turned off the vehicle, then turned it right back on, now the gauge went around and was off the charts (literally).  So I took it all back out, took it apart, desoldered the suspect motor, reinstalled and desoldered,  and then put everything back together again.  This time again, on first start/drive, everything is great.  Shut off the truck and I noticed that the temp gauge needle didn't go back to Zero like all the others when I turned off the truck.  Turned it right back on again, and same issue as before.  Has anyone ever seen this?  Could it just be as simple as a faulty stepper motor? Or is there anything else electrical that could possibly be at play here?  Of course, this was one of the gauges that was working great before I replaced it, I just thought while I had it all out I would replace them all, had I known this was going to happen, I would have left well enough alone.
 
From your description, I would say a bad stepper motor if your scanner is reading the correct temp.
 
I had a flaky gas, oil pressure gauge & occasionally the speedo. The soldering electronics is above me. I sent my gauge cluster back to one of those gauge shops some time ago, had all the stepper motors replaced, all the lights upgraded to blue LEDs, everything cleaned inside & out, new needles, etc. I think it cost me $130 & was out of the truck for about 10 days. It's been about 3 or 4 yrs now & everything still works great.
 
I called in and spoke to Fred at Dr. Speedometer, he said its a damaged trace, they have seen this happen before, the trace under the circuit board gets overheated and shorts out.  It's pretty difficult to repair, so looks like I will be living without the temp gauge for the time being.  I have my dash commander app on my phone so I can still keep an eye on it, just sucks.  That was one of the guages that was working before I replaced all the motors.  Be careful with the soldering if you try and attempt this repair yourself.
 
Good news, received the replacement motor (at no charge) and re-installed. It was a bad motor after all.  All my gauges now work perfectly!  Very impressed with Dr. Speedometer's customer service.  I would definitely recommend them.  Now all my bulbs are bright and all my gauges are smooth.
 
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