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Low voltage reading on instrument panel gage. 2003 Chevy Avalanche

Alfred

Full Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
9
Hello,  I hope someone can shed some light on the problem as it is driving me nuts.  The voltage gage on the instrument panel reads between 11 and 13 volts.  With the a/c on and maximum blower the needle dives towards the left side.  The voltage at the battery posts with the engine on idle and a/c  on maximum reads 14.2 volts, same reading with the a/c off.  The outside lights do not dim at any time and the truck drives good.  Using the driver side controls to lower or raise the windows also makes the voltage gage on the instrument panel nose dives towards the 0 volts.  On occasions the outside temperature reading and the compass on the mirror act up, start to blink and eventually go blank until the engine is turned off and started again.  This is now happening every time the engine is started.  I had the system checked at an auto store and  both the battery and alternator passed the test.  The battery is 3 1/2 years old and the truck starts with no problem.  I checked and cleaned the 3 ground connections on the frame under the driver's seat with no improvement.  Anyone having this problem, would appreciate your input.  Tks
 
Did they do a load test on the battery.

Another thing you may want to try, check the battery negative cable where it connects to the frame
 
I've had my mirror display do wonky things.

Turned out to be a faulty solder joint on the circuit board inside the mirror casing.

There are YouTube videos that show this problem and the fix.

For the voltage gauge issue, I am also thinking either a ground problem or possibly a bad stepper motor for the voltage gauge in the cluster.

On my old cluster, several of the gauges would show lower than normal readings, at times.

I could tell if all of the gauges were showing false low by looking at my voltage gauge.

If my voltage gauge showed a certain distance below what it should be, all of the other gauges showed a false low reading the same distance off of normal, like the voltage gauge.

I would also get gibberish in the DIC display, at times.

I bit the bullet and bought a new cluster.

No problems since.

Probably caused by the well known bad solder joints inside these clusters, but I wanted to upgrade the look of my cluster anyway.

(y)
 
Use a scan tool and see what your actual reported voltage is... The same place that checked your  battery should be able to do to the same with the voltage.
Since the cluster voltage is read off the databus if a scanner shows the correct voltage then chances are you are fine and need to consider a new cluster or getting your's rebuilt. A bunch of places do them. You can try doing yourself but I suggest against it unless your ONLY doing the motors. The motors can be had for less than $50.

Depending on your cluster it MAY or MAY NOT come with programming for the Transmission gauge as well. If it was programmed for it you can add an additional motor, a new face plate and needle and be on your way. I was lucky in that mine supported it.

I can only speak for the guy I used for mine. He can put the new program on your cluster and also can do some upgrades such as LED, Faceplate or other upgrades...

Only some of the gauge re builders can program your cluster.

The guy that did mine also fixed my Mirror.
www.dashdr.com

But by no means is he the only one doing them.

I did my own cluster, bought a cheap kit of motors... They were not the newer "digital" units and I ended up having to get mine redone a year later so I spent I believe $150 to have him do mine. But he is on the route i drive to work so I was able to drop it off and pick it up later. No issues since. I should mention that mine had a tag on the back that it was a replacement so this rebuild is technically the third cluster my truck has had in it. (4th if you consider my fumbled attempt at rebuilding this earlier.)
 
Hello,

Thank you for the replies.  I checked the voltage at the battery with the engine at idle and the reading was 14.2 volts.  Still at idle, I had the a/c on and the blower motor on high and the voltage still read 14.2 volts.  It seems that the battery is getting the required charge and the problem might be somewhere else.  Will a bad ground cause this wrong reading of the volt meter on the cluster?
 
Thank you for all the replies, the problem is now fixed.  It turned out to be a faulty ground from the back of the engine to the firewall. I installed a new ground from the firewall to the engine and all is well.  Thanks for the input.
 
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