03-06 Instrument Cluster Stepper Motor Replacement

[Bob T]

Sorry – no pics. My son had my camera out of town on a Boy Scout event. When time permits I will take an hour and do pics for this article.
The pointers on the gauges in the instrument cluster are operated by stepper motors, which are driven by the cluster logic. For more info on stepper motors see the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor . The stepper motors are a common failure. My oil pressure gauge went erratic then stopped at the high end even with the engine off. A scan tool told me the sensor was working and the PCM knew the real oil pressure; this narrowed things down.

When this happens you have some choices:

1. The Dealer Man wanted over $500 for a new cluster with R&R and programming the cluster with vehicle mileage and engine hours.
2. There are some people advertising cluster repair on eBay. This requires pulling your cluster, shipping it, getting it repaired, then shipping it back. I have been told the truck will run fine without the cluster, but then you get to guess things like speed and what gear you are in.
3. Replace the bad stepper motor yourself. I got one on eBay for $15 plus shipping from charlieboats08.
(update 6/20/09: Bought one for fuel level gauge from mandigital this week. Great price, very fast ship)
Materials:
1. One or more stepper motors.
2. Fine rosin core solder

Tools:
1. Desoldering tool. There are several types. Some are “suckers” that you use with a soldering iron to pull the solder out of the joint. The one I used is from Radio Shack for about $11. It is a 45 watt soldering iron with a hole in the tip and a rubber sucker bulb.
2. Soldering iron. About 25 watts is good for this job.
3. 7 mm nut driver or equivalent.
4. A small flat blade screwdriver.
5. A kitchen fork. (yes, details later).

Procedure:
1. Set the parking brake. If it doesn’t work, block a wheel.
2. Turn the key on and pull the shift down to “1”. Chime goes “ding ding …”
3. Pull the tilt wheel all the way down.
4. Pull off the dash bezel. It uses spring retainers so pull it straight back.
5. Take out the 4 screws (7 mm head) that hold the cluster in.
6. Work the cluster back. Release the electrical connector at the top back of the cluster by releasing the retainer. Unplug the connector.
7. Remove the cluster. It’s a bit of a squeeze between the top of the dash and the shroud thing on the steering, but it will come out without breaking anything. Honest.
8. Take the cluster to your clean, well lit work space. Plug in the desoldering tool and soldering iron to heat up.
9. Take the back off the (black) cluster by using your small screw driver releasing the lock tabs that hold it to the (white) frame part. You are now looking at the back of the cluster PC board.
10. Take off the front lens/bezel assembly. It has lock tabs at the top and bottom to hold it to the white part. The top ones are easy with a small screw driver. The bottom ones are a bit of a bitch. Mild cursing helps.
11. The PC board is now being held in by the gauge needles. You have to remove all the needles even if you are only working one stepper motor. The guy who sold me the stepper motor provided directions to get the needles back on pointed to the right reading but I got it wrong. More later.
12. Twist each needle a little counter clockwise to break the bond between the needle and the stepper motor. Use the kitchen fork to lift off the needle. No need for a 10 ton porta-power.
13. The circuit board will now come out. Be REALLY SURE you pull the stepper motor you want to replace. Maybe mark it with a Sharpie.
14. There are 4 pins that come out of the back of the stepper motor and are soldered into the PC board. Take your now hot desoldering tool, squeeze the bulb while NOT pointed at the PC board. (We want suck, not blow.) Melt the solder and suck it up. Repeat for each of the 4 pins.
15. The motor should now be easy to pull off.
16. Put the new motor in its place. There are locator pins. Make sure it is flush against the PC board.
17. Take your soldering iron. Make sure the tip is clean and tinned. Solder each pin to the PC board. Heat the board pad and the wire; then let those parts melt the solder. Don’t try to melt the solder on the iron then try to dab it in. That doesn’t work.
18. Examine your solder joints carefully. They should be smooth and shiny, flowed onto the pad and the wire.
19. Unplug your soldering iron and desoldering tool. If you are lucky they will cool off before you accidentally grab the wrong end of one.
20. Place the PC board back in the middle (white plastic) frame. Put the back cover on, press the retainers down until they lock.
21. Replace the instrument needles. The guy that sold me the stepper motor recommended pushing the needle on pointing at mid scale, then twisting to the bottom of the scale. Try it, but this didn’t work out for me; maybe I didn’t understand correctly. Hence:
22. DO NOT PUT THE FRONT LENS PART ON YET. More later.
23. Put the cluster (less the front lens) back in the truck, with the cable plugged in. Don’t put in the screws yet.
24. Start the truck. Oh, shyte, no start. Oh, I’m in first gear. Neutral safety switch. Put it in park and really start it this time. Watch the gauges come to life. In my case some were reading really whack.
25. Shut off the truck. For each gauge that is not reading bottom of scale, pull the needle off and put it back in pointing at bottom of scale. Repeat this step a few times until you have it all right.
26. NOW put the front lens back on your cluster. You can do this with the back part of the cluster in the dash. Push until the locks click.
27. Put back the 4 retaining screws and the dash bezel.
28. Take the $500 you just saved and buy something you really wanted.

[wildcat86]

Is the stepper motor you put in the same model, item, number as the one that came out? I have read that there is a upgrade to these motors that does not give the same problem as the factory motors. If so, what is the number of the good motors and where to purchase.

[Bob T]

Originally Posted by wildcat86

Is the stepper motor you put in the same model, item, number as the one that came out? I have read that there is a upgrade to these motors that does not give the same problem as the factory motors. If so, what is the number of the good motors and where to purchase.

The new one I got looks the same as the old one. Same numbers printed on it.

[whizzo]

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/...placement.html
The updated stepper motor part # is X25 168 bad OEM # X C5 168
this is a super easy fix took about 45 min to replace 3 motors
speedo was stuck at 120+ MPH, tach was dead and oil pressure was pegged out. if your gonna replace one just go ahead and replace them all 10$ a pop, i did 3 and now my fuel gauge went out http://www.fullsizechevy.com/454ss/colby04.gif
longest part about this job was waiting for the soldering iron to heat up. wish i would have done this a long time ago, 04 tahoe Z71 hope this helps somebody.. instructions are in the link above.

mandigital <~~~~~ seller on ebay who sells the good ones.

WHIZZO

[triedel]

are there stepper motors on an 01? my speedo is stuck at 100+ with the truck off. and doesnt move when i start the truck.

[Bob T]

Originally Posted by triedel

are there stepper motors on an 01? my speedo is stuck at 100+ with the truck off. and doesnt move when i start the truck.

All the info. I have seen on stepper motors says '03 to '06. I haven't looked inside an '01, so I don't know what it uses.

[enine]

Anyone have a close up of the motors, I order from electronics suppliers often so I'd rather just buy them there than have to mess with ebay and probably get them cheaper anyway.

NM, found it http://www.microcomponents.ch/produc...ec/switec.html

I'll see if I can find a cross reference, maybe a different brand or something that might last longer.

[kgv4939]

I joined this forum for one reason, to thank Bob T for saving me $500. Thank you, Bob T! The instructions you provided made the entire process of replacing the stepper motors quick and easy - 45 minutes from start to getting the speedometer back in the Suburban and another 20 to tweak the gauge pointers. I set the speedometer pointer by comparing it to a GPS while driving.

Reference #10: a right-angle pick releases the tabs easily.

I replaced all six steppers for less than $45 (including the shipping) from digital dash solutions on ebay:

http://item.express.ebay.com/ws/eBay...EEOCA:US:13001

I took several dozen pictures during the process. I'll post some if there is interest....

vk

[Bob T]

Originally Posted by kgv4939

I joined this forum for one reason, to thank Bob T for saving me $500. Thank you, Bob T! The instructions you provided made the entire process of replacing the stepper motors quick and easy - 45 minutes from start to getting the speedometer back in the Suburban and another 20 to tweak the gauge pointers. I set the speedometer pointer by comparing it to a GPS while driving.

Reference #10: a right-angle pick releases the tabs easily.

I replaced all six steppers for less than $45 (including the shipping) from digital dash solutions on ebay:

http://item.express.ebay.com/ws/eBay...EEOCA:US:13001

I took several dozen pictures during the process. I'll post some if there is interest....

vk

You're welcome. Lots of good advice on other topics that I have taken advantage of. Please post your pics; I didn't take any with mine.

[kgv4939]

I finally got the chance to do another stepper motor replacement and so my gallery has some better pics to go along with Bob T's most excellent instructions:

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/...er-repair.html

Digital Dash Solutions sells a set of 6 X25168 stepper motors on e-bay for $28.80. I put the cluster back in the vehicle without the face plate and started the vehicle. Then I turned the ignition off and put the needles on at "zero." They all indicated perfectly when I test drove the vehicle. The face plate goes on easily with the cluster in the vehicle.

Here's a couple sample pics....

[NICKCLINE]

I'm planning to replace all my stepper motors but just one question.

Is the soldering really as difficult ad the Ebay sellers claim? I do some soldering on my RC crawler and am what I'd say a half-decent ametuer at it.

The guy who has the new stepper motors has big bold warnings saying it has to be done in a clean, static enviroment by a person with professional skills etc...Is it really that difficult to solder these on?

And on the subject of reseting the gauges. If you took a piece of masking tape and stuck it too the gauge cluster then marked where each gauge was pointing prior to removing the cluster couldn't you just replace the needle back to the same point? I'd think that would work for your fuel level, oil pressure, and trans/motor temp (as long as they were both cold when you started). The speedometer and RPM's is a different story. I guess for RPM's you could note where your idle is and replace it too that point. Speedometer would be easy right, if your in park you could just point the needle to 0mph....

Or am I just making this out to be way more difficult then it is?

[Bob T]

Originally Posted by NICKCLINE

I'm planning to replace all my stepper motors but just one question.

Is the soldering really as difficult ad the Ebay sellers claim? I do some soldering on my RC crawler and am what I'd say a half-decent ametuer at it.

The guy who has the new stepper motors has big bold warnings saying it has to be done in a clean, static enviroment by a person with professional skills etc...Is it really that difficult to solder these on?

And on the subject of reseting the gauges. If you took a piece of masking tape and stuck it too the gauge cluster then marked where each gauge was pointing prior to removing the cluster couldn't you just replace the needle back to the same point? I'd think that would work for your fuel level, oil pressure, and trans/motor temp (as long as they were both cold when you started). The speedometer and RPM's is a different story. I guess for RPM's you could note where your idle is and replace it too that point. Speedometer would be easy right, if your in park you could just point the needle to 0mph....

Or am I just making this out to be way more difficult then it is?

Is the soldering really as difficult ad the Ebay sellers claim? Not for me; but I was a well-trained Navy electronics tech for 8 years, with massive experience since then. I think a reasonably careful person shouldn't have much problem.

The guy who has the new stepper motors has big bold warnings saying it has to be done in a clean, static environment by a person with professional skills etc...I used my kitchen table and didn't use an anti-static wrist strap. Maybe I should have; but it worked for me.

On your idea for resetting the pointers - You don't know where the new stepper motors are pointing when you put them on the circuit board; they don't have anything to make them point to "zero." That is why I powered up the dash - the stepper motors stepped away to the zero position when I turned the key back off.

[enine]

Soldering is not difficult, any time you buy parts like that any seller will disclaimer because they don't want people trying to return items after melting them with their 120W gun or having somehting not work and try to pass the blame. If you can solder rc stuff then it won't be a problem.
I would start the truck and let it warm up for say 15 minutes so the temp and oil gauges are near center then take a picture with a digicam and print that out. then disassemble the dash, do the work and put the cluster back in with the glass off and start the truck and do the warm up for the same amount of time so the gauges are in the same place then put the needles back on in refernece to the picture.

[NICKCLINE]

thanks guys. I apprecaitte the feedback. I'll get some ordered and hopefully get my speedo fixed before my Memorial Weekend trip.

[neonhomer]

Something you can also do is if you have a programmer like a DiabloSport is to make a modification to the program, and then write it (like for example, adjust the speed limiter). After the PCM is written to, it will reset, including driving all the gauges to "0".

I wonder if the guys over at DiabloSport could throw in a reset IPC command for this purpose?

As for soldering, I haven't changed my stepper motors yet (my cluster is still under the 70k warranty), but I don't imagine it to be too hard. I have repaired instrument clusters before (replaced a few components on the cluster for my 94 Caravan), and it goes fairly easy. I use a 48w (I think) Weller soldering station (WTPCT or something like that) and a old solder sucker. Sometimes a little desoldering braid helps as well. Of course if you have a rework station, that makes life easier.

[suburban03tx]

I have my panel apart. Bought soldering iron from radio shack. I am having touble removing old motors. Solder does not appear to heat up enough to melt.

[barney68105]

Originally Posted by Bob T

Sorry – no pics. My son had my camera out of town on a Boy Scout event. When time permits I will take an hour and do pics for this article.
The pointers on the gauges in the instrument cluster are operated by stepper motors, which are driven by the cluster logic. For more info on stepper motors see the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor . The stepper motors are a common failure. My oil pressure gauge went erratic then stopped at the high end even with the engine off. A scan tool told me the sensor was working and the PCM knew the real oil pressure; this narrowed things down.

When this happens you have some choices:

1. The Dealer Man wanted over $500 for a new cluster with R&R and programming the cluster with vehicle mileage and engine hours.
2. There are some people advertising cluster repair on eBay. This requires pulling your cluster, shipping it, getting it repaired, then shipping it back. I have been told the truck will run fine without the cluster, but then you get to guess things like speed and what gear you are in.
3. Replace the bad stepper motor yourself. I got one on eBay for $15 plus shipping from charlieboats08.

Materials:
1. One or more stepper motors.
2. Fine rosin core solder

Tools:
1. Desoldering tool. There are several types. Some are “suckers” that you use with a soldering iron to pull the solder out of the joint. The one I used is from Radio Shack for about $11. It is a 45 watt soldering iron with a hole in the tip and a rubber sucker bulb.
2. Soldering iron. About 25 watts is good for this job.
3. 7 mm nut driver or equivalent.
4. A small flat blade screwdriver.
5. A kitchen fork. (yes, details later).

Procedure:
1. Set the parking brake. If it doesn’t work, block a wheel.
2. Turn the key on and pull the shift down to “1”. Chime goes “ding ding …”
3. Pull the tilt wheel all the way down.
4. Pull off the dash bezel. It uses spring retainers so pull it straight back.
5. Take out the 4 screws (7 mm head) that hold the cluster in.
6. Work the cluster back. Release the electrical connector at the top back of the cluster by releasing the retainer. Unplug the connector.
7. Remove the cluster. It’s a bit of a squeeze between the top of the dash and the shroud thing on the steering, but it will come out without breaking anything. Honest.
8. Take the cluster to your clean, well lit work space. Plug in the desoldering tool and soldering iron to heat up.
9. Take the back off the (black) cluster by using your small screw driver releasing the lock tabs that hold it to the (white) frame part. You are now looking at the back of the cluster PC board.
10. Take off the front lens/bezel assembly. It has lock tabs at the top and bottom to hold it to the white part. The top ones are easy with a small screw driver. The bottom ones are a bit of a bitch. Mild cursing helps.
11. The PC board is now being held in by the gauge needles. You have to remove all the needles even if you are only working one stepper motor. The guy who sold me the stepper motor provided directions to get the needles back on pointed to the right reading but I got it wrong. More later.
12. Twist each needle a little counter clockwise to break the bond between the needle and the stepper motor. Use the kitchen fork to lift off the needle. No need for a 10 ton porta-power.
13. The circuit board will now come out. Be REALLY SURE you pull the stepper motor you want to replace. Maybe mark it with a Sharpie.
14. There are 4 pins that come out of the back of the stepper motor and are soldered into the PC board. Take your now hot desoldering tool, squeeze the bulb while NOT pointed at the PC board. (We want suck, not blow.) Melt the solder and suck it up. Repeat for each of the 4 pins.
15. The motor should now be easy to pull off.
16. Put the new motor in its place. There are locator pins. Make sure it is flush against the PC board.
17. Take your soldering iron. Make sure the tip is clean and tinned. Solder each pin to the PC board. Heat the board pad and the wire; then let those parts melt the solder. Don’t try to melt the solder on the iron then try to dab it in. That doesn’t work.
18. Examine your solder joints carefully. They should be smooth and shiny, flowed onto the pad and the wire.
19. Unplug your soldering iron and desoldering tool. If you are lucky they will cool off before you accidentally grab the wrong end of one.
20. Place the PC board back in the middle (white plastic) frame. Put the back cover on, press the retainers down until they lock.
21. Replace the instrument needles. The guy that sold me the stepper motor recommended pushing the needle on pointing at mid scale, then twisting to the bottom of the scale. Try it, but this didn’t work out for me; maybe I didn’t understand correctly. Hence:
22. DO NOT PUT THE FRONT LENS PART ON YET. More later.
23. Put the cluster (less the front lens) back in the truck, with the cable plugged in. Don’t put in the screws yet.
24. Start the truck. Oh, shyte, no start. Oh, I’m in first gear. Neutral safety switch. Put it in park and really start it this time. Watch the gauges come to life. In my case some were reading really whack.
25. Shut off the truck. For each gauge that is not reading bottom of scale, pull the needle off and put it back in pointing at bottom of scale. Repeat this step a few times until you have it all right.
26. NOW put the front lens back on your cluster. You can do this with the back part of the cluster in the dash. Push until the locks click.
27. Put back the 4 retaining screws and the dash bezel.
28. Take the $500 you just saved and buy something you really wanted.

Hey Bob T I have a 2003 Suburban and the intru cluster has died. No dials works, computer display doesn't work. I use to hit a few times and it would come back on. Now I can't do that. I have even unplugged cluster to try and reset but that doesn't work either. My question is when the stepper motors fail.... is it likely that they all fail or if they do fail should your computer/milage still be displayed? Do I have a stepper problem or a circuit board problem or at short in my connection or harness wires?

thanks Barney

[Bob T]

Originally Posted by barney68105

Hey Bob T I have a 2003 Suburban and the intru cluster has died. No dials works, computer display doesn't work. I use to hit a few times and it would come back on. Now I can't do that. I have even unplugged cluster to try and reset but that doesn't work either. My question is when the stepper motors fail.... is it likely that they all fail or if they do fail should your computer/milage still be displayed? Do I have a stepper problem or a circuit board problem or at short in my connection or harness wires?

thanks Barney

I don't think that would be a stepper motor problem. Each stepper motor drives a "dial" - oil pressure, speedometer, etc. The stepper motors don't run the computer display and it is unlikely that ALL of them would fail at the same moment.

[pointman821]

Bob T, your main post is some of the best advice ive seen. excellent instructions and references. i just bought an 03 silverado Z71 and wouldnt you know it, the speedo started fluttering then stuck at 90 mph. i think im going to try your advice. i think however that ill change all the stepper motors in all guages with the updated ones, that way im through with it for good.thanks agian for your post.

[j20m715]

Thank you BobT for showing how easy this fix is.

Dealer wanted $600+ to fix (said truck in question was not
included in campaign).

I then found a company local to fix, poor customer service (more like lack of) & my short temper lead me to do it myself.

I have the cluster apart & stepper motors removed, waiting on
my new ones.


On a side note, has anyone relpaced any of the cluster bulbs ?