Hello, got a question for you guys out there with a Duramax. I have a 2005 Chevy Silverado with the Duramax engine. I got somewhere around 60,000 miles on it. I say somewhat because my instrument cluster has acted up and the local chevy dealer service techs said they have never heard or seen an issue like I have. I keep a log of EVERYTHING I do on my truck, even down to the simplest things. I usually have the mileage screen up on my cluster when driving, periodically I check the odometer. Last August I done a coolant change on my truck and had 58,994 miles, the last recorded mileage. I remember checking it once after by scrolling to that screen while driving and remembered seeing 59 thousand and some odd miles, don’t remember when and don’t remember the exact mileage. I don’t drive the vehicle a lot, I don’t drive it during the winter with the salty roads. Anyway, about 2 weeks ago I was at a local business and when I was coming home I thought I would check the odometer, it showed 860 miles. I thought what the heck happened, the odometer seems to be accumulating miles normally, the trip A and trip B functions, I have never used, but I remember they also had a bunch of miles on them, they are somehow reset and are about 6 miles less than the odometer. I went to a local chevy dealer and had it checked out by a service guy who tried to retrieve information from the vehicles computer pertaining to its actual mileage at the time, he wasn’t successful after numerous attempts. He plugged in an electronic device into the diagnostics terminal and he said that it should send the vehicles info to his desktop computer, it wouldn’t. The device had a flashing green light and he said once complete it should be a solid green light and the information would be on his desktop computer, it never went to a solid green light, it eventually turned to some sort of red symbol. He tried numerous times and said that this wasn’t right and he couldn’t understand. He said he has worked with Duramax’s for 20 years and never seen or heard anything like this. After this unsuccessful attempt I thought I would try another chevy dealership and the service technician said pretty much the same thing, and he contacted someone who had more extensive knowledge, 40 years worth, with vehicle computers and he said he also never seen or heard of anything like this. The second service technician mentioned that if the first chevy technician couldn’t retrieve the information that he couldn’t either because he would be using the same technique. I’m basically stuck with a vehicle showing 900 and some miles now that I can never trade in or even unlikely be able to sell if I want to. I’ve had numerous people want to buy it in the past, even though I wasn’t selling, because they know how I take care of it and it’s a very clean vehicle. The one service technician was surprised how clean it was, I told him no eating, no drinking, no side roads, and no wintertime driving is the reason. I have no intention of selling, but I would like an accurate legitimate odometer reading. The second dealership said it’s futile to stick $175 into trying to retrieve the information if the first dealership couldn’t because they would use the same technique, so I guess I’m at a standstill, nothing appears to be able to be done, and dealerships won’t go by my written and estimates of odometer readings for reset or insert it into the computer if possible. I can’t even get a new cluster and input the estimated mileage, I was told it has to be accurate. The vehicle acts and drives normally like nothing has happened, other than the odometer. Hopefully I’ve given all the necessary information, has anyone out there experienced this and have an answer for me? Thank you for any input.
Instrument cluster problem
- Thread starter RigOne
- Start date
I can't say I've ever heard of mileage resetting itself on these trucks, but I have seen the engine hour meter reset itself before. I suppose maybe the odometer could do that also, but I would have guessed it is a little more robust storage system than the engine hour meter due to the importance of that information. I would first of all check the batteries on the truck and make sure they are in excellent condition with good connections to the cables. That is what I have seen to cause the issues with the hour meter and could also cause some communication issues. If everything there checks out, the mileage can be reprogrammed if you have a good idea what it should be (sounds like you do). This can be done with a handheld device through the diagnostic port (if you can get your communication issues sorted out) or directly into the cluster via a bench harness. Most cluster repair shops can perform that service for you.
