Problems with 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The speedometer sticks, making it impossible for me to tell how fast i am going. *jb

Speedometer on 2003 silverado failed while driving to work. glanced down at the instrument panel and noticed that i was traveling 120 mph in a school zone!!!!....obviously an error. the speedo needle is gittery and the instrument panel flickers. i'm gravely concerned that i no longer know how fast/slow i'm driving. this is a safety issue and must be addressed/resolved. *nm

Speedometer is reading 20 or 40 or 120 or 70 no matter if you are sitting still, going 50. it does not matter the speedometer is all over the place. *nm

The speedometer on my 2003 chevy silverado has quit working properly. the speedometer needle is stuck on 120 mph. *nm

The speedometer work sometime,oil cluster needle not working. it was a recall but you had to be under like 70 thousand mile to get the service free and i was over the mileage. this is a defect and i should not have to pay because my truck was over 70 thousand miles. *tr

2003 chevy silverado, 56,8000 miles. speedometer was tacking at 50 mph. is now working backwards from 140 mph going only as far as 80 mph. called dealer, said no recall. said it would cost $600 to replace "bundle". just went through many of the same complaints and i believe gm should step up! *nm

The speedometer on my 03 chevrolet silverado randomly sticks. right now it is stuck at 80 mph and the truck is stationary and is not even started. this causes my speed to display wrong and i must use simple arithmetic to figure out how fast i'm going. however, at this point, i can only use that arithmetic to determine up to 40 mph as my speedometer only measures up to 120. after that, i don't know how fast i'm going. this is the fourth time this has happened -- it seems to eventually fix itself only to happen again. in checking internet chat rooms, this seems to be a common occurrence for chevy/gm vehicles in that production year. why has this been allowed to continue without a recall? my car is due for inspection. i can only hope that i get the speedometer back to 0 to have this inspection done as i don't have time to get the repair done nor do i feel i should have to spend a dime on something that is obviously a manufacturing problem. please do your job and issue a recall. otherwise, it's back to buying foreign vehicles! *nm

Chevy truck bad speedometer. *tr

Erratic and inaccurate speedometer readings on 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500. *jb

2003 chevrolet z-71 ext. cab, 4.8 liter, auto trans. ls model. just turned 50,000 miles on 11-13-2006 and speedometer is erratic and inaccurate! unacceptable and unsafe. i have read over 200 of the same cases with the same type of vehicle. speedometer reads 100 when traveling at 60 mph. when in park speedometer reads over 35 mph. this safety issue needs to be recalled! *nm

2003 chevrolet silverado speedometer sticks at speeds over 40 mph. when the vehicle slows down, the speedometer develops an "offset zero." i realized the problem had occurred slowing to a stop light. the most dire consequence was slowing to turn after realizing the problem had occurred and having no reliable gauge as to my turning speed. i never realized how much i refer to my speedometer while slowing until i almost missed my turn entirely because of this failure. i have since had the digital instrument panel cluster repaired at a cost of $200, by a non-gm technician. *jb

The speedometer on my 2003 chevrolet silverado malfunctions from time to time. after having been driven for and hour or so it will register the speed at which it would remain at the most, for instance if i had been traveling at 70 mph and came to a dead stop it would still register 70 mph. also when it does not stick it will act like it is trying to stick and drop five or so miles at a time instead of decreasing at a steady pace. when this failure occurs there is no way for me to determine my speed. *nm

Purchased new in 2003, chevy sivlerado 1500, at 40,000 miles, passenger side heated mirror cracked and both heated mirrors no longer work. at about 88,000 miles speedometer is jumping and sticking, will not return to zero, cannot read true speed. this has been going on for months now. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 10 mph on dirt road and asphalt, the front end of the vehicle shook and pulled to the left. this was accompanied by a clunking sound from under the front end. during this incident, the instrument panel displayed incorrect information on every gauge. the transmission would not shift properly,either. the vehicle became locked in second gear, and was unable to be shifted out. finally, the brakes on the vehicle were spongy, causing an extended stopping distance from any speed. the vehicle was taken to a service dealer where it awaits a diagnosis.

Dt*: the contact stated, on july 14, 2006 the battery failed and leaked sulfuric acid onto the garage floor. to repair the problem, the dealer replaced the battery.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet silverado 1500. the contact stated that the speedometer displayed an inaccurate reading of 180 mph while driving at lower speeds. the failure was intermittent and progressed whenever the vehicle was in motion. the contact was able to determine the speed rate with the tachometer and gps navigational system. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the instrument cluster needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not made aware of the defect. the approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

Tachometer and speedometer needles swept full range and engine lost all power while driving on a highway. if this happens in a intersection during a start or while yielding, i fear an accident. no repair has been done because the power came back. it has not happened again. *nm

Speedometer is no longer accurate. i have read many posts for people with the similar type of vehicle 2003 chevrolet silverado and 2003 gmc yukons with the exact same problem. the speedometer locks up and displays speeds at least 20-30 mph over, then sometimes registers 0 mph when traveling highway speeds. i have to resort to using a portable gps for my speed detection. this apparently is a widespread problem with gm vehicles, it is a costly fix, and gm refuses to issue a recall. as this is a very dangerous situation to be in, please look at requiring gm to issue a recall. thank you. *nm

Speedometer gauge is not reading the correct speed and jumps all over the place. this can cause me to have a accident because i am unable to tell what speed i am traveling. *jb

The speedo slowly quit working. asked several service agents and dealers and they were unaware of the way to correct the problem other than by restarting the vehicle over and over until it forced the speedo back into zero placement, but now that does not work and the speedo does not work at all. all other gauges work fine. *tr

I have a 2003 chevrolet silverado that the speedometer indicated 120+mph when going 65 mph. when stopped it indicated 60 mph. dealer replaced cluster unit to resolve problem. *jb

Speedometer not work infect will show that truck (2003 silverado 1500) is traveling at 100 miles an hour while it stop. it fail all of a sudden with no warning and could cause an accident not to mention all the speeding tickets due to the speedometer not working. dealer sates that i the owner have to pay to repair for a price of 350.00 dollars . no recalls have been sent and have asked other owners if the same problems have occurred and all have said yes. this occurred after an amount of 100,000 miles have been driven on truck. *jb

I was driving down the road and started slowing down. while i was slowing down my speedometer wouldn't show my speed it just stuck at 60 mph. when i went to speed up the speedometer would speed up also speedometer would read 65 when really i was only going 5 mph. pulled the truck over and shut the engine down the restarted it until the speedometer was at 0 mph. then pulled back on the hwy, while speeding up to the traffic the speedometer would read 0 mph. took the truck to the dealer i bought it from and they told me that they were having problems whit other trucks like mine. the mechanic hooked up a tester and told me he didn't see any problem. after leaving the dealership the speedometer worked perfectly, for about 3 days now since then it is a guessing game weather or not the speedometer is telling me the right speed or if it is wrong. so i have been using my gps for the past few moths. i have talked to other people about this problem and also to chevy. chevy has quoted me anywhere from 600-1000 dollars to fix this problem. and others i have talked to have stated that it has cost them about that much also.

My speedometer goes in and out. typically doesn't work in the morning when it is cold. sometimes will be working fine then stops and stays where it was when it stopped working. i was told it is the gauge cluster that needs to be replaced. *nm

I have a 1500 chevy, silverado. i was notified by ?? because the dealership i purchased the vehicle from has closed. the recall stated a problem with the instrument panel cluster. but, because we had more than 70,000 miles it was not covered. we had to pay over $300.00. we were not notified in a timely manner and should be reimbursed. in 2006 when the odometer and the temp gauges was sticking we did not have 70,000 miles. the air bag light is still stuck since 2006. *tr

Speedometer intermittent. most of the time indicates 120 mph. *jb

Speedometer cluster does not work. *nm

My speedometer stop working. i received a letter on 1/9/2008 saying that there is a problem with the dash cluster in 2003 chevrolet trucks and if your vehicle had 70,000 or less miles they would replace it. my truck has 100,000 miles, but the dash had stop working before it reached 70,000 miles. i called gm and was told that they would not fix it. *tr

Steering clunks on turns. dealer replaced intermediate steering shaft under warranty per tsb. problem resurfaced on 09/29/2006 at 44,045 miles. dealer repaired under extended warranty . problem showed up again on 06/17/2007 at 54, 451 miles. dealer wanted $280 for the job. have not repaired. the problem is now worse at 84,618 miles. problem # 2 stop light sockets heat up and loose contact to the bulb. dealer wants around $75 for each of the two sockets required. problem #3 received notice from gmac stating there may be an instrument cluster problem. don't come to the dealer unless you are experiencing the problem. gm extended the warranty to 7 years or 70,000 miles. naturally, my gauges failed at 79,000 and 7 years and 10 months. dealer wants over $400 for parts alone. updated 07/05/11 *bf updated 02/03/12

My 2003, 1500 chevy silverado z71 speedometer is giving me trouble. it gets stuck at one speed as i continue to accelerate. and vise versa, it gets stuck as i decelerate. some times it will get stuck and not move at all. lots of forums i read have hundreds of others with same problem. why won't they recall this item. *tr

On december 21, 2008, my speedometer began to malfunction. the speedometer can intermittently read anything from "zero" (when i am actually doing more than 50 mph) to 110 (when i am actually doing about 60 mph). when the symptoms began to occur, i called my local gm dealer to see about repairs, and i was told my vehicle was "outside of the repair window" for the courtesy repair, and when i asked how much it would cost to repair it on my own, i was told "about $500". since the problem is (so far) very intermittent and unpredictable, and since i don't happen to have a spare $500 to spend on a serious safety problem which gm has apparently known about for some time and refuses to address beyond a very limited scope, i elected to "wait and see". but in the meantime, i have no accurate speedometer reading, and must attempt to gauge my speed by that of the other vehicles surrounding me at any given time. this is hardly an acceptable situation. i have owned many vehicles over my lifetime (i am 60 years old), and i have never had any with instrument cluster failures. *tr

Speedometer wither freezes or registers greater or lesser than i am driving reported this to the dealer ship where they gave me the advise to shut the vehicle off and it would reset itself. this worked several times, sometimes taking several restarts to accomplish. now i get the recall notice and because ai have driven my vehicle over 70k/5years, which ever comes first they will not repair this. it will cost approx. $450 to fix it. if this is a recall why are they not taking care of it. it takes several years and many complaints to get something recalled. that means that this has been going on for several years. this is bull, it is a design defect and should be replaced at their cost. gm refuses as does my local dealership. my my vehicle has been maintained by them, i must have spent thousands over the last 5 years in bringing it to them for required servicing. why did they never check this ? their comment was, "well, if you never bought it in to be fixed why should it be fixed now" i didn't bring it in because the service manager said he had the same problem with his vehicle and that shutting it off would reset it. oh, they would fix it if it were considered a safety problem. well, if i am traveling at an unsafe speed because i am going according to my speedometer, then that is a safety problem. only in this case, they get to determine what is a safety problem and what is not.. *tr

Just received a letter in the mail about the problem with the speedometer cluster today, i thought it was strange i've never had an issue with this at all until the letter arrived in the mail 10/24/2007 well today my cluster went out !!! speedometer, oil,pressure, gas, amp, temp, mileage as well all quit ! kind of makes me wonder if it was shut down via satellite or radio wave... my understanding is that i now have a extended coverage on this 70k miles or 7 years i plan to take mine back to the dealership. asap it's failed twice it did come back up after 20 min. of driving then went back out. *jb

We had an electric malfunction in our steering column. the starter had the insulation on the wire was rubbed through enough too short out and cause it to began to smoke. the entire truck system shutdown. the ignition and the key was hot to touch when we touch it to take it out. *la

1 six months after the purchase of my 2003 chevrolet silverado my speedometer stopped working and would get stuck. speedometer was reading 65 i was really going 75 according to the arizona highway patrol i was given a warning since the officer saw that my speedometer had stayed stuck at 65 even when i had already turned off my vehicle. instrument cluster was replaced my vehicle is no longer under warranty anymore and my speedometer has failed again. *tr

After only 40,000 miles speedometer is erratic at best, if it works at all. sometimes reads 120 mph while stopped or 0 mph while on the highway. i have read literally hundreds of complaints on various websites of other victims with this very dangerous problem. i was quoted $450-$600 to repair speedometer. also, there is no option to purchase replacement parts to fix myself. gm obviously knows about this problem yet continues to ignore it. i can only assume gm is waiting for the death toll to reach an adequate number before they will respond with a recall or satisfactory fix. how many deaths will it take? what's the magic number? i would like to think zero! *cn