Problems with 2004 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

2004 chevrolet surburban. the speedometer needle sticks. at first it only happened occasionally. a month later it is sticking at 0 miles per hour most of the time. many complaints to gm. they finally issued special policy but will not fix my vehicle because the odometer reads 79,216. this is a known defect on many gm models year 2003-2004. the dealership will not even discuss the issue. this is safety issue that gm should take care no matter the mileage of the vehicle. this vehicle is only four years old. the repair will cost between $800 - $1000 or more. *tr

Speedometer failure leading to hazardous operating conditions. in reviewing the internet, speedometer failures are problematic for chevrolet suburbans and the manufacturer refuses to acknowledge or repair the defect. *tr

Bought my 2004 chevy suburban in feb. 2008. it had 75,000 miles on it. drove it for a month and the speedometer would fluctuate 3-4 mph at highway speeds and the work fine for a week or so before acting up. at 92,000 miles speedometer went totally out, reading 0 one minute and bouncing to 120 the next. now it just sits on zero for most of the time. would not know if it ever read the correct mph if it wasn't for the gps. have not replaced anything yet. but will have to shortly because the texas safety inspection is due in november. i think this is why the previous owner traded it in and didn't tell any one. *tr

Started suddenly.. speedometer registering much greater speed(s) than actual speed. even off/parked registering in excess of 80 mph. rpm gauge was sticking on & off but all other gauges as of now seem to be functioning properly. *tr

Speedometer has not worked for over a year. the needle is always pinned. once in a while it will start at approximatelly 30mph at idle. local dealer advised approx. 500.00 to fix. *tr

2004 chevy suburban - about a year or two ago my speedometer started acting up. it would say i was doing 10 mph when i was on the highway or i could be going 30 or 35 and it would say i was going 110 mph. this went on for months before it finally just quit working. i have to drive with a gps just to know how fast i'm going. i have heard and read of many other cases exactly like this. seems to me this should be a recall for a defective speedometer. i don't have the $400 or $500 they want to fix it. *tr

My 2004 chevy suburban speedometer is malfunctioning, sometimes it works other times it does not move or is indicating the incorrect speed. *tr

Another 2004 chevrolet suburban speedometer failure. it went to 60mph when i was stopped, then past 120mph and stuck there. now is completely inoperable stuck at 120mph. *tr

I have been having problems on and off with speedometer for the last 4 or 5 months. thought it was a temperature related problem. today i called the dealer because it seems to be acting up more often. i was told it would be $500.00. then i found out that the warranty had been extended several years ago and i was never notified. i have spoke to haywood allen motor co. (5/28/08) and also chevrolet customer service and received sr #71-631086777 (5/8/08). still waiting for chevy dealer to call me back about extended coverage. *tr

While at highway speeds, the speedometer stuck and gradually faded to 0. it started working again once the vehicle had been shut off. *tr

Speedometer failure. speedometer shows 60mph when vehicle is in park, and higher speeds in drive. *tr

Speedometer failure. 30% of time, speedometer output is false. needle sticks in various positions that causes false reading. *tr

Speedometer began showing incorrect speed up to 100mph on rural highway and 20-30 mph while parked. stopped and turned vehicle off to attempt to reset but still incorrect speed registered. dealership had to replace instrument control panel. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet suburban 1500. the contact received a notice from the manufacturer stating that they were aware that some of their models were experiencing speedometer failure. they further stated that the repairs would not be free. shortly afterwards, the contact's speedometer failed and the dealer refused to repair it for free. she believes this is a safety issue and a manufacturer defect. the powertrain was unknown. the failure mileage was 84,000 and current mileage was 89,000.

Defective speedometer - 2004 chevy suburban. *jb

2004 suburban speedometer malfunction. unable to determine speed. it appears to be a common occurrence with gm refusing to fix. *jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet suburban 1500. while towing a u-haul trailer at 75 mph, the vehicle completely shut off without warning. the vehicle coasted to the right lane and failed to restart in the neutral position. the vehicle had to be physically shut off in order to restart. the contact filed complaint number 71-547942923 with chevrolet. the current and failure mileages were 54,000.

Electrical components are not working. odometer, fuel gauge, oil gauge, battery gauge, temperature gauge do not work - the only gauge that does work is the speedometer. looking at all the complaints, i should assume the speedometer will be going out. the temperature gauge could be very dangerous - it reads 250 - 260 all the time. you do not know if your are running hot or not. the gas gauge needle is totally upset down - we have to go off our "how many miles 'til we run out go gas" screen to determine how much gas we have. i've replaced the power steering pump - $775, the chip for the gas pedal (when out - you could not go any faster than 10 miles per hour $800), the driver side leather seat started to wear down @ 40,000 miles - now has a tear in it, the steering column makes a knocking noise, the dash makes a popping noise when the air conditioner is on, front seem to wear down fast, etc. i could go on, but.......... it seems i got a lemon. this was a $47,000 sticker priced car - you would think you wouldn't have this many problems. there seems to be a lot of complaints on instrument panel problems - seems chev should look into this - dangerous. these are family - children vehicles!!! *tr

Speedometer fluttering\sticking recall came out after my vehicle was beyond the warranty mileage. *tr

I have a 2004 chevrolet suburban and the speedometer has begun to show an erratic behavior. when i am going 55 mph the speedometer may show 120 mph and it does not reset itself to 0 mph at a stop. *jb

2004 chevy suburban speedometer failure. first had erratic behavior of speedometer, it just dropped out eventually going to zero while traveling down the interstate highway. i spoke with a dealer, they said it was a common problem that cost about $700 to repair. the vehicle was just out of warranty. as i can gage speed off the tachometer, i've waited a year to address it hoping for a recall. in the mean time the speedometer has quit working all together. my wife normally drives this vehicle and does not have the same feel for gauging speed from the tachometer. she is concerned about safety of traveling cross country by herself and is demanding that i fix it. reading up on the issue on the internet i was referred to this site. it appears that there are many people with the same problem. certainly gm should make a reliable product. failure on gm's part to recognize the problem will at a minimum result in loss of customers, i would hate to see it result in loss of life from drivers, unaware of their speed, ending up in a fatal accident. if gm will not respond to this safety issue maybe you will. *jb

I have a 2004 chevrolet suburban lt with approximately 48,000 miles and my speedometer has begun to malfunction. at time it increases in a stepwise manner and other times, it does not show my speed at all. one time i was going with traffic and estimated my speed to be ~ 60 mph along with the traffic, my speedometer read 35 mph. i took it in to the dealer and i was told it may take 2-3 days for repair and ~ $600. i would think a speedometer should work for at least 100,000 miles or more. in checking, i see there have been many such failures and feel that the consumer should not be held accountable for such failures. have there been any recalls on this problem? if so, how do i file my complaint? *nm

I own a 2004 chevrolet suburban z71. during the past week, the speedometer has been registering erratic speeds while driving at a constant pace. today, the speedometer quit working altogether. the vehicle has only 59,450 miles on it, and has not been used in any off road excursions. not having an accurate speed reading while driving a vehicle of this size is a significant safety issue to the driver and passengers of this vehicle, and other vehicles on the roadway. i understand this is a fairly common issue with this make, model, and year vehicle. as such, i believe the manufacturer needs to enter into a safety recall to fix this issue. *jb

Erratic to none speedometer operation, no repairs made as of now, researching problem, found to be pretty wide spread on gm suv's and trucks. *tr

I would like to raise a complaint regarding the instrument cluster on my 2004 chevrolet suburban. the speedometer reading has become erratic and never reports the proper speed. at times it may be 0, at others it may be 120 mph, and at other times just all over the place. this has become a real safety issue when driving alone on a road or in visibly impaired conditions since you just have no reference to know how fast you are traveling. after conducting searches on my own, this is apparently a rampant problem during these year's gm models. the dealer wants approximately $500 to fix it and this just seems very unfair for a $40,000 3 year old vehicle. since this appears to be a very common problem, i would like to urge chevrolet to step up and recall vehicles for this issue so that we can have it fixed. thank you, debra troiano. *nm

I was driving on an icy road outside of chicago when i almost lost control of my vehicle due to speed creep this was caused by the speedometer of the vehicle failing and sticking at 37 mph. i estimate that when i skidded out that i was most likely going over 50 mph. i've had multiple problems where the speedometer has stuck afterward, but was able to avoid similar incidences because i realized their could be a problem. i am driving a 2004 chevrolet suburban. this is not a safe situation. if there were other traffic, structures, or pedestrians around property may have been damaged and people may have been injured or killed. it is not an isolated incident either. if you go to www.topix.net you can read 380 postings of people having the same problems. just type in suburban speedometer stuck. *nm

Speedometer register greatly incorrect speed (off by 20 to 30 mph). *tr

Speedometer is erratic and inaccurate. very dangerous! *nm

At 35000 miles the speedometer would make a ticking noise and start moving with a notchy motion. when driving it could read 40-75 mph while doing less than 10 mph. at 60+ mph it could read 100+ mph. after multiple restarts the speedometer would return to 0. the problem seemed like it would worsen when the temperature was colder, but it could be coinsidence. took the vehicle into the chevrolet dealer where it was diagnosed as having a faulty guage cluster and replaced under warranty. while in the dealer there were 2 other people with similar trucks having the same thing replaced. now i see online that this is common with nearly every suburban and chevrolet/gmc truck in model years 2004-2005. this should be a recalled part and could be a make for a costly/dangerous drive for someone.

Speedometer and oil pressure starting displaying erratic reading any where from 0-120+ and oil psi of 0 to pegging gage. after research of dealers and repair facilities data confirmed this is a know defect and caused by defective stepper motors. setting cruise control hamper this defect by not knowing what actual speed is when engaging cruise control. also have second vehicle that just started with same issues today 12-22-06. 2004 gmc yukon xl

2004 chevy suburban- speedometer and oil psi gauges read erratic. speedometer can read zero one minute and 120 another, very erratic. oil pressure gage reads 0-80 at any time. many documented cases but no recall on defective stepper motors. internet shows many repairs being made on theses clusters replacing defective stepper motors. dealer repair to replace defective cluster $400 *nm

Defect horns in 2004 chevy suburban 1500, we had to replace it 2 times and others are having the same problems. *tr

The speedometer fails in my 2004 chevy suburban, the speedometer bounces between speeds and sticks at any given speed. no real solution other than replace the instrument panel . gm takes no liability for the problem. (9 others in the area have the same problem. *jb

Speedometer failure. the speedometer goes from 0-120 in a matter of a few seconds and back down. i cannot tell how fast i am going. there are hundreds of similar incidences found on the internet. i haven't heard of any real issues, but i could see it happening if you were not with other traffic to verify your speed.