Problems with 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet avalanche 1500. while driving at any speed, the speedometer is slow to react to the change in speed. it would also remain at a speed and then jump to another or display a lower speed with the cruise control activated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not serviced. the current mileage was 110,000 and failure mileage was 75,000.

2003 chevy avalanche speedometer fails. fuel gauge fails. no way to know how fast you are going. don't know how much fuel is in vehicle. have to reset system numerous times throughout the year. dealer quoted $700.00 plus to fix. problem started soon after warranty expired. too many failure instances to recall accurately. *tr

Speedometer displays erroneous speeds. most of the time less than what the vehicle is actually traveling which creates a public safety hazard. there is no indication to the driver of a problem. all other indications are normal. it was not until a gps with speed indicating capability was installed in the vehicle that the erroneous speedometer indication was known. further investigation reveals the speedometer operates correctly until the dash/instrument panel heats up. at this point the indicated speed can gradually vary, sometimes drastically from actual vehicle speed unknowing to the driver. after reviewing the nhtsa site, this does not appear to be an isolated incident and because of the public safety implication of a speeding vehicle, at the minimum i recommend a notice be sent to all current owners of this type of vehicle advising them this condition may be present or occur in the future. this vehicle is currently awaiting repair parts.

The cluster which provides for the temperature gauge and speedometer went out, and washington and oregon had recalls on this, but not california, and i would like to know why in those states and not california. *ak

My 2003 chevy avalanche speedometer with 49,000 miles has stopped working. it either sticks at 40mph or registers 0.

Instrument cluster went bad at about 50,000 miles speedometer gives false reading. *jb

Speedometer showing 50 mph at a complete stop. inaccurate speed indication. vehicle has 54634 miles on it. *jb

My speedometer in my 2003 chevy avalanche is very erratic. it sticks, it says that i am going 40 to 50 mph higher than i am and sometimes it works just fine. i have read about over 400 other owners of gm trucks with the same problem. *nm

2003 chevy avalanche where speedometer just quit and is now pegged at 120 mph when parked. this is a safety issue because really have no idea of what speed i am going. based on many other gm owners i know that have had this problem, gm needs to put a recall on the instrument cluster. two people i know have had it quoted as a $600 fix. this is insane. *jb

The speedometer does not work right. there was a recall on this from chevrolet, however, it was only for vehicles with less than 70000 miles. we had taken our vehicle in to get fixed and our warrant would not cover this. this is a safety issue. you do not know how fast you are going as the speedometer is over 120 miles. *tr

Speedometer failure, it registers the wrong speed all the time.

Speedometer reads incorrect or not at all. *jb

Speedometer failure on a 2003 chevy avalanche. the speedometer is pegged out at top speed at a constant. occasionally it will bounce around, but it is never accurate. *jb

Speedometer and fuel gauges not functioning correctly. *jb

In light of the recent information concerning gm's intentional withholding of problems with the ignition switch in certain gm vehicles, i feel compelled to share my story. i do see other complaints filed here concerning the same issue. in october 2003, i purchased a new 2003 chevrolet avalanche 1500. the vehicle had 5,500 demo miles on the odometer. i drove many miles for work and for transporting hockey kids to practice, games, tournaments, etc. in december 2006 i already had 80,000+ miles on the vehicle and the speedometer, gas gauge (causing me to run out of gas in the middle of the night!), oil gauge, battery voltmeter, rpms, which are all components of an electrical cluster began failing. i contacted my gm dealer and was told that a 'silent recall' had been issued to dealers stating that if a vehicle with less than 3 years and under 70,000 miles was brought in, the dealer should fix the item as a warranty repair. since my vehicle was 2 mos over the 3 yr and over the 70,000 miles, i was denied a warranty repair and quoted $700.00 to fix the part. since that date, my son's chevrolet vehicle had the same problem! and, in 2009 a friend's brand new denali with less than 10,000 miles had the same problem. i have never fixed the problem due to cost and disagreement with gm. i wrote the corporate office and got nowhere. i don't see how a safety issue like this can be allowed to continue to happen nor how gm can know about the problem but not tell owners of the vehicle and/or future possible buyers of the vehicle. oh wait, yea gm doesn't say anything because consumers might take their business elsewhere! i simply wanted to gm to fix the problem, that was obviously known about, but rather, gm simply keeps putting the same bad component in future vehicles!! *tr

Speedometer is very erratic. when i am at a dead stop the speedometer says 70 mph and it tops out at 120 mph when i am doing only 30 mph. *jb

2003 chevy avalanche - 48k miles. while driving, the speedometer "ticks" somewhat like a watch and does not measure accurate speed. the speedometer will slowly reduce to zero, even though the vehicle is still moving. *nm

2003 chevrolet avalanche; my speedometer suddenly quit working. the readings are crazy, showing that i am going over 100 mph when i am only going about 50 mph. at one stop sign, the speedometer insisted i was going 120 mph! this situation is dangerous. *nm

Speedometer failure on our 2003 chevrolet avalanche at 43,000 miles. speed does not register whatsoever or displays,for example, 20 mph when traveling in excess of 60 mph. it is a dangerous situation; a distraction and not knowing one's rate of travel. gm should address this problem. *jb

The speedometer on my 2003 avalanche went out. it registers up to 120 mph sitting still. the tachometer recently went out, also. very dangerous for my wife (who drives the vehicle) and my children. i have seen hundreds of similar complaints on the internet. why is there no recall? *jb

Speedometer reads erratically. yesterday "0" was 30 mph. each time i start the vehicle "0" is something different. *nm

I have a 2003 chevy avalanche the speedometer show when i am at a full stop it is going 30mph. i have no way of knowing how fast i am going. i only have 50,000 miles. *nm

Speedometer malfunctions. sticks at different speeds... +10 mph, +30 mph, +60 mph etc. will reset itself after various amounts of times. minutes to days later. *nm

2003 chevy avalanche z66 speedometer failure, seems like a very common problem and should be addressed by the manufacturer with recall. *nm

Speedometer not indicating speed, will stay stuck on number and do not move even when vehicle its off. *jb

2003 chevrolet avalanche, z71 package. the speedometer on the vehicle sporadically stops working or sticks on a particular speed. the dial is not accurate and i cannot tell how fast i am going. *nm

Defect speedometer. the speedo records 100 mph at 20 mph. does not return to zero. *tr

Key ignition switch is loose and car will shut off while operating, key can be pulled out of ignition while running. if vehicle shuts off while operating then you loose control of brakes, steering, and electrical systems. gm is denying there is a problem. my vehicle is proof that the problem exists and the chevy avalanche 2003 has a problem. *tr

The rpm gauge and speedometer is constantly malfunctioning on my 2003 avalanche. so that i don't know how many rpms i'm turning or how fast i'm going. we had the same problem at work with all of our 2003 and 2004 cheverolet pick-ups. they were all fixed by the cheverolet dealership where they were purchased because they were all purchased there, but since i am an individual i can't get any service! *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet avalanche 1500. the contact stated that the instrument panel cluster was defective. he received a letter from the chevrolet dealer that stated his vehicle had a defective component (the cluster), which could cause the meters to malfunction and display inaccurate readings. the contact stated that he would be driving 10 mph and the speedometer would display 100 mph. the oil meter within the cluster also malfunctioned. the dealer set a mileage stipulation and stated that the vehicle would not be replaced if the mileage was out of the warranty limit. the purchase date was unknown. the current mileage was 111,833 and failure mileage was 92,152.

The speedometer on my 2003 avalanche went bad. it would work for a while and then would fail to show the true speed, usually recording 10-20 mph when i was going 70. this was a daily occurrence. i finally had it replaced in feb, 2006. it started in december, 2005. *jb