This is it... were we right or wrong? Also let's make a call to the experts and find out what the heck happen to these clusters and why they kill the battery on these Chevy trucks.
Interested in stuff seen in the videos or the tools and toys Eric O. likes and uses? Check out the **ALL NEW** SMA A-Store and help support the channel! : http://astore.amazon.com/httpswwwy0837-20
If an SMA Video has helped you out please consider giving using the "support" link on our YouTube home page. The videos take real time to create and pull us away from real work that pays our bills.
THANKS!
--Eric O.
WANT AN "SMA" STICKER OF YOUR OWN!?!
Simply send and E-mail to SMAstickers @outlook.com including: your shipping address and e-mail address in the text, I in turn will send you a paypal invoice for $5 each USA or $6 each international. Let me know how many you want and as soon as the paypal invoice is paid I will ship them out ASAP! Thanks for your support of our channel!!
--Eric & Vanessa O.
Feel like sending some swag to SMA because you love the videos but don't know where to send it?
Just ship it here:
South Main Auto Repair
47 S. Main St
PO Box 471
Avoca, NY 14809
Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. South Main Auto Repair assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. South Main Auto Repair recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not South Main Auto Repair.
Interested in stuff seen in the videos or the tools and toys Eric O. likes and uses? Check out the **ALL NEW** SMA A-Store and help support the channel! : http://astore.amazon.com/httpswwwy0837-20
If an SMA Video has helped you out please consider giving using the "support" link on our YouTube home page. The videos take real time to create and pull us away from real work that pays our bills.
THANKS!
--Eric O.
WANT AN "SMA" STICKER OF YOUR OWN!?!
Simply send and E-mail to SMAstickers @outlook.com including: your shipping address and e-mail address in the text, I in turn will send you a paypal invoice for $5 each USA or $6 each international. Let me know how many you want and as soon as the paypal invoice is paid I will ship them out ASAP! Thanks for your support of our channel!!
--Eric & Vanessa O.
Feel like sending some swag to SMA because you love the videos but don't know where to send it?
Just ship it here:
South Main Auto Repair
47 S. Main St
PO Box 471
Avoca, NY 14809
Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. South Main Auto Repair assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. South Main Auto Repair recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not South Main Auto Repair.
Great channel! I would be curious to know your background (mechanical? electrical?) prior to becoming a mechanic. Are you self taught and have learned electrical from years of experience or did you have any training in electrical outside of trial and error? I subscribed to follow your journey.
Thank you Eric for the great video. Well explained and informative. I have a draw and the garage removed my seat fuse on my 2002 GMC Sierra pickup and that worked. Also my cluster panel does not work at all ..no park no mileage.etc. I have emailed United Auto to see if they can repair my cluster. I live in Kingston On. So we will see. Thanks again . Great job.
My 95 gmc Sonoma has that problem after about three days of sitting it won't start. Nothing plugged in replaced the battery 3 times so I'm sure it's not the battery. Guess this is worth checking I have to replace a bulb in the cluster anyways
Have the same issue in UPS plants, we call it tin wishers, they grow on the circuit boards.
Watching video due to same issue on my truck,. reading thru the comments posted about the new type of solder , how do people turn an issue like this into a discussion about protecting ourselves from harmful things we come in contact everyday, these people probably love mold in their house , Lead in their drinking water,
I really appreciate you and your videos i have learned so much!
Great video, thank you for sharing the info.
The easiest video that has helped me come remotely close to trying to find mine on my own. Thank you
Having the same problem with my 2007 Cadillac escalade still trying to figure it out just been to dam cold outside
A big thank you to you for solving my dead battery and no light on my 04 Chevy Silverado dash panel problem. It's all fixed and working perfectly… thanks to you and your video.
off the charts awesome video…you rock Eric
Great video brother I’m a new subscriber now!!!
Excellent video!!!! Thank you so much. I just subscribed.
Well it's a little bit late, but let me thank you a whole bunch! I fixed my own cluster about 5 years ago when I bought my 2004 2WD suburban. I bought the kit and it went pretty well. But my battery started going dead this year…I measured 1.3mV across the fuse, took the cluster out today and found that it said C+ on it…just like yours…I disassembled it and found the little black spots like your guy talked about. I Cleaned it with CRC electronic cleaner and a gentle brushing on both sides. Measures 0 mV😀😀 now. will check periodically to be sure. It has to come out again when it warms up as Spedo and tach are off a little. I knew it was a junk-yard unit…being that the records say trans rebuilt at 300K miles. Says 173K now and I bought with 90K. I have not replaced the plugs and I don't see any records of that. Have done water pump, rear main seal, and intake gasket.
Great video
I emailed UR as i watched this video, i need my cluster repaired as well
Was the cluster draining the battery while the truck was parked?
Great job ! Pulled that fuse and a noise I could hear ( fast clicking )stopped . Now to remove and send off for repair .
I enjoy watching your videos …knowledge is king.
Like your video self-explanatory I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado instrument clusters blinking blinking going off battery dies I'll give these guys a call
Bro thank you thank you thank you this helped me so much I sent my cluster to United radio and they are repairing it
Thank again
Lmao!!!! Classic automotive move = did i just say classic reach around on my channel sh*@ totally unprofessional allow me to reiterate so you know i meant the autonotive reach around… Ots all good south main. You kick ass anyway nobody here offended.:)
No lead solder = tin whiskers. It's a cancer and affects all kinds of modern electronics.
Ur the man!
So, is it just GM trucks with this silver migration problem with the instrument cluster, or does it go across the board with all GM products?
Awesome man thanks
This was very educational – thank you
👍
Wow! I was wondering why every Chevy truck that came to the M&M U – pull it boneyard in Buffalo had the instrument cluster stripped out almost immediately. Seemed to be a hot item. Now I know why…..
Thanks for sharing
Way to go Eric on the phone call
We are all happy and no jump starts any more.
Had a bad battery cable shorting out on the battery tray. Same issue intermittent draw.
Great video! Really informative, and confirming with the shop on silver migration was the deal! Thanks for your work and the video !!
Super impressed…nice work.
Great video looking up chevy truck parasitic draws is how i found this channel
My donar truck kills a new battery over night none of the guages worked
Swapped the cluster out of anouther parts truck i can leave the battery hooked up and use it as a yard truck until i get ready to swap the motor into my 68 c10 thanks
Best repair video ever !
Almost destroys bezel when putting back on….ok not destroy but the 03 savanna and 96 Tahoe and 02 escalade of mine,all were broke right at the bottom of the bezel the thin part. I'm not a doctor. Clearly Eric is cuz he has patience….:)
LEDs sound nice but they are too bright and I regret having that done.
I have this same problem in my GMC. Thank you very much for this video!!!
The Migration part I'm familiar with. It's the Electronics technician nightmare of today. Sometimes that migration can bridge different layers of boards and all you can do is toss the board. I've seen pictures of the solder migration and it's grows like an icicle on a frosty window pane. OH, and one thing I should mention. The migration can come back so any fix might not be permanent.
Eric, you are living proof that mechanical/electrical genius is truly an amazing and unusual gift. Thank you for taking the time to share your analytical, diagnostic, and therapeutic thoughts with simple mortal do-it-yourselfers like me. Your understanding of complex modular computerized circuitry is nothing short of incredible, and your data-tracking and curiosity are awe-inspiring. D.I.Y. guys like myself learn so much from your experience, discipline, patience, forgiving nature, guidance…..and self-deprecating sense of humor. As a long-standing 60’s era engine rebuilder and pony-car restoration buff, I now simply cherish my more “modern” 1976 Firebird Formula, 1985 Firebird Trans Am, and 1999 Chevy Tahoe. I have them all running and functioning perfectly in large part thanks to you. Even though I don’t have all the useful sophisticated tools, or certainly your diagnostic skills, I am no longer completely intimidated by electrical circuitry malfunction. Clearly, there a great minds in the automotive industry that can attack and resolve virtually any problem if/when it escapes me…..and no local mechanic could ever B.S. me. Please keep posting your superb You-Tube videos, they are invaluable. Dr. K.
On my 05 yukon I just found my oil pressure guage is stuck at 80. Far right. So I'm guessing that explains the battery draw parasite. The cluster.
I always pick up some good info from watching your videos! I just recently retired from wrenching 40+ years so I spend some of my time watching some poor soul wrench! lol Keep up the good work, you make repairs the way they should be done.
Those dashes are always such a joy to put back! AHG silver migration… damn it! I pulled mine out and did the re-solder job and it worked fine.. for the short term.. but it went from a one day drain to a three day drain and now I know what I forgot to check.. the mirror does the same thing by the way..
I learned a lot !! Thank you very much
Great job you are always a big help 👍🇺🇸
Just subscribed. Love the videos. You explain situations to people in an easy way. Helped me alot. Great teacher and doer. A dying breed. Keep up the great work.
That was better than 5 card draw on a Saturday night. The ol"parasitic draw with the troubleshooting technique from Eric got the Full House. Good job and you didn't have to throw the parts Cannon at the ol' Chevy. Have a great week. I've been enjoying your channel for the past couple weeks. Thanks again, EO. Next time, JB.