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2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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champ
Novice
Apr 29, 2010, 1:39 PM
Post #1 of 13
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2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Hello,
I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 4.8L with 65000 miles. The other day I drove to work, and everything was fine. Then when I drove home, the turn signals, speedometer, and odometer were no longer working. Hazards worked fine. No blown fuses, and nothing else broken.
My mechanic diagnosed it as an Instrument Panel Cluster failure. Since it was still under extended warranty, I brought it to the Chevy dealer who replaced the IPC, but this did not fix the problem. Any ideas?
Should I bring back to my original mechanic to re-diagnose it? I don't have much money, and don't to pay for another diagnosis with the Chevy dealer. Is it customary for mechanics to waive a secondary diagnosis fee if the first one was wrong?
Thanks,
Champ
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 29, 2010, 3:41 PM
Post #2 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Yep, if he is reputable at all, this is his comeback and he is responsible for his diagnosis. The only snag you have is that he didn't perform the repair and may try to "pass the buck"
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Apr 29, 2010, 7:24 PM
Post #3 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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I'm surprised that Chevy changed out the cluster if that wasn't the problem. Usually on something like that they'll diag the problem and if it's under warranty it's no charge for the diag & repair. If it's not under warranty the customer pays the diag and would also be responsible for the repair if they elected to have it done. They are usually up front about this before doing any work but dealers are like every other shop, they don't all operate the same way.....
As far as the original diagnosis...that would be a "depends"
It would depend on what type of diagnosis it was. If the tech charged you 1.0, 1.5 or whatever and you paid X for the diagnosis then yes he should recheck it for n/c.
If you told him the problem you were having and asked him what he thought and he said it was probably a bad cluster (which would be a fair statement for that year Chevy) without testing anything or charging you then that would be free advise and he wouldn't be on the hook for anything and to find the problem now would require "going to work" and there would be a charge for that.........
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champ
Novice
Apr 30, 2010, 4:13 AM
Post #4 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Thanks for your help, guys. What's worse is that the Chevy dealer didn't even know that it wasn't fixed. They replaced the part, called me up and said it was ready. When I got in the car, everything was exactly the same.
I was kind of bummed that my mechanic charged the diagnosis fee for what he called a "probable diagnosis." I mean who gets to charge $100 for a guess?
I'm thinking I'll bring it back to the original mechanic. If I have the Chevy dealer look at it, I don't want another $100 guess. Do you have any guesses that don't cost $100?
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 30, 2010, 5:28 AM
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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I don't think I would have paid $100 for a "probable" diagnosis. I believe he owes you more than that for that kind of money.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 30, 2010, 6:24 AM
Post #6 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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?? If you had a warranty to cover this why did you involve another mechanic at all? This is messed up - I can't believe you were called that it's all set to pick up and they hadn't checked it? Or was it working and then not when you got there? Why didn't you go right back then and there?
If I know a customer has a warranty on something I'm not touching it except to say the issue would be a covered problem perhaps at no charge!
Right now the problem belongs to the Chevy dealer and you can discuss a diagnostic fee with your own mechanic IMO,
T
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champ
Novice
Apr 30, 2010, 11:02 AM
Post #7 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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My wife and I have been using the same mechanic for everything for a while, including regular oil changes and inspections, etc. He's even passed an inspection on one of our cars with a check engine light that he "fixed" and confirmed wasn't an issue (which should have been a red flag). When we have problems, we just bring it to him. The Silverado isn't under warranty anymore, with the exception of at least the Instrument Panel Cluster, which was under an extended warranty since it was apparently a known faulty part.
When the Silverado had these problems, we just went to our mechanic since I'm not a car guy and I wouldn't have been able to diagnose it as anything. The mechanic is actually the one that told me it was under warranty still, so I took it as him trying to save me a couple hundred bucks.
The dealer never diagnosed anything. Since the "issue" was covered under an extended warranty, they just replaced the part and called it day. They didn't care to confirm that it fixed my problems; I'm actually pretty pissed about that. I didn't even drive the truck out of the parking lot, just told them they didn't fix it and left it with the dealer. So today they replaced the same part again, thinking that they received a faulty replacement part. Sounded like a waste of time to me, and I just found out that it was indeed a waste of time. Second replacement part didn't fix the issue either, and they're going to charge $90/hr to diagnose it.
I called back my original mechanic to see if he'd look at it again to actually diagnose it, but he said he'd have to charge me another diagnosis fee. This really pissed me off, since I gave him $100 for a "possible" diagnosis that was wrong. Up until this point we were willing to deal with his incompetence since he hooked us up with the inspection stickers, but now I'm writing him off as my mechanic forever. I'm preparing a not-nice letter to him explaining my displeasure, and looking for a new reputable guy in my area.
Anyway, sorry for the novel, and thanks for the help.
PS: If I ever do figure out what it is, I'll be sure to let you all know.
(This post was edited by champ on Apr 30, 2010, 11:07 AM)
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 30, 2010, 11:46 AM
Post #8 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Every thing's cool. I just didn't see how all the ducks fell out of row on this problem. I don't have a simple answer. Years of doing this stuff I wouldn't even charge if I got the work and if for some reason a diagnosis for something was needed I wouldn't charge regulars most of the time.
In this case - if I were the one who directed the problem to the cluster and was wrong I'd be so upset that I'd be hunting you down to give you your money back after hearing of the failure.
Intermittent troubles I understand it's about impossible to be sure. In this case it seems the problem is evident and if a tech anywhere isn't sure I think it's find just to say so but discuss it with you.
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Have basics been ruled out with this? Stuff like no blown fuses or a common ground that could effect all the items? Does this still run properly with this problem?
T
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champ
Novice
Apr 30, 2010, 12:48 PM
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Yeah, basics were ruled out. The fuses are fine, and my original mechanic who "is really good with wiring" ruled out a ground. Everything else is running fine, save the blower fan which for a much longer time has only worked at 5. I'll probably tackle that one later. My dad's replaced the blower resistor himself in a few cars for about $20, but my original mechanic wanted over $100.
It's good to know there are still decent mechanics out there, and I wish you were closer! I'm not sure how to go about finding a good/honest guy.
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champ
Novice
Apr 30, 2010, 1:18 PM
Post #10 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Dealer just called back, problem was sourced to a "cluster of wires behind the IPC" that were chewed by rodents. So I guess my original mechanic wasn't completely wrong. It took the dealer 3 hours to find it. I'm not sure if that was reasonable or not, but at least it's an actual diagnosis and repair.
Maybe I'm being unreasonable, I don't know anymore. I just don't believe my original mechanic spent more than 10 minutes checking the fuses (which I'd already done) before deciding it was the IPC, and I don't believe his time was worth $100.
(This post was edited by champ on Apr 30, 2010, 1:20 PM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 30, 2010, 1:28 PM
Post #11 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Anybody that is reputable in this business will stand behind their work and they are responsible to at least refund the original charge for incorrect diagnosis. Diagnosing would be real easy if we could just throw out the first thing that comes to mind and get $100 for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
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Apr 30, 2010, 2:21 PM
Post #12 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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I don't begrudge charging for work and not surprised at 3 hours to fix chewed wires if done properly - problem is over and solved. It took someone to check to find that and nobody told the rodent to put a sticky note saying what they did
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Now the issue is not allowing this to happen again. Moth balls, rat poison, those sonic noise makers etc. It was a whole thread here and don't know what original subject line was to search it out but one thing that worked was to move the vehicle - swap parking spot if you can, or just back in instead of drive in where it would be subject to the same spot all the time seemed to work for one.
Glad it's fixed,
Tom
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Sidom
Veteran
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Apr 30, 2010, 10:17 PM
Post #13 of 13
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Re: 2003 Silverado - Signals, Speedometer, Odometer
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Well I don't know the whole story but going off of what you posted I probably would've of done the recheck for n/c but let me just give you my spin on this and you can take it for what it's worth before you fire your tech..
In the automotive world it's pretty much the same as everything else. I'm talking about legitimate shops, ones with business licenses, who pay taxes, support the community, etc.... You have good ones, bad ones & yes unfortunately dishonest ones to but that number is no higher that rest of the business world...
Customers range from A to F. and like the rest of the world, decent ones get better treatment than the bad ones... You said you were using this guy for everything and you sound pretty decent so that would put you in the A to B range. The inspection thing sounds weird but I can't imagine him risking his license but I don't know the whole story...
Personally with my A customers I go the extra mile, their continued support warrants it.....
Just a quick example.... Mr. A brings his car in for everything, no hassles and usually leaves if for the day and I even get donuts once in awhile....
Mr F.... The only time I see him is when his guys can't solve the problem. I only ever get the diag, never the repair and usually get called a thief at least once while he is there.
It's friday, we're slammed by noon and already making appointments for the next day and following week.... Mr F comes in and wants his a/c diagnosed so he can get it fixed to go on a trip for the weekend.....no brainer....he gets an appointment for next Tuesday.... Then Mr A. comes in, his a/c is also out & he's leaving for the weekend as well.... My SM comes to me and it's a no brainer....He leaves the car & gets if fixed that day..... It's not that we'll treat Mr. F any worse than any other customer it's just I have no problem working thru my lunch or late for Mr. A....
It sounds like you may have a pretty good relationship with this guy, you may not want to end so quick....
The only other thing I will add is I really don't know how much actual time he spent on this checking it out..... Some of the more difficult diags do require extra time.... Especially when rats or the hacks that work on Mr Fs car get involved, then you get the strange stuff that you don't normally see....
If he did break out the meters and did narrow it down to the cluster, then he spent time on it and wouldn't be out of line for charging extra time...... Just the extras that he has done for you in the past kind of suggest he did spend some diag time on this.....
It's your call but keep in mind.....good techs are hard to find....
(This post was edited by Sidom on Apr 30, 2010, 10:23 PM)
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