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Hello,

I have a 2004 silverado z71 crew cab and the gauge lights along with the climate control screen sometimes go out. When they do, I can tap on the dash above the gauge cluster and they will all come back on. I took the dash mostly apart and did not immediately see any shorts but I could not get a good look at most of the wiring as it went back down towards the firewall. Once or twice the truck would not crank so I held the key in the start position and tapped in the spot on the dash above the gauge cluster and it started right up.

My question is, if there is a short in the gauge cluster panel, could this cause the other symptoms downstream (climate control screen and buttons not to light up and ignition seemingly not receiving power)? I know there is an issue in the gauge cluster because the fuel gauge does not work properly ever, and the rest of the gauges have read incorrectly before.

Thanks for you help guys and girls,

Trey

lo4x4

sounds like a bad ground?

AJII

iTrader: (7)

Check the ground thats on the frame right under the rocker on the driver side towards the front.

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Thanks for the tip. It looks okay, at least at the frame.

NEW DEVELOPMENT- the "reduced engine power" notification came on and wouldn't let me go faster than 25mph. I turned the truck off and on a few times and it went away but then came back after driving a little.

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I saw on another forum where someone had similar issues, including the truck going into limp mode and a new / rebuilt cluster fixed it. Going to put one in tomorrow, assuming a local parts store in Amarillo has one in stock.

Keep the ideas coming. I'll update this post when I fix the issue.

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I want to update you all on the solution to my problem outlined above. The issue was in the dimmer dial for the backlights. The module with the dimmer comes out of the dash and can be taken apart very easily. Once I did so, I noticed a lot of silver buildup on the metal part of the dial that makes contact with the board. I carefully scraped this buildup off with a screwdriver and wiped it with my shirt. I put it all back together and I haven't had any symptoms in over two weeks now. The board was very worn from use so I imagine it will quit working one day, but I always keep the backlights at the same level so it may never go out on me.

I was able to diagnose this issue by tapping on the dial and seeing that the backlights flickered. As I said, I never use the dial due to keeping the backlights at the same power all the time or I probably would have thought of this sooner. Oh well. Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions.