It all started last month.......

From the beginning.....

I had installed a FM transmitter in my car. I was in it for about a week and I didn't like the way my iPod sounded so I removed it.

Right after I removed it a strange thing happened, My gauge cluster went Nuts!!!!

This all happens only in the morning and while I am driving.

My Fuel Gauge went to empty, My RPM's went to Zero and My Speedo drops to Zero.
While this is happening all the warning light in the cluster light up in this sequence.

ABS > Brake > Security > Seatbelt > Airbag after they light up the Security light remains on and the Gauge cluster turns back on like normal.

I brought my car into the dealership and they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
The only thing that they said was odd is that the main ECM wasn't throwing any codes out.

So they replaced the ECM with a new one.

But after a week the car started doing it again....

It only happend in the morning and I find this very strange.

Any suggestions?

 

Maybe you need to take it to a preist.


Seriously, it sounds like you may have a bad connection somewhere. did you move any wires around or anything liek that? mioght just be a connector that is half unplugged or a kinked wire taht is broken under the sheath - something along those lines.

 

I was thinking the same, and check all of that out. The only wires I touched were for the Radio, and the Battery. I am thinking that the battery went bad. I was talking to a Mechanic at my dealership over the phone and told him if their is anything I can do here to troubleshoot it without driving 60 miles to were I bought the car. He told me to swap the battery and we'll go from there.

I changed it last night with a Optima Red Top Battery from AutoZone and I didn't experience the problem today. The funny thing is when I was disconneting the battery the Ground felt loose.
That could have bee the problem the whole time. But why would it only effect the gauge cluster?
It should have effected the whole car.

I don't know but so far so good.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the Input.

Phil

 

Well...the ground being loos may not have effected some of the larger systems on the car. The gauge clusters are finneky and need a pretty stable source of power - where the engine computers have the capacity to hold a certain amount of electrical charge for a second or so in order to keep running properly. Some times, the critical engine electrical systems have a separate ground path and power path than the rest of the vehicle - which can run solely off of the alternator and volatge regulator. now, I am not sure if the cobalt is like this or not, but I am betting that with a new battery and your connections all nice and tight, you have probably snuffed out the problem.

 

I hope so........

I am sick and tired of the gauges going out on me.....

Thanks

Phil

 

Might have been a bad cell in the old battery.

 

I think it was too. Too bad GM didn't replace the correct part.

I am out $190.00 for the Optima Battery.

That cheap AC Delco is sitting in my garage. I am going to hold onto it until the car has to go back after my lease it up. I just have to keep a charge on it.

They aren't getting my Optima No Way!!!!!

 

I would lean toward the BCM more than the PCM. The BCM (underneath the front of your console with all the fuses in it) controls most or all the security stuff and most of the cluster stuff.

We had a HHR (it's mostly cobalt parts) in the shop and if you used the transmitter to unlock the doors, it would squirt fluid out the rear wipers. It was fun to play with but they had a hard time trying to figure it out. There was no codes at all in the system. They replaced the BCM and that didn't fix it. They then put another BCM and all is good.