2004 Chevrolet Suburban

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER PANEL IN A 2004 CHEVY SUBURBAN WAS DIAGNOSED BY A GM DEALERSHIP AS DEFECTIVE ON 3/4/2009 WITH 70,400MILES. OIL GAUGE AND BATTERY GAUGE FAILS TO READ PROPERLY OFTEN BOUNCING AROUND/FLUTTERING AROUND DURING VEHICLE OPERATION. GAUGES DO NOT RETURN TO ZERO WHILE VEHICLE IS NOT OPERATING. GAUGE FAILURE WAS NOTED ON 2/10/2009. GM HAS YET TO AGREE TO REPLACE CLUSTER PANEL THOUGH A LETTER WAS SENT TO GM OWNERS REGARDING MATTER. LETTER CLEARLY STATES NOT TO BRING VEHICLE IN TO HAVE CLUSTER PANEL CHECKED UNTIL THERE IS BELIEVED TO BE AN ISSUE. *TR

ENGINE INTERMITTENTLY GOES INTO "REDUCED ENGINE POWER" "TRACTION CONTROL DISABLED" FOR NO APPARENT REASON. ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED BY TWO THIRDS. ISSUE HAS BEEN OCCURRING FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 YEARS NOW. GM/CHEVY DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN UNABLE TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE. I'VE HAD THE CAR IN THE SHOP OVER 20 TIMES SOME TIMES ON A WEEKLY BASIS. THROTTLE BODY, TAC, BATTERY CABLES, AND OTHER COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO NO AVAIL. SEVERAL CLOSE CALLS ON THE FREEWAY WITH 18 WHEELERS BEARING DOWN ON REAR END WHEN ISSUE HAS OCCURRED. I NO LONGER ALLOW MY WIFE AND KIDS IN THE CAR. I'M SURE SOMEONE WILL EVENTUALLY DIE AS A RESULT OF THIS ISSUE AND MAYBE THEN GM WILL ADDRESS THE ISSUE. HOPEFULLY WHEN IT HAPPENS IT WILL NOT INVOLVE SMALL CHILDREN WHICH IS WHAT SUBURBANS ARE TYPICALLY PURCHASED FOR...TO DRIVE AROUND FAMILIES WITH SMALL CHILDREN. CONSUMERS THINKING THEY ARE PURCHASING A GOOD SIZE VEHICLE THAT WILL KEEP THEIR FAMILY SAFE SHOULD STEER AWAY FROM GM PRODUCTS. *TR

OUR FAMILY WAS NOT HOME, THE CAR HAS BEEN PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY AS NORMAL. MY NEIGHBORS WERE IN THE YARD AND SUDDENLY HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE AN EXPLOSION. THEY LOOKED OVER AND THE REAR WINDOW HAD SHATTERED AND BLEW THE GATE OPEN. IT ALSO MELTED THE PLASTIC THAT HOLDS THE GLASS. IT SEEMS AS IF POSSIBLY THE REAR DEFROSTER MAY HAVE BEEN FAULTY ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN MOVED IN 3 DAYS. GLAD SOMEONE WAS NOT STANDING BEHIND IT. IT BLEW GLASS ABOUT 10 FT. WAITING ON INS TO CALL BACK. *TR

MY FAMILY AND I WERE TRAVELING ON THE INTERSTATE IN OUR 2004 CHEVY SUBURBAN WHEN MY SPEEDOMETER STARTED FLUCTUATING FROM 20 MPH TO 70 MPH TO 120 MPH. THE ENGINE DIDN'T SEEM TO CHANGE ITS RUNNING SPEED AS THE SPEEDOMETER FLUCTUATIONS WERE OCCURRING. I ONLY HAVE 40K MILES, AND I'M THE ORIGINAL OWNER. MY WIFE MAINLY DRIVES IT TO TAKE OUR KIDS TO SCHOOL AND THEIR ACTIVITIES, AND ERRANDS. WILL THE DEALER REPAIR FOR FREE? *TR

UNDER WARRANTY, BROUGHT CAR IN FOR LOOSE, VIBRATING STEERING WHEEL IN 2006. DEALERSHIP BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION THE NEED TO REPLACE A BOLT ON THE STEERING SHAFT, WAS A WARRANTY REPAIR COVERED BY GM AND WE DID NOT HAVE TO PAY (ISSUED AS RECOMMENDED REPAIR ONLY IF CONSUMER BROUGHT TO ATTENTION. PROBLEM WENT AWAY. PROBLEM RECURRED IN FALL 2008 (CAR NOW OUT OF WARRANTY) IDENTICAL SYMPTOMS AS BEFORE. CONTACTED DEALERSHIP AGAIN TO COMPLAIN, THEY STATED, OUT OF WARRANTY HAVE TO PAY FOR NEW PART REPLACEMENT. FEEL THIS IS A FLAWED ENGINEERED COMPONENT ON VEHICLE FROM START, SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT SAFE IN THE FIRST PLACE. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ALONG THE FREEWAY AND I NOTICED THAT ON THE COMPUTERIZED DASHBOARD, THE SERVICE TIRE MONITOR WAS FLASHING. I WAS DRIVING 50 MPH AND WHEN I LOOKED AT THE SPEEDOMETER, THE GAUGE WENT UP TO 120 MPH AND EVEN THOUGH I TURNED THE ENGINE OFF THE GAUGE IS STILL AT 120 MPH. I ALSO NOTICED THAT THE BATTERY GAUGE IS NOT WORKING, BECAUSE THE GAUGE IS NOT MOVING AT ALL AND WHEN I LOOKED AT THE RPM GAUGE, I WAS ONLY PRESSING THE GAS SLIGHTLY, THE RPM GAUGE WENT UP TO THE MAXIMUM LEVEL. WHEN I WAS COMING BACK HOME FROM WORK THE SAME DAY, WHEN I STARTED THE ENGINE I FELT IT RIGHT AWAY THAT WHENEVER I PUT MY FOOT ON THE GAS, THE VEHICLE IS JUST MOVING SLOWLY, UNTIL IT STOPPED MOVING. I HAVE IT TOWED TO BILL HEARD DEALERSHIP AND THEY FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS THE TRANSMISSION WAS TORE AND ACCORDING TO THE DEALERSHIP THAT I NEED TO HAVE A NEW TRANSMISSION. THIS VEHICLE IS A 2004 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN, BOUGHT IT BRAND NEW. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE 67,880 MILEAGE AND WE ONLY HAVE THIS VEHICLE FOR 4 1/2 YEARS. FEW MONTHS PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT, I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM GM, ABOUT A CONDITION THAT MAY DEVELOP ON THIS VEHICLE WHICH IS WHERE ONE OR MORE OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL GAUGE NEEDLES MAY STICK, FLUTTER OR BECOME INOPERATIVE AND MAY CAUSE INACCURATE READINGS, INCLUDING THE SPEEDOMETER AND THE FUEL GAUGE. I HAVE KEPT THAT LETTER AND CALLED THE GM AND I WAS ADVISED TO TAKE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP. I WAS JUST WANDERING, BECAUSE IT ALL HAPPENED IN ONE DAY. I DON'T KNOW IF THIS PROBLEM IS RELATED TO THE TRANSMISSION. *TR

IN RESEARCHING ONLINE I'VE NOTICED THIS ON MANY DIFFERENT CHEVY 2004 MODELS. THE TACHOMETER, FUEL GAGE, AND SPEEDOMETER ARE WHAT I NOTICED PROBLEMS WITH AND WHAT OTHERS HAVE SEEN PROBLEMS WITH THOUGH THE SPEEDOMETER IS THE MOST PREVALENTLY NOTICED ITEM. THE GAUGE MOTORS ARE NOT STEPPING BACK DOWN WHEN RPMS, SPEED, OR FUEL LEVELS DROP THUS LEADING DRIVERS TO RESPOND IN POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WAYS. IN MY OWN CASE I ALMOST CAUSED A PILE UP WHEN I THOUGHT I HAD LOST MY SENSES AND APPLIED MY BRAKES A LITTLE HARDER THAN I SHOULD HAVE, ALMOST LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, AND CERTAINLY AGITATED THE DRIVERS BEHIND ME WHEN THEY ALMOST HIT MY VEHICLE. I DON'T TYPICALLY GET THIS PROBLEM AS I TYPICALLY DRIVE LESS THAN 10 MILES A DAY. WHEN I DO HAVE TO DRIVE MORE THAN 60 MILES I TEND TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED TO BE MORE PREVALENT IN COLD CONDITIONS WHICH FITS WITH THE EXPLANATION I HAVE HAD THAT IT IS THE HOUSING OF THE GEAR MOTORS BREAKING DOWN AND JAMMING THE GAUGE GEARS IN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. A PROBLEM WITH THE PLASTIC USED IN THE HOUSING OF THE GEAR MAGNETS; "THE PROBLEM LIES WITH THE PLASTIC MATERIAL THAT HOLDS THE PERMANENT MAGNET FOR THE ROTOR OF THE STEPPER MOTOR." NOW THAT I AM AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND HAVE ASKED AROUND ABOUT FIXES I HAVE TO STOP THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY AND TURN IT OFF. FROM THERE I HAVE TO TURN THE KEY ENOUGH TO BRING THE INSTRUMENT PANEL MOMENTARILY ON AND THEN BACK OFF. IT STEPS THE TACHOMETER, SPEEDOMETER, AND FUEL GAUGE BACK DOWN, (BIT BY BIT WITH EACH TURN OF THE KEY) WHICHEVER IS HAVING THE PROBLEM. THIS SOLUTION HAS BEEN REPORTED TO STOP WORKING AS THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. THE INSTRUMENT PANEL NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AT A COST ESTIMATE OF OVER $450 FROM A PRIVATE SHOP AND AT OVER $800 FROM THE CHEVY DEALERSHIP. A GPS FOR SPEED AND A LOG BOOK W/ CALCULATOR CAN GET TWO OF THE THREE SOLVED FOR ME AT A PRICE OF LESS THAN $200; IT'S JUST NOT SAFE TO BE WRITING LOG BOOK ENTRIES WHILE I'M DRIVING. *TR