How To Repair Chevy Truck Dash Cluster - [RYOBI SOLDER IRON]

We use the Ryobi Hybrid Soldering Iron to fix our Chevy truck dash cluster. Our 2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 arrived with no gauges working. Not only were the gauges not working, but the odometer, PRNDL, and DIC (Driver Information Center) didn't work either. These early 2000s dash clusters in the GM trucks and SUVs suffered from many different gremlins.
Removing the cluster from the truck is very simple. Once you tilt the steering wheel all the way down and pull the shift lever all the way down, you can easily remove the bezel by just evenly pulling. The bezel is only held on with clips, so no tools are needed. Holding the gauge cluster in are just four 7mm bolts. Once the fasteners are removed, it's as simple as releasing the one wiring harness connection.
To repair the chevy truck dash cluster, we moved over to the workbench. This dash cluster goes together like a sandwich, with only clips holding it together. Once the front and back were removed, you can easily pry off the indicator needles for each gauge. Typically you'll notice discoloration on the circuit board where the solder joints have overheated due to a bad connection.
Using our Ryobi P3100 18V Soldering Iron, we touched up all the solder joints on the different diodes on the Chevy truck dash cluster. Putting it back together and plugging back into the truck, all the gauges came back to life. Aside from a little technical know-how for soldering small joints, learning how to repair a Chevy truck dash cluster is a fairly simple procedure.
Check out our review of the Ryobi P3100 Hybrid Soldering Iron
• Ryobi P3100 18V Hybrid...
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[@Jujoji]

The way we practiced soldier in my high school (way way back during the 90's) was you take lengths of stripped 12-14 gauge solid wire, coil/wrap it around a pencil or rod, cut circular links off of the coil, chain the links one by one, and solder the links closed. After about 100 or so links of chain, (trying for minimal solder use, and as few "spikes"or spatter as possible) you'll have some decent soldering skills going

[@Shoptoolreviews]

Love to hear this (I graduated in '89), but not many shop classes taught anymore. Very sad. We need the trades back in our high schools. Thanks for watching and for commenting.

[@marlonlicup10]

Thx for this!

[@jamesward5721]

Solder wick makes removing excess solder a lot easier.

[@ZubairKhan-hw6sd]

I can learn a lot from you

[@Shoptoolreviews]

Thank you very much.

[@bulletproofpepper2]

2004 Silverado great truck but the cluster isn’t working. Much like the video. Slowly getting worse. Hope i can find the problems. Thanks for sharing. I’m pretty hand at most things mechanical.

[@croftpydycroftpydy533]

Wat if the speedometer needle is pinned all the way to the right like mine is do you attach back in the same place to the right? I'm at that point now

[@mrgrimm8771]

My 03 tahoe has a parasitic draw, cluster related.. odometer glows when the truck is off, used to be the bright light indicator. I hit a bump, or randomly dome lights pop on and off. Now it kills my battery over night 5 days a week, other times nothing at all.. plz help 😢

[@Shoptoolreviews]

It's not very difficult to find a parasitic draw. We made a video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZ-yaYF9ZqeZeMU

[@mrgrimm8771]

@@Shoptoolreviews I bet it's one of your children replied being your famous now..

[@BRED23]

Any idea what made my gas gauge point straight down after my truck would start and die? Also while driving all gauges will go down but back light stays on and then after a minute gauges go back up and my battery and security light will flash on the display

[@franklocasio2848]

Why does he have gloves on?

[@JohanFehr-jt3wm]

I have the same problem and i already have resoldered all they resisters but still have not solved the problem what else can i do?

[@bulletproofpepper2]

My truck the positive battery post was loose. I took it off the battery cable and cleaned both surfaces. The negative was tight but checked and cleaned it anyway. Everything is working better. Poor grounding.

[@stevengarcia9679]

What type of soldering were you using?

[@rhondarockwell1886]

I already got that off.

[@rhondarockwell1886]

It's the bulb everything else work just need to get buld

[@Schtuperfly]

I think your oil needle was working only stuck on too far to the right

[@terrysannan7683]

Hi my name is Terry I put in a brand new bulbs in my cluster the bulbs work fine I plugged the cluster back and now none of the gauges work none of them. None of them work at all. Can you please tell me what’s wrong

[@michaelcorcoran5766]

Make sure you didn't damage the wiring harness, check the connector is all the way in & check your fuses. Hopefully you didn't crack a solder point when you unplugged it

[@texasrex2557]

dude does not know the difference between capasiters and resistors. Those are resistors that require resoldering, not caps.

[@mikev.1034]

👍👍

[@Shoptoolreviews]

Thanks

[@michaelhead1879]

*resistors. It's okay they all look the same Good job though.