None of my gauges on the dash work after I changed the battery?

80

Asked by Bradley Mar 07, 2017 at 07:41 PM about the 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

The car died while my girlfriend was at work. when she went to leave it would
not start.  We had to use a jump pack to get it to start and we bought a new
battery.  Now none of the gauges work? Gas meter, speedometer, temp
gauge, nothing!! I checked the fuses and they seemed fine but still nothing?
The new battery works great everything works but the gauges.

21 Answers

Check the fuses again. Sometime a bad fuse can look good.

7 people found this helpful.
80

From what I know the BCM/CLU fuse is the one that should have fixed the problem. Is there another fuse I should look at closer?

5 people found this helpful.
80

I checked all the fuses the only one that needed replaced was the cigarette lighter fuse. And no I didn't cross the jumper cables....... I've done that before on my old car and didn't work out

3 people found this helpful.
38,755

did the cig lighter work before ? those are hot all times , maybe that jump pack sent a surge and toasted your gauges , a wiring diagram would help if you're into that . Or take a close look up behind the gauges ,

6 people found this helpful.
550

Happens sometimes with Cavalier instrument clusters involving some battery issues (jumping dead battery, reconnecting battery, etc). Electronic panel "gets confused" and needs a fresh-start reboot. Try pulling the fuses with the ignition "on" (but not running). I had to pull both the "BCM/CLU" and "cluster" fuses and replace them with the ignition still "on" to get it to work. By the way, I also got a jump from a drained battery. This may be significant; I pulled the BCM/CLU fuse first, then the cluster fuse and replaced them in order of BCM/CLU fuse first, then the cluster fuse.

55 people found this helpful.
50

Boone BB, Thank You!! worked like a charm, same issue and circumstances.

5 people found this helpful.
40

Boone bb Thank you work great did the same thing with the fuses, The gages stopped while driving the car did not do anything with the battery or have a dead battery but the fuse thing worked perfectly, again thank you

4 people found this helpful.
60

@BooneBB THANK YOU! I had the same problem after my 03 Cav battery died (really, really dead). Even after replacing the battery the gages and electronic panel lights were going insane. I followed your instructions exactly and so far everything seems back to normal. Thanks again!!

6 people found this helpful.
30

I have a cavalier exhibiting the same symptoms. I am going to try this remedy. Let ya'll know how it worked out

3 people found this helpful.
20

This worked.! I’m amazed.! How did you ever figure this out.?!?

2 people found this helpful.
50

Same exact set of circumstances, worked like a CHARM!!! Thank you Boone bb!!! See the internet is useful for something other than porn and cat videos!!! Take it for what it’s worth: to all the young generations out there who aren’t taking real advantage of technology. And I’m 41!!!

5 people found this helpful.

My instrument cluster does not work at all when I turn the key no gauges move the a/c and radio don’t work either but the door power locks works and windows roll up and down (has a new battery cranks but don’t start)

I tried your method on my 2001 Cavalier, didn't work for me, got 14.3 Volts at battery and engine block, but any where else is 12.99 to 13 Volts, suspect a ground issue, but where?? Doesn't look like my cooling fan is working, noticed radiator fluid on the ground after shutting off troubleshooting possible ground problem, When I start the car all gauges work, step on brake to unlock shifter and it takes about 4 seconds to release, then put in gear and the gauges drop out and most of the maintenance lights lit, A/C and cruise control use to work with this condition but now they do not work when gauges are out. Crazy.

10

have a 03 cavalier. gotta jump start from AAA. my gauges quit working, my ABS light came on and my CHECK GAUGES lights came on and and stayed on, even with the car completely off they were still staying on. I looked around and found that if you disconnect the battery for 30min, and let the computer reset itself should fix it. 30min later reattached the battery and all good. no more issues. Thanks for all the advice guys. I love these things.

1 people found this helpful.

BDT2403, Took too long to respond to my ground issue a year ago, it was the ground to frame, there is a ground lead that splits from the engine block ground to frame ground, I moved the battery out of the way and found that split had corroded in two, repaired and all is fine. Sorry for the inexcusable delay in correction.

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