1999 Chevy Silverado Gauges and Warning lights

1999 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
225,000 MILES • V8 • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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WAYNER2K2
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I have a 1999 Silverado Z71 (2000 bodystyle) with 225,000 miles. First off this has been an excellent truck. My problems started out with the headlights going out when I activated the high beam, and tilt the steering column a certain way. I narrowed it down to a short in the turn signal unit. At the time this was happening everything else worked fine. However, one time of putting my hand on the wires and moving them shorted something else out. From that point on the “battery” light indicator was displayed on the drivers information center when running. Along with that the four wheel drive will not engage, the water temp, fuel, and transmission temp gauges are not functioning, the cruise control will not activate, and the warning lights, except service engine, on the instrument cluster are out. Also the gear location, odometer, and trip odometer is blank once the key is turned to the run position. I’ve replaced the ignition switch, but that did not cure the problems. And now to complicate matters the truck will not stay running. It will run for a couple of seconds then shut off. I’m thinking that might be the pas-lock, but the rest I’m really confused.
Feb 23, 2010 at 6:29 PM
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CARADIODOC
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There's a 10 amp "gauges" fuse on the left side of the dash. You'll have to open he door to access the fuses. It feeds the generator through the instrument cluster.

I'm fairly familiar with that circuit because we had a lemon law buyback truck donated to our school. I heavily modified it with bugs for my students to troubleshoot. One on the bugs was a break in the wire from that fuse. The related symptoms match what you described.

As for the anti-theft system, suspect the wires from the sensor in the ignition switch. Tilting the steering column eventually causes the tiny wires to break. When we fixed ours, I had the student add a few inches of wire, and form them into a coil so the flexing would have less effect.

caradiodoc
Feb 23, 2010 at 11:24 PM