This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On February 7, 2009, we were driving on the interstate. When approaching traffic I took the vehicle off of cruise and began to slow down. However, the speedometer did not move. After that, everytime I began to accelerate, the speedometer would not move. Everytime I start the car it drops 5 mph, but when you use cruise or do a constant speed, it sticks again. We are getting ready to go on a big family vacation and do not feel safe taking my family in a vehicle that you don't know how fast you are going. My mechanic is replacing the cluster with a used one from the local salvage yard. A used one with labor is still going to cost me $200 and who knows how long that one will last. I cannot believe with this many complaints about the same equipment failure that GM hasn't done anything. It's just not safe!
Yesterday my dashboard control panel worked great. This morning (4/18/09) as I was driving to my bank, I noticed that none of the gauges and/or lights were working ( oil gauge, temperature gauge, battery gauge, speedometer, tachometer, etc). Major safety factor.
(speedometer cluster problems) it seems to be a big prob with Chevy trucks & SUVS. My vehicle speedometer cluster is no working, GM is refusing to recall the 2004 TB.
I have a 2004 Chevy trailblazer extended SUV. My check engine light has continuously flash on and off since having the truck only six months. It has continued to do this for the life of the car at almost 70,000 miles. Also, my speedometer now works only when it wants to. At first we thought it was because of the cold weather, now it is almost 70 degrees and we have the same problem. Sounds as if this if very common in these models. Someone needs to find a way to compensate owners for these costly repairs.
The speedometer has been failing consistently. Several occasions it fails to return to zero, registering 100mph when gps shows 35mph. After several days, it will start working normally - then fault again. Miles driven on the odometer does not appear to be affected. The condition is starting to spread to other gauges, with the tachometer showing several similar symptoms.
- Madbury, NH, USA
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The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer ext. While stopped at a traffic light, the contact noticed that the speedometer displayed 50 mph. The speedometer became inoperable and would often become stuck at zero. In addition, the speedometer would often display 100 mph when the contact was driving less than 50 mph. The manufacturer and dealer could not provide any assistance. The failure mileage was 66,000 and current mileage was less than 73,000.
The gauges on my 2004 Chevrolet trailblazer do not work. I had this same problem several months ago and took to dealership to fix, they said there was nothing wrong. Now my warranty is out and they again are not working. It is not safe to drive when the speedometer, tachometer, oil gauge, and temperature gauges don't work. Apparently this is a problem that many owners of the same model have reported and nothing has been done about it. This is a safety hazzard and should have a recall associated with it with chrevolet footing the bill. I guess it won't be addressed until deaths or injuries are associated with it.
My speedometer and tach began reading high (90mph, 115mph - 6000rpms, 7000rpms) before both needles pointed straight down. If I turned off the car, they would reset themselves to 55mph and 5000rpms. I was on the beginning of a long road trip when this happened, so I was hoping I wasn't going to get pulled over for speeding. When I returned home I took my car in to be repaired and thankfully I was still under warranty. This problem also happened to my parents 2004 trailblazer. After seeing all of the complaints of the same issue, I feel that I shouldn't have had to pay my $100 deductible. This definitely sounds like a GM defect. If his ends up being a recall, could I get reimbursed??
While exiting my child school parking lot the engine shut down and went into limp mode. I was in the middle of a busy intersection, had to turn hazard lights on so I wasn't hit. Could not go over 5 miles per hour. Speedometer has intermittently gone haywire. Instrument cluster failure.
The instrument cluster is erratic, speed show zero, tach is not working at all now, the oil pressure and volt meter is erratic. This is a unsafe driving condition not knowing if you are going at a unsafe speed or if you are doing damage to the motor with the oil pressure is so erratic.
Instrument cluster goes crazy. No oil pressure/excessive oil pressure, no tach/pegged tach, speedometer gives false speed readings(this is really dangerous), battery reads low volts or off the scale volts/. this happens every day. Chevy dealers estimated repair cost $600-$700 dollars.
The speedometer has become erratic and will not show how fast we are driving, causing an unsafe condition. Based on the number of posts on several forums, this appears to be a very common problem, and with time may become universal.
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer ext. The contact stated that the speedometer becomes stuck at 20 mph. In addition, the speedometer displays 40 mph when he is driving 60 mph and vice versa. Once the vehicle is shut off and restarted, the speedometer fails completely. The failure has been occurring for three weeks. The mechanic stated that the speedometer cluster needed to be replaced; however, the contact feels that the repair should be covered by the manufacturer because the failure is not due to driver error. The current and failure mileages were 66,000.
The odometer and RPM gauge stop functioning. While you are driving the odometer stops below the zero and stays stuck, it will stop at 50 and stay there, it will stop on 120 and stay there. The odometer gauge sometimes will stop below the 120 right above the digital mileage gauge.
The instrument gauges, including speedometer are producing erratic data, sometimes 25-30 mph fast or slow to the actual speed as tracked by a garmin gps, and milemarker calculations. The oil pressure and amp gauges are not working properly as well.
Speedometer started to act erratic at about 40K miles. Now at 72K miles, does not work at all. I just spent $200 trying to repair, only to find out after that failed, that this is a common problem with GM. How can they justify recalling the Tahoe, Avalanche, etc, for the same problem, but leaving the trailblazers out of this safety recall?
No previous problems with panel. Problem occurs frequently. Tachometer quit working correctly...goes completely to opposite end of gauge. Took days before it went back to normal location. Speedometer does not work correctly...continues to climb to higher end of gauge....reads above 30 even when standing still. Goes down after repeatedly shutting off and restarting engine. Whirring sound made when starting or stopping engine. Contacted Chevy dealer repair shop, they are fully aware of situation, advised it will get worse and will eventually stop working at all. No parts are serviceable, needs to be sent out for repair, could take anywhere from a day to a week or more depending on the parts needed. Plus there is the additional cost of having it read by the computer for the correct part(s). My car will be inoperable soon according to dealer, unsafe to drive, situation needs immediate fix.
I own a 2004 Chevrolet trailblazer North face/ext. The speedometer has been giving me problems for some time. At first it would malfunction from time to time. Now the fuel gauge has stopped all together. When I started investigating this problem I found out that it is a common problem with this make and model vehicle. I also found out that Chevrolet has another vehicle, "Chevy Tahoe", that has had the same problem. Why there is a recall to fix the Tahoe and not the Trailblazer ext. Is very interesting to me. I have gone as far as to take a look at the Tahoe instrument cluster and saw that they are very alike. The vehicle recall to replace the instrument cluster on these vehicles should be sent out asap. If you take a look at the complaints on the internet you will see that this is a problem that many trailblazer owners seem to be having. You will also see that the Tahoe complaints, "for which there is a recall", are identical. Thank you; patrick
We were traveling for the holidays and noticed that the RPM gauge stopped functioning properly. It was pointing below zero. Then, last week the problem spread to the gas gauge and the oil pressure gauge. This is a potential safety hazard.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cape Girardeau, MO, USA