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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
61,784 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2004 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2004 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #45

Aug 182010

Silverado 3500

  • 40,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Instrument panel/cluster is no longer functioning. Speedometer, tachometer, oil pressure gauge and so on are erratic and giving false readings. Dealer is not willing to assist. Please advise, rc, esquire.

- Pasadena, CA, USA

problem #44

Dec 182015

Silverado 3500

  • 78,344 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the driver seat. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the ECM box was damaged and needed replacement. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The contact also stated that the same failure occurred in December of 2015. The approximate failure mileage was 78,344.

- Farmington, MO, USA

problem #43

Dec 152014

Silverado 3500

  • miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that the instrument panel failed on the vehicle. The odometer worked, but the fuel gauge and all other gauges failed. The dealer stated that the entire instrument cluster needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Jacksonville, AL, USA

problem #42

Sep 052014

Silverado 3500

  • 55,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. While driving approximately 35 mph, the inside of the vehicle emitted smoke and the contact smelled burning wires. The failure occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 55,000.

- Sandusky , ID, USA

problem #41

Oct 222013

Silverado 3500 4WD 8-cyl

  • 61,000 miles
The dash instrument cluster failed and does not read a correct temperature nor does the oil gauge read correctly. There is a clicking sound within the instrument panel continuously. The vehicle was taken in for service at the GM company. It was determined that the cluster is failing and the reading are not correct on the dashboard panel are nor right. It will require replacement. GM says that the special recall for this problem is expired and they will not fix my truck. The special recall expired in 2011.

- Fayetteville, NC, USA

problem #40

Apr 122014

Silverado 3500

  • 60,139 miles
The oil pressure gauge on my instrument cluster is faulty. I was driving down the interstate at about 75mph when I notice it was pegged out. I immediately pull off to the side of the road and turn my truck off thinking something was wrong with my oil pressure when I found out that it was the gauge that was faulty. After doing some research on the internet, I found out that a lot of people were having problems with their instrument clusters.

- Omaha, NE, USA

problem #39

Mar 072008

Silverado 3500

  • 80,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Chevrolet sent me a notice of guage failure in 2007, and said they would replace them if they were not working as long as the milage was under 80000. The problem was when they sent me the notice my guages were working, they continued to work until after I had 82000 then they stopped working. I called the dealer and told them and they said I was over the miles req. I understand there were a lot of trucks that had the same problem.

- Glenpool, OK, USA

problem #38

Feb 192013

Silverado 3500

  • 141,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the fuel gauge, tachometer and the battery charge indicator failed. Also, the speedometer would only operate sporadically. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileage was 141,000.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

problem #37

Dec 022011

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 46,746 miles
The instrument panel stopped working on my 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. I found lots of complaints on this problem online. When I called the local dealer to see about getting my vehicle fixed they advised even though the mileage was old it was 4 month to old to be covered by the fix. They know they sold vehicles with bad instrument panels but are not fixing the problem.

- Millington, TN, USA

problem #36

Nov 012011

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
Tachometer, speedometer and temperature gauge failures.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

problem #35

Jun 302011

Silverado 3500 8-cyl

  • 113,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Well I bought the 2004 Silverado truck in June of 2011 and I noticed that the speedometer stutter a little bit going each way. Then just recently I experienced the speedometer just stop working by getting stuck at 30mph. I pulled over the truck and turned it of to maybe reset the system but even with the trucked turned off the speedometer was still at 30mph. I tried hitting the dash a couple of times to see if that would work. It didn't work so I tried driving some more and the speedometer said I was doing 90mph when I was only going 65mph because I had another person on the road tell me they were going 65pmh. I even tried to hit the brakes multiple times to get the needle to drop below 30mph. It particially worked by making it go down but then it got stuck at 10mph even with the truck turned off. So I came home and checked the recalls for my model truck and year and apparently there was a recall for this problem but only for vehicles under 70000 miles which I think isn't right because its a failure with your electrical clusters that you know is there but wont fix which makes it not look good for you designers. I am a diesel mechanic and I would tell people that this is a safety hazard.

- Liverpool, NY, USA

problem #34

Dec 012008

Silverado 3500

  • 142,000 miles
The speedometer stopped showing accurate speed, odometer still works. We took the truck in for service and found that it the failure was a common occurrence, but not covered under any warranty or recall. The cost of repair was approximately $500. We now use garmin for speed control.

- Topeka, KS, USA

problem #33

Mar 082011

Silverado 3500

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated the instrument panel failed. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and they removed the instrument panel for inspection. Once the instrument panel was installed back in the vehicle, the panel operated as normal with the exception of the oil pressure warning gauge. The dealer did not replace the instrument panel with a new one nor were there any repairs performed. The contact spoke to the manufacturer and was told that the failure was a common issue with the year, make and model but the manufacturer was only willing to assist with repairs on those vehicle with 75,000 miles or less. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 82,000.

- Souix Falls , SD, USA

problem #32

Mar 022011

Silverado 3500

  • 129,217 miles
Speedometer stopped working. Odometer is still working.

- Goose Creek, SC, USA

problem #31

Nov 052009

Silverado 3500

  • 57,000 miles
Intermittent problem, has occurred aprox. 5-6 times. Speedometer needle will read about 45-50 mph more than actual speed. Turn off vehicle and the needle rests about the 50 mph location and will only go back to the zero location after 6-8 restarts. Also while listening to the radio it will suddenly go to another station and lose all the presets.

- Cantonment, FL, USA

problem #30

Apr 202009

Silverado 3500

  • 82,000 miles
I purchased a 2004 Chevy Silverado bring new from commonwealth motors and now have 85,000 and the speedometer is registering from 60 mph to 120 mph. It's floating all over the place. I have never seen anything like this. It's so dangerous not knowing how fast you are going. How can a 2004 vehicle have this problem. I am finding out there are so many complaint pertaining to this out there. GM has decided to extend some kind of warranty for up to 80,000 miles. I was told this from the service dept at commonwealth motors, but he would absolutely not repair or replace anything because of the mileage. He compared it to taking out an extended warranty for your refrigerator and something happening the day after it expired. You can't kill yourself in your refrigerator when your not sure how fast your driving. I had received a letter approximately 1 1/2 years ago stating your vehicle may later have a problem, but (in bold letters) do not take your vehicle to your GM dealer as a result of this letter unless you believe that your vehicle has this condition. Why didn't I have the option to change it for preventable measures. No. they wanted me to wait and maybe I would go over their mileage when it did go defective. Then they can say "I'm sorry, too late." GM is admitting they have installed defective speedometer cluster and in a 2004 vehicle, they should be replacing it. I don't have 200,000 miles, I only have 85,000. Can anything be done concerning this matter.

- East Hampstead, NH, USA

problem #29

Jan 032009

Silverado 3500

  • 85,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. While driving 40 mph, the speedometer remained at 90 mph. The failure occurs sporadically. The dealer stated that nothing could be done to correct the failure. The contact heard of recalls for the speedometers on other Silverado, but for different years. The failure mileage was 85,000 and current mileage was 87,000.

- Mobile, AL, USA

problem #28

Mar 082008

Silverado 3500

  • 71,000 miles
After disengaging cruise control my speedometer was registering 80mph plus as my speed. When coming to a stop the speedometer registered 35 mph. The speedometer went up to 100mpg when I stayed with expressway traffic, keeps on going up, even though my foot is off the gas pedal. This is a defect in the dash instrument cluster.(as told by GM repair person) I was not notified of a recall because there isn't one.

- Dearborn Heights, MI, USA

problem #27

Oct 272008

Silverado 3500

  • 130,000 miles
My speedometer, RPM gauge, and transmission gauge have all stopped functioning...basically everything on the left side if your looking at it. The speedometer hangs on 30 or 60 and if it does work, which is only occasionally it's very slow and clicks it's way along, so therefore it is not accurate at all. The RPM gauge gets all the way off the gauge and sticks, and the other one just sits there. Why is there not a recall on this yet...it's too expensive to fix and very unsafe to drive!

- Buffalo, TX, USA

problem #26

Dec 102008

Silverado 3500

  • 40 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. While driving approximately 40 mph at night, the instrument panel warning indicators and gauges failed without warning. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the instrument panel cluster failed. The technician stated that there was an extended warranty that covered the repair; however, the vehicle was excluded from the warranty due to its excessive mileage. The estimated cost to repair the vehicle was $800. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 40 and the current mileage was 78,000.

- Holberk, MA, USA

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