My gauges do not work?

Had the car to a mechanic and he checked circuits and did tests that led him to conclude that it is the instrument cluster that is problem and nothing else. He says to get a new instrument cluster.

Since the other 'cavalier gauges' thread had so many people that were able to get it going again after the same problem, i'm just wondering if there are any other ways I could try and get the cluster to 'reset, or power-on' without having to get a whole new instrument cluster, which I think will be sort of expensive.

My Instrument panel went out after the battery was removed. The fuse was not burned out. My son started the car, took the fuse out and put the same fuse back in with the car still running. It worked. Three mechanics had told me I needed a new Instrument panel.

None of the gauges work on the instrument panel. Daughter had car jumped and now the gauges do not work. I have checked all the fuses. Took the alternator out and had it checked. Also replaced the battery and still do not work. Everything else works, the lights on dash the turn signals. What else could I check before I take it to a shop and spend mega bucks?

I think I have the same problem. I have a 2003 Cavalier. I had to disconnect the negative battery terminal one day as I was trying to work on the horn. After I connected the cable, all the gauges stopped working and a bunch of dash lights remained on. I took it to the dealer and they said I need a new instrument cluster. It was too expensive to replace and I also thought there is an easier fix. What did you end up doing? Thanks.

I have the same problem. I boosted the car yesterday and the gauges stopped working.

What can I do?

I should have come back and posted my fix, sorry.

Simply disconnect the battery connectors, and reconnect them again.

Jason

Had a similar problem on our 2004 Cavalier.
Tried everything all the posts all over the web tried.
Disconnect the battery for 1fifteen minutes, while disconnected short the positive and
negative battery leads together (not the battery!),
and pulling the fuses (more on this in a second).

Here is how I fixed it :

1. Started the car.
Gauges were not working and nearly all the Instrument lights were on.

2. On the side of the dash is the interior fuse panel l located the 10 amp, little fuse for the instrument "cluster".

3. Pulled the fuse and the instrument lights went out just like you would expect.

4. Now here I lose track a bit, but I believe I turned off the car, and then put the fuse back in place. I may have had the car running so if off does not work then replace the fuse with the car running.

5. Heard some noises like the fuel pump and then restarted the car, viola fixed!

Got a boost toady now none of my gauges are working (heat, gas, spedomotor

My gauges quit working when I disconnected the battery briefly. I got them to work again by pulling the 10 amp fuse in the instrument panel fuse box while the car was off and then replacing it.

After battery change, instrument panel guages no longer work.

Tried disconnecting and reconnecting battery and then pulling and putting back in the instrument panel fuse.

Gauges still do not work.

Any other ideas?

This seems to be an ancient thread, but I ran across it after I had a similar problem and have solved it, so thought I would post a reply. I knocked out my instrument cluster when replacing the battery, and pulling the battery leads, holding them together, and whatever did not work. Pulling and reinstalling the obvious "cluster" fuse did not help either. Haynes notes two fuses going into the instrument cluster microprocessor -- "cluster" and "CLS/PCM". The latter does not seem to exist on my car, but I have got a "BCM/CLU".

Long story short, turned the ignition to "run", pulled the BCM/CLU fuse, put it back in, and everything is alive. Looks like this gives the instrument cluster microprocessor the clean start it so desperately craves.

I had already tried everything else listed (checking fuses, disconnecting battery, etc); got the the pulling the fuses with the ignition "on" steps and tried that. 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 FIFO order (BCM/CLU fuse first, then the cluster fuse).

Thanks much for the help!

I am not mechanically inclined whatsoever, but this thread helped me so much! My grandma has a 2003 Cavalier and her dashboard gauges were not working (gas, odometer). So I told her I would take a look at it because it might be something as simple as a fuse. (I can at least change a fuse) After reading this thread trying to get some insight, I just went over to her house and pulled the BCM and cluster fuses (seen in a reply) and they were still in good shape/not blown. We tried to start the car and I put the fuses back in (in that order BCM, then cluster) and after starting the car again, all of her gauges worked! We could not believe it! So excited! Many thanks to you all for posting your replies on here they helped so much and probably saved my gramma a couple hundred dollars! (The two mechanics she took it to either told her it would be $20.00 to $300.00, or to just drive it like it is.

My instrument panel stopped working when my radio fuse blew is there a fuse for the gauges if so where is it?

Wife was driving the car, smelled a funny burnt plastic odor and the dash gauges quit working, the turn signals work but the alternator light is on the car runs and starts.