Dash lights & volt gauge

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kymeallion

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When i start the truck the volt meter never reads to 14 volt. after it is warmed up it goes down. when i turn the head lights on it goes down further. When I turn on the climate controls with the head lights it goes down further. When i'm on the interstate with cruise set it stay a little under 14 volts. Also, when i turn on the head lights i have no dash lights, can't see the clock or the climate controls, not even faintly. tested the battery. It was 12.15 volts. The alternator was 14.01 volts when i started it & went down when it idled down to 12.85 volts. With everything on in the truck, head lights, radio & climate control with fan on high the lowest it got was 11.94 volt. Volt meter in dash read lower no matter what. As for my dash lights they never came on but when i switch the head lights to high beam the radio & climate control came on for a second then went back off. Tried to hold the switch in the position to when it worked & couldn't. I add a ground wire to the driver side of engine & frame. What should i do about my dash, radio & climate control lights when my head lights are on? Could it be the instrument cluster is malfunctioning? Can Any one help me out???
 
WOW!! out of 128 people that have viewed this not 1 is going to comment:confused::mad:
 
kymeallion said:
When i start the truck the volt meter never reads to 14 volt. after it is warmed up it goes down. when i turn the head lights on it goes down further. When I turn on the climate controls with the head lights it goes down further. When i'm on the interstate with cruise set it stay a little under 14 volts. Also, when i turn on the head lights i have no dash lights, can't see the clock or the climate controls, not even faintly. tested the battery. It was 12.15 volts. The alternator was 14.01 volts when i started it & went down when it idled down to 12.85 volts. With everything on in the truck, head lights, radio & climate control with fan on high the lowest it got was 11.94 volt. Volt meter in dash read lower no matter what. As for my dash lights they never came on but when i switch the head lights to high beam the radio & climate control came on for a second then went back off. Tried to hold the switch in the position to when it worked & couldn't. I add a ground wire to the driver side of engine & frame. What should i do about my dash, radio & climate control lights when my head lights are on? Could it be the instrument cluster is malfunctioning? Can Any one help me out???
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your vehicle! If you leave me your VIN, I can locate a dealer for you so they can do a further diagnosis. Thank you!

Joey, GM Customer Service
 
Are you using a handheld voltmeter to take the readings? Is the 12.15 battery voltage reading being taken with the ignition off. OK you 127 other viewers, pipe up.
 
The 11.94 volts sounds low, but I haven't checked mine to see what's normal. If it is in fact too low, I would question the alternators ability to charge at idle (11.94 at idle?), or one of the circuits is drawing too much power. Have you tried removing fuses one by one and checking voltage?
 
what year of truck ?

new GM have intelligent charging systems... free spin the alt if the battery is ok

when the battery need a charge it kicks in!

my 2011 show below 12V on the highway sometimes... 15 min later 14.5 or so!

cheers
Warts
 
1994 GMC k 1500 Sierra 5.7l no i have not removed fuses 1 by 1 and checked voltage. the 11.94 volts is with everything on head lights, radio & climate control with fan on high. Took all the ground wires off & used a drimel to clean them up & no change. Would the headlight switch or the turn signal switch cause the dash lights not to work? Already replace the dimmer switch & checked all the fuses.
 
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I don't have an answer to your questions. Is there any way you can shove a sewing needle or thumb tack into the dash light wiring and test voltage at that point, and work backwards from there?
 
The voltage regulator fried out, along with the alternator & the battery. Replaced them, volt meter in dash stays around 14 volts till you turn everything on but doesn't go to the red on the volt meter. Dash lights still don't work with the headlights on. Replaced the dimmer switch & the headlight switch. :confused:SH!T. SH!T. SH!T.
 
Silly question, but I gotta ask. Is the dimmer switch that you replaced, the one that dims the dash lights? As opposed to the one that dims the headlights.
 
Nothing more to add. Ended up with 2 of the previous reply's and was unable to delete.
 
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Did you ever check the voltage on the downstream side of the dash dimmer? Also, maybe totally unrelated, but here goes. On my 99 jimmy, when I engage a turn flasher, the front daytime driving lights drop out. I'm told that there's an overload relay responsible for problem. But I haven't tore into it yet to find out why it's acting up.
 
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