Odometer keeps dimming

[LikeEnvoy]

The odometer display on my 2007 Envoy SLE has started going dim. It was ok until this spring, when I noticed it was ok at night but when out on a sunny day I couldn't see the display at all.
A few days ago it was still dim as I drove. Interestingly, today, after it started out barely visible with my sunglasses on (and only a bit better with them off), I stopped for about 40 minutes and during that time I tried pushing the odometer/trip button in. Normally that turns on the odometer for a few seconds to check the number but now it was not readable at all in the sunlight. I even cupped my hands over the panel and got right up to it. Even tried turning the headlight override on. Still not readable- barely any sign of green at all. Tried with the ignition on, too- no good.
Then when I started the engine about 15 minutes later, I realised the display was brighter and actually readable. Then as I watched, it got even brighter- to where I believe it should be normally. It stayed like that all the way home.
When it's dim/unreadable, turning the panel light knob does not improve it- in fact I have the knob almost fully up anyway.
I can't find exactly this problem in a search; only posts about the DIC display. My 2007 seems like it has orange LED bars for transmission position and a small green odometer display.
Anyone had this problem and fixed it?

 

[mrrsm]

This video will show you the major problem areas that can FUBAR the Instrument Cluster Panel specific to Dimmed or Scrabnoid Readouts. It will also emphasize why sending the panel out for a very professional repair will probably be the best approach.

Unlike the 12 Volt DC Polarity Specific LED Lights and Sweep Gauges present on the Panel... the PRNDL123 and ODOMETER Screens are actually Vacuum Tube NEON Glass Flat Panels and use a Transformer and a Dedicated Computer Chip that is Wave Soldered adjacent to the left side of those screen readout Flat Glass Tubes.

The myriad contact pins on that SMC (Surface Mounted Component) Chip are so very tiny that it requires some skill in identifying the correct Chip and then performing this R&R and Soldering Repair. The VOP (Video Original Poster) does a great job with describing and successfully performing this Repair:

While this Video focuses on Repairing an IPC from a Late Model Silverado... its close enough to the Trailblazer-Envoy IPCs to be relevant:

 

[Mektek]

Replacing a TSOP is beyond the capacity of 99.9% of the public ...... And the guy downgraded to bulbs!
dim display is an entirely different problem. Something related to the brightness control of panel lighting. Is all of your panel lighting (eg radio) also dim? Or is it the panel display only?
The VFD display has a voltage converter circuit - that's the likely problem.\
Unless you're good at this stuff you're probably better off getting a replacement from the PYP.

 

[LikeEnvoy]

Thanks guys. I think I will keep looking for a DIC cluster and upgrade my truck; thereby fixing my problem and also putting a smile on my face at the same time.

(Sorry for delay in my reply and thanks for responding. )

 

[LikeEnvoy]

Update... Finally found a 2007 Envoy in the local junk yard, after all these years. Its from a Denali, and black, like mine, so I got the front grille, with headlamp washer mounts (been wanting that for years too, to go with all the other washer parts I collected) and this DIC cluster.

The DIC display was blank at the junk yard when I plugged my battery test harness in, but I got it for $20. At home the DIC actually turned on when I put the battery on, but it was very dim!
The functions seemed to operate, so I removed the EEPROM and edited the data for my VIN number and mileage then soldered it back on (I've been learning over these last few years, so I was ready).
Now the DIC is blank again. It must have been going intermittent all the time and now is all the way.

I have looked for bad solder joints but found none. In fact the whole PCB looks very clean and much better than the earlier PCBs I have seen on YouTube etc.
I'll check with a local speedometer repair shop next, to see if he thinks he can fix it and how much.

The other issue though, is that this DIC unit has two different warning lamps from mine. Where I have the Stabilitrak / traction control lamps, on the left side, there is now a cruise control lamp and a Gauges lamp. When I click the 'disable Stabilitrak' switch, on the gear shifter, the 'Check Gauges' lamp turns on!
So it is in the same place as the Stabilitrak light was, but is a different function.

I suspect the BCM needs programming to tell the system I have a DIC cluster (option U68), so it sends the right signal. Good old GM again- they have to make everything difficult for the owner/mechanic.

Anyway, I'll see what the shop can do first.

**************
By the way, while I had this cluster in my car, to test the gauges, I opened my old cluster and found the cause of the dimming odometer- bad solder joint of course. I noticed that when the IGN voltage was OFF and I pressed the trip counter stalk, the display only came on slowly, dimming up. When I pressed on a few resistors it came on brightly and immediately.
Also replaced the burnt out lamps.
So that one is back in the living again and back in my car until I can figure this DIC unit out.

 

[Blckshdw]

Any chance you could post a pic of your cluster, and the location of those bad solder joints? May come in handy if someone wants to try this fix in the future.

 

[Mooseman]

When I went from a non-DIC to a DIC in my TB, all the lights worked as expected. Maybe the cluster you got was from an earlier non-Stabilitrak truck? Shine a light on the DIC cluster and see if you can spot a Stabilitrak light. The other thing that might be missing is the TPMS light and pressure display.

 

[LikeEnvoy]

Yes, I forgot to take pics but I pulled the cluster again and opened it for our group.
The red square contains the components I resoldered. In particular, when I had pressed on the resistors there, the display came up bright. As I said before, the display used to fade up slowly when I pressed the trip button (with Ign OFF), but after re-soldering these parts it comes on bright immediately.

 

[LikeEnvoy]

Windows just blue-screened and I lost all my next post. Here goes again...

My old 2007 SLE cluster has, to the top-left, "Service Stabilitrak" and "Stabilitrak Active. To the right of the Speedometer is "Oil Change" and "Service 4WD". Tire pressure is far right.

On this "new" DIC cluster, To the top left are "Cruise Control On" and "Check Gauges". Now, to the
right of the speedometer is a small "Stabilitrak Active" lamp then the "Service 4WD" lamp.

The Tire Pressure lamp is still to the far right.
I'm guessing some of the warning lamp functions are not necessary on the DIC because the message centre should tell you if the function is disabled, faulty, active etc.
I also don't remember seeing the passenger seat belt lamp on when I tested this in my Envoy (with a passenger), so that may be due to programming too. It does seem like the BCM needs programming to modify the behaviour so that the correct lamps turn on for the functions.

 

[Mooseman]

The BCM and/or the cluster might need programming. I remember my TB LS had cruise control but no light but when I put in the DIC cluster, it just worked. No programming required neither to get the tire pressures. All the DIC features worked right out of the box with the proper steering wheel switches. Still odd that yours isn't working right. Come to think about it, my DIC cluster doesn't have the change oil light, just the DIC message would show up. And also get the oil life %.

 

[Chickenhawk]

By the way, the best cluster repair shop in Canada is about 10 minutes east of Winnipeg in Oakbank MB. Great service and mine was repaired two years ago for the same issue and has been perfect ever since. Also did all the steppers and bulbs, even though I have done the stepper motors myself one or two at a time over the years.

 

[LikeEnvoy]

Hmm.. interesting info from both of you. I phoned one place, advertised here in Winnipeg, and he said it typically costs around $400 to $500 to repair a cluster! Either he didn't want to do it or doesn't know anything!
I will look into the Oakbank place, thanks Chickenhawk. Might that be the place that's a real 'whiz'?

 

[Chickenhawk]

Hmm.. interesting info from both of you. I phoned one place, advertised here in Winnipeg, and he said it typically costs around $400 to $500 to repair a cluster! Either he didn't want to do it or doesn't know anything!
I will look into the Oakbank place, thanks Chickenhawk. Might that be the place that's a real 'whiz'?

Yup, that's Tom. He is a 'whiz' with clusters. LOL.

Dropped off on his front porch in Oakbank and picked it up two days later. I think it was $270, plus taxes.

 

[LikeEnvoy]

A last update before this thread ends. Yesterday I finally got a DIC cluster installed and working in my Envoy SLE. I have wanted a DIC feature for more than 10 years and only got my first PCB from the junkyard in 2020. An early version; no good for my car but my chance to see what a DIC IPC does. Wow. Then the display died. Then in 2022 I found one from a 2007 Denali that nobody had yanked out yet. I showed a picture of this one earlier in this thread. That display died too. It took until late 2025 to finally get it working. Then more problems until yesterday, when I finally had it working.
I might put details of what I learned in a new thread.