Odometer Question ("winking" LED)

[Mervap]

I was driving the other day and looked at my odometer and the numbers "winked"...like pixelating. It still keeps rolling along like it should, but the display does this quite a bit. It's not the lights that illuminate the area in question, but the numbers themselves...anyone else have this happen?

[Shadow Z]

I have never had this happen yet, at least not on the Aveo.
More than likely it is the LCD and it will need to be replaced if you want it to stop.
There is a gentleman on Ebay who repairs instrument clusters his name is Brian74948.
He did a great job doing the whole cluster of a 2004 Sunfire my wife's friend has.

[Mervap]

Thanks, Shadow....I may still be within my warranty period. I was wondering if it was common on the Aveo.

[GoneRD]

I, too, have experienced this with my 08 Aveo 5 LT (5-door hatchback) and found that flicking the outer lens cover usually restored the complete characters.

Now, the lightbulb that illuminates the odometer has failed, too: Anyone have an easy method to replace that bulb, please?

Also, anyone know of a good resource to secure complete maintenance/service manuals for this vehicle?

Thank you!

[thehunterooo]

You have to remove the cluster to get to the bulb, it is pretty easy to do.

[GoneRD]

Thanks for the "heads-up": Any directions as to how one goes about removing the cluster?

[thehunterooo]

Just start removing screws The first one/two screws are under the top piece of plastic, that piece piece slides/pulls out with a little force then it is pretty simple from there on out, the first time is a little hard as you do not know what just comes out or takes a ton of force to get out, I have done it 20+ times so it does not bother me anymore

You do not need to take the cluster apart though, the bulbs all can be changed on the back of the cluster.

[GoneRD]

Thanks again for the help! Sure hope I don't have to do it "20 times" or more!... Any suggestions with respect to an odometer that "pixelates"? Tapping the plastic lens seems to restore "full-characters", but it's becoming more frequent: Do I need to replace that unit, and - if I'm correct - it would have to be "factory", and I'd need to send my current reading (as it's stored in the odometer, and NOT the ECU)???

[thehunterooo]

I am not too sure about that, I had never even seen this thread before you posted in it I think if the odometer is changed, the new one will show different miles, but that is a guess on my part, did you check your fuses? I would also re-seat that connection on the harness, take the cluster out and disconnect it form the harness, then reconnect, that may solve your problem (sort of the same concept with computers and such).

I took mine out and apart as I put in a new set of gauge faces, and changed the bulbs 3-4 times to get the look I wanted, I even had my needles fall off as I did not put them back on correctly, nothing that you would need to worry about if you are just changing bulbs

[daug1502]

I also had a similar problem. I was still on warranty and had the dealer replace it for me. Apparently they had a collection of bad odometers in the 2008 models. The dealer will record the miles on your car and order the new odometer to those miles, if you need the car during that time, see if they will add a few miles to it, or not.