I have a few repairs that I plan to get done within the next couple weeks and had a few questions.
The first one:
The odometer light doesn't always come on when I turn the car on, but if I hit the dash, it turns on. I imagine there are some dirty contacts somewhere but was wondering the best place to start so I'm not just blindly tearing apart the dash.
2:
The power lock on my passenger door doesn't work. It still makes the noise but only the driver's door locks/unlocks with the button. I'm guessing it's a bad actuator. Is this a difficult repair and if not how long does it typically take?
3:
My fuel gauge doesn't work. I imagine it's the fuel sending unit, but I've heard some people having problems with just replacing the sending unit. I've head that sometimes it messes up the pump and causes it to fail. Is this something I should take into consideration? Or can I just go to a junkyard and pull a sending unit and replace mine?

Sorry for the long post but didn't want to post multiple threads. Thanks!

 

Sometimes going to the Junkyard is a great learning experience. I started with a few u-pull it yards and was able to find all sorts of things that would help with my interior repairs. The next best thing I did was get the repair manuals from GM. they cover everything in detail with drawings and sometimes hit the issue I am having right on.
Number 1 maybe just a loose connection or dirty contact.
#2 might have the same issue. When people get in and out of the doors they believe they need to slam them and that will loosen stuff up for sure.
#3 sometimes the fuel gauge on these GM cars have issues I think it's a common problem I have seen it twice on some Cars I have owned or that of a friend. I never fixed it and neither did my friend. sorry.

 

Agreed with above.

1) If all else fails, get a new cluster - plug and play but I think only 2000 can get 2000 and 2001-2005 can take any of the years (not 2000 though).

2)On the door lock switch, pull it and clean the contacts - mine did the same thing but on my driver's side. It's very straightforward to disassemble the switch as there isn't even any screws - that being said, it's all plastic clips so be careful to not break it.

3) The gauge in the cluster doesn't move at all? Maybe a bad stepper motor in the cluster? If you swap in another this could take care of the issue. I'd send you one of my clusters but it's not 2000. Also if you do go for another cluster, 2000 Impalas will have the same cluster.

Side note: In regards to the cluster, I am referencing what I have found out for Impalas (2000-2005). I assume they have the same issues as the Monte Carlo since they look to be the same and I have installed 2 Monte Carlo clusters in my 2005 Impala. With regard to the 2000 model, a 2000 Impala can only take a 2000 Impala cluster again I am applying this logic to the 2000-2005 Monte Carlos.

Best of Luck

 

The gas gauge does move sometimes. It's only when I'm sitting still for awhile like when I'm in traffic or in a drive thru or something. In those cases it drops from full down to E. This is why I'm thinking it's the sending unit. As I drive the needle gradually goes back to F.
Where would the contacts be for the odometer light? I've never pulled the dash apart and want to know what I'm doing before I actually do it.
And where would be the best place to get the repair manuals? Are they available at junkyards or is it something I'd have to order online?

Thanks for your respones.

 

Factory manuals can be bought online, but they will be pricey. alldatadiy.com has some for 26/year or 45/5 years. A lot of people have Chilton or haynes which can be found at most local auto part stores. I have not used any of these so I cannon comment on quality. Factory manuals I have used it the past are the best option. Ebay search them.

I'm not sure what you would do for the contacts on the board... When you open the cluster up, you'll notice that there are a lot of contacts for the odometer read out - they are sort of bare metal wires that actually hold the odometer read out up in the air above the board about a half inch or so. Those contacts may have broken from the board? I'm not sure; other than that, it could be a pin from the cluster wiring. Or it could be dying? Hard to say.

As for the gauge, I have seen clusters to weird things. My cluster (stock 2005 impala base) would constantly move up on all 3 gauges (temp, fuel, speed) before I upgraded the cluster to a 4 then a 6 gauge later. So more on what my gauges would do - say the speed crept up to 120 mph; if I would turn off the car, the gauge would 'fall' to say 90mph, but if I would turn the key from the off to the on position, the gauge would 'sweep' and move from 90 to 100, and 'fall back to 60. I could do this a few times to get the gauge eventually to 0. I eventually just replaced the cluster with one from a Monte Carlo.

Keep in mind that you can get a cluster from a junkyard for $35. Online might be more. If you get another cluster, the mileage will be different since the milage is stored in the cluster itself. I personally didn't care and never reprogrammed the cluster. I hear it's about $100 from a dealer.

 

But why would I replace the cluster if it's just the contacts for the odometer light? SHouldn't that be a simple repair? And all my other gauges work, except for the gas gauge. So if the contacts on the odometer is what's causing the light so short on and off, wouldn't it just be cheaper to get a new sending unit, rather than replacing the entire cluster? Sorry if I'm just not understanding what you're saying, but I don't think the entire cluster is the problem.

 

If you can solder then go for it. It will make sense what it looks like as soon as you open it up. As far as replacing the cluster, again it's cheap from a junkyard. Where I am they are $35 so it's not a huge investment. As for replacing the whole cluster, I'm just laying out options so if for some reason there are any other issues with this board or if it's not as simple or clear as a broken contact, you can proceed.

As for the sending unit - I just looked it up on rockatuo and it's $82 for doorman with no alternatives.

Also it could be the wires of the sending unit I suppose.

edit: Give me a few moments and I'll post a picture of one of my clusters.

 

Ok thanks. The pictures give me a better idea of what you were talking about. I'll probably tear it apart soon, once it warms up again.

 

Ok check the previous post. I'm just posting in case you're like me and I get notified via e-mail that there is a new post.

 

Hey WBody,
Sorry to bring back an old thread, but it finally got warm today so I took my dash apart and when I opened up the cluster, I saw this (picture attached). It looks like there's a fuse missing and was wondering if you could send another picture of your cluster and/or be able to tell me which one it is I'm missing. I circled it in the picture.

Thanks