[dfspiano]

One day, my 2013 Chevy Cruze LT (1.4L 6M) odometer started displaying several dashes in place of the mileage. I've searched the forums, and some others have had this issue, however all of them tend to say that's everything else works just fine. In my case, the only other thing in addition to the odometer that doesn't display are the trip odometers (there are 2). They display trip MPG and fuel used, but they don't display mileage.

At one point, I replaced the gauge cluster to see if that would help fix the problem, but the old mileage stored there switched to the dashes after about a minute of the car being turned on. That leads me to believe that the problem is in the BCM, but I don't know where exactly. I DIY repairs on my car all the time, but I'm not a BCM expert by any means.

To be clear and brief, the issue is that the gauge cluster display isn't showing mileage of any sort, be it odometer or trip, and I know it's not the cluster itself.

Any tips or suggestions aside from "take it to the dealership" are greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: So, I haven't fixed the problem yet, but I did some experimenting. I pulled the BCM and read the EEPROM chip, and the mileage is definitely there (albeit in hex), it's just not making its way to the cluster correctly. I have read some comments suggesting that I should reprogram the gauge cluster, but I have no clue how to do that.

Also, for some more information as to what all happened when this issue started, I had taken my car to a shop to get my tire replaced (yes, a tire change caused this issue for some reason). As they were finishing the job, a tech approached me and asked if I had happened to bring my spare key along with me (PSA, if you take your car in for any service WHATSOEVER, always bring the spare key). Somehow, the anti-theft system decided that my car key was not cool anymore, so I needed to Uber home and back to get my spare key (which worked, thankfully), and that's when I noticed the mileage had gone missing. When I asked about it, the shop said they had no clue how to fix it and that I should take it to a dealership (which I don't wanna do because they want to charge me nearly $1k just to likely reprogram something). I don't know if that context helps at all, but there you have it.

 

[ChevyGuy]

Is anything else "off" like the speedometer or tachometer? Is anything else in the car not working right? Perhaps the parking assist or side detection system (if so equipped)?

The reason I mention those two system is they frequently fail in the salt belt and since they are on the CANBUS, they can cause strange things.

I think most of the data going to the speedometer comes via the CANBUS, so if it was a problem with the bus, I'd expect more things to be affected. Sometimes cars have multiple bus systems and it may be a failure of one of them.

I'm not sure where mileage is stored, but that module may be corrupt.

 

[dfspiano]

Is anything else "off" like the speedometer or tachometer? Is anything else in the car not working right? Perhaps the parking assist or side detection system (if so equipped)?

The reason I mention those two system is they frequently fail in the salt belt and since they are on the CANBUS, they can cause strange things.

I think most of the data going to the speedometer comes via the CANBUS, so if it was a problem with the bus, I'd expect more things to be affected. Sometimes cars have multiple bus systems and it may be a failure of one of them.

I'm not sure where mileage is stored, but that module may be corrupt.

Speed and everything else works just fine. It's just the odometer and trip mileage that don't display. Literally just dashes, not an incorrect number or anything. Almost like the cluster simply can't read any form of mileage. I've continued researching, and many people are saying that in Cruzes mileage is typically stored on the BCM. I'll keep looking.

 

[Paskalampi]

You are correct the mileage is stored in the BCM not the odometer.

Basically the odometer just displays whatever data the bcm reports. It doesn’t actually store anything. I wonder if the vin stored in the odometer is not matching the BCM? This is the same behavior that happens if you replace the cluster to one from a junkyard. Someone with a GM scan tool can find out what the exact issue is, there will be an error stored in the module

 

[NUMBER2]

That is the telltale symptom of Global A vehicles when there is a VIN mismatch amongst modules. A dealer visit to have them match it up/write it to the mismatched module(s) maybe. I'm not sure if they'd be able to do that though without a green module.

 

[dfspiano]

You are correct the mileage is stored in the BCM not the odometer.

Basically the odometer just displays whatever data the bcm reports. It doesn’t actually store anything. I wonder if the vin stored in the odometer is not matching the BCM? This is the same behavior that happens if you replace the cluster to one from a junkyard. Someone with a GM scan tool can find out what the exact issue is, there will be an error stored in the module

Where on the cluster would the VIN be stored?

 

[ChevyGuy]

Where on the cluster would the VIN be stored?

In the radio, it's a 8 pin DIP chip.

But this all begs the question of why it failed in the first place.

 

[dfspiano]

In the radio, it's a 8 pin DIP chip.

But this all begs the question of why it failed in the first place.

My guess is that it was probably when they tried to reset the TMPS.