I am very excited because today I picked up and installed a new instrument cluster for my Avalanche. The light on the odometer went out on my original one, so I have not been able to tell my mileage. But no more! It took a whopping five minutes to install the new cluster and I did it right in the parking lot of the dealer where I bought the new one. You may be wondering how I can get my mileage transferred to my new cluster if I can't see it on the old one. Does the mileage stay in an on board computer somewhere in the truck, not dependent on the cluster? Surprisingly, no. I had to figure out what my mileage should be. Fortunately that is not difficult for a geek like me. I track my gas mileage using a Google Docs spreadsheet that I can access via the browser on my Blackberry and enter the mileage and fuel data right at the gas station. So I have records going back quite some time. I was able to use that data to approximate what mileage I typically drive in a month and then added that amount to my last recorded mileage and the dealer used that to program my new cluster.
Only $359 later I am a happy man and can say that there are times when a cluster is a good thing.
I am very excited because today I picked up and installed a new instrument cluster for my Avalanche. The light on the odometer went out on my original one, so I have not been able to tell my mileage. But no more! It took a whopping five minutes to install the new cluster and I did it right in the parking lot of the dealer where I bought the new one. You may be wondering how I can get my mileage transferred to my new cluster if I can't see it on the old one. Does the mileage stay in an on board computer somewhere in the truck, not dependent on the cluster? Surprisingly, no. I had to figure out what my mileage should be. Fortunately that is not difficult for a geek like me. I track my gas mileage using a Google Docs spreadsheet that I can access via the browser on my Blackberry and enter the mileage and fuel data right at the gas station. So I have records going back quite some time. I was able to use that data to approximate what mileage I typically drive in a month and then added that amount to my last recorded mileage and the dealer used that to program my new cluster.
Only $359 later I am a happy man and can say that there are times when a cluster is a good thing.
I am very excited because today I picked up and installed a new instrument cluster for my Avalanche. The light on the odometer went out on my original one, so I have not been able to tell my mileage. But no more! It took a whopping five minutes to install the new cluster and I did it right in the parking lot of the dealer where I bought the new one.
You may be wondering how I can get my mileage transferred to my new cluster if I can't see it on the old one. Does the mileage stay in an on board computer somewhere in the truck, not dependent on the cluster? Surprisingly, no. I had to figure out what my mileage should be. Fortunately that is not difficult for a geek like me. I track my gas mileage using a Google Docs spreadsheet that I can access via the browser on my Blackberry and enter the mileage and fuel data right at the gas station. So I have records going back quite some time. I was able to use that data to approximate what mileage I typically drive in a month and then added that amount to my last recorded mileage and the dealer used that to program my new cluster.
Only $359 later I am a happy man and can say that there are times when a cluster is a good thing.
It was a snow day for U. City schools, along with most of St. Louis, so we went sledding. Since I am loving my new Flip video camera, it came with us.
Unfortunately the bitter cold killed the battery in now time, but we did get some fun shots.
If there are problems with the embedded video, watch on YouTube.
After baths, the girls will a little cold, so they snuggled on the chair under a couple blankets. so cute, I could not resist getting the camera out.
