All of the other lighs work fine, the dimmer "dial" or switch is working fine too. The dummy lights work as well. I tried a good gauge cluster from my Denali that has working backlighting and the lights wouldn't work with that one either. I am now looking to track down what the issue is.

 

Thank you all very much for the replies. I am still trying to track down the issue. This is really driving my nuts. Is this a common issue with the 2003 model?

 

no not really a common issue. but all GMT800 trucks are wired up simerly. your denali parts if GMT800 also should swap in for testing.
if you have an aftermarket radio the short might be in its wiring there.

 

Is it possible that I might have a bad photo cell on the dash? By is it possible, I mean, would this effect the dash lights?

 

Apologies, my pdf was a bit defective, so I've edited my earlier post to correct the Cluster Pin A11 wiring to BCM which may be significant

 

If it was the photocell sensor on the dash, all of your dash lights would respond accordingly, not just the cluster itself. You would probably also have issues with the daytime running lights.

There's several places for a reasonable rate that you can send your cluster in to get rebuilt with new stepper motors, the soldered in LED lights.... Most give you a choice of color on those..... And they test the entire circuit board.

At the rear of the cluster when you start to remove it there's a single plug. Identify which pin sends power for the back lighting and test it. If it has power, send it in to get rebuilt. Depending where you live, turn around time can be between 4 days and a week. And you could still drive the vehicle without the cluster, it just won't accumulate any miles and you won't know how fast you're going, your fuel level, temperature, but if you must drive it, it's not an issue.

Also check your area if there are any local people doing this work. I've got a guy in my area that came out, rebuilt the cluster on my workbench, if I remember right it was around $140. (And that includes removal and installation, but I went ahead and pulled it out and had it on the bench when he showed up at the appointment time)

 

"All of the other lighs work fine, the dimmer "dial" or switch is working fine too. The dummy lights work as well. I tried a good gauge cluster from my Denali that has working backlighting and the lights wouldn't work with that one either. I am now looking to track down what the issue is."

so probably not the cluster ?

 

I'm leaning towards wiring/ground issue for the cluster....