An old thread from Matrix101vz said driving without the "main" gauge cluster would result in the car eventually not starting and/or not letting you drive faster than about 5 mph (b/c of the lack of odometer).

What about the three gauge cluster in the center? Is it okay to drive without that? He said something about the car blasting heat without A/C controls but I'm not sure if he was talking about both the main cluster AND the center cluster.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Yes. The A/C goes nuts and you'll get hot air blown in your face.

Other than that, you can drive it.

You could keep the bottom part of the console and have the A/C controls connected and then no air would come out.

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I should be able to get my install done in one day, but if not, it's good to know I can drive without it. I'll hook up the A/C control box if it takes longer... because I would die with the heat on during the summer in Texas.

 

If the box that holds the AC control ***** is disconnected, it will blast but not if the top center 3 gauge cluster is off. I don't know about driving though. never tried that.

You could detach the AC control ***** box from the lower finisher and just shove it in the hole in the console under the radio area. Its fastened to the lower finisher with a clip on each side. The ribbon cable has a few inches of slack.

 

actually you cannot drive the car without the gauge. while driving the car will shut off on you. this has happen to me before.

 

It shut off when you had the center one removed? I realize it will shut off with the main cluster behind the steering wheel removed... but the center one (with the radio) missing will also do it?

 

as the other post mentioned u can not drive with out it.i had taken mine out a year ago when i had acree do the led conversion.the car will at some point shut down. i thought i could drive without it as mentioned the ac will blaast hot air.since this was my only transportation to and from work and my work is only about a 20 mile drive one way thought i could get by with the ac problem but on my way home later that day,car started losing power then died.had to have it towed

 

when i had my 03 i had the center console painted to match and i drove around for 5 days and had zero problems without the 3 guages not beeing plugged in. i just kept the heater control module hooked up because of the air constantly blowing, but i never had any problems with my 03

 

I havn't had my center 3 guages in for almost 2 years now, no problems.

 

For those that had their car shut down... what year was it? Seems like the 03's wont?

 

I drove my 05 for an afternoon with the center stack gauges disconnected no problem. They dont control anything all they do is read info sent to them and display it for you to see. The ones of you that had problems may have hit that lower white box that sits back in the centerconsole or done something to cause a wire to come loose. I cant think of what the name of that box is but its basically a bus junction for the different CAN modules in the car.