my 05 the speedo is starting out at 40 mph does that mean my instument cluster is going bd

 

just called the dealership there is a recall miles have to be under 80000 to have the labor included

 

on my 03 2500hd the cluster went bad at a little over 80,000 miles, well past the recall. After some haggling with GM they covered the part but i had to pay labor. Now at 155,000 miles my cluster is going again. It seems to start working as the truck gets warmer but i'm sure it will eventually stop working alltogether. I didn't have the same problem as you, mine just stopped working but it may be the cluster. There also are alot of issues with speed sensors corroding in northern climates...just a thought.

 

There are lots of notes about replacing the stepper motors on the interweb. Doesn't seem too difficult to me, but I'm used to soldering/un-soldering things.

Now it could be something else like a speed sensor, etc.