Out-of-Park Alarm Recall repair wrecked instrument cluster

[JWChessell]

I received a recall notice for the "Out of Park" problem with the 48RE transmission, and took my 2003 3500 to the dealer this morning for the repair. The repair consists of reprograming the computer to sound the horn and flash the lights if the transmission is still in reverse (rather than park) and the left door is opened -- it may also include releasing pressure on the brake pedal, in addition to opening the door.

In any event, in the course of performing the reprograming, the technician caused the instrument cluster to stop communicating with the computer, and the instrument cluster went completely dead. They were unable to revive it and have ordered a new instrument cluster (speedometer, tach, oil press, ammeter, temp, fuel level) which they will install tomorrow, and hopefully successfully conclude the "out of park" recall repair, the functioning of all the instruments and gauges, and the reassembly of my dashboard.

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, what other problems may occur? Is there some "trick" of which the dealer should be aware to avoid killing the instrument cluster during the course of the recall repair?

Meanwhile, the dashboard is apart and my truck is locked up at the dealer until at least tomorrow afternoon. They did immediately volunteer to pay for a rental car however, which I drove home and have available until they finish with my truck, so I'm still mobile.