Electrical problems. 3rd time in the shop in 2 months

GMCustomerService · May 31, 2016

Hello Alan J Kilpartrick,

Congratulations on purchasing your new Silverado, but I am sorry to see that you are experiencing electrical concerns with it. Have you been able to bring this to the attention of your dealership yet? I would be more than happy to reach out to them on your behalf, just send a private message and let me know.

Best,

Julianne M.

GM Customer Care

@ GSB, this is what happened to me except I was parked, navigating menu on my USB stored music. Locked the door as I wasn't watching surroundings (it was late) then when I took the key out to leave the car everything went completely dead. No response to On Star button, turning key to start didn't even click, internal power locks non responsive. Few mins later (probably 5-10 minutes) all the internal lights started flickering, Check Engine light came on with a warning "Battery Charging *something, I forget* fault, open and close driver side window" then it went away. Check engine light is still on but after about 15 minutes everything else is working okay. I live near the country so not sure if the smell in the cabin was dead skunk or burning wires but it goes back into the shop on Tuesday.

This is my first Chevrolet after driving a Honda from new for 8 years, hoping it's just a loose fuse or something but can't say I'm impressed right now.

*Edit, just bought this today!

Romine2727 · June 2, 2016

I've got a 2015 GMC 2500 duramax All-Terrain 4x4 with 20,000 miles having the same issue. The gauges trip out, warning notifications come on and air conditioner will not turn on. This has happened a few times since new but I haven't had a chance to take it to the dealership. I found that by disconnecting the batteries for a short period will reset whatever the issue is and then it will go weeks or months before doing it again. I'm about to take it to the dealership but would like to have an idea on what yalls experiences have been so i have some idea on what it could be. I don't want them to keep the truck for 2 weeks with no results if possible. Did anyone ever find any solutions? My truck doesn't have any aftermarket products other than a B&W gooseneck hitch. I have taken video of the issues each time and have not been able to pinpoint a time,speed or situation that this reoccurs.

Eradicator · July 14, 2016

My wife's 2014 Equinox had a similar issue. It happened after it went through the carwash sometimes or if it was out in the rain sometimes. For us, the entire dash went dead, no gauges, no A/C, not OnStar and all kinds of errors in the DIC. Each time we got it to the dealer, everything was working again. They said there were no stored error codes (which I find hard to believe). When it would happen, the door locks would click lightly and it looked like the Body Control module was doing a reset or self check.

I washed the car as we were going out of town. An hour later on the highway it did it again. Called the dealer as we turned around. Got to the dealer with the dash still dead. Long story short, there was a bad sensor in the back hatch area the caused the system to freak out. Not sure why it took an hour for this to happen after the car got wet, but what ever.

I'm not sure if this even applies, but though I'd share my experience with the dash freaking out. It took a while to figure out it was happening after a car wash because I would wash her car at night and there were no issues until the next morning. The dash would freak out for several hours, but then start working again. One time it started working on the way to the dealer.... it was very frustrating. Once everything started working, there was no check engine light or anything. After the sensor was replaced, it never happened again.

Gecko50 · July 31, 2016

Ok I had my bout with a electrical gremlin 2014 GMS Diesel Denali brad new. It was almost like a homing pigeon going to the dealer. My truck would shut down at random times. A complete full shut down, happened while driving too lucky it was in a parking lot. No steering little brakes reminded me of... thats another story.. The truck would not restart. After some time it might restart. All accessories would not work. A good tattle tale was the door locks did not lock or chirp the horn. I had a very good dealer trouble shooter. First he thought had it beat and replaced the fuse / accessory panel on the drivers side under the hood. Sent me on my merry way. 3 miles at a Lowe's lot BAM... again.. same problem. Back to the dealer.

Here is what he found just by chance.

The cable end from the battery or passenger side fuse panel (Not sure which) was not terminted correct when they made the cable. So that made it intermittent.

Maybe your dealer can investigate and see if you have the same problem?

The crimp on the cable was on the insulation and very little was on the copper wire.

Chuck

PAE

Alan J Kilpatrick · August 1, 2016

Ok I had my bout with a electrical gremlin 2014 GMS Diesel Denali brad new. It was almost like a homing pigeon going to the dealer. My truck would shut down at random times. A complete full shut down, happened while driving too lucky it was in a parking lot. No steering little brakes reminded me of... thats another story.. The truck would not restart. After some time it might restart. All accessories would not work. A good tattle tale was the door locks did not lock or chirp the horn. I had a very good dealer trouble shooter. First he thought had it beat and replaced the fuse / accessory panel on the drivers side under the hood. Sent me on my merry way. 3 miles at a Lowe's lot BAM... again.. same problem. Back to the dealer.

Here is what he found just by chance.

The cable end from the battery or passenger side fuse panel (Not sure which) was not terminted correct when they made the cable. So that made it intermittent.

Maybe your dealer can investigate and see if you have the same problem?

The crimp on the cable was on the insulation and very little was on the copper wire.

Chuck

PAE

This is what mine turned out to be, there's apparently a service bulletin on it now. Since they found and repaired I've not had a lick of trouble, actually really enjoying my truck now.

Alan J Kilpatrick · September 26, 2016

Anyone have ketchup for my words? After a few months of no trouble my engine cut out on me again, thankfully at low speed while pulling into a parking lot but had girlfriend in the truck with me, stuttered 5 or 6 times before I could park. Kicker is, truck is under an active recall (not sent out yet) about 'software may not deploy airbag' so if it decides to wreck me out at 50/60 miles an hour I might not get an airbag!

Hate this, don't feel safe driving my own truck, really unhappy right now.

Shagmax · November 7, 2016

My 2014 Denali is going back to GM under Florida's Lemon law...

False collision avoidance alerts, drivers seat elevates on its own while driving, mirrors fold in while driving, error messages in dash... total OOS days now are 59....

Guess 2014 was a bad first year... getting a 2017 HD Duramax

DBrach · June 26, 2017

Here's the most up-to-date PI that was released by GM. PIT5405B

http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/DownloadPdf?id=195931

So far I've fixed the two grounds at the base of the pillars but that only lasted for about 2 days. Consequently, I did notice that my battery indicator held a slightly better charge and the issues went away for a few days. However, the gremlin is back. I'll move onto the other issues and keep ya'll up to date.

bb1983 · August 1, 2017

Just coming in to this forum. I just had my first real run-in with this electrical issue. 2015 Suburban Z71.

I noticed about a week ago, after driving for 1.5 hours, that my dash lights were fluctuating pretty intensely while under acceleration. A short time later, my center nav system flickered but came back up. I thought my alternator might or battery might be about to go out and causing some power fluctuation that were putting them out of range for the system to function properly. After parking the truck and driving it later I had no issues.

Now I am on a road trip and worried that I might be in for a nightmare. I have noticed the light fluctuate a few times. Again, if I stop and start again it all goes away.

I get into NYC and at the moment I am pulling into the parking garage (tight fit) I get symptoms shown in the video posted earlier. Power dropping completely, steering wheel jacking up, etc. With a 1500 mile return road trip ahead of me, I am more than concerned.

bb1983 · August 2, 2017

One thing worth noting here. A few days prior to this all starting I jumped someone's car. Since the negative is difficult to get to, I used the bar the is near the battery as a ground.

Anyone else recall doing this prior to having difficulty?

bb1983 · August 4, 2017

Update: About 300-400 miles since the the incident mentioned above with the power completely going out and coming back up several times. That has not happened again.

The center nav screen seems to be flickering about every 30-50 miles. I just got my first Sabilitrak warning in conjunction with the center nav screen flickering out. Pulled it off the road and shut it down. Started it back up and went to wiggling wires to see if it triggered anything (with someone watching on the inside). Nothing, though I did remove the cover for the power bus on the battery and noticed some slight moisture around the cable coming out of the compartment.