Vehicle Information Reset?

Dr1ft3r · March 23, 2023

Today when I started my truck I immediately noticed that the fuel gauge looked different. When I looked through the settings I found that the display settings were set to metric instead of standard. I did not change it, it changed on it's own.

When I started looking through the information screen I noticed that my mpg stats had reset and so did the total hours that the engine has been running.

My odometer, trip a and b information and all other information appears to be unchanged.

Has anyone else experienced this? I thought maybe the truck had been updated OTA and it caused these things to reset. At least I hope that's all it was.

swathdiver · March 23, 2023

I am not familiar with how the truck's update these days but usually when we see this it is because the battery voltage got too low at some point.

Dr1ft3r · March 24, 2023

19 hours ago, swathdiver said:

I am not familiar with how the truck's update these days but usually when we see this it is because the battery voltage got too low at some point.

I suppose that's possible. I haven't noticed any voltage below 14v on the gauge though. I have the dashcam offered on the GMC accessories website and it runs in parking mode. But I have the cutoff voltage for it set as high as possible, which is over 13v I believe. I also drive my truck every day. so the battery should remain topped off.

swathdiver · March 25, 2023

On my truck, with the key on the voltmeter shows battery voltage, when the engine starts it shows alternator output. If the voltage is always high and doesn't drop down it could mean that the charging system is nursing a worn out battery.

Multiple short trips do not allow the battery to become fully recharged.

Grumpy Bear · March 25, 2023

On 3/23/2023 at 12:31 AM, Dr1ft3r said:

Has anyone else experienced this?

Yes. Happens to anything run by a CPU. Wife calls it "flipping a bit." She's and IT geek. A random voltage variation that puts things out of sequence in its world of ones and zeros. Her Terrian did this a few days ago. All the sudden by dashboard was in Dutch! Sometimes the backup camera takes a vacation. In both cases a key cycle fixed it. Even the human brain does this. Ever forget in the middle of a sentence what you were talking/thinking about? A distraction sets that off more times than not.

Another possibility. I also had a bridged cell in the new battery of my Buick cause a random voltage related issue. It started and ran fine but would toss lights on the dashboard. Low oil pressure, trunk ajar, hood open. Assuming there was nothing wrong with a new battery I lived with this for nearly a year thinking I had a wiring issue. When we finally checked it out a voltmeter showed it at 10.5 volts, but alternator behavior was normal. Starting it would dip to 9.8 volts. Enough to keep the coils, injectors and CPU happy but low enough to set off alarms.

2 hours ago, swathdiver said:

Multiple short trips do not allow the battery to become fully recharged.

Yes, and not something we give allot of thought to. Also, leaving it parked for a few weeks while the CPU.s memory and antitheft are eating away milliamps of battery reserve. I put a Battery Tender on Pepper when left for weeks without running or anytime I notice that driving her for an hour does not bring the charging voltage under 15 volts. Do it once and she's right as rain until the next long nap where I neglect to put her on the Tender.

Dr1ft3r · March 25, 2023

14 hours ago, swathdiver said:

On my truck, with the key on the voltmeter shows battery voltage, when the engine starts it shows alternator output. If the voltage is always high and doesn't drop down it could mean that the charging system is nursing a worn out battery.

Multiple short trips do not allow the battery to become fully recharged.

Yeah, I understand that. Most of the time the voltage hovers around 14v. But sometimes it's around 15v. I was under the impression that when the voltage was around 14v the battery was not being charged, but around 15v it meant that the battery was being charged.

Regardless, if the battery voltage was low enough to cause the CPU to reset, shouldn't it have also affected the starter? In my experience with vehicles in the past, the battery had to get low enough to cause starting issues before it would cause the CPU to lose it's memory.

I also have the 220 amp alternator and the vehicle runs at least 90 minutes per day or more and rarely for less than 15 minutes after being started. I put 6,400 miles on it and I've only owned it for 9 weeks!

I'm not ruling out a low or bad battery, but it seems less likely to me with no other signs or issues that I believe should be present if that were the case.

Dr1ft3r · March 25, 2023

11 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

Yes. Happens to anything run by a CPU. Wife calls it "flipping a bit." She's and IT geek. A random voltage variation that puts things out of sequence in its world of ones and zeros. Her Terrian did this a few days ago. All the sudden by dashboard was in Dutch! Sometimes the backup camera takes a vacation. In both cases a key cycle fixed it. Even the human brain does this. Ever forget in the middle of a sentence what you were talking/thinking about? A distraction sets that off more times than not.

Yep, I haven't ruled this out either. As things get more advanced they become more susceptible to errors. Just look at Windows OS. When it was a basic OS with no frills it ran much better than it does now with all of the bells and whistles.

Grumpy Bear · March 26, 2023

1 hour ago, Dr1ft3r said:

Yep, I haven't ruled this out either. As things get more advanced they become more susceptible to errors. Just look at Windows OS. When it was a basic OS with no frills it ran much better than it does now with all of the bells and whistles.

Heard a joke the other day. How do you get a computer to crash?

Install Vista!