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Comments
Look at the last few pages of this problem. I can narrow it down to one of 3 things ( or a combination "rare").
1. Your drivers window/lock module is bad (replace it for about $165).
2. Clean and grease the connections to the module with silicone grease.
3. There is a 12v supply problem to the module from the fuse box.
There have been issues with the connections in the fuse boxes. I believe there may be a service bulletin on this, I'm not sure.
If necessary, have the GM TECH read all this thread, especially the last 10 pages I would guess.
Test the supply voltage to the window/lock module (located in the drivers door below the switches) WHILE THE LOCKS OR WINDOWS ARE ATTEMPTING TO OPERATE. This may take 2 people. One to actuate the buttons while the other one tests with a wiring diagram and VOM.
(or voltmeter).
Hope this helps, Dennis
Master Auto/Heavy truck Technician (ASE certified).
That's just what I did, I just wish I would have done it sooner. Like I say, I liked the truck and if it had been well designed and reliable I would probably still be driving it today. What would happen is some weird $500 or $1000 dollar electrical problem would occur, I'd swear at myself for not selling it after the last weird electrical problem, then I'd get it fixed and want to get my money out of the $500 or thousand dollar fix, and "hope" that it was the last weird problem... but it never was. After a few months of things being fine, some other weird thing would crop up... The fob/window thing again, in 20 below weather with snow on the way, a week before I could get it in to the (nondealer) mechanic to get it fixed, a plastic bag over the window for a week... I finally got tired of this excitement in my life courtesy of GM.
Unfortunately I think you are making the right choice... sell the truck and cut your loses.
An alternative might be to actually contact one of the "care reps" that prowl the forum looking to send you and your checkbook off to a dealership. After my experiences with their "Jelly of the Month Club" oil change/tire rotation appeasement offers, I would have been way ahead just dumping the truck and cutting my losses.
Coincidence? Seems a little fishy for 4 bulbs to burn out all at within a 4-5 day span.
And lemme guess, another referral to the dealer? Don't want to go to a dealer for someone to tell me I need to spend X amount of dollars to "try to fix it".
I wonder if there are any grounds for a class action lawsuit??? The runaround for what IS a major problem/flaw for countless people that ARE having the EXACT SAME PROBLEMS and NOTHING is being done about it.
Randy Wise Chevrolet Milan MI. the worst dealer on the planet!!
I forgot about all the lightbulbs before you mentioned it. My truck seemed to eat them at times. In some cases it was the socket itself. The prongs would take a "set", lose contact and have to be rebent.
Another weird issue was the length of some of the socket wires. One of them, I think it was one of the fog lights or headlights were virtually impossible to get back into the housing because those cheap %$&#@ at Chevy skimped on the wiring length. The socket rotated into the housing but the wiring was so short that I really had to practically "stretch" it.
The wiring was so tight and the sockets so poor, in cold weather one fo the fog lights would go out. I would have to get out of the truck (in the dead of winter) and bang the lens with the palm of my hand, the light would come on, and stay on for the rest of the trip, but be out on the next trip.
As far as the dash/radio lights, there were some early posts (somewhere around the 100-200 post range) with folks complaining of really weird electrical problems with the instrument cluster. As I remember it was lighting issues, the lights staying on or not coming on at all. In most cases the dealers replaced the instrument clusters but it seemed the weird problems continued, (radios or CD players not working etc). Other problems were really weird stuff, like having the windshield wipers go on when the radio was turned on, really whacky stuff.
Anyway, good luck with it. I certainly hope you get it solved or it clears up on its own. Oh, the blower motor is a continual source of problems, the motor and the resistor. I had to replace mine a couple of times. Again, I sure wish you luck, you must be about the last person driving a Colorado or Canyon.
Look at the posts on this site 100's, and years of all makes and models of colorado/canyons! Recall??!! Recall??!! NOoooo not w/$ to be made by "dealer/service dept. in your area that can help." trust me best thing you can do is "drive it offa cliff."
Randy Wise Chevrolet Milan Mi. THE WORST DEALER ON THE PLANET!!!
I can't imagine a Colordo in a flood. The problems with these things are endless and would only be compounded. Sell the POS as soon as you can and count yourself lucky for cutting your losses before you spend a lot of time and money chasing endless problems that should never have been there in the first place.
GM= :lemon:
Just email me at dtomlinson052@gmail.com so I can reply with a PDF.
I have worked on my cars all my life because I won't trust my vehicle repairs to anyone else. I know it's done right and I avoid new unrelated unexpected problems. I was fortunate to learn from my Dad who was once a GM mechanic. I have also worked many years on the electronic systems on military aircraft, so my insight on the electro-mechanical aspect has served me well. I think I can speak with some knowledge, so I would like to add my 2 cents on these issues.
This vehicle is plagued with electrical problems. I have taken my door panel off three times to check the connections between the relays and the motor. Power (+12Vdc) is intermittent to the control unit. The switches that drive the relays have clean contacts and test good each time. If anyone has an electical diagram that shows power distribution to the door, it would be much appreciated. Currently, when I start the vehicle, the windows will go down once, up once, down again and then freeze, consistantly. If I didn't know better, I would try to tie this to a computer problem, but it makes no sense to tie them together. So, when I get a diagram, I'll isolate the bad wire/connector and post the location. (Peggy....don't hate me for this!) It worked on my wifes' 2004 Jeep. Someone posted the broken ground wire in the drivers door boot. As for the ABS, what a pain.
The ABS intermittently lights, the brake pedal pulses, till I get over the 26 mph threshold, then annoying lights up the dash for the remainder of the drive into work. Checked the wire coming off the hubs and getting pulses from both front wheels. So I know that the mag sensors are working, which saves me $260 in replacement (Sorry Peggy.....don't curse me!). So my conclusion, based on some of the other posts, is that I have an intermittent electrical connection somewhere in the engine compartment. I'm thinkin the issues with the electrical block ( that won't be recalled) will be my starting point. When I get the electrical diagram, I'll find that sucker, and I'll post my findings and hopefully bring relief to all the people that can't / won't give their money to the GM Service Department.
If anyone has a pdf of the electical system, I could certainly use it.
A Note to Peggy: It amazes me that with all these posts that GM has not dedicated an engineer / tech to troubleshoot these problems and broadcasted the word out. My analysis: either 1) they don't care cuz they're makin big bucks off of many; 2) they're incompetent and can't figure out what the problem is; or 3) they have determined what the problem is and the cost to admit they need to recall exceeds what they're willing to spend. Either way Peggy.....you're looking really bad here ! My Love for GM is gone (not that they care)!
Of course they don't care. The only person they need to impress now is Obama since he's the one keeping them in business, satisfied custoners are no longer important.
I've followed this thread since 2007. The story is always the same, somebody finds this thread because of some weird electrical problem, (usually the door lock/fob/battery thing). If they go to the dealer, they replace X, Y or Z at random (BCM etc) with a variety of explanations, (can't run two windows at the same time, can't leave the keys in the ignition etc). And usually the thread poster returns with some other weird electrical problem sooner or later, (unless they sold their truck).
I know the Colorado/Canyon were never really big sellers so you are probably right, it just isn't cost effective to GM to have a recall. Just piss off a "small number" of unsatisfied customers while making good profit off of their misfortune for buying your defective product in the first place.
As far as "Peggy" goes, they claim to not be on commision. They claim to only moitor threads like this to "help customers and take back information to GM" or something, yet they can't get any kind of real GM tech to address this thread. All they do is "appologize for your frustration, give me your info so I can send you to a GM dealer!" If you want to take them up on the offer, good luck. If you aren't happy with all the money you spend, perhaps they will offer you a "jelly of the month club" prize like four oil changes and a tire rotation, "worth $450 dollars!". My suggestion, find a competent mechanic, work on it yourself, or cut your losses and sell the truck and buy something from a company where they work for the customer and not a presidential benefactor.
Randy Wise Chevrolet Milan Mi. THE WORST DEALER ON THE PLANET!!!
Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service
Very simple, easy fix! ... You have burned out bulbs on the front turn signals ... just buy new ones at you local auto parts store and you should be GTG. I believe you need a 3157 bulb, but check that application chart/book at your parts store.
You should check all your bulbs at least every few months. If you haven't replaced any other bulbs since 2005, you should check them all (brakes, headlights hi/lo, corner marker, reverse, license plate).
Sarah
GM Customer Service
Yeah, how about some real attention to the problems the Colorados and Canyons have, LIKE A FRICKING RECALL for the poor owners that trusted GM and haven't junked their trucks yet.
But that isn't going to happen, is it? Doesn't fit with GM's motto, "Once you have their money, never give it back".
For the post with the turn signal problem, yes, sounds like you have a burned out bulb and that should be a simple fix.
On the brake lights, check the sockets. If I remember correctly, they have a ring of prongs around the light bulb, and eventually they take a set and contact get spotty. The way I noticed was taking the truck in for an oil change. They check the lights, and after the second time replacing the same tail light I took a closer look and discovered it was a contact issue.
The way GM has washed their hands on the problems these trucks have is disgusting. They have earned the right to go bankrupt.
The other thing to check is the blower resistor. This is located under the dash about mid way between the two seats. There have been some posts about the connector burning and taking the blower with it. Possibly you may want to check on that thing too, solder it in place of the connector I thing was the suggestion.
As far as parts, I would think the blower would be available at something like a NAPA or Bumper to Bumper parts place. With as often as this stuff fries, I'll bet they can't keep them in stock...
Remember, the Colorado and Canyon... the gift that keeps on giving... to GM service departments.
The repair pretty much is permanent and costs less than 10 dollars if you know how to solder. The other repair is to replaced the resistor assembly and the mating plug using wire butt splices (not scotch squeeze connectors). I am guessing this repair would run about $50. Use DI-electric grease (usually silicone grease), so the connections don't oxide again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9TRs_zkiNI
He did neglect to grease the contacts with silicone before assembling though, so he may get more practice in a year or two
Thanks again, Dennis
Wait til you here this story,I think its a new one.
Drove to work yesterday,parked my truck,got out,remotely locked it and went in to work. 8 hours later,time to go home..........or not....... Got in my truck and turned the key.Nothing. Dash lights all came on but wouldnt crank over. Thought "[non-permissible content removed], my battery is dead". Quickly waved at co-worker to give me a jump.Its raining pretty good out too. He pulls his truck over,i get out and open the hood. As im waving him closer so we can jump it, I hear a "click,click" from somewhere in the motor compartment. I think"WTF was that?". (keep in mind the keys are in my hand).Buddy gets out, pops his hood and hooks up the jumper cables to his battery.(i know you should hook up the dead battery first,but it was raining and i didnt give a [non-permissible content removed]).He has the 2 cable clamps in his hands and proceeds to move towards my battery.I started to walk around my truck to get ready to get in and start it once he put the cables on. Before i got around the other side of the truck i hear"RRRRRRRRRR","RRRRRR".RRRRR. You know what that noise was? The fkn truck was cranking over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didnt even have the fkn key in the fkn ignition!!!!!!!!!!! I thought "WTF IS GOING ON"!!!!!????? (Can you tell I'm pissed?)As soon as he touched the jumper cables to the battery terminals, the fkn truck started cranking over!!!! We were both dumbfounded!!! I jumped in the truck with it still trying to start by itself and put the key in and turned the key to the on position and the cranking stopped! Turned the key more to try and start it and nothing!! Turned the key back to off and it starts cranking again. On, the cranking stops. Off the cranking starts. Disconnected the cables, disconnected the battery and sat there.I sent buddy home and told him i was gonna call my wife.The reason the battery was almost dead was because there was a short somewhere and the fkn truck was trying to start all day by itself with no one around it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ironically I was working at the GM distribution warehouse in Woodstock Ontario.Went inside and found a forklift mechanic who knows a hell of alot about electrical systems in trucks and cars.He figured one of my relays in my fuse box was shorting out.We removed the fuse block cover and took an air compressor and blew air all around the fuses and relays thinking there was probably moisture in there.Tried jumping again.Same [non-permissible content removed]. Grabbed a heat gun and tried drying out the fuse block. Still nothing.Wife showed up.Removed battery, took it home and charged it overnight hoping the fuse block would dry out and maybe the computer would reset...whatever. Today, hooked up battery. Same [non-permissible content removed]!! "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!" Great!!!! Time to call for a tow to the dealer.
Dealer calls me later,says that the wiring and terminals under the fuse block are all corroded. They can only get 30% of the diagnostics to come up with the fuse block all corroded to [non-permissible content removed]. So they are going to have to put a new fuse block in for $500 plus labour i think, before they can begin to see what is wrong.Great!!!!A new fuse block on a 4year old vehicle? I also told them to check my evap cannister valve thingy that is stuck closed and takes me almost 20 minutes to fill up with gas.....Probably $400 for that.I dunno. I figure this is gonna be one huge bill.At least between $1500 and $2000 (or more) for a truck I bought used 1 and a half years ago for $13000, plus tax, over $15000. The most ive ever spent on a vehicle.
Buddy at GM told me to call customer complaints at the 1-800 # and raise hell there. He said they might do something for me.He said it doesnt hurt to try. I doubt that this would be covered if it was still under warranty,but of course the warranty ran out in September. If they dont help me out with this extra large bill, the truck will be going up for sale immediately, and i will never buy another GM product ever again!!!
Will keep everyone posted!!! What do you think of this story Snaproll? Fkn awesome eh?
"Buddy at GM told me to call customer complaints at the 1-800 # and raise hell there. He said they might do something for me.He said it doesnt hurt to try."
It sure doesn't hurt to try. You may end up with 'the customer care package' which amounts to four oil changes and a tire rotation "worth $450 dollars!". It's more like $50 bucks worth of oil to them to balance the thousands you're going to spend the longer you own this truck.
Of course the vultures that prowl this forum trying to get the happless to the nearest dealer will probably show up sooner or later and "apologize for your frustration". They'll probably be bummed that you went to the dealer on your own rather than allowing them to 'help you'.
As far as the fuse block... Mine needed to be replaced. It was shorted and burned. Obviously if it was burned and had scorchmarks after only 2 years, there is obviouly a serious problem with them. I can't imagine ANY manufacturer actually charging for something that they had a service bulletin on to replace. Don't let these guys scam you.
"If they dont help me out with this extra large bill, the truck will be going up for sale immediately, and i will never buy another GM product ever again!!!"
After 6 years of these endless problems with the Colorado, they obviously don't give a #&$^. Why should they? They don't have to satisfy customers, all they have to do is make contributions to Obama's campaign fund.
GM's attitude towards customers is absolutely inexcusable and disgusting.
I really feel bad for ya. Dump the truck ASAP and buy something from a car company that cares about customer satisfaction and support. That ain' GM.
GM= :lemon:
I was a 28yr. chevy cust. I called cust. serv. and was told "Theres nothing we can do." This after I was at my dealer 3 times for the same problem, 3 times I got one of those G.M. questioniares about "how are we doing?" and I gave them what I thought was an honest opinion. then on the 4th time I called I was told "Sir we don't care about your problem,we just got our 3rd neg. feedback from G.M. because of YOU. Take you truck some wheres else."
Soooo you know how I feel about G.M. and there cust.serv./dealers..
Randy Wise Chevrolet Milan Mi. THE WORST DEALER on THE PLANET!!!
If you can't deal with it, sell the truck. So far mine has been fine since.
Dennis Tomlinson (master mechanic light and heavy duty with emphasis on electrical troubleshooting).
Yes, it fixed the issue for me, for a while...
Back then this thread had about 50 posts on it and one of them suggested disconnecting the module. I did it and it worked... for a few days at a time. The problem would reoccur, dead battery, driver's window and fob not working.
Eventually I took it to a dealer and that's when the nightmares began. First they told me, "NEVER, EVER believe ANYTHING you read on the internet".
Uh-huh. Then why did disconnecting the module actually work?
"The door module has absolutely NOTHING to do with the problem. The problem is your $400 dollar BCM that needs to be replaced".
... And if I replace it, this will take care of the problem with the window and fob?
"Absolutely! You can count on us, we're the experts!"
Two days later when the SAME battery/fob/window thing happened AGAIN...
"Er-ah, yeah, well see, aahhh, the BCM was bad anyway! See, it just happened to be bad, and even though it didn't cause the window problem -"
Put the old one back in.
"Oh no, we can't do that. Ummm, seee, aaaah, the BCM controls everything like the airbags, so since it was bad, you are just so lucky we caught that, cuz if we didn't you would probably have died, so we just can't put it back in..."
Ahhh, yah. So fix the fricking problem I brought it in for, the window/fob thing...
"Um-yeah, well... get your wallet out. Instead, let's replace the battery... then the fuse block... then test it until we blow the resistor and you pay for that too..."
I'm not real happy with this $800 dollar bill. Is there anyone I can call?
"Ah-lo dis Peggy, I apologize for your frustration. No-no money back. Instead we give coupons.... wheech can be converted to tokens... to be used as credits... You get four oil changes and a tire rotation worth $450 dollars!"
I much would have prefered enrollment in a "jelly of the month club" plan instead of seeing the inside of another GM dealership.
Two years later when the same window/fob/battery problem occured, I took it to a competent (non-dealer) shop. They actually did some troubleshooting and testing rather than only reading codes and replacing expensive parts at a whim, and you know what??? That window module that the dealership said had absolutely no connection with the window not working right in the first place seemed to have a power-out issue. Imagine that. So after shelling out another $300 for a part on the truck that would never fail on any other vehicle I never had the issue again. Well, since that was one of the last straws with the Colorado and I sold it shortly afterwards I didn't give it enough time to fry for a third time.
Perhaps now there may be window modules available in junk yards, but I'd be really scared replacing something on a Colorado or Canyon with used electrical parts. The electrical systems on these vehicles have so many problems, no telling if what you are replacing is fried as well.
GM= :lemon:
Guess there are so many pages now that the Edmunds computer must be screwing up and sending email notifications out on old messages, I don't know????