Starting issues

gman63gman63 Member Posts: 1
edited April 2020 in Chevrolet
I have a 2013 Chevy Equinox and am having issues with it starting. Replaced the battery and checked the connections.
The key will not open the doors and will not come out after trying to start the car. It seems that all the reading about this it is the body control module is bad or needs to be reprograming. I do not understand how all of a sudden this component stops working and it seems this is a common problem with a lot of people. Does GM have a service bulletin out for this? I talked with a dealer and the first thing that came out of his mouth was its a bad battery.
If would be nice if the service writers would have a clue what they are talking about. At 100 dollars plus and hour they should know what the hells going on. Thanks and any help would be great.

Comments

  • thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,811
    Service writers are not technicians, and in most cases never were. They are sales people, they are a communication bridge between the vehicle owner and the technicians. The average service writer knows little to nothing about diagnosing and reparing today's cars.

    This is not a programming issue so you can take that out of the picture. If the body control module has failed then the new one that get's installed will need to be programmed to the car but that is about the limit for any programming. You are describing multiple symptoms that all suggest there is a loss of communication between specific modules in the car of which the body computer is one part of that system. The information you provided here is enough for a technician to start investigating the problem but that is all it is. The tech will start by connecting a GDS 2 laptop based scan tool and would attempt to pull codes from every module in the car. Any modules not communicating would be the first places for the technician to address. If communication is actually present then codes might help get a direction, as well as data that would allow the ignition to be turned to the lock position and potentially be related to the start command.

    This can be very complicated work and it can take the most experienced technicians and the most expensive tooling to do it correctly. Interestingly enough, at $100 an hour to do diagnostics the shop is making less money than they would if the were doing something simple like brakes or tires for that period of time. Nobody just knows what is wrong, it doesn't work that way. Yes it's true that a body computer failure could cause the symptom you are describing, but anything that could cause the body computer to lose communication with other modules on the car can also cause the same symptom(s).
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