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Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon Electrical Problems
My 2004 Chevrolet Colorado LS would not let the drivers window down nor lock or unlock with the remote fob. It is traced to the wiring going through the door. Has anyone else had this problem and will GM help get it fixed?
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#30 of 31 Re: 2004 Colorado remote lock problem, Please Help [delawhere1] by mike2250 Feb 19, 2007 (5:34 pm)
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Replying to: delawhere1 (Feb 19, 2007 4:33 pm)
I recently posted about my experience with the same problem, Here in Florida we don't have cold weather so I knew it had to be something else. I took it back to my dealer who actually has a service department that doesn't let phantom problems go. The mechanic who worked on the truck told me it primarily happens on crew cabs and is aresult of the electrical clips on the bottom of the control module not being properly locked place. Repeated slamming the door and riding over bumps dislodge and then intermintedly cause the problem. He properly reattached the power plugs after applying dielectric grease to the contacts. So far so good.
kcram - Pickups Host
My truck just developed the same problems. I rode 30 miles, turned it off to get directions, started it back up, pulled into a driveway, visited for a couple hours and then the truck wouldn't start, just solenoid clicking. The driver's window wouldn't work and on the dash it said "ABS Fault". I didn't have time to mess around so I got a jump and it started right up but the driver's side window, door locks and fob still wouldn't work.
I drove home just fine and the next day the truck started just fine and the window worked. I drove to an auto store figuring the battery was bad. I had it completely discharge last week forgetting a cooler I had running off the cigarette lighter. I figured the rapid charging might have cashed in the battery. (If you haven't discovered it yet, the battery is a "new design' and only available from the dealer of course). So I didn't get the battery but got jumper cables and took a deep cycle I had laying around for insurance if it happened again. The rest of the day, no issues. I thought everything was just fine. That was yesterday.
This morning, same cr#p. Truck battery was down, solenoid clicking. It jumped right away but the window, fob and locks were out again.
I hit internet and found your post. I took the panel with the buttons out, it's two screws in the grip, tilt forward and lift out. There are three wiring bundles that go into the window, lock and mirror unit. They have a little lock tab, press and gently pull out. Just to see the rest of it, I took the unit out of the panel, that's three screws. The unit has a white back held by one screw and plastic locking pressure clips on the side. I opened the unit and there is just a circuit board. I wanted to check inside for water damage I figured might have trickled in when the window was open. The board looked good. I put everything back together but sprayed the wiring bundle and socket with contact cleaner. (Of the three plugs, two are the same size so mark them to get them in the right place. I didn't do this but it was evident because of the wiring lengths). I snapped the plugs back and and the door locks and window came back to life.
I'm not sure if the weak battery is related or not. I also took apart the back door window switch panels and the one on the passenger side, but I think it was the driver's side that was causing the problems as that is the only one I used the contact cleaner on.
What a weird problem.
Other than that, I have 62K miles on my '05 extended cab. Initially I had a bur rubbing on the brake drum that made a horrible grinding noise. They took care of that in the first few days. After that not a stich of problems for the first year then the blower motor went out on the heater/AC. That was $200 bucks but I found out it's easily replaced by the owner, it's on the front firewall.
Just this summer I noticed that the front tires were wearing badly and I had them aligned and rotated. They were off on all three things, camber, toe and castor or whatever. Because of the wear in only 2 years I think they must not have been well aligned at the factory. Oh, also the headlights were also set too high and everybody hit me with their brights.
Shortly after I got it, maybe 6 months the steering started to make a kind of 'clunking' sound around corners, haven't figured out what that is. There is also a 'lifter tick' it's had since day one.
Generally it has been a good vehicle but it's starting to rattle and feel like my old Explorer did at 120K miles.
Again, thanks for the info on the weird electrical problem. Like I say it saved me a trip to the dealer, probably a new battery I don't need and a lot of screwing around on my own checking fuses and troubleshooting it myself.
I called the dealer, sounds like they never heard of this problem. The guy I did talk to says the ABS fault is problably because of the battery being low.
So something is draining the battery along with the other problem.
I'm guessing it must have to be in the driver's door unit. There is a small ciruit board and possibly a weak component like a resistor or something. I'm guessing this because I had the problem, took the unit apart like I say above and the problem was fixed. Nothing else was done to the truck other than messing with this door unit. Perhaps the problem is somewhere else and disconnecting this unit resets something somewhere else, but at least it appears narrowed down.
I've scheduled an appointment at the dealer in a few days but the window is open right now, so I'm going to mess with it and see if I can get it to work. I'll report the findings if I'm successful again tonight.
Based on this, reading an earlier post where the dealer told the guy that "the circuit has to cool from raising both windows at the same time" or whatever is complete cr#p.
The conditions were dry the first time it happened, the truck had just been driven 30 miles, shut off, restarted again, parked for a couple hours and the problem came out of the blue. A jump started the truck, it was driven home, parked overnight, the problem healed itself. Fine all day. Next morning dead. As soon as I disassembled the module and sprayed the contacts with cleaner it worked again. Fine for the rest of the day. Next morning dead again. Drove it broke all day, it didn't heal itself. Got home, cleaned the contacts again and the problem is fixed.
So the first time it fixed itself, the next two it was broken until I messed with the window/lock/mirror module, cleaned the contacts and it worked right away. It's hard to believe it could be related to anything else like the instrument cluster.
I still have the dealer appointment for this Friday so I'll keep posting if the thing dies again or if the dealer has any fixes. In the mean time I'm going to have to drive around with a screwdriver, can of contact cleaner and a spare battery and jumper cables
Having taken it apart I can't see how wiring is getting pinched in the door. I wiggled the wires and connectors, no effect. It was only when I unhooked the harnesses and sprayed contact cleaner on them that it worked.
The dealer I'm going to are pretty square shooters so I'm going to trust them... this time. If the problem happens again in the next few days I will raise holly hell for sure.
I am so absolutely not a happy camper.
Naturally it's the holiday weekend so I can't choke the dealer, who by the way is GUSTMAN CHEVY in Kaukauna Wisconsin.
They assure me beyond a reasonable doubt that messing with the door module has nothing to do with the problem. That disconnecting the module only resets something in the BCM fixing the problem but not curing it. Ok, that is possible.
So what about the $400 BCM they replaced? Oh it needed to be replaced they tell me. A code came back that said it was bad and had probably gotten trashed from a short in the fuse block they also replaced. Ummmm, ok. Well there was nothing that didn't work on the truck if the BCM was "bad" before. Oh, but it controls so many systems that there are ones I probably haven't used like the airbag. So in other words it would be the equivelent of taking the truck in for the window issue and having them determine that the fix would be to replace the worn tires. Then when the window still doesn't work having them say, "Yeah, but you needed the new tires anyway to be safe". Wrong. I would still 'take my chances' with the old BCM that worked rather than spending $400 bucks on a new one to 'be sure'. I authorized it to be replaced because they assured me it was the problem. It wasn't the problem. So we're going to have to 'talk' about that one.
Now they are going to have somebody troubleshoot the relays and such in the truck. They're figuring that the BCM is not shutting off with the truck and running the battery down. That would mean that the BCM problem has to have the ability to drain the battery in a matter of an hour.
My guess is they will replace some other part and want to charge me for it as the 'real solution' to the problem and still stick me with the bill for the BCM because it was 'bad anyway'. Again, that would be like putting on new tires, finding it doesn't solve the problem but saying, "You needed the tires anyway". I don't think so.
I'll post what I find out.
Oh yeah, one other thing. They scoff at internet, "You can read anything about any part on a car being bad and all of it is BS". Huh? Funny. According to them they have never encountered this door lock, fob, driver's window problem before. Their 'database' has no reference to it. So I guess all the other posts here about the problem "must not have happened". I guess all you other people are imagining the problem too.
I did call the 800 Chevy number that somebody suggested earlier and opened a case. Those people are all trained very well. "We sympathize and understand" about 20 times in a 10 minute conversation. Then offer the, "And we'll give you something free" just to pacify you enough to not think the unthinkable of not buying another Chevy. Well??? All I want is my fricking truck fixed for a reasonable price or I'm going to trade it and never buy another Chevy product again.
Ok, here's the deal (they say). The battery (only 2.5 years old) held a "good" surface charge but went flat quickly. If the battery went flat (possible short in the battery), when the voltage was low the door module would "lock up" and could only be cleared by disconnecting the door module, (except once if "fixed" itself without pulling the module).
The last service trip they got a code back that said the BCM was dead and assumed this was causing the door problem. They did a search for that code and found a service bulletin saying the fuse block could be the cause. They checked the fuse block and found a burned spot. They were kind enough to replace the fuse block on the 2.5 year old truck but wouldn't cover the BCM it apparently took out. The theory is that it could have cashed in the battery as well. Or the battery could have cashed in the fuse block which took out the BCM. In any event, the theorpy now is that the weakened battery not holding a charge would die at random times and the low voltage would lock up the door module. Replacing the BCM and fuse block "fixed everything"... except for the problem.
I'm wondering now if something is whacking the battery that they haven't found, that ruined the last battery and this new one, holding a charge longer will just cover up the problem until it is ruined. According to them, there is no draw on the battery anymore (something like .29 ma).
Apparently the BCM has a sizable electrical draw and if it is not "shutting down" properly. According to them this only happens when the key is fully removed from the ignition.
The bottom line is I have $500 in bills for stuff that shouldn't fail in 2.5 years. Life goes on... unless this fails again.
In short (literally) over the weekend (the day after the service) the blower fan started to act up, would only work on high and eventually started blowing smoke and burnt wiring smell. Back to the dealer on Monday. Turns out the blower motor resistor just happened to fail the day after they were charging and discharging the battery to trail down the window problem to the battery. So there's another $130 bucks. There is a harness between the resistor and the wiring that was burnt. The mechanic said it didn't look like a good connection. I wonder if they has to disconnect the harness when they replaced the blower motor that failed last March.
Aside from wrapping the wire into the steering shaft I think the mechanics at the dealership are pretty competent.
So the truck is 2.5 years old and has had 5 major electrical failures, the BCM, the fuse block, the blower motor, the battery and the resistor.
I'll post what the Chevy rep has to say...
Oh, yeah... I guess in the last post I forgot to mention that when changing the battery they managed to get a wire from the battery terminal to the bed cap light wound into the steering column. I picked the truck up, made a left turn out of the dealership, went to straighten out the wheel and it was like the power steering failed. I drifted into oncoming traffic but managed to yank the wheel back to the right with a loud thump, (wire broke). I get back into the dealer. The guy who changed the battery just left the cable hanging over the steering shaft and didn't bother to connect it back in a retaining clip. I'm not too shook up about that. It could happen to anyone. I've done stuff like that before. It makes me wonder though if this guy maybe used to work for ValueJet.
I did the Chevy complaint line... they offered me a one year subscription to the "Jelly of the Month Club"...
Seriously, they wouldn't do squat about the $800 dollars worth of electrical repairs this two year old truck has had. To dismiss the situation they offered me a 'maintenance package' (oil changes and tire rotations) "worth $390 dollars!!!"
Tire rotations?
Oil changes?
In other words, a chance to find other stuff wrong with the truck to stick me with more bills.
Yup, this is the last Chevy product I will ever own.
I sure hope the company goes bankrupt soon. They are well on their way.
After a week or so I finally got a hold of the dealer rep in person. He was pretty understanding and agreed, it sounded like the fuse box failed and took out the BCM and battery, and their screwing around 'testing' the battery (running it down and charging it) probably spiked the resistor in the blower that failed the next day. He said he would contact the Chevy rep and see if they could get the company to cover some of it. He said since the fuse box is a "nonserviceable item" and the truck is only 2.5 years old and I'm the first owner he may be able to do something about the BCM and resistor, but probably couldn't get them to cover the battery.
Hey... this is the first "friendly" contact I've gotten from anybody associated with Chevy so far.
The woman on the "help line" that offered me the "jelly of the month club" package was constantly "apologizing" and "understanding"... she sounded like she was reading off a Q card. I finally asked her to stop apologizing.
The funny thing is, their $390 dollar "maintenance package" coveres an oil change every 6000 miles and tire rotations for 24,000. Give me a break. They recommend an oil change every 3500 miles when you have to pay for it, but 6000 when they have to pay for it. That's 4 oil changes "worth $390 dollars!!!" in the 2 years 24K miles. They must use Mobil 1 or something. What a joke.
Oh, and the rep from the dealer checked into it, they even got the mileage wrong. The truck had 64K on it, the woman said she'd start it at 63.5K and then she actually entered 17K, expiring at 37K. How's that for service!
Don't buy a Chevy.
I think the dealer is ok, the service guys are just doing their job to make money, but Chevy is a true disappointment.
I tried removing the switch panel, pulled all the connectors and reattached - nothing.
Checked the wire bundle that goes from the door to the cab/frame - no signs of damage or pinching.
This really has me torked as I do not want to get bent over at the dealer.
The truck is a 2004 Colorado LS 4x4 Crew.
I have not checked the fuses yet - but I suspect that will not be the problem.
Open to suggestions or a number I can call to "have some meaningful dialogue" with a Chevy rep.
Help
In 20/20 hindsight it looks like the problem was the fuse box that the dealer replaced under a precautionary "service order". Since I had the fuse block replaced, and battery I haven't had any more problems. I think it's pretty evident that the fuse block must have some defect in it that caused the BCM and battery to die. Again, Chevy covered the fuse block but refused to cover the battery or BCM. I did the complaint line thing up the food chain and they offered me their "Smart Care" package, "a $390 dollar value!" that consists of 6 oil changes and a tire rotation or two. No, they are not using Mobil 1.
The dealer, Gustman Chevy of Kaukauna went to bat to try and get the Chevy rep to cover some of the $800 in electrical problems I've had with the truck but the Chevy rep held firm, no dice. Ok, no problem. No further Chevy purchases. I'm sure by the time I'm ready for a new truck Chevy will be bankrupt.
The dealer however did give me a check for about $250 from a 'good will' standpoint as they agreed that all these electrical problems happening so quickly made sense that the shorted fuse block caused the other stuff to fry. I'll give them good marks since they stood behind the sale even if the manufacturer won't stand behind their product. I hope to do business again with Gustmans; occasionally they get Fords and other products as trade-ins... I might buy one of those from them, but a Chevy? Never again.
Yes, after all attempts by the dealer, and GMC, failed to reproduce the problem after
about a month in the shop, GMC has agreed to buy the truck back and give me a
full refund. It took a LOT of threats of a lemon lawyer to convince them this was
the best option for them.
work requested on January 2, 2008. On January 7, vehicle returned to me. On January
10th the battery went dead for the fifth time. I called GMC support on January 11, and they now refuse to give me a refund or replace the vehicle. They offer to pay me for the 30 days the vehicle was in the shop. I will have to hire a Lemon Lawyer.