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Chevrolet Uplander Electrical Problems

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Comments

  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    What letter?
  • njones60njones60 Member Posts: 10
    Just to update you on the problems with my uplander (the automatic sliding doors would open while I was driving) - I finally settled with GM under Missouri's lemon law. They refunded my purchase price (less a reasonable mileage deduction) and even refunded my taxes, etc. I was pleased with the outcome, but dissatisfied that I had to resort to the Better Business Bureau to get the buyback. GM sold a product that was a clear safety hazard, and I think they should have bent over backwards to make it right again. Lesson learned... I'll never buy another GM. I'll stick with a company that supports its products!!
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    That's unfortunate. I'm glad it finally worked out in your favor though, having the doors open unexpectadly can be very dangerous!
    Mine has a couple of little issues, nothing bugging me enough yet to take it into the dealer, just passed 16k today.
  • suheysuhey Member Posts: 1
    i'm having various problems with my 2005 uplander interested in the recall letter you recieved any way I could get a copy :confuse: :mad: :cry: :lemon:
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    What kind of issues are you having? I might be able to help.
  • travis61travis61 Member Posts: 1
    you state that you received a letter in regards to a recall on the 2005 Uplander. Can i get a copy of that letter. This van is causing me amjor problems.

    Thank You!!
  • njones60njones60 Member Posts: 10
    Good Morning America just ran a report about a woman suing GM for the same problems (doors opening while driving). GM had the nerve to say they haven't received any other complaints. Apparently they forgot about settling with me?

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3401052&page=1
  • bassprobasspro Member Posts: 34
    Hi All, I posted the fix I had For my 05 Uplander rotors and as I read through the threads I noticed a loose steering issue that was brought up. I have a friend in Colorado that had a steering noise and had to have part of the steering column in the engine compartment changed. The part was made of fiberglass or plastic and was fixing to break. he could have lost control of the van. Thank goodness it did not happen. The peticular part was the unit that crushes in an accident and he said it was defective part that was made in Mexico. I assume that only the parts made there are a problem because I currently have over 96,000 miles and have had the following problems. A oil leak at the rear engine pan seal, bad rotors(Fixed with replaced heavy duty rotors at 33,000 miles)that are fixed since replacement,flickering lights, radio on/off button intermittent functioning,and pass. auto open door erratic and some times not working at all. Put lots of foam in different areas and filled the rear wheels with noise deadner and it is quieter. MC
  • mary35mary35 Member Posts: 1
    I'm researching problems with Uplander doors opening on their own. I'm looking for someone who has had this problem that lives in the Pittsburgh, PA area or surrounding counties.

    If you've had this problem, please contact me at mvandevelde@wpxi.com
  • pauley44pauley44 Member Posts: 1
    Is there anyway I could get a copy of that letter. The power door on my 2005 Uplander does not want to close. You push the button and it closes then it opens back up.
  • perrymanperryman Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2006 Chev. Uplander. Does anyone have a problem with their gas gauge going up and down. When I fill my tank it goes all the way down to the low fuel and the light comes on. Then it works its way back up but keeps going up and down. The check engine light came on yesterday. I have 43,000 miles on my vehicle and it is off factory warrenty but have a 60,000 mile extended warrenty. My dealership told me I have a $200 deductable and can not get a loaner car. I have to wait until I get a day off to have this fixed. Is this a major problem that anyone else is having or just us. Any help would be appreciated.
    Thanks
  • njones60njones60 Member Posts: 10
    My 2005 did that too. I would fill it and it would show empty until I had shut it off and restarted it 2 or 3 times. Unlike yours, however, once it reset itself to full, it worked fine. That is, until the next time I refilled it! My dealership couldn't reproduce the problem so they never fixed it. It didn't cause any problems for me, it was just a nuisance. Good luck!
  • gmjon1gmjon1 Member Posts: 1
    Can you describe the steering noise that resulted in your friend's part replacement? We have an '06 Terazza that has a groaning noise when turning at low speeds, such as turning a corner. The steering itself doesn't seem loose, but the noise is accompanied by a feel of something gently binding and releasing the steering column. Haven't had it in to the dealer to look at yet, but if it's the same thing, I'm taking it in right away.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    "Put lots of foam in different areas and filled the rear wheels with noise deadener and it is quieter"

    Can you describe what type of foam, where you got it, roughly what it cost, where you put it in, and why you chose to not put any around the front wheels? My Goodyear tires are almost deafening going down the road. I'd like to try adding some noise deadener to our Uplander, but don't know what to get and where to start.

    Thanks,
    Bill P.
    2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
  • hlfrieshlfries Member Posts: 1
    Hi, I have a 2005 Uplander and have flickering lights, high voltage reading and the driver door windows sticks after they replaced the voltage regulator, the battery two times and the alternator two times. Do you have a recall letter for uplander and if so please send it to my e-mail, thanks
    hlfriesz@yahoo.com
  • kmiggykmiggy Member Posts: 1
    Good luck with it, I've had problems for the past 3 years & GM won't do anything about it. I'm in the middle of a lemon law negotiation & GM wants to settle for what seems like pennies compared to what I paid for this van. If the loss doesn't outweight the benefit you're out of luck it seems. We've put 72,000 miles on the vehicle in 3 years, therefore we are using the van & "benefiting" from it. I only pray my children don't fall out one day or I will OWN GM!!
  • genmtrfangenmtrfan Member Posts: 78
    The latest TSB, issued in March 2007, finally fixed this problems for me. The previous "fixes" had not worked, but this one did.
  • charallencharallen Member Posts: 1
    Did you ever figure out what was causing your fuel guage problems? I have been having similar issues with my 2006 Uplander. If I park with the front end lower than the back end it tells me low fuel and will actually shut down! I can never have less than 1/4 tank of gas at any time or this happens. They already replaced the fuel sensor when it went nuts. I drove across town and my tank went from full to empty in less than a half hour. It is very hard to leave it to be fixed because I have 2 very young children to shuffle around and therefore have to move car seats (1 rear facing) to have a shuttle bring us home. Very annoying!! Please let me know what you found out.
    Thanks!!
  • sssenesesssenese Member Posts: 5
    My 2005 Chevy Uplander just had an electrical fire. An electrical component in the rear shorteed out and started on fire. It fried my entire electrical system, not to mention, endangered the lives of me adn my children. I was stuck on the side of the road with a burning car. Now, here's my question...

    Do I accept this vehicle back, repaired? My fear is that it's not safe. I have had many of the issues I have read about on this site already and was hating my van already.

    After seeing all the other posts from others regarding the electrical problems, please pull the rear access panel and inspect the components back there for any sign of melting, etc.

    By the way, to fix sliding doors not shutting, clean the contacts on the car where the door meeets them. They have to be cleaned with a dry paper towel - do not use water!!
  • genmtrfangenmtrfan Member Posts: 78
    Sorry to hear about your experience. What kind of electical equipment is in the rear? Is it rear A/C or maybe the inflator for the rear suspension? This is the first fire I've heard of in and Uplander. The only electrial problem we've had was the flicker in the headlights that has been fixed.
  • shambbwshambbw Member Posts: 3
    Could you please tell me what ended up happening with your Uplander? I have an '05 Uplander and just last week one of the power sliding doors flew open while I was driving. My van currently has about 53k miles on it, I have an extended warranty. I am not sure what will happen but I am so scared to drive with my little girls in the van. I really want a different vehicle that I feel safe in. I filed a complaint with the BBB. I am just curious as to what happened with your van. Thank you for your time.
    ~A concerned mother
  • shambbwshambbw Member Posts: 3
    I am having problems with my sliding door coming open while I am driving. I am afraid that GM won't take responsibility of this issue. I just filed a complaint with the BBB- good luck right? Maybe we can go on 60 minutes or something and make a big stink about this. Please write me and let me know how your case is going. Thank you!

    ~A concerned mother
  • shambbwshambbw Member Posts: 3
    I need help, my door opened on me when I was driving. I am so scared and I took it to the dealership and they said they fixed and that same night the door came ajar (not completely open) while I was on the highway. I am taking it in again tomorrow. I filed with the BBB. What else can I do? I do not want to drive this van any more. I freaked out so bad when that happened I could have easily gotten into a wreck! Thank God I was on a side road when it flew open. Did GM settle with you? How long will it take? I can't live like this!!! I am a busy mother and I don't have time to deal with this stress!
  • njones60njones60 Member Posts: 10
    I filed the complaint with GM and then with the BBB and it took about 6 months to get it all finalized. The BBB "lost" my initial application THREE times. Anyway, I felt like it was handled well, once they finally got going on it. I filled out the online complaint form with BBB and they sent me some forms to fill out. They say it can take 45 days or something, so when my 45 days passed, I called and had to start all over again. I suggest that you call about a week after you mail in your packet, just to ensure they received it. Then I had to drive to the BBB and have an investigator look at it. After that, we just negotiated a settlement. The lemon law in every state is different so I don't know how you'll do money-wise. I barely got out from under my loan, but I feel like there should have been some compensation just for the hassle of always having it in the shop, not using the two middle seats, being forced to buy a new vehicle, time off work, etc. I can't complain too much I guess, at least I could pay off the loan and didn't have to drive that death-trap anymore. The only thing that still upsets me is the way GM handled it. VERY unprofessional. AND they're still denying, even after they've paid my claim and probably others, that the doors have opened by themselves. I've seen a couple news articles about it, and GM claims no knowledge of anyone complaining about this problem before. Whatever...
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    How would you get into a wreck?

    I noticed that when I turn the key on and wait a few seconds before starting I have no gremlins compared to when I start the car without waiting. I attribute this to letting the computers synch and boot up. Sometimes my doors won't open, cruise doesn't work, or the radio acts up or doesn't work at all. Doesn't happen when I wait 5 seconds though. Try it.
  • raginmadraginmad Member Posts: 1
    I'd like to install a backup camera and need help on how to route the wiring up inside the rear hatch as well as connecting it to the backup lights. Any diagrams or step by step knowledge would be much appreciated.
  • stillcrazystillcrazy Member Posts: 7
    Well guys looks like they have NOT solved a very basic problem yet. I have a 2007 Uplander and the voltage varies all over the place but the most concerning is when it stays HIGH..14.3 to 15. That should cook the battery shortly.Also got into start the car the other day and got the famous click,click and then started. That caused me to check the battery and found that the lousey cheap battery connector was corroded! ON A NEW CAR! Cleaned and coated it but this top post and tin battery clamp are bummy. How could they have forgotten everything that used to work.
  • sssenesesssenese Member Posts: 5
    I was just looking to see if anyone replyed back in Oct to my original post about the fire in my Uplander. Sorry I didin't send this earlier...

    The fire was caused by a short that either didn't trip the breaker or burned out the breaker on the wire harness controlling the rear passenger sliding power door. Since I see so many complaints from people about these doors, I recommend that everyone get this wire harness checked out and insure the breaker is okay.

    GM jacked me around and took a month to decide it was manufacturer's defect, then I finally got the van back 55 days later! I'm working with Krohn & Moss to sue GM under a particular lemon law that has to do with this. I have had an independent inspection of the van prior to Chevy fixing it and the inspecter agrees that GM is totally at fault. By the way, Krohn & Moss specializes in this type of law suit and I think they have offices all over the country. Mine is in Chicago. Don't let these big bullies get away with jerking thier customers around! :mad:
  • sssenesesssenese Member Posts: 5
    I am currently sueing GM over an electrical fire in the wire harness controlling my rear sliding door. It is clearly manufacturer's defect, though. I don't know where you are located, but I think the law firm I am using has a bunch of offices (mine's in Chicago). They are called Krohn & Moss and this is all they do. My neighbor used to work for them and referred me. I will post the outcome when I get one.
  • sssenesesssenese Member Posts: 5
    I am currently sueing GM over an electrical fire in the wire harness controlling my rear sliding door. It is clearly manufacturer's defect per them and I received no such letter. Is there any chance of having you fax a copy of that letter? I am registered with GM and didn't get anything.
  • 142geo142geo Member Posts: 1
    I'm in the process of installing my camera and had an issue with where the camera was placed due to the latch. I positioned the camera just left of the latch. Now I'd like to know how to wire the camera to the reverse lights. Can anyone help me with this?

    142geo
  • sssenesesssenese Member Posts: 5
    My '05 Uplander had a fire int he electrical harness for the sliding door on the passenger side. You replied to an old post regarding this. Here is the update...

    I sued GM through Krohn & Moss in Chicago. It took months, but I have finally settled with GM for $11,000. Unfortunately, the lawyers got $4,000, but I didn't have to do anything regardign the lawsuit, so I guess that's fair. I;m just happy to make them pay. Had I taken the time to go to court, the settlement would have been higher, but so would the legal fees. I recommend contacting a lawyer to see if they will take your case on contingency, so you don't pay anything win or lose.
  • cindyhardercindyharder Member Posts: 3
    I am sooooooo frustrated right now. I have an '05 Chevy Uplander. On the first day I drove it off the lot, the bells started ringing while I was driving. I had no clue what was going on, so I took it back to the dealer and the guy I bought it from gave me some lame excuse that all the doors weren't closed tightly. (I had already checked all the doors) But we somehow got the bells to stop ringing. We don't know how.

    Over the course of the last 3 years, I have experienced off and on problems with the side doors flying open while driving, and the side doors not latching shut completely. I have taken it into the dealer three times, and the problem has always recurred. THe last time the chiming mysteriously stopped the morning I was driivng it in there to get fixed! It worked just fine for them, so all they did was clean the tracks and the sensors and it was "fixed". (Yeah right). That was Thursday. Suddenly Friday night the doors wouldn't close again and the chimes started dinging. Sometimes it's just one door and sometimes it's both. Sometimes the bells go constantly while driving. I took a 6 hour road trip with my 5 children with the bells ringing nonstop!!!! We eventually decided that we couldn't take it anymore and I made the kids climb in and out the front doors. Imagine-- 5 kids climbing in and out of the front doors for every potty break, every food break, etc. for 6 hours!

    So I'll be taking it back into the dealership on Monday.......I am very frustrated. I had NO idea this was a common problem among Uplander owners. I'm going to videotape the doors not shutting all the way and take it to the service department at the dealership so that there is proof. At this point, they think I'm just imagining it or something.

    How do we get them (GM) to deal with this problem seriously? I have 55,000 miles on this thing and my warranty is expired. The fact that this problem occurred on day one of purchase proves that this isn't a wear and tear issue. I want it FIXED now, or I want a new vehicle. NOT a GM. Any ideas? Suggestions?

    Thanks.
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    Cindy the problem is the electronic latch in the back of the door and how the mechanic adjusts the door. I was having the problem with my 2006 SV6 Montana on the driver's side sliding door. Once that was replaced the problems with the door not wanting to open or close went away and then needed the mechanic to adjust the door properly to open and close right. My AllData subscription has expired and I don't remember if there were any TSBs for that particular problem. The part number for the driver's side latch is 10347138.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    Cindy, please let us know what your dealership tells you.

    Our '05 Uplander has 49K miles and in the past month or so has occasionally had the situation where the door is almost closed, then bounces back. Usually the next attempt, it will close. I am sort-of interested in cars, and this a.m. I did a couple 'tricks' to ours...one, I took an eraser and 'erased' the gunk off the brass-colored contact points on the body near the front of the power door (I think there's eight little brass-colored squares that I did this too....someone told me years ago to do this every so often), and I also cut a tiny little piece of the fat rubber molding off along the bottom of the door opening, near the plastic trim on the body where the door would meet the body. I cut a tiny little piece off of the molding with a scissors, that was jutting out a bit and overlapping the rest of the molding, which made me wonder if the sensor was seeing this as an obstruction. I also cleaned with a wet paper towel, the door track and all kinds of dirt and gunk were down there, as well as a couple of coins. We'll see if this does anything!

    Bill
    2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    The solution to your problem is the same. The latch in the rear of the door is faulty and needs replacing. While you need to keep the area cleaned along with those contacts it likely doesn't have anything to do with the door popping back open.

    If the door itself is improperly adjusted it may hit the body, usually at the very top at the back and until enough paint is chipped away it will sometimes cause the door to stop opening the first time you hit the swtich.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    And what was your dealer's cost to replace the latch, or was yours still under warranty? Luckily, we have just the one power door...if it was some ridiculous cost, we'd just use the driver-side manual door (though inconvenient). Of course, at 49K miles, ours is out of warranty.

    Bill
    2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    In my motor crash book the part was listed at about $80 and labor about 1/2 hour.

    Ours was under the factory warranty which just expired. Because of these issues and the feeling I got that my local dealer no longer had competant mechanics we bought the extended warranty for a couple more years. I grew up working on computerized cars but to do so today requires a $3500 scanner and access to GM for the latest downloadable updates and such. Frustrating. I'd rather do the work myself.

    James
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    Thank you, James, for the information. I wonder how much more a retail customer would be charged by the dealer, than the Motor book amounts. I trust my dealer, but I bet the 1/2 hr. would get bumped up to one hour. Maybe not. Really, the rates you quoted are quite reasonable. My door never has problems opening, although I did check the upper-rear area of the door and opening for missing paint as you had mentioned...just out of curiosity. All looked OK there.

    Bill
    2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
  • allen383allen383 Member Posts: 2
    On the Sliding door problem our local dealership replaced the Sliding Door Control Module on our van approx. 6 months ago and solved the problem until now. Our van is out of warranty now, but I am forcing the dealership to fix it again under warranty. The New service manager thinks it is a different problem this time, and they are going to check it out again.

    Also on the Headlight flickering if anyone has this problem, there is a cure to this in hooking up a resistor in line with the alternator, which our dealership did approx a year ago to fix the problem. GM doesn't offer the part, so they had to purchase it from an outside vender. So, I know this can be fixed easily.... The dealer can call their GM tech support to get the information in this..

    Allen
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    I've heard of the resistor fix and another where the battery cable was shielded. My dealer played the "could not replicate" game until the last time I made an issue out of it. The previous visits were for other things that I considered priority and while annoying wasn't a safety issue. Anyhow, instead of following the TSB they soaked Pontiac for a new alternator and since they had to order it, gave us a loaded Caddy DTS to drive for 10 days.

    My driver's side power sliding door issue was mostly fixed, it still acts up because its out of alignment, the body and door panels don't line up anymore. About 1 in 10 times the door will give us trouble opening or closing, it's catching on the rear pillar just as it opens or closes up top. When it gets worse we've decided to take it to another dealership who hopefully has better trained mechanics.

    James
  • cindyhardercindyharder Member Posts: 3
    I finally got fed up enough to video tape my sliding door issue and took it in to the dealership, because in the past, they could never replicate the problem! I also called GM and they opened a file on my case, and to their credit, they have been totally on the ball with this problem. As you may remember, I posted a problem with the sliding doors not closing and the bells ringing constantly while driving. GM got in touch with the dealership while my van was in the repair shop there and they apparently gave them new codes to reprogram the sliding door (?) and for now, it's working. However, about every 5 times I shut it, it comes ajar just a tad. I can tell it's not sitting totally flush, but at least the bells aren't ringing. GM has been calling me about twice a week to keep checking on the situation, and the dealership called yesterday too just to check. FINALLY, someone at GM is paying attention. The dealership tried to charge me $90 when I picked up the van, but I said "No way. This is NOT my problem. This is a GM problem." They immediately voided the bill. I was very happy.
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    That's great Cindy! Keep that name of the GM employee, some people might need it someday.
  • allen383allen383 Member Posts: 2
    My dealership is replacing the latch assembly, and cable assembly on my Uplander this time to try to fix the door problem. We will see............. :confuse: :confuse:
  • swathdiverswathdiver Member Posts: 27
    Our door is acting up again too. My wife was out and it shut but kept dinging the entire trip to the mall and back. When I looked at it, it would shut and lock properly but ding like it was open. When it opened it wouldn't open all the way, stopped about an inch short of its normal travel. Anytime you remotely activated door, it would first pull back and then try to shut then hang back and ding. Not sure how I did it, but I got it to stop and we're not using the door until I can get it back to the dealership.

    James
  • cindyhardercindyharder Member Posts: 3
    Wow.......our "fixed" sliding door wasn't fixed at all. After the dealership supposedly fixed it, not even 2 weeks later it started all over again. The door won't close, and then when we do close it manually it dings the entire time I'm driving. (This is like a recurring nightmare)

    So I took it back to the dealership, left the van running just to make sure they could witness the problem for real, brought the head service rep. out to see it, and showed him that the problem continues. He seemed just as frustrated as I am.

    I've been calling GM all week now to try to get in touch with the same customer service agent (Martin Fischman) who spent so much time with me trying to get this resolved. I've left several messages and so far, no call back from him!

    I am BEYOND frustrated at this point. GM needs to fix this problem permanently, or they need to replace our van. Period. I guarantee you that if one of their people had to drive around 24/7 with that dinging noise going off non stop, something would be done to fix it. This is simply unacceptable.
  • aubryjaubryj Member Posts: 2
    We had a 04 Suburban, 05 Equinox and now an 06 Uplander. My husbands Z71 also makes a noise. They all are a bumping kinda loose noise. The dealership replaced a couple of them. It was a part in the steering column. Although it is "typical chevy" problem, there is no recall. To fix it was around $200 after the warranty was up. They said it was not a safety hazard.
  • hockeydad12hockeydad12 Member Posts: 1
    Both sliding doors on our 2006 Uplander LT have been giving us grief for months now. About 90 percent of the time when we would close one of the doors, they would either open back up again on their own or the back part of the door would fail to latch and would pop out. In the latter instance, we would have to get our and push on the back of the door to get it to latch, or else have to listen to the automatic door lock mechanism try in vain to lock the doors as we drove. I finally reached out to a guy I know who owns a local garage and hosts an auto repair show on a local radio station. I explained the situation to him and he suggested resetting the control module(s) for the power sliding doors (I assume there is one for each door, but not being a mechanic, I'm guessing).

    Not being familiar with the specifics of everyone else's issues with Uplander doors, this may or may not work for you, but so far it's worked for me.

    Before you try to do any fixes yourself, be sure to talk to a reputable automotive repair professional to see if this step is even appropriate for your Uplander door problems. Maybe your local mechanic will be able to help where GM dealers aren't. Good luck!
  • chevyjaxchevyjax Member Posts: 12
    So I have been having issues with my doors not closing properly, I have also had problems with the warning tone going off while driving down the road, even though the doors appeared to be closed. Yeasterday after dropping the older kids off at school I try to drive away and keep getting the binging noise. I had to open and close the door 3 times, I know it was shut. Then I finally was able to drive off and about a block and a half later, the binging starts again. I find a place to pull over..... and my door is open about 1 inch. I know I closed it. My 3 yr old was in the van with me. He was in his car seat, but that really could have been bad! Luckily I was only going about 35 mph if that. I got video of it on my phone. Maybe they will believe me know!
  • mymeriamymeria Member Posts: 1
    Cindy,

    My name is David Jones and I have the exact same problem with my sliding doors dinging all the time. Do you happen to have your GM case number still? If so, I can call GM and reference that case number and tell them I have the same problem.

    Thanks so much!
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