Radio and cluster turn off and then truck dies

ngiovas · December 7, 2015

I am having a serious issue with my truck and my dealer can't seem to figure out what happened. I was hoping someone on the forums might be able to provide some input. It happened 3 times within two days, so I immediately dropped it off at the dealer.

I was driving down a flat, dry paved road at about 35-40 miles per hour. for no apparent reason, my truck displayed a message that said "stability control" and the left front wheel locked up. The truck started to pull, but I had no steering at all while I braked the truck. A few seconds after the message appeared, the radio and cluster completely shut off and then the truck suddenly died. The first two times this happened, the truck came back on without me doing anything and I was able to safely pull over into a parking lot.

The third time it happened was within minutes of the second time and I had just pulled into a parking lot. This time, when the truck came back on, it said "service theft deterrent system" and a lock appeared on the cluster. I pulled into a spot and turned the truck off so I could call the dealer and ask if I could drop it off (they were right around the corner). After turning off the key, the radio and cluster turned on (no key in the ignition) and I couldn't turn it off, even by opening the door. The engine was not running when this happened. It shut off on its own about 2 minutes later.

After talking with the dealer, I was unable to start the truck and the "service theft deterrent system" light was still on. Fortunately, after a few minutes, it went away and I was able to start the truck.

When I dropped the truck off at the dealer, the service writer put a scan tool on it and said that the report showed "loss of communications to steering, loss of communications to brakes" along with what he said were many other messages. They gave me a loaner truck and told me that they would figure out what was happening and fix it.

4 days later (Friday afternoon) the manager called me and told me that they had driven the truck 28 miles and also walked through extensive diagnostics with GM Engineering which included putting power spikes through various points on the fuse box and checking all connectors. They simply were not able to find any issues with the truck and wanted to give it back.

I mentioned the scan tool report and said that there was no way I was going to risk causing an accident and asked if they agreed. He said if I didn't mind them keeping it, they would continue to look into the issue.

My fear is that they won't have it happen and they will simply tell me there is nothing more they can do.

Has anyone here seen this issue? If so, how was it resolved?

I do believe the dealer is trying to figure it out, but I think they just don't know what else to try.

The truck obviously isn't safe and I don't want to drive it without a clear explanation of what the cause is and a fix being put in place.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Nick

mwilliams7967 · December 7, 2015

I am new to this forum and not experiencing this, however very interested in hearing the outcome. It seems like there are several guys on here with similar issues!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Graphic · December 7, 2015

Check this thread: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/177978-steering-wheel-jammed-up-stabilitrak-errors/

Sounds similar, but the OP never followed up with what was done or if he ever got it fixed. There was some detail on where they were going with it though...

ngiovas · December 7, 2015

Check this thread: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/177978-steering-wheel-jammed-up-stabilitrak-errors/

Sounds similar, but the OP never followed up with what was done or if he ever got it fixed. There was some detail on where they were going with it though...

Yes, I saw that thread and reached out to him. Hopefully he will let us know what happened with his truck.

ngiovas · December 7, 2015

I spoke with the dealer today. They said they were able to get a full set of logs when the issue occurred. He said there was one and a half pages of error messages. Mostly loss of communications errors. They are working with GM TAC to pinpoint the exact cause and come up with a solution.

Digging around on this forum and the internet, I have noticed that many people are having this same issue, but I couldn't find anyone that actually felt it had been fixed (that worries me). Hopefully GM has a fix and everything will be back to normal. The last thing I want to do is have to worry about the safety of the vehicle I am driving.

ngiovas · December 9, 2015

Today I called GM customer care and explained my concern with my truck. It was immediately escalated to a Sr. Care agent. Her first response was "I can assure you there are no recalls for this issue and you have nothing to worry about." I asked her if she could imagine driving down the freeway at 70 miles an hour and losing all steering and brakes. She then told me that she understood my concern and asked me if I had spoken to the dealer about maybe trading it in if I didn't want it anymore. I explained to her that I just bought it 2 months ago (it was certified used) and it was fully paid for and why would I want to take a loss by trading it in? She then told me she would contact the dealership to discuss my concerns.

A short while later, the service writer called to tell me that they can clearly see the issue in the logs, but they don't have a fix for the problem, so they would like me to come pick up the vehicle. He said that if it happens again, I can bring it back in and they will look at it again. I asked him "What happens when I am killed driving it waiting for it to happen again?". He was completely silent. I told him that I couldn't take that risk and that I would call GM Care to ask for assistance. He said he would pass that message on to the Service Manager.

I called GM customer care back and explained what I was told. She then conferenced me in with the service manager at the dealership. The manager stated the following to both me and the care agent:

The issue was clearly identified in the logs. There were 1 1/2 pages of communications failures listed in the logs.
He stated that GM is aware of this issue and there is a PI (I don't know this term) for the problem, but there is no know solution.
He stated that he disconnected and re-seated the connector on the power distribution panel at the battery "and this shoudl fix the problem". I told him that if there was no known fix for the problem, what makes him believe that this resolved the issue. He stated that they had driven the vehicle for 30 miles and didn't see it reoccur, so it should be fine.
He told me that he had tried everything he could think of to fix the problem and he had nothing else to try. He said that he wanted me to pick up the vehicle and they will contact me if a solution is found by GM.

I told him that he was asking me to drive a vehicle that had a known issue that causes it to lose all control. Both he and the care agent were silent. Not even the care agent told him this is a bad idea. I was shocked. I told him that there was no way that I would drive the vehicle in this condition and that I certainly couldn't risk letting my wife or kids drive it. He only offered to drive it for a couple more days to see if it happened again. He stated "we have already put several miles on it. How many miles would it take for you to feel comfortable?" Does he really think I am going to feel better if he drives it for 30, 80, 100 miles and doesn't see an issue? He told me that this is a known issue with no fix.

I'm not sure what my next steps are, but this is just crazy. They don't know how to fix it, so they just want to pass it back to me. I coiuld see picking it up if it was something like a radio failure or a heated seat that works intermitently, but we are talking about a situation that could kill someone. They even acknolwedged that it happened to my truck and it is a known issue at GM. Right now I am just completely stunned.

Graphic · December 10, 2015

Document document, document! You'll be happy you did. I don't think this is going to end well for you. My log was 8 pages long. I never used it,I just took a loss and moved to another brand. I did not want another GM, wasn't going to get my money back anytime soon.

ngiovas · December 16, 2015

I also posted this in another thread for this same issue, but I wanted to make sure everyone is aware...

There is now a service bulletin/repair procedure for diagnosing and resolving the Stabilitrak/Power failure issue. It is # PIT5405A. The dealer had my truck for almost two weeks and worked extensively with the GM Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to troubleshoot the issue. They were finally able to come up with a procedure to diagnose the issue. This also allows them to confirm when the issue has been resolved.

I spent about 30 minutes talking with the dealership after everything was fixed. This issue is caused by a voltage drop in the electrical system. They can re-create it by applying voltage to specific points in the system. Once everything was corrected on my truck, they could no longer create this voltage drop, so I feel "fairly confident" that the issue has actually been addressed.

The notes on my service ticket were very extensive and they gave me the GM TAC ticket number as well so that I would have it for my records. I also got a print out of all of the vehicle logs for my records. I don't think they would have been as open with all of the information if they weren't confident that they had resolved the issue.

Gofas · December 17, 2015

Just last night my cluster lights went dim then off and then came back on. My truck didn't die.

I'm taking my truck in for another issue and will have to tell them about cluster lights.

Glad they where able to fix issue for you.

ngiovas · September 17, 2016

I also posted this in another thread for this same issue, but I wanted to make sure everyone is aware...

There is now a service bulletin/repair procedure for diagnosing and resolving the Stabilitrak/Power failure issue. It is # PIT5405A. The dealer had my truck for almost two weeks and worked extensively with the GM Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to troubleshoot the issue. They were finally able to come up with a procedure to diagnose the issue. This also allows them to confirm when the issue has been resolved.

I spent about 30 minutes talking with the dealership after everything was fixed. This issue is caused by a voltage drop in the electrical system. They can re-create it by applying voltage to specific points in the system. Once everything was corrected on my truck, they could no longer create this voltage drop, so I feel "fairly confident" that the issue has actually been addressed.

The notes on my service ticket were very extensive and they gave me the GM TAC ticket number as well so that I would have it for my records. I also got a print out of all of the vehicle logs for my records. I don't think they would have been as open with all of the information if they weren't confident that they had resolved the issue.

I wanted to post here to let people know that my electrical problems are back and way worse. My truck began acting up while merging onto the freeway and the stability control began trying to adjust the direction I was driving and was pulling me into the next lane of traffic. I decided to go straight to the dealer, but before I could get there, the truck completely died in traffic and was stuck for just over 10 minutes. It suddenly started again and I tried pulling it into a parking lot, but I lost all steering and brakes and coasted into the middle of the lot. I had it taken to the dealer, but I have no confidence that they will find the problem or will be able to fix it.

I just wanted to post this just in case others have the issue, they will know the original solution I posted did not fix the problem.

cmitchell86 · September 19, 2016

I wanted to post here to let people know that my electrical problems are back and way worse. My truck began acting up while merging onto the freeway and the stability control began trying to adjust the direction I was driving and was pulling me into the next lane of traffic. I decided to go straight to the dealer, but before I could get there, the truck completely died in traffic and was stuck for just over 10 minutes. It suddenly started again and I tried pulling it into a parking lot, but I lost all steering and brakes and coasted into the middle of the lot. I had it taken to the dealer, but I have no confidence that they will find the problem or will be able to fix it.

I just wanted to post this just in case others have the issue, they will know the original solution I posted did not fix the problem.

i had the same problem. The stealership had my truck 3 weeks and were working with Detroit on the issue. The problem seemed to have been fixed by replacing both battery cables (which get grounded somewhere else) and replacing the entire fuse box!! I had the truck for about 3 weeks after i got it back and it didnt act up once. I HIGHLY recommend anyone with this issue report it on safecar.gov after my truck shut off on the highway with my son in the truck. I fired off emails and phones calls to the NHTSA and actually spoke with one of the investigators.... but like i said HIGHLY RECOMMEND filing a complaint on safecar.gov in regards to this issue....it will save lives...potentially yours.

jyok · October 17, 2017

The exact same thing happened to me multiple times.2nd time it happened,my 4 wheel drive engaged and wouldn’t go back into 2wd until I pulled the fuse and reinstalled.

Dealer couldn’t figure anything out.

I just had the recent power steering recall done and asked if this is the fix for the truck acting crazy and locking up while driving.. service manager said “he wasn’t sure”

ive done a lot of research on this and couldn’t seem to find any scenarios even close to what happened to me.

Hope it all works out for you.