Head unit wont turn on

Penguin VII · November 24, 2018

I've recently started having issues with the head unit on my 2016 sierra 8". Turn the truck on, no head unit display, no audio, nothing. I can use the steering wheel controls to get the radio from the dash but nothing from the head unit itself. The dash only displays the radio, no bluetooth or usb.

This has happened twice now and seems to reset itself after I leave it alone for a while but I'm not sure what's going on and it's extremely aggravating. Of course this has only happened since the truck has crossed 36k miles, not sitting at just under 42k. Should not be happening on a truck just over 2 years old.

Anyone have similar problems? Haven't contacted the dealer yet but that is prob my next step. Worried they are going to try and get me for a new head unit just outside of warranty.

300 Blackout · November 25, 2018

Happened to me once in the last year. I shut the truck off, let it sit for a little while and restarted it and it was back to normal. Like you, I was very concerned about being out of warranty and dealing with electrical problems.

Since it hasn’t happened again, I’ve written it off as a temporary glitch which every electronic I own has experience a time or two.

Hopefully your issue isn’t anything more serious than a temporary need for a reboot. Keep us posted if you find anything else out.

wforrest08 · November 25, 2018

If your lower glove box has ever been out for anything (ie. cabin air filter change) might be worth checking the plugs on the HMI. I believe I read on here somewhere where somebody was having problems with either the screen or Sat radio and come to find out the connector worked loose/got bump when the filter was changed. Yours doesn’t necessarily sound like a connection problem though? I know some of the early 014s had a TSB for the screen blacking out the fix for those was a reflash of the HMI believe. Might be worth a call to GM to see if there’s a similar fix of the later ones?

Edited November 25, 2018 by wforrest08

Penguin VII · November 25, 2018

26 minutes ago, wforrest08 said:

If your lower glove box has ever been out for anything (ie. cabin air filter change) might be worth checking the plugs on the HMI. I believe I read on here somewhere where somebody was having problems with either the screen or Sat radio and come to find out the connector worked loose/got bump when the filter was changed. Yours doesn’t necessarily sound like a connection problem though? I know some of the early 014s had a TSB for the screen blacking out the fix for those was a reflash of the HMI believe. Might be worth a call to GM to see if there’s a similar fix of the later ones?

Mine is a 2016 but I'll have to check. Didn't even think of that.