Electrical Issues - 2007 Silverado LTZ

[64BAwagon]

@MeatEater23  I had a similar issue on a 2005 Silverado HD and it ended up being the turn signal switch. 

[MeatEater23]

@64BAwagon were the brakes even making the dash lights flicker or the radio pop?

[64BAwagon]

No, not those issues on mine but I can see how they might if the switch is faulty and shorting out. We took a guess on mine and got lucky that it fixed it. 

[swathdiver]

17 hours ago, MeatEater23 said:

I should mention that two weeks ago I had a flashing airbag light on my dash, my mirror compass and thermostat display was freaking out and my radio was cutting in and out. Not sure if this helps any. That only happened once though.

When this happened there were internal BCM codes generated.  These may shed some light on the problem but my money is on that positive battery cable.

[MeatEater23]

Sadly the last GM tech cleared all codes after he tried a few things but it very well could he the positive cable since the terminal end is indeed shimmed. There is enough slack to splice the end and put a new end of there. Is it worth cutting that end and putting a new end on the cable?

If so, which kind of end should I opt for? I probably don't want two separate ends for the battery cables, right? 

[richard wysong]

Replace the cable, Repair terminals are a temporary repair and do not address internal corrosion. it sounds like you are just looking at the battery end of the cable but if it is indeed the cable causing your issues the problem may be further down the cable

[MeatEater23]

I am certainly willing to try this. I think the last time I checked, the positive cables are about 60 to 70 dollars. 

[diyer2]

Being it's an 07 I would replace both battery cables. 

[MeatEater23]

The negative cable was done about 3 years ago. One shop sword the negative cable was the culprit for all of my issues. Sadly, they were wrong as the issues persisted immediately after. 

[swathdiver]

5 hours ago, MeatEater23 said:

Sadly the last GM tech cleared all codes after he tried a few things but it very well could he the positive cable since the terminal end is indeed shimmed. There is enough slack to splice the end and put a new end of there. Is it worth cutting that end and putting a new end on the cable?

If so, which kind of end should I opt for? I probably don't want two separate ends for the battery cables, right? 

 

Replace the whole positive battery cable, the ends are not the problem man.

[MeatEater23]

After doing some reading some claim the majority of corrosion is found right inside of the crimp. Some had great success with just doing the end but I will try the entire cable. 

RockAuto has 2 positive cables, I'll look under my hood this morning and make sure I order the correct one. 

 

Isn't there some sort of voltage test or drop test I can perform to see if its in fact the cable?

[swathdiver]

17 hours ago, MeatEater23 said:

After doing some reading some claim the majority of corrosion is found right inside of the crimp. Some had great success with just doing the end but I will try the entire cable. 

RockAuto has 2 positive cables, I'll look under my hood this morning and make sure I order the correct one. 

 

Isn't there some sort of voltage test or drop test I can perform to see if its in fact the cable?

Well, you could test for ohms of resistance if you know what a good value is.  I tend to overthink things but battery cables wasn't one of them!  LOL

 

Let me see...  A quick look through the shop manual does not show anything like that to test for.

[MeatEater23]

I'm sure there is a voltage drop test I could perform but I cannot find what values to expect in doing so.

 

Either way, is this another vote for replacing the battery cable? 

 

Yesterday I went ahead and checked over the junction box under the truck and unplug thr harness connections and all of them looked clean and they were snug. I also checked the bcm connections along with the brake switch. 

 

I read that there is a ground to the left of the steering column under the knee bolster. I plan to look into this asap. 

I should mention that we live in the North where our roads get pounded with rock salt. Needless to say, our trucks get rusty. 

[swathdiver]

Cut the insulation off the old cables after you replace them.  Then you'll see what we mean.

Edited September 11, 2023 by swathdiver
grammar

[MeatEater23]

Being the negative cable was replaced not long ago (years ago now) I may just replace the positive cable. If that doesn't do it, perhaps I'll get another negative cable and pray for the best.