Occasional total electrical loss

[schweezy]

I have a 2014 Silverado 1500. Twice this week I have been walking up to my truck and the buttons on the key fob don’t work at all. When I open the truck manually and put the key in the ignition everything is black. No power at all anywhere. First time I thought it was just dead and needed a jump. With jumper cables hooked up I turned the key and it was all black for a second, then everything clicked on and it fired right up. Figured the problem was solved. Hooked it up to a trickle charger when I got home just to be safe. About 4 days later I got home after driving the truck home from work and went back out to move the truck maybe 5 minutes after shutting it off. Same thing. All black on the dash, no power at all. Turned the ignition on and off a couple times and after leaving it in the on position for a couple seconds a little bit of life flickered into the dash and then it started right up. 
 

I have checked all grounds, they are snug and clean. I am worried I will end up stranded somewhere unless I can figure out what the root cause of this is. 
 

Any help will be much appreciated! 

[64BAwagon]

I had an S10 in the 90's with a similar problem. After having it towed to the dealer once and being stranded twice I finally figured it out myself The fuse for the ECM in the underhood electrical center was loose. It took me about 5 seconds to bend the fuse slightly and the problem was gone. 

 

I would suggest covering the basic "cheap and easy" diagnostics. Remove, clean and replace EVERY ground you can find. Dont just assume they look "OK" and leave them, actually remove them and clean them and maybe put some dielectric grease on them when putting them back.  Start wiggling wires and pulling on them. Look for swelling in cables or loose ends/connectors etc. 

If that doesnt yield anything you may need to find someone with a good scan tool. My guess would be that it has a ton of 12v fault codes relating to loss of signal or power, that may offer some insight. 

Electrical diag is time consuming and very expensive. 4 or 5 hrs of labor may lead to a new $2 part being the culprit. 

Assume that NOTHING is good until you have verified it actually is. 

 

If all else fails I would swear at it profusely and threaten to trade it in on a new Nissan (that will get its attention) 

Edited April 27, 2024 by 64BAwagon

[14LTZ-1LZ]

Replace the negative cable from the battery. Happen to me, I also replaced the fuse block on top of the battery. You might want to clean the ground connection to the negative cable connected to the frame first before replacing the negative battery.

[gdnelis]

I've been struggling with a very similar issue for almost a year now. It is so sporadic. Sometimes it goes months without happening, others it is on back to back days. 

 

Mine started with the occasional "Service Theft Deterrent System" message that would pop up when the truck started. The dash light that accompanied it would go away after the next start. Usually on the 2nd or 3rd time, my radio which is always tuned to a Sirius channel would also flip to FM 87.5 when it would occur. After 2-3 instances of that message pop up occurring, I'd experience the full loss of power. Initially, removing the negative terminal and putting it back on solved the problem. More recently, I have to remove the negative terminal for 30+ minutes before it will show signs of life again. Mine almost always goes full dark when the starter engages, meaning I'd hear the starter begin to crank for a millisecond and then everything will flatline and be a total loss of power. In one instance, I opened the door and saw the dash come to life, only to go full dark before I could get the key in the ignition. 

 

The timing of it went from occurring every few months, to about a month apart, and more recently it's been skipping the "Service Theft Deterrent System" message and going straight to full loss of power . In the last 9 days ago I have had the full loss of power occur 3 times, with the 2nd instance being a day after the 1st, and the 3rd instance being 7 days after that one. 

 

Last night I tested the negative cable from the battery for resistance and loss of voltage both to the frame grounding point and engine grounding point without seeing any issue, I removed the frame ground to inspect and it looked fine but I spruced it up a little and put some dielectric grease on it last night. I then looked into the G218 ground issue that is frequently reported in the dash by the driver's A pillar and it was good as well with no insulation interference there. 2 successful starts so far today, but I want to look at the positive leg of the starter to rule it out this weekend. 

 

FWIW, I had it in the dealer last July for an airbag recall and they tried to diagnose it there a little. They found zero codes set so they tested both battery cables and found no issue, but after finding an available update for the power control module they performed it and thought it was fixed. It displayed the "Service Theft Deterrent System" message when I started it at the dealership. I went back in, the tech came out and took it back to hook it up, and found codes suggesting there was a short "somewhere" in the truck. The tech was starting his vacation the next week so I was going to take it in the following week when I had to travel suddenly so I cancelled, and long story short the issue went away so I never rescheduled the appointment. Now that it's getting worse since reappearing this spring, I'm on the verge of scheduling that appointment if it continues despite how expensive it sounds. 

 

[gdnelis]

On 5/12/2024 at 3:20 PM, 14LTZ-1LZ said:

Replace the negative cable from the battery. Happen to me, I also replaced the fuse block on top of the battery. You might want to clean the ground connection to the negative cable connected to the frame first before replacing the negative battery.

 

I took your advice and so far it has paid off. Upon swapping my negative battery cable, I cut open the old one and found all types of corrosion. The worst of it was at the end of the thinner wire that grounds to the frame behind the passenger side front wheel. 

[Spendit]

I replaced my batt negative to the engine - did my own crimp to larger lug there and cleaned up the small end to frame. Been in good shape for 4 years now... you should all healed