Blind Side Warning System Problem?

May 12, 2009

Just picked up my new Denali XL this weekend (woohoo, photos coming soon!!). The Blind Side warning system has shown "disabled" several times. It usually clears itself in a couple of minutes. Is this a break in issue or something I'm going to need to get checked?

Thanks,

Ranger · May 12, 2009

What's a "blind side warning system?"

Darkanion · May 12, 2009

What's a "blind side warning system?"

According to the Cadillac website :

"Side Blind Zone Alert^*

Side Blind Zone Alert^* notifies you with visual cues in the side mirrors if it detects a vehicle entering into your blind spots"

I had never heard of it before, though..

May 13, 2009

Yea, actually its one of those "cool but not essential" items they charge you for. On the mirrors, next to the turn indicator, there is a small image of a car (two actually). When someone pulls up next to either side of the truck that image lights up. It blinks if there is someone there and you turn on your turn signal on that side. No audible so you have to be looking in the mirror at least.

Darkanion · May 13, 2009

Yea, actually its one of those "cool but not essential" items they charge you for. On the mirrors, next to the turn indicator, there is a small image of a car (two actually). When someone pulls up next to either side of the truck that image lights up. It blinks if there is someone there and you turn on your turn signal on that side. No audible so you have to be looking in the mirror at least.

Interesting... Kind of like the backup assist, except without the beeps.. and for the sides, instead of the back. Cool!

How much do they charge for that one or is it bundled in with a bunch of other stuff, so you can't be sure how much "it" costs?

ptwat · October 25, 2009

007FL- Did you ever find out if your blind zone alert had a problem?

I have a 2009 tahoe with it and it says "Blind zone unavailable" for about five minutes every day after going over some mild bumps. It sometimes does that two or three times a day. I took it to the dealer today and they could not find a problem (latest software, connectors good, etc.). They said that they re-crimped the connectors and we will have to see what happens.

Steveman · October 26, 2009

Well what situations does it say that it is not unavailable? If it says it, for example, while driving down an alley way, or just after starting the car, it might just disable itself so that it does not pickup any interference. What the system might do is wait till you travel a certain distance and cruise for a certain period of time at a certain speed to actually activate, because the benefits of that system are really for when you are traveling at high speeds on a highway or frontage road, not while driving through your neighborhood or down a city street at 35 mph. This is just what I think would make the most sense, I am not saying that this is actually the cause, but if the system works after a couple of minutes of driving then I think your fine. Now if it didnt work at all while you were driving then you might have a problem.

ptwat · October 26, 2009

It happens in just about all setting- rain, clear, cold, hot. I don't recall it happening on interstate highways but certainly 4 lane and two lane roads. There is a two lane road where I work that I can faithfully reproduce it also. It is a an open two lane drive with two small islands in the drive spaced roughly 200 ft apart with gentle but noticeable rises at the islands that can be felt. Usually when I drive by them at about 25 mph it alerts the the system is unavailable when I pass the second one. Sometimes it happens (like this morning) when I pass the first one. The islands are not unusual in that they are about eight feet long, at curb height and have a small tree (about 5 ft tall) in the center. Otherwise the surrounding area is open and clear. Other times the system goes offline it seems to be correlated to gentle, but not rough, bumps in the road in all weather and temperature conditions, dirty or clean bumper side panels. It also happens at different lengths of time from when the truck is started to even at the end of long drives.

Regardless of why it happens it is annoying because it monopolizes the DIC (what a name!) until the system comes back online (usually about five minutes).

jgold121 · October 26, 2009

it's really a nice feature to have. i have it in my 2010 volvo xc90 and it has definitely been great to have on 3 or 4 lane interstate during rush hour traffic. hope they start making it standard in '11

Steveman · October 27, 2009

Well that is weird. I guess I would go to a dealer and see what they say and if they say it is normal then drive another Yukon that has the system and see if it does the same thing. Also cant you just push the top button (the one with the road on it) that controls the DIC to clear the screen?

ptwat · October 27, 2009

I took it to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong. And yes you are right, I can clear the DIC, but two things- for $500 I want the thing to work and if you clear it you can't tell if the thing is working or not until you are sure if someone is in your blind spot. Kind of defeats the purpose.