Electrical Gremlin

[01BlueTahoeGuy]

A few weeks ago my wife told me the radio was acting weird in our 2015 GMC Yukon SLT. She also said there was a security system reset message on the center screen.

I drove it a week ago and it started it again.

The touchscreen would still respond to certain things, but the physical knobs and buttons were non responsive.

The sound was intermittent, the clock in the upper right corner was flashing, the compass wasn’t working. I stopped and restarted it to try to reset it to no avail.

A few days ago, I was told when my wife made a right hand turn, all the warning lights on the dash flashed on then off.

Sunday when we went to run errands, we started it up, but we had to roll down the drivers side window then the passenger side.

I was told it started slow this morning.

I looked at the battery, it looks to be the original. The rig only has 44k on it.

Any thoughts? Battery going bad? Loose grounds?

Don’t want to throw parts at it.

 

[Tahoe14]

Good working batteries are a must for these newer electronic driven vehicles, that’s where I would start, grounds are another area as well as battery cables.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Take the battery to a local auto parts store and have it bench load tested (not the in-the-truck battery test).

 

[01BlueTahoeGuy]

I checked the battery voltage when I got home, my meter shows 12.2 volts.

I looked at what grounds I could find and they all seem clean and tight.

I didn’t realize how crammed in these batteries were. So I am debating on just getting a new battery to see if it solves the issue. I haven’t pulled the it yet but I don’t think it’s OEM.

 

[01BlueTahoeGuy]

Replaced the battery tonight.

The one that was in it was at 12.03 volts when I tested it after pulling it out.

The brand was Energy Power, a brand I have never head of, definitely not OEM. No date sticker either.

I was a bit perturbed that the hold down was not very tight and the coolant tank bolts were loose to.

Replaced the battery with an Interstate one from Costco.

Fired it up, got the window test warning for both doors.

Three subsequent starts and that didn’t happen.

Hope this solves the issue.

 

[steve45]

Does your vehicle have a terminal strip that sits on top of the battery? Not shown in the pictures. My 2016 does. I found the connections on this terminal strip were loose/dirty/corroded. They must be cleaned just like the connections on the battery itself.

 

[01BlueTahoeGuy]

Yes, mine has the the terminal strip on top of the battery.

The terminals were clean, with out ant corrosion, I did make sure all the connections were tight while I was working on it.

I was a bit surprised given that it is a 2015, but everything is clean and tight.

I do wish it had the battery set up that is in my 2001 Tahoe, as ! could have just swapped it and been fine.

So far, it appears to have solved the problem.

 

[01BlueTahoeGuy]

Ok gang, the gremlin has returned.

The battery is good as is the charging system.

Does anyone have any ideas as to where to look?

I can switch between Audio, Phone and Nav systems, but the knobs and buttons don’t respond correctly, the volume knob will increase and decrease the bar in screen, but no sound.

The touch screen will respond, but no audio.

I can eject and insert a CD and hear it spin up.

Anyone else dealt with this?

 

[Tahoe14]

The battery cables are also known to corrode on the inside.

 

[01BlueTahoeGuy]

The battery cables are also known to corrode on the inside.

I agree, have experienced that in the past on other rigs.

There is 0 indication of any type of corrosion on any of the connections inspected today.

This was a California rig before coming up to Washington, there is no rust/corrosion that I can see.

I going to look at the harnesses I can find to see if there are any rubbing/worn wires that may be the root of the problem….