Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Pickups Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon Electrical Problems
249 messages, Last post on Nov 24, 2009 at 4:21 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon Forum. Your Host is kcram
|
Replying to: Alennx (Feb 20, 2009 5:14 pm) |
|
| This truck is having several electrical problems. It cuts out while driving sometimes to the point of stalling the engine.The tach has very erratic movement. The radio sometimes looses its presets and the clock returns to 12:00. The blower fan also acts up with only high speed available. all this gradually came about overnight. No service codes. All these problems come and go. Sometimes they all are evident, sometimes maybe one or two are showing up. It has never failed to start. | |
|
Replying to: duart (Feb 23, 2009 7:40 pm) It's not the battery, I just put a new Optima Yellow in and the issues continue the same. It could be the alternator although last I had it checked it was putting out 14V. This was a spot check, not a monitoring over any driving time. I am getting an occasional code... "rpm does not match the engine conditions." The suggestion is that the Air Intake sensor needs replacing or there's a vacuum failure. Does this explain the fluctuating rpms? Maybe. Does this explain the blower failure or the under-power while braking? Only if the drop in rpms leads to a drop in charge-back, which in turn drops below 12V. Why is the blower crapped out on 1, 2 and 3, but not 4? Should be the key to the problem but it makes no sense! I am going to fit a Voltage Meter and watch what happens while I'm driving. I sometimes get my lights going dim and the revs dropping off under braking, which suggests that there's not enough juice in the harness to power the assisted brakes and keep everything else going... which leads me back to the Alternator. I am willing to bet that anyone who has had this issue has been running larger accesories for a period of time through the two power points and this has knackered the alternator as it attempts to keep up with the over-drain. I am also going to get my belt tightened. I'll post as I go. Let us know what you try. One thing I do know, The Chevy Dealers I've spoken to have no idea what the problem is and will do fuse-block or computer changes just to charge the **** out of you. I'm calling Chevrolet Corporate right now to confirm they have no idea... |
|
|
Replying to: Alennx (Feb 24, 2009 12:44 pm) About the lights dimming when you press your brakes... there was a brake recall some time ago. You might check to see that was taken care of. Also, if you replaced your stereo or added some other after-market item maybe some wires got repositioned and are touching the brake mechanism??? Just a thought. Look, I don't work with any car dealer or anything but I know that if you call the service department at ANY car dealer, they are not likely to help you. Why??? Let's put it another way... if you walk into your favorite grocery store and ask them for some free milk, eggs, and steaks do you think that they are going to just let you have those for free? Of course not but yet some people want what the service department sells for free. They are selling their knowledge, experience, and time. They get nothing if they tell everyone how to fix their problems on the phone for free. I know that you and I spent a small fortune for our vehicles but the dealer didn't make the car or the problem. I hate taking my vehicle in for maintenance too but you have to do what you have to do sometimes... With that said, I've had a problem with my Colorado door locks for months now and I'm too tight to go get it fixed - I won't call them though. Cheers.
|
|
|
Replying to: mrwebman (Feb 24, 2009 1:08 pm) I found in my research that the MAF is affected by a dodgy alternator or battery. The MAF is attempting to maintain the temp of the hot wire and changes the fuel/air mixture according to the flow & temp of the incoming air, conversely if the power delivery to the MAF is dropping off, it will have the effect of changing the mixture because the hot wire is not as hot and the return signal to the computer is changed. I have a new battery so all roads continue to lead to the alternator. I'm going to get me a charge meter... no way some guy is going to line his pockets with my hard earned cash just because he has a family to feed and a mortgage to pay!  Here's a question... if I had the original battery (1 year ago) and it had to be changed out because it was boiling hot, so hot you couldn't touch it. Would that mean the alternator was over-voltaging the harness in order to charge the dead battery, since the dead battery was now acting as a huge resistor?... and would that lead to cooking the blower (1,2,3), and my CD/radio lights, and my CD player?... and would that lead to permanent damage to the alternator? Tell me I'm wrong, please 
|
|
|
Replying to: Alennx (Feb 24, 2009 12:44 pm)
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: dtower77 (Nov 11, 2008 5:47 pm) |
|
|
Replying to: briguy7 (Feb 25, 2009 2:12 am)  72K miles. $1300 repair bill? Thanks So, I had the charging system tested at Kragens and with the lights and inverter on and under full load, the alternator was pushing out 14.7V. No other electrical issues detected during startup or engine-off either. Get this, the engine light came back on and the engine dropped below 500rpm while he was running the test and the alternator kept pushing 14.7V!!! So, according to Kragens, the alternator is fine, the battery is fine AND this morning the blower started working again and my CD player started working again. Tell me that the devil is not at work here! The engine is coding that the RPMs are out of range so it could still be the MAF or I could have a vacuum seal break OR the "AIC?" sensor could be jacked... but that doesn't explain the random stopping of circuits, unless the computer is turning stuff off randomly, like when you first start the engine... what if the computer... no... yes, that's it. It has to be. There's no over-drain protection on the acc circuits because I've killed a battery twice draining it out over a week by accident. The computer is turning off individual circuits like the blower, the CD player... but the accessory circuits are staying on, WHY! Surely that would be the first thing to go? No, because they are not controlled by the computer whereas the internal circuits, blower, etc are... Outside stuff is my own fault. Makes sense to me. You know Isuzu is selling this truck also? So I have MAF cleaner and throttle body cleaner. Next I'll get the AIC? sensor checked and then if there is no improvement after that, It will be destined for the shop. DARN IT! 
|
|
|
Replying to: mrwebman (Feb 24, 2009 1:08 pm)
|
|
|
Replying to: duart (Feb 28, 2009 2:21 pm) Personally, I'd stop looking for ONE reason for your problems because it sounds to me that you have multiple things going on. To my knowledge, there's no such thing as a 'drain' sensor in any normal production vehicle. Maybe NASA has something like that but frankly, I would not want it in my car - if I don't want something powered up I can unplug/turn it off without some computer deciding what's best for me. Remember, leave the lights (or other load) on and when you come back to the car your battery could be dead. Inverters: I'd never leave one of those plugged in because they eat (consume, waste) roughly 30 percent of the max load even when there isn't a load attached. So... 1000 watt inverter consumes 300 watts of power when not powering anything. 300 watts at 12 volts is 25 amps of current. 25 amps of current for 10 hours is 250 ampere/hours or to put it another way, a toasted battery. Now look at what the inverter does to your car when you ARE using 1000 watts, ie, when you do have a load plugged into it. At full load, it is consuming about 84 amps of current from your car but your alternator can not supply but 60 amps so the other 24 amps comes out of the battery and eventually you have a bulging, burned up battery. Of course, the numbers would be different for different size inverters. And, I haven't even touched on the noise that inverters send back into a computerized vehicle system... Cheers.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Pickups Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon Electrical Problems
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2010 Chevrolet Colorado
2010 GMC Canyon
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
