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Guages, Stabilitrack, ABS, Door Locks gone crazy

Shermo12

Full Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2011
Messages
24
I was driving to work today and I heard my door locks clicking two minutes later My Stabilitrack Light, Abs and Traction control lights came on and my guages began to jump and go to zero all except the Batt. guage which dropped to 11 from the usual 15. It sounds like an electrical problem does anyone know what this could be. The lights stayed on and the truck shifts hard out of first gear. Its an 07 by the way. Any info would be appreciated.
 
Sounds like a bad battery, (dead cell) or alternator isn't charging. To check alternator remove the positive lead from the battery post while the truck is running (with all accessories off.) If the engine dies the alt. is not charging. It is most likely a bad cell in the battery, but check the connections first. Most auto parts will do a load test on the batt. for free. And some will do it right in the truck. Good luck, hope this helps.
 
Ok so heres an update. I checked the battery, alt, and ignition switch and everything was good thanks for the info and tips by the way as i realize this is going to be an issue. so i decided to remove my dash to see if i had any wires touching as i had removed the dash about 9 months ago. No wires were exposed however when the truck Lights came on again and the door locks statred clicking i decided to move around some of the wires behind the radio and directly under the two middle air vents nothing happend at first. then when bumped that relay switch that sits directly under those two vents it stopped. so I pulled the relay gently toward me and everything started going crazy again when I pushed on it it stopped. Does anyone know what the problem could be is it a bad relay all the wires look good. Its the relay directly under the two HVAC vents in the middle behind the radio. Thanks.
 
I had the same issue with my 09.    Dealer couldn't duplicate the problem although it randomly occurred about 7 times to me.  I would also get lights dimming and headlight flicker when I hit the brakes.  The last time it happened, I refused to have roadside jump it so they towed it.  Problem was traced back to the battery cable and corrosion but on the end opposite the battery...I think the said where it connects to the body control module if that makes sense.  They cleaned the connections and coated with dielectric grease and the problem has not presented itself again.
 
I have had a similar problem for several months now, and have never found the problem.

First, it's not an Avalanche, but it is a 2000 GMC Safari.  It will suddenly turn off every gauge in the truck, then turn on every idiot light and gauge, and then return to normal.  There is no stumble in the engine, no gear change, just this light show that lasts a few seconds.  As the truck is being traded for a new Avalanche, I have given up trying to track the problem down, but let me give you a possible fix.

It seems to be electrical, so I had one suggestion to carefully remove and reconnect various electric and electronic connectors.  One mechanic suggested doing this with the main computer  chips.  He felt that it might be a bit of moisture or corrosion in one connector.  Although I have cleaned the battery connectors, the various grounds and several other terminal points, I still see this happen - perhaps once or twice a month.

I'm sorry I can't help more.  It is one problem I have never figured out...

Michael

 
i too had thee exact same issue with my 07 avalanche. i would be driving on the highway at 75 m.p.h and it would stall and come back alive real quick. door locks go crazy and gauges too. i found burnt marks on my 175 amp fuse mounted on firewall near my battery. it was Arcing) visible at night. cleaned up fuse and wire terminals real good with a wire brush and coated them with electric grease and reconnected. problem went away and voltage gauge showed over 14 volts when running before was just at 14 and lower.
 
Wow a 175 amp fuse ???
 
yeah i know, thats what i said too. but i guess it protects starter  when it draws power from battery through that mega fuse. mine was consuming voltage. due to them connections creating a higher than normal resistance. verified that with a voltage drop test. thanks to a tsb i found online
 
Well I would change the starter, do you have any Audio mods ???
 
:help: :help: :help: i have the same problem i though it was a bad battery replaced it with a new one and still had the problem got out the truck and the locks kept making noise like if the where clicking trying to lock gauges where at 0 nothing worked the navigation system just went on and off i do have a audio in my truck got a 2000watts rms amp and i did the escalade front end swap my avalanche is a 2007 i took it to the dealership hope they fix it if not i am going to try cleaning the fuse did some research and they also blame the bcm with codes coming out . does any one with this problem also have a audio system
 
i got it fixed turned out to be the cabels that connect to the battery where bad just the ends where they connect to the battery
 
Something similar is happening to my 2008 LTZ 2WD 5.3 liter gas Avalanche.  The door locks will cycle and the chimes go off.  When I shut the truck off, all goes completely dead.  First time had it jumped by the auto club.  So I replaced the old battery.  It reoccurred.  I did some reading here and the general consensus was to jiggle the ground cable from the battery.  I did this, it came back to life.  I even replaced the 175 amp mega fuse and cleaned all the battery connections.  It died again when I shut it down in my garage.  Next day I jiggled the ground from the battery.  It sprung back to life.

Here's what I am doing.  In working on this I noticed the factory used only 6AWG gauge battery cables to keep weight down.  These are too light a gauge in my experience.  I am a retired fleet manager and mechanic.  So I have ordered up some 1/0 gauge battery cable in both red and black along with the gold plated battery terminals and connectors I have used in high end stereo installations.  I will be making up a new ground battery cable that goes to the engine from the battery in this 1/0 gauge (welding cable).  A new positive cable that goes to the mega fuse, also in 1/0 AWG gauge..  I will be adding a 4awg gauge black ground cable that I will connect to the negative battery terminal I am using and run it to the firewall, drilling into the firewall and connecting it with a 4awg gold plated connector.  

I expect the heavy gauge cable to be impervious to high resistance created by age and heat that plagues these trucks.  I did not want to simply replace the cables with new factory units and have the problem return eventually.  I want a permanent fix.  Heavy cable should do this.  Adding the ground to the firewall should boost the grounds used by the BCM and internal computer modules.

I am just waiting for the new cables and connectors to be delivered.  When I finish, I will post the results and take a few pics to share.  Also going to the red top Optima battery (800 CCA) and will scrap all those new style GM battery terminals.

Have had to upgrade other late model  cars and trucks in this manner before to make everything reliable and lasting.

I want to end the GM gremlins in the electrical system.  I may also up the gauge to 4 AWG for the cable running to the fuse box supply.  Not sure on that yet.  My concern here is the need to splice into the end connector for the fuse box that would then still have the 6AWG gauge.  Definitely using the 4AWG cable to go to the starter.

All the new battery terminals and end connectors are high end stereo type with set screws to hold the cable in place and gold plating to lower resistance and give higher current flow.

Cost is just under $70.00 plus $157.14 for the Optima battery.
 
Ok so I have read everyones post on what they did and now I need to know what to do with mine.

I have a 2008 LS 4WD 5.3L:  My wife and I just moved from Washington to South Carolina at the end of June, we towed my wifes 2014 Kia Sorento behind my avalanche.  The truck ran great until we hit 45 minutes away from our new home in South Carolina.  The AC ran constantly for over 24 hours and we only stopped for gas and food within the last 24 hours.  When I got the truck in February 2014 I had to replace the battery within the first week of having it.  So that is the history now when we got near Columbia South Carolina my stabilitrack sensor starts going hay wire, the locks lock and unlock them selves, my clock resets and did that every few minutes until we got to new home.  I took it into Chevy Dealership and they couldnt not find anything wrong.

So I have checked everything all cables, tightened all grounds, checked fuses and cant find anything wrong.  Yesterday it got worst, my baattery guage would drop to zero and back on.  I would lose all electrical power for a split second and then turn back on.  I have worked all this and still cant find the fix.  Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
My connections all looked clean as well so I was stumped.  Disconnect battery and clean terminals with wire brush.  Remove the high current fuse in the firewall and give it a good sanding on the terminals.    I also pulled off my fuse box on the driver side engine compartment to make sure it was clean and I used dielectric grease on all the connections.
 
I had the same thing.  Body control module above the spare tire had corroded connections.  Cleaned and greases by my mechanic.  Never had another problem with it.  When it was acting up it was also shifting funny, and throwing codes for the transfer case.  From what I read and what I was told by my mechanic is the high speed lan in the truck is suppose to be at 60ohms.  The corrosion was causing it to go to 120 or higher in effect screwing up the communications.  So the door locks were going nuts, gauges, shift problems. 
 
I have an 08 Avalanche LTZ with power running boards. Last week my truck went haywire like the others described with doors locking and unlocking and the dash blinking on and off. My original problem over a year ago was total loss of power that would magically restore after a few key cycles. I resolved that by cleaning the battery terminals, the new lousy cable connectors and then cleaned the 175 AMP fuse connections and the ground connection to the front of the engine block.  Last week the truck became possessed on the ride home from work. I read all the info on this forum and decided the issue was body ground which screws up the BCM. I could not get at the rear ground strap from the engine block to the firewall, so I made an additional cable. The cable was made with 2 gauge copper scrap left over from the feed line to my barn. Since it does not move like the ones attached to the engine block, there should not be an issue. I crimped ring terminals on each end and attached one end to ground on the battery, and the other to the firewall lug. No issues now for a week, and my air suspension started functioning normal again too. I read the controller for the air suspension is sensitive like the BCM. Running boards ran up and down great until after rain exposure, then the driver's side started stalling out on the up movement with the engine off. I think the motor is just work on that side. Anyway, maybe this will help someone by adding a direct body ground. The best part for me was the cost - $0.00.  (y)
 
You can never have too many ground straps... MANY issues related to "gremlins" can be traced back to corrosion on the power or ground lines. And you can always add more ground lines...

Another thing to consider about grounds... Most vehicle body panels are attached with Tack Welds and then sealed with a seam sealer. Those Tack welds are a very poor power carrier and so it becomes very important for any ground cables that may be connected to them to be in place and tight. Our trucks have more solidly connected panels but still is a concern to be aware of and one of the reasons why you have to be careful of where you ground to.

My old police car Caprice had MANY ground lines on it. Including ground cables connected between the frame and exhaust. I always figured it was to support antennae but that thing even had ground straps in the trunk connecting the frame under the floor to the floor and the floor to the quarter panels. The frame under the trunk floor was also grounded to the exhaust... There were atleast two ground straps to the engine block and frame (One on each side) and ground connections to the front fenders as well. 

So using that as an example.. No such thing as too many grounds... ;)

Rodney
 
Im wondering if my rear tailight randomly not working has something to do with these same issues?

Brake light works fine, turn signals good, just no tail light? I dont know what I need to check or clean, any help?
 
help:

Similar issue as reported by most everyone else - 2007 LTZ was running fine and all of a sudden RPM, temp, oil pressure, battery began bouncing all over the place while the speedometer stayed at zero - not moving.  Shortly after the locks started locking and unlocking which would last for a few minutes and then stop.  I also hear a clicking noise on the left side of the steering wheel (sounds like a contact opening and closing)

After reading all of the posts I had the battery and alternator checked.  I cleaned the terminal connection (battery side only), I replaced the 175 amp mega fuse and cleaned all the contacts.  I ran a second ground to the engine block - still no improvement.  Brought it to O'Reilly Auto parts to get the diagnostics from the OBD but they were not able to establish any communication link to it.  Not sure if this is related to my problem or a separate issue.

A couple of posts mentioned ignition switch or body control module as possible suspects but without any diagnostics - i feel i am just shooting in the dark.  Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mark
 
forgot to also mention that in addition to the gauges bouncing all over the place - I have and ABS warning, Check Engine light, Service Stabilitrack and Service Suspension Control warnings as well

Thanks

Mark
 
Brought it to O'Reilly Auto parts to get the diagnostics from the OBD but they were not able to establish any communication link to it.  Not sure if this is related to my problem or a separate issue.

Check the cigarette litter fuse also has the OBD port. 



 
Also any aftermarket remote start, radios or theft deterrent systems.
 
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