MAJOR electrical problem

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
0
0
Indiana
Hey guys,

I'm new to this website, and diesels in general actually. But I bought a 2009 Chevy 2500HD last July. It currently has 88,000 miles(ish). I bought it with an extended warranty until 100,000 but the dealership won't look at it until Thursday.

But yesterday, I was headed home from work and I had been driving it for roughly 15 minutes. All of a sudden, at approximately 50mph, everything electrically shut off. My gauges bottomed out, my radio shut off, my air shut off (NOT my AC, just had the blower going), and I had no throttle response. The motor stayed running, I still had power steering. The electrical would come back on and shut back off about every 1-2 seconds. At one time, when the electrical came back on, I saw "Service Traction Control" in my dash pop up but I never came on. I even turned off the air and the radio and that made no difference. After about 5 minutes, everything came back on, I had full power, and it ran perfectly fine for the rest of my 40 minute commute. I even turned the radio back on and the air and it didn't effect it at all. I got home, shut the truck off, and usually, the lights will come on and the radio will stay on until I open my door, but this time, the gauges bottomed out again, and everything shut off instantly. No lights, no radio. I immediately popped the hood to see if I could smell any electrical burn, and nothing. I got back in the truck, turned the key and it started right up. Didn't hesitate, didn't take an extra crank to turn over, started just fine. Everything electrical was fine as well. I let it sit for about an hour, went to the gym (2 miles from my house), came back home after an hour and a half, ran fine there and back. Went to my buddies house (about 5 miles from my house) and everything ran fine there as well. I even turned my traction control on and off to see if it was the problem and nothing happened.

Now, I started noticing about 2 weeks ago, my radio would randomly shut off and instantly turn back on. Not every time I drove it, but maybe 2-3 times a week. Then last week, I was driving to work with the cruise and radio on, and they both shut off, but nothing else shut off.

Last Wednesday, (4-22-15) I took the truck to have the oil changed at the dealership. They did their How-Ever-Many point inspection and the batteries and alternator both came back fine (if they actually checked it).

I have not been in the mud or any water, as I baby this thing. It is not throwing any codes.

The dealership said they can't do anything with it unless it throws a code or unless they can drive it and have it happen to them. I'm letting this thing sit until I can figure it out. I don't want the dang thing to go up in flames.

I was thinking if it was the computer, I would have had engine problems too, but as I said, it stayed running the whole time. I also would have thought it would have thrown a code. I was wondering if maybe it was the BCM? Or maybe the voltage regulator?
 

duratothemax

<--- slippery roads
Aug 28, 2006
7,139
10
0
Wyoming
Did the dealer check for codes anyway with the BCM?

The only codes that will turn on the check engine light are specifically emissions codes/major problems with the engine or trans.

There could be a dozen codes for "power mode mismatch" "ignition switch fault", etc.. stored in the BCM, and those you would only find with a Tech 2...not a generic scan tool or anything like that.

If you can check codes with a Tech 2, Im sure you'll find some power mode mismatch codes.

Ben
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
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0
Indiana
I didn't take to them. He simply said "we won't get to it until Thursday. It'll just sit here til then." So I took it home and I was going to see if I could do something to check it and if not, I would take it down there to them Thursday morning.
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
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0
Indiana
Any aftermarket electronics? I.e. security or remote start.

Nope. The only aftermarket parts are a 6" lift, Banks Cold Air Intake, and MBRP Exhaust, but those were all on it when I bought it.

I don't know if it matters, but when they were changing my oil, I noticed the horn kept going off. I didn't know what they were doing haha
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
0
0
Indiana
Also, I did see a thread where the guy video taped his truck doing something similar to this, but his door locks were unlocking and locking and his blinkers were flashing. Mine didn't do that. He said he replaced his "mega fuse" which is a 175 amp fuse located on the firewall. But I didn't have all of those problems.
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
0
0
Indiana
do the codes clear after you restart? or when it does this do you just turn it off and restart and everything is ok again?

No engine light came on so I didn't hook it up to my coder that I have at home. And unfortunately, I was in between two semis yesterday when this happened on a 2 lane road with no pull offs, I just stayed going down the road, at about 50 mph. I could only gain as much speed as it would let me in the 1-2 seconds the power would come back on. I didn't shut it off at all, it just came back on by itself and stayed on.
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
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0
Indiana
So I wanted to double check everything and I looked at the paper that they printed off for the inspection they did when they changed the oil and I was wrong. THEY DID NOT CHECK THE ALTERNATOR. Could that be the issue?
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
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0
Indiana
The more I think about this dang problem, the more I think that it is not a short. If it were a short, it wouldn't be effecting so many different things.

Also, does the BCM control the throttle? Or is that the ECM?
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
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0
Indiana
The accelerator pedal position switch is wired to the ECM, not the BCM, but the ECM can interpret something and then override your APP input.

Would the BCM cut out the throttle response? or could I have a problem with both the BCM and the ECM? Or is this a computer as a whole haha
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
0
0
Indiana
So the dealer said my battery cables on both terminals on my passenger side battery were lose and the positive was so loose, he pulled it off with his hand. Would that really cause all that?
 

DAVe3283

Heavy & Slow
Sep 3, 2009
3,720
287
83
Boise, ID, USA
Yes! I had one loose positive connection and my truck wouldn't even start half the time, and would just die randomly. These trucks live and breathe on electronics, so when the computers don't have good power, not much goes well.
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
0
0
Indiana
But the weird thing is my truck never died. The motor stayed running. I just have a hard time believing that it was a battery. Does one battery control the motor and glow plugs while the other controls the electronics? I know they're wired in parallel. It just seems kinda weird to me that it would act up and then not do it again. If the cable was causing the problem. I'd think it would do it when I hit a big pothole or went down a gravel road or something.
 

DAVe3283

Heavy & Slow
Sep 3, 2009
3,720
287
83
Boise, ID, USA
I can't say for sure if the cables were/are the only problem with your electronics. But I can say for sure that they were a problem. Hopefully that's all you needed to do, and it runs perfect for you now. If not, we can investigate further.
 

duramax_2009

New member
Apr 28, 2015
19
0
0
Indiana
Alright guys, I got to do some investigating Saturday and I checked the batteries and the alternator were both working fine, so I traced where that positive battery cable leads to and it feeds the mega fuse box on the firewall. If that didn't have power, then I had no electrical power anywhere as that mega fuse box feeds my main fuse box, my alternator, my injectors, etc. So I feel a lot better now. Hopefully that was the problem! Thank you guys!