Having issue with the charging system of our Trail Blazer. Battery had ran dead while at Drive In Movie, Jump Started, and the next day the battery was tested as bad. So jumped it again and it kept dying while in was at a stop light. Bought new battery and problem still kept happening, took to have tested and battery was again tested as bad after only 45 minutes of replacing it.
Was told that a customer had the same issue and he kept replacing his alternator and was having the same issues, but found out it was the ECM or Computer of the vehicle. Haven't seen anyone have the same issue yet so I thought I would advise people this might be a frequent issue.
I have gone through 3 new batteries in the last year, a Chevrolet dealer, Firestone, AutoZone, and 2 private
mechanics. I have spent over $1300.00 and many frustrating hours and the problem is still not resolved. I bought a battery booster jumper and carry it around with me because I never know when the car might not start.
Update from Jun 13, 2016: Finally!!! Asheville Chevrolet of Asheville, N.C. found a battery drain "leak" in the instrument panel of the dash.
Went to start our vehicle, inserted the key, the key wouldn't turn nor would it turn back to take out of ignition. Couldn't take out of the park position. Charged the battery and got it working again. Drove the vehicle all weekend. No problems. Left if parked for a week, went to get into it same problem. Put it on the charger again, but noticed that it would either show fully charged or a zero charge, indicating there was a short somewhere.
Took it down to a local mechanic. He had the vehicle for two weeks. Nothing would show up on the computer. He started going through all the fuses (there are 5 fuse boxes on this model) He got to the 5th and final fuse box (located under the driver's side back seat). Once the back seat was pushed forward, he immediately felt the heat coming off the box. He took the cover off the box and immediately got a severe burn on the palm of his hand. He removed the fuse with a pair of pliers. He placed a heat indicator on the fuse and it indicated over 200 degrees. The fuse he took off was the one that went to the power seats. The wiring harness under the driver's seat had somehow gotten a short in it. The vehicle was literally days away from bursting into flames as all the power was being drained into the one fuse/fuse box.
GM has not fixed any of the problems only fix to get it running still have all the problems but now it is out of warranty, and GOD knows how much they charged the warranty for putting a bandaid on it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Having issue with the charging system of our Trail Blazer. Battery had ran dead while at Drive In Movie, Jump Started, and the next day the battery was tested as bad. So jumped it again and it kept dying while in was at a stop light. Bought new battery and problem still kept happening, took to have tested and battery was again tested as bad after only 45 minutes of replacing it.
Was told that a customer had the same issue and he kept replacing his alternator and was having the same issues, but found out it was the ECM or Computer of the vehicle. Haven't seen anyone have the same issue yet so I thought I would advise people this might be a frequent issue.
- Sean M., Columbus, OH, US