The Future of Pontiac

[Rhedalert]

Electrical issues exist?? Lemme tell you a story...

We bought an 03 Alero a few months ago. A week after we got it, had an issue (that I will explain later), then it was fine for a month. Ever since then, it has been on and off, sometimes occuring once a week, sometimes every day. It really just depends. I came up with a very crude method to get around it, although that has failed at times as well...

So here it is... Out of the blue, go to start the car and the dash is completely dead, yet the radio, lights, etc still work. Its not a security issue, since no dash light come on at all. Won't turn over, won't make a sound. Figured out if I turn the key ON, pull a fuse in the dash, replace it, then pull a fuse under the hood, replace it, then it will start up. The fuse in the dash is the instrument control panel (makes sense... ). The fuse under the hood is for the BEM (??), and powers things like the seats, HVAC, etc... How the 2 are related I have yet to figure out. And its not something I want to take into a dealer because it has no rhyme or reason as to when it happens. And I have no urge to pay to get it towed to the dealership when it happens, because with my luck, as soon as it got there, it would work just fine. Oh, and its not in the IGN switch, because I have tried a new one with no luck.

But no, I don't believe there are electrical issues in GM cars recently...

Yeah, when I say "issues" I mean problems, so yeah, I've seen a lot like that. I've had to replace several electrical components in my dad's '02 Grand Prix already. The HVAC fan resistor/speed controller is a cheap printed circuit board. The protective lamination FLAKED off and the circuits corroded! The car slowly lost fan speeds, one by one. GM has a revised one that looks much different.
The fuel sender is screwing up on the same vehicle. The gage will go from full to 1/4 tank randomly. I come to find out this is a common occurence, and again it's a problem with a printed circuit board IN the tank!
There's another common problem with gen-2 w-cars with "dual zone" climate control (all cars '02+) where the motor assembly that controlls the heater "flaps" by the core breaks internally, either causing an all-cold or all-hot condition one one side of the vehicle. Again cheap parts. This is something that shouldn't ever need service on a vehicle.
AND the power window motors in the rear doors are known for stripping its gearing and failing as well.
\
Ask me why I won't spend over 3 grand for a "gen-2" w-body I also have no reason to believe the new GM's are any better. In fact, I bet more problems will crop up with the newer cars if they keep using cheap shit parts.

[bszopi]

There's another common problem with gen-2 w-cars with "dual zone" climate control (all cars '02+) where the motor assembly that controlls the heater "flaps" by the core breaks internally, either causing an all-cold or all-hot condition one one side of the vehicle.

Oh, I know that issue all too well. My 98 Blazer (single zone, but automatic climate control) had that issue. It was like that from around Nov 05 to Jun 06. Finally started to just get too hot inside when it was 90+ outside, since even with the climate control off, warm air would still be flowing freely out of the vents. Took me a weekend to rip the dash out of the car and replace the part. It ended up being a plastic gear inside the mechanism split in half, keeping the flap stuck in the hot position.

[Rhedalert]

like this?



I didn't know this part was used on other platforms. I bet they use it on near everything!

[bszopi]

That picture brings back bad memories...

I did spend some time on the Alero the other night and I think I came up with a potential cause, although I don't see how pulling the fuses allowed the vehicle to start before. Anyway, it has to do with at least 1 of the power/ignition wires to the PCM. There is either a short or a bad connection from the underhood fuse block to the PCM that is causing all of these problems. Now I just need to find time to tear into it to fix it...

[prophiseer]

I've noticed that most GM vehicles produced near 2000 and up have a lot of european influenced engineering in them. Many electrical systems have become overly complicated and hard to diagnos, even with the wiring diagrams. i.e. te headlight wiring system on '99+ GA's . . . it took me almost an hour of staring at the wiring diagram to realize that it grounds either the low or high side of the 9007 bulbs instead of providing power like every other system in the world does. As far as the DRL's and ALC goes . . . that's a whole 'nother story.