Forum Discussion

fallsrider's avatar
fallsrider
Explorer
Oct 17, 2015

2005 Chevy Suburban

Ever had a problem develop right before a trip? That was me this week. My Dad and I are due to pull out in about an hour and a half for a long awaited fishing trip. Thursday afternoon, I took my TV to fuel it up, check tire pressures, run it through the car wash, etc. Sitting at the gas station, my door open chime started sounding. Long story short, while driving down the road, the chime would start sounding, the interior lights would flicker on and off, and the door locks would unlock and lock a few times.

My local mechanic is too far away for the time I had to spend, so I dropped it off at the Chevy dealer Thursday evening. They "think" it is the door latch assembly, which has the switch showing the door is open, but they aren't sure. They wanted to start there. Cost? Over $500. And the part wouldn't come in until I was on my trip. I paid them their $119 diagnostic fee and brought the TV home last evening. I jumped on the internet and found that often the problem is the BCM (body control module). Some people have had luck resetting it. I followed the procedure, and I also sprayed WD-40 up into the latch area as best I could. Now, I cannot get the TV to act up. It is working as it should.

I'm really keeping my fingers crossed. Our backup plan was to take my Dad's pop-up with his Tacoma. But we are going to chance the 10 hour round trip instead with my 'Burb. Fishing out of a 26' TT at the beach is a lot more comfortable and convenient than a pop-up!

I'll let you know how the trip turned out. Having this problem sure made the final details of planning and packing stressful!
Tow Vehicles
  • PUCampin's avatar
    PUCampin
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2015
    Mid 90s Fords are notorious for this issue, (including my 95 Ranger, I drove with the ding going for 3 hrs once!). The door open switch was integrated inside the latch and was pressed down when the latch was open. Closing the door would release the switch. Dirt etc would gunk it up and the button would stay stuck down causing the vehicle to think the door was open. Soaking the latch mechanism with spray lube sometimes would fix it, other times you would have to remove the panel, reach in, remove the switch, clean it and reinstall it. Ford later went back to the sill mounted push button switches.
  • fallsrider's avatar
    fallsrider
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2015
    mkirsch wrote:
    Yeah but other than annoying, it's not something that would've left you stranded anywhere... Turn up the radio, pop the bulbs out of the interior lights, and continue on.

    That's what I told my Dad when we decided to proceed with the 'Burb. It won't leave us stranded. It may make us want to jump out and leave it on the side of the road, but it won't die on us. The chiming would have been super annoying, but I was afraid the unlocking/locking of the doors would have burned out the power locks if it did it enough. Thankfully, all went well.
  • mkirsch's avatar
    mkirsch
    Nomad II
    Oct 22, 2015
    Yeah but other than annoying, it's not something that would've left you stranded anywhere... Turn up the radio, pop the bulbs out of the interior lights, and continue on.
  • fallsrider's avatar
    fallsrider
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2015
    Well, for my final update...we made our full round trip with no issues cropping up again. I feel very fortunate that resetting the BCM accomplished that. The only expense I had was the diagnostic fee at the dealer.

    Could it start acting up again the next time I drive it? Yep. But it is a good sign that it made it 450 miles and 5 days without a single incident. I am very happy about the outcome so far.
  • fallsrider's avatar
    fallsrider
    Explorer
    Oct 18, 2015
    Well, we made it to the Outer Banks without incident. I am hoping resetting the BCM is a long term fix.
  • turbojimmy's avatar
    turbojimmy
    Explorer
    Oct 17, 2015
    Before I read your entire post, I was going to suggest checking the connector at the BCM. Sounds like you got it solved. Newish vehicles really begin to act crazy when resistance is encountered at the electronics connections.

    My sister has a 2012 Dodge Caravan that would operate the wipers, turn on the headlights, blank out the dash, sound all the chimes, etc. and so on totally at random. I googled it and found that LOTS of people have the same problem. Many spent thousands of $$ at the stealer to have it fixed (replacing wiring harnesses, modules, dashboards, etc.), with mixed success. It turned out to be a loose BCM connection in the passenger side foot well. Someone along the assembly line forgot to push down the clamp on the connector. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a training or M&P issue at Dodge. Based on my research, I'd bet there are hundreds or thousands of vans with this defect.

    Anyhow, I'm glad you got it fixed. Anytime a vehicle acts like it's possessed by a demon you can usually trace it to a rogue connection at some module. The dealers like to guess and replace stuff at your expense.
  • SouthpawHD's avatar
    SouthpawHD
    Explorer
    Oct 17, 2015
    If the lock mechanism is broke, nothing a piece of rope tied off can't solve. Fogetaboutit until you get back. Enjoy your trip.
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Oct 17, 2015
    Can you disconnect the chime? Deal with fixing it when you return.
    Enjoy your trip.

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