2015 4wd Tahoe stalls loses all power

[Baddad]

New member here any help greatly appreciated. Our new to us 2015 Tahoe 4wd with 58k has developed a problem. Today while making a left turn I got a alert "ding" and a stabilitrak message came up on drivers console screen. Just a few moments later, while waiting to make a left turn, sitting with wheel turned the steering wheel lurched back to the right. I turned wheel back to the left and the engine died and ALL electrical power was lost. Now sitting in a left turn in the middle of the road nothing to do but lift the hood and start looking, but for what?? Checked battery terminals, lifted the fuse box cover everything "looked" fine. Maybe 3-5mins pass and I went back and opened driver door to tell wife and kids were "dead in the water" and all power came back on. Key back in the ignition Engine starts back up and we drive into a parking lot. On the drivers console screen is this message. Lower then raise drivers side window. Then this message. Lower then raise passenger side window. So we did all that and then parked and turned truck off. We were on our way to eat so we went in had lunch came back out, remote started truck like usual, started right up, we went on our way, had a 150 mile round trip drive with no more issues. My wife tells me it did this to her last week but without the messages or period of lost power. She says she was able to restart engine right away. I so far have been unable to recreate this event. With the engine running wheel turned to lock R or L doesn't even lower rpm not even a sound from power steering pump. Truck was in 2wd during this event. I have read a few posts where people have reported losing power due to poor battery terminal connections and that is being addressed now. Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is our first Tahoe and coming from a smaller Volvo XV90 we love it! Hope we can continue to love it! Thx

 

[Baddad]

UPDATE: So I did find that the battery terminals were not as tight as they could have been. That is to say one turn of the bolt on positive terminal and 3/4 turn on negative. Posts are clean. Battery checked at home was reading between 12.5v and 13v. We are on a week plus road trip and I noticed a voltage reading while driving at half way between 9v and 14v. However after a fuel stop immediately after engine restart voltage reading is 14v exactly. Then drops back to halfway (9v and 14v) again as soon as we return to driving. Any help would be appreciated, electrical gremlins make me insane! Thx

 

[Baddad]

So nobody has any suggestions??

 

[DennisT]

UPDATE: So I did find that the battery terminals were not as tight as they could have been. That is to say one turn of the bolt on positive terminal and 3/4 turn on negative. Posts are clean. Battery checked at home was reading between 12.5v and 13v. We are on a week plus road trip and I noticed a voltage reading while driving at half way between 9v and 14v. However after a fuel stop immediately after engine restart voltage reading is 14v exactly. Then drops back to halfway (9v and 14v) again as soon as we return to driving. Any help would be appreciated, electrical gremlins make me insane! Thx

I believe the voltage varies according to the condition of the battery. This was addressed in my Denali's owners manual. I noticed on a recent long trip that the voltage would start out at just above 14V and after a while it would drop to just under 14V. After one 200 mile stretch the voltage fell to about 12.5V. I think when the battery is fully charged it drops into a maintenance mode so as to not overcharge the battery.

Dennis

 

[Yukon John]

I think I would take it to a GM/Dealer and get it analyzed. There may be the possibility that the ECM flash has become corrupted and it may need an update.

Regarding power steering...I am under the impression that we don't have a power steering pump anymore...the steering is all electric.

 

[Baddad]

DennisT thanks I think I understand the charging system a little better now.

Yukon John thanks I did not know that the Tahoe had electric steering. The irratic behavior of the steering system could be attributed to the change in voltage.

When we return home next week the Tahoe will be going to the dealership. Does anyone believe that this event would have been captured by the ECM given that no CEL was ever displayed?? And what about all the windows down windows up nonsense? Or is that some calibration mechanism or is GM just messing with us??

Thanks and all replies appreciated.

 

[adcs2k]

DennisT thanks I think I understand the charging system a little better now.

Yukon John thanks I did not know that the Tahoe had electric steering. The irratic behavior of the steering system could be attributed to the change in voltage.

When we return home next week the Tahoe will be going to the dealership. Does anyone believe that this event would have been captured by the ECM given that no CEL was ever displayed?? And what about all the windows down windows up nonsense? Or is that some calibration mechanism or is GM just messing with us??

Thanks and all replies appreciated.

I am having the same exact issue right now. I found your post looking for some answers. My truck lowered so I wanted to eliminate it being a short due to running or a line that is bound up causing the stabilitrac to have issues. What ended up happening with your situation?

 

[Wendielu]

I am having the same exact issue right now. I found your post looking for some answers. My truck lowered so I wanted to eliminate it being a short due to running or a line that is bound up causing the stabilitrac to have issues. What ended up happening with your situation?

I'm also having a similar experience, although mine hasn't died completely. I've had the effect of when your power blinks at home. Just a momentary blank of everything, locks pop up, display dies...and then she just keeps on like nothing happened.

I had it in for A/C compressor failure (this is a known issue currently, and apparently has something to do with the mounts cracking), and had them check everything. There were no codes. I've got 500 miles left on factory warranty, and I'm going to take it back in this week; at the very least they can look at the battery connections.

 

[adcs2k]

I'm also having a similar experience, although mine hasn't died completely. I've had the effect of when your power blinks at home. Just a momentary blank of everything, locks pop up, display dies...and then she just keeps on like nothing happened.

I had it in for A/C compressor failure (this is a known issue currently, and apparently has something to do with the mounts cracking), and had them check everything. There were no codes. I've got 500 miles left on factory warranty, and I'm going to take it back in this week; at the very least they can look at the battery connections.

Please repost if they actually find a fix. I had a friend look at it who used to work at several dealerships and fixes my vehicle issues. He found a post on the GM service tech website they use. But it had what seemed like ******** fixes. He recommended I go see a friend of his who worked at one of the dealerships here that is a wiring, electrical specialist. But I am out Of warranty so it scares me a bit. I have yet to go in yet, i haven't had the time yet. I have another friend who said he has a guy who is good at wiring and electrical diagnostic for less than dealers. So I'm contemplating. Again if they do frind something I will definitely post it.

FYI I had the same A/C issues my buddy found and it was a leaking condensor. I replaced it and have yet to have any other problems with it since.

 

[Wendielu]

Please repost if they actually find a fix. I had a friend look at it who used to work at several dealerships and fixes my vehicle issues. He found a post on the GM service tech website they use. But it had what seemed like ******** fixes. He recommended I go see a friend of his who worked at one of the dealerships here that is a wiring, electrical specialist. But I am out Of warranty so it scares me a bit. I have yet to go in yet, i haven't had the time yet. I have another friend who said he has a guy who is good at wiring and electrical diagnostic for less than dealers. So I'm contemplating. Again if they do frind something I will definitely post it.

FYI I had the same A/C issues my buddy found and it was a leaking condensor. I replaced it and have yet to have any other problems with it since.

I sure will - last night it died and I had to use the ignition to start it back, so that's new. :/

Planning to take it to the dealer again. 70 miles left on factory warranty.