My 2012 broke down for the first time

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Quark

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I had just begun a three and a half hour return leg Wednesday when the DIC began showing traction control off, park assist off with warning chimes. Just happened to be in a construction zone but was able to continue to an off ramp. Before I could find a safe place to pull over the gauges went dead and even the gear selection indicator went out. Hoping perhaps it needed to cool down and possibly reset I shut it off, still running fine, and opened the hood but it was down for the count.

While trying to restart it would occasionally chug a little and die and the messages changed to service four wheel drive and trailer brake controller and eventually engine wouldn't even attempt to start. Later I found that the rear hatch wouldn't open although windows and door locks worked fine and battery seemed to have a good charge.

I was between towns basically in the middle of nowhere with limited reception (T-mobile which will be dropped as soon as possible) and twice I scheduled a wrecker with wait times of 2 hours and 1.5 hours for the second reschedule only to be cancelled because the driver couldn't verify by calling me. I had told my road side assistant that call backs would be impossible, oh well.

Thank goodness for the local good Samaritans who had checked on me and returned hours later to see how things were going. After six hours and with their help we were able to contact a local wrecker service. Well into the night we dropped off the Tahoe at the nearest dealership and I stayed at a nearby hotel. Early next morning a service representative called and told me my car was top priority and would do his best to get me back on the road that day. A couple hours later I called them back and was told it was the ECM and they had one on the way and it should arrive by 3 PM and it should be ready at 4. Sure enough at 4:15 I was on my way.

I would like to acknowledge all the good Samaritans out there willing to help a total stranger and also the McDaniel GM dealership in Marion Ohio. This has reaffirmed my faith that there are good people out there who will help and do their best when you need them. Thank you!

And my Tahoe? I'll be going on another adventure later this month nine hours away. One failure in nine years ain't bad.
 

wsteele

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I have been stranded once in my 14+ years with my 2007 Yukon, so statistically, you should be GTG for at least another 5-6 year. :)

Good luck on your next adventure.

PS - I drive (and hike) a lot in areas with zero cell coverage, contrary to what Verizon might say on the subject. I have given serious consideration to getting a sat phone. Probably will this year at some point.
 

Geotrash

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Thanks for sharing your story and hats off to good samaritans everywhere. I don't hear of many ECM failures on these. Makes me wonder what the root causes of the failure could be.
 

OR VietVet

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I agree with the sceptics about the ECM. While they can go bad, and yours may well have gone bad by itself or water contamination or who knows, but the ECM is a very rare failure item. Like @avalonandl said, I would suspect a battery problem or connections or grounds or both. How old is your battery? If old enough, I might lean toward replacing it.
 

Geotrash

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I agree with the sceptics about the ECM. While they can go bad, and yours may well have gone bad by itself or water contamination or who knows, but the ECM is a very rare failure item. Like @avalonandl said, I would suspect a battery problem or connections or grounds or both. How old is your battery? If old enough, I might lean toward replacing it.
+1, Ron. My first thought was electrical system related - specifically grounds and battery cables. Especially because I believe he's in the rust belt.
 

Bill 1960

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PS - I drive (and hike) a lot in areas with zero cell coverage, contrary to what Verizon might say on the subject. I have given serious consideration to getting a sat phone. Probably will this year at some point.

I use a Garmin InReach. Much more affordable than a sat phone, it’s satellite text messaging. And you can put it on inactive status on a monthly basis when not needed and there’s no charge, other than the annual account fee which is minimal.
 

wsteele

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Thanks for sharing your story and hats off to good samaritans everywhere. I don't hear of many ECM failures on these. Makes me wonder what the root causes of the failure could be.

I agree, I haven't read about a single failure.
I use a Garmin InReach. Much more affordable than a sat phone, it’s satellite text messaging. And you can put it on inactive status on a monthly basis when not needed and there’s no charge, other than the annual account fee which is minimal.

I have looked at that as well. In the end, I think I just have more confidence in voice communications. I think the Inmarsat Satphone2 (I think that is the nomenclature) is what I will eventually get. We are out of reach a lot each week and most weeks, so even the monthly isn’t crushing in the grand scheme of things.
 
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Quark

Quark

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I'm getting ready to mow so to save time I'm just responding in general but I do appreciation everyone's comments.

The Delco battery, forget which type it is but recollection is it is a five year battery was replaced in 2017 so it is three years old. Now I'm concerned that it might be a potential problem. Nothing else indicates that the battery might be at fault. Have much to do before leaving next week I may replace it if that is the consensus.

Vehicle is very clean it is a garage queen when not traveling. I'll hand wash and wax leaving it parked inside when salt is on the road. The Tahoe only has 40,000 miles and it receives compliments regularly on it's appearance. Ground straps and connections that I can see look as new, no rust underbody is very clean.

The good people who came to help had Verizon and reception was very good. Midwest to south and east are my travel points and conclude Verizon will at least be better.
 
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