- Jul 1, 2013
- 749
Sorry for the length of this one, it's complicated and I'm confused!
I got a call earlier from a lady I know in my community who has an '07 TB 4x4 4.2. She said that earlier she tried to start it up and it wouldn't start, acted like it had a dead battery. She had her neighbor jumpstart it, but that was a no-go too. She also mentioned that before the initial time she tried to start it that when she opened the door she could smell what smelled like something electrical burning.
I went down to see if I could get the thing to do anything, and as soon as I opened the door I was hit in the face by an AWFUL smell of burnt electrical wiring/equipment. Just for kicks, I tried to start it, and whaddaya know? It fired right up! After I let it run for a few minutes, I noticed that ALL the "idiot lights" in the dash were on and the only gauge working was the tach. Also, her front door window and lock controls on BOTH front doors and also her radio were not working - the radio was being really goofy, the display would light up and then go away.
I shut it down and checked all the fuses and wiring I could think of, but nothing. All were OK. At this point I realize that 1) I am an idiot and 2) I should follow my nose to the burnt smell origin.
Smell was coming from the driver's side door controls.
I realized at this point that she was probably the victim of the GM recall on the faulty seals on the door which can cause the window controls to act up, and upon asking her if she had gotten a letter about it and I found that she had. What I don't get is why the thing is acting so crazy.
I talked to a buddy at our local GM dealership - he's the head service tech and has always been very honest with me, and he's never heard of the door problem causing other electronics to act funky.
Any thoughts about what's wrong/going on would be appreciated. She's having it towed to the dealership in the morning since after I turned it off it would restart no more.
I'll be sure to post up results as soon as I know them. Also, for those who will likely ask: The last it ran was last evening and it ran and smelled fine. The smell showed up this morning, she noticed it when she went to start the vehicle and it would do nothing. It rained HARD in the late evening/night here: the meteorologists are calling it a minor derecho.
I got a call earlier from a lady I know in my community who has an '07 TB 4x4 4.2. She said that earlier she tried to start it up and it wouldn't start, acted like it had a dead battery. She had her neighbor jumpstart it, but that was a no-go too. She also mentioned that before the initial time she tried to start it that when she opened the door she could smell what smelled like something electrical burning.
I went down to see if I could get the thing to do anything, and as soon as I opened the door I was hit in the face by an AWFUL smell of burnt electrical wiring/equipment. Just for kicks, I tried to start it, and whaddaya know? It fired right up! After I let it run for a few minutes, I noticed that ALL the "idiot lights" in the dash were on and the only gauge working was the tach. Also, her front door window and lock controls on BOTH front doors and also her radio were not working - the radio was being really goofy, the display would light up and then go away.


I realized at this point that she was probably the victim of the GM recall on the faulty seals on the door which can cause the window controls to act up, and upon asking her if she had gotten a letter about it and I found that she had. What I don't get is why the thing is acting so crazy.

Any thoughts about what's wrong/going on would be appreciated. She's having it towed to the dealership in the morning since after I turned it off it would restart no more.
