NEED HELP Electrical Issues?

[Drec]

A couple of days ago, I went out to get in the Envoy and pressed the button on the FOB and nothing happened. So I used the key to open the door. Stuck the key into the ignition switch, turned it and was completely dead. Then I tried to take the key out of the ignition and the switch wouldn't turn all the way counter clock-wise to release the key. I played around with it for a couple of minutes and then the horn started honking; which leads you to believe that the alarm just came on. Next, I was able to remove the key and was able to reset the alarm by locking and unlocking the care with the FOB.

Interesting! I thought about what happened for several days while the car worked fine.

Then the next day my wife went out and used the FOB to unlock the door and tried to start the car. This time it was completely dead again, with the key stuck again. She came back in the house and got me and I went out and tried getting the key out and it wouldn't come out this time. So I thought about it again and decided to pull the battery cable to reset the computer; which I did and everything came back to life.

A friend and I talked about it and thought as a first step, not to use the key FOB; which I've done for a few days and haven't had a recurrence. I don't think that it is the computer or a module, unless it is going to continue this as a random issue. It could be a connector; which is where I'm thinking about checking. But where would you start? Since using the key to lock the car and not the FOB, it hasn't repeated the problem.

 

[Mounce]

Loose battery terminal(s) would be my first guess.

 

[Drec]

That's an interesting thought. One of my concerns was to be driving it and everything goes black, no brakes, steering and other nice helpful features. I'll take both cables off tomorrow, clean and replace.

 

[budwich]

maybe an issue with the lift gate module which I think is responsible for some of the FOB stuff. IF that module has a problem, it might be "babbling" and causing problems. Likely area is the wiring going into the lift gate.

 

[Drec]

Anyway of checking this?

 

[Mounce]

You'll never lose brakes from this as they're not electric and don't even need the key on to work. Vacuum boost, yes, if the engine stalls you'll lost assistance, but the panic of that realization will make you overcome the lack there of. Won't lose steering either, same thing, you'll lose assistance but it's still there and functional.

 

[Drec]

That's good to know. Is there any way to check out the lift gate module? Should I just change it out? I have a Tech2. The lift gate wiper doesn't work, so there could be some issues there that a replacement module might fix, or even opening up the gate and mate and demating some connectors could help.

We're just about ready to move, so having a project like this isn't helping me get anything done.

 

[Mooseman]

The key not wanting to come out is a classic complete loss of electrical power. As suggested, check your battery terminals and go from there on the main wiring, the 125A mega fuse and its nuts, main grounds, etc. When it happens, open the rear fuse box and check for power at the large connector with the red wire on it and check that it's tight. That's the one fed by the mega fuse. Then check for power at the mega fuse on both posts.

Your LGM and other modules are likely fine. The wiper motor is likely just seized or defective which is common.

A possibility although rare, the battery has an internal short or broken connector on the post. I have once seen the nut inside the post work itself loose and not able to hold the battery connector tight to itself.

 

[Drec]

...................... As suggested, check your battery terminals and go from there on the main wiring, the 125A mega fuse and its nuts, main grounds, etc. .........................

Is this the connection that comes off the positive battery cable with a 10 gage wire into a junction box? I had a similar problem with my Silverado a couple of years ago. Where the voltmeter wasn't showing a normal reading. The positive battery cable had become corroded at the 10 gage wire interface. When I installed a new positive cable and splice it into the old 10 gage wire, it worked properly. I did notice the the voltmeter on the Envoy didn't seem to be normal and the problem that I had with my Silverado came to mind.

 

[Mooseman]

Is this the connection that comes off the positive battery cable with a 10 gage wire into a junction box?

Yes.

 

[Mektek]

I had the key stuck in the ignition too. Sprayed wd40 liberally into the lock cylinder and wiggled and jiggled the key and it came out. Then I sprayed again and inserted/removed the key a few times, wiped off the key and the problem never returned. Similar problem happened with the shifter - stuck in park. I had the remove the plastic from the center console and sprayed the lock solenoid shaft and the problem was gone.
If you've never lubricated the lock cylinder, it may be something to try.

 

[Drec]

The lock/switch problem had never happened before nor has it happened since. I thought it was related to the other problem; which after thinking about it should just be mechanical. Interesting!

 

[Mooseman]

Although it is quite possible to have a mechanical issue with the lock cylinder, with the totality of the OP's symptoms, it is obviously electrical.

 

[Drec]

When I disconnected the battery and the reconnected it, then the lock worked. Sometimes dealing with magic can be confusing.

 

[JimInRadfordVA]

I had a similar stuck key issue. Happened the same time as some other electrical gremlins popped up: headlights would not turn off, random rear wiper sweep and others. Turns out it was a loose battery cable.

 

[Drec]

So many things going on, I haven't had a chance to do any troubleshooting on this. What we did, was stop using the FOB to lock/unlock the car. Since my last post on this, we haven't had the issue come back. This weekend I'll check out the battery cable though.

 

[TollKeeper]

Following.. have the same problem on my envoy. Battery terminal is tight, mega is fine, rear fuse panel is fine. FOB just doesn't work. Although my key doesn't get stuck in the cylinder.

 

[Drec]

I have never figured out what the problem was. Since the initial problem, I stopped using the FOB to lock it, and it hasn’t happened since.

 

[mateo]

I had this same issue with my 02. I pulled my hair out for 2 days and finally figured out it was a short in my battery. Replaced my battery and havent had any issues since. I live in phoenix and batteries dont last long in this heat. Never seen one do that before but first time for everything. Cheers!

 

[Mounce]

I have never figured out what the problem was. Since the initial problem, I stopped using the FOB to lock it, and it hasn’t happened since.

Try it again for science! I'd like to know if it is indeed a fob triggered issue or if it was an unrelated fluke.

 

[Drec]

There area couple of issues that need attention first, but I’ll try the FOB again and report back.

 

[TJBaker57]

I too experience seemingly random battery drain issues. At least once I suspected some module that fails to sleep after I use the fob to lock and enable security (double press the lock on the fob). I have never pinned it down. I keep a battery monitor I bought for $20 at WalMart in the vehicle that I can check battery status on remotely through an app. Indeed right now my battery is a bit down....