Post your Tahoe gremlins here...

Every once in a while, something will malfunction, but then miraculously self-corrects itself. An engineering glitch? Perhaps. A design flaw? Could be. Who knows, really? They're called gremlins, and they happen on ALL cars.

Let this be the offical thread where you post your gremlins. I'll start...

Last night, on a quick drive out to buy a coffee for my wife, I scanned the XM dial for the Maple Leaf game. By the time I found it, I glanced at the score (LOVE this feature), and having arrived at my destination, I shut off the vehicle. Upon re-entry, after all the computers booted up again, the radio played about 3 seconds of the game, then reverted to AM - by itself. I glanced at the display and noticed XM was NOT EVEN SHOWING as an option on the upper part of the display. The lower part of the display still showed my stored XM channels, so I pressed one and got the following message: "XM not available due to communication problem".

Not knowing whether the problem was satellite-based, or a problem with the Bose unit itself, I proceeded to shut off the truck (while still inside, doors closed), in hopes that it would re-boot itself upon a re-start. No luck! Same message. I figured I would try again, this time as if I was entering the vehicle from outside - so I shut it off and opened the door to exit. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door AND THE RADIO STAYED ON!!! Yikes! I closed the door again (radio STILL on), armed the factory alarm, and the radio was STILL ON!

I pressed the on/off button, but no luck...the radio would NOT turn off. I tried lowering the volume from the steering wheel-mounted controls, but NO LUCK. I tried changing to FM from the steering wheel, but again NO LUCK. I tried MUTE, but...you got it, NO LUCK. Now, my radio has a mind of its own AND the steering wheel-mounted controls don't work. Ahhh, but the ones on the opposite side did - well, at least the little light for the cruise control went on and off as I pressed it, but the radio controls were on the fritz - from the steering wheel, that is...the controls off the display worked fine (volume and output that is, no luck with the on/off switch).

To make a long story short (I know, too late for that!), it did turn off as designed (!!!) when I got it back into the garage. I didn't try again for fear I may not be able to shut it off. And when I got back in 2 hours later, everything worked fine...again.

GREMLINS! I hate 'em!!! You?

I sometimes get the XM not available, but I hit the XM button and it comes back.

'07 Denali XL: Side mirrors set to lower during backup works fine. But after I shift to drive the passenger mirror has a 50% chance of returning to its preset position.

These to me personally are small annoyances and not enough to justify tying up the truck in the shop for a day or two.

my only gremlin is that I dont own a new model like the rest of you lucky guys! :giggling:

I've had the same thing happen a couple of times with my '07 Yukon. While listening to an XM station, the radio gets a mind of its own and reverts to 840 AM. I noticed on AllData that GM has a Tech Service Bulletin on this. Even though I subscribe to AllData, they only make TSBs that are two or more years old available to DIY'ers - i.e. from 2005 and earlier for now - so I can't read it to see if it's a hardware or software issue. I have an appointment with my dealer next week to look at this, as well as apply the software patch for the E85 computer bug, and to talk about the TSB regarding the battery being drained overnight. I had that happen once unexplainably (battery drain - I did not leave anything on), and the dealer could not find a problem. This was before the TSB on this was issued, so I'm going in to find out what that is all about.

I have the McGhaughys 2/3 lowerig kit. Sometimes while turning and braking the ABS and Traction control will kick in momentarly. It doesn't do it enough for it to bother me. I'm thinking maybe the tighter suspension is sending wrong info to the sensors.

I am so irritated at the brakes squeaking when you first drive. It goes away when the brakes warm up but it is embarrassing cause it is so loud. I am considering changing the factory pads because the dealer said it is normal. Yah right. I only have 2k miles on my ride.

My brakes dont squeak at all. I dont think thats normal..

I called GM just now and opened a case on the issue. They said they are going to call the dealership that said it is supposedly normal. They handled my call very well. I think the dealer just needs to change the pads and it will be fine. It started at 1500 miles and I have 2449 miles now. If it was something that would go away you think it would by now. Hopefully this will resolve the stubborn sales guy who said it is a normal problem and fix it.

LTZJoe said:

....."XM not available due to communication problem".

Not knowing whether the problem was satellite-based, or a problem with the Bose unit itself, I proceeded to shut off the truck......

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I wanted to point out that the "radio" or head unit is neither designed or manufactured by Bose. It's procured entirely by GM. I'm a little sensitive because I'm on the design team that built the amp for the Tahoe.:willynilly:

Regarding the radio staying on...
Happened to me twice, and totally freaked me out the first time! You just expect the electrical system to shut off when you open that door. I got back in, pushing buttons to no avail. Had to restart the truck, shut off, and all was well.
I've also had strange gremlins like backup camera won't come on, and loud pop through speakers as the system is powering up.
FYI, I have an '07 LTZ that's about 9 months old.

I just got the seems-to-be-common headliner rattle/noise from the rear seat dome light area. Holy crap was that embarassing (had my boss in the truck!) when it started...and drove me nuts all the way home at the end of the day. having seen someone else post about it, I removed the rear dome light (use a flat blade screwdriver and gently pry down from the passenger side)...the whole light assembly will come out. The culprit is easy to see when you shine a flashlight up there - they use two pieces of foam to space the headliner from the steel roof support panels. Well, the foam is sort of glued to the headliner, but not to the steel roof rail it fits up against. So, when the headliner moves (probably worse there because of the weight of the dome light hanging on it), it makes a nice noise as the foam bounces off the roof.

I used some weatherstripping glue I had leftover (pretty tacky stuff, and dries quickly) and glued the top of the foam pads to the roof rail (you'll see what I am talking about when you look up there). No more noise!!

So, if you get the headliner noise, simple fix is to glue those foam pads to the roof so they won't bounce around...working for me so far. :thumbsup:

Only other thing I really don't like is the lack of storage space, especially in the rear section...small things like no coin holder really get to me after always having them in other GM vehicles...

Here's an answer to lack of storage.

Is that storage unit a GM option or aftermarket? Looks like it belongs there, the only problem I would see is for people trying to get into the back seat.

No, I mean storage for things like jumper cables, flares, towing accessories, emergency supplies, etc. I was able to stuff an emergency blanket and some other stuff into the jack well on the driver's side back there, but I wish there were a couple of storage nooks built into the sides of the cargo area or something. Yeah, I know the rear a/c unit takes up the room unfortunately. I feel totally "naked" without having some tools and simple emergency stuff - just something I've had in all my cars since I started driving...I like being prepared!

dcovell said:

Is that storage unit a GM option or aftermarket? Looks like it belongs there, the only problem I would see is for people trying to get into the back seat.

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It's aftermarket. I always flip the seat for people to get in the 3rd row. :thumbsup:

Don't work With 2nd and 3rd Row Bench Seats

My 07 Tahoe has recently been making a high pitched squealing sound at low speeds. Once underway ~30 mph, the noise goes away. The noise sounds like it is coming from the engine bay.

I have ~500 miles on the truck with no mods to the engine. It seems like a few people are experiencing this and hopefully the person getting their truck inspected can update us.