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Radio problem

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Old January 8th, 2009, 8:42 AM
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Default Radio problem

Radio started going off and on when hitting a bump, know it has went out and won't come back on, and the turn signal still works but makes no sound. 2007 Chevrolet truck with a little over 80k miles
Old January 8th, 2009, 2:25 PM
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Default RE: Radio problem

Pull the radio out and check for power and ground at the radio. While the radio is out, check for coins in the radio. You'd be surprised how many i find that has money in it and the owner knows nothing about it.
Old June 8th, 2022, 10:32 AM
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Hi all,

I have a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu premier leased on September 19, 2019. I love this car just like my last Malibu premier, but I have a very unusual problem or rather a few unusual problems with my XM radio. Since day one it changes stations all by itself while I am driving. It doesn’t do it constantly, it’s very erratic, but it usually happens at least once when I’m driving. At the very beginning I did not want the dealer to start taking things apart when the car was brand new and have other problems pop up or rattles. I did have the dealer “reset” the antenna connection I think it was. However that did nothing. Then I found out that there was a bulletin concerning this exact thing that I received from my brother who worked at a dealership in another state where I purchased the car. He sent me the bulletin and I made an appointment with my local dealer so they could see it and check this out. That visit ended with them telling me that the problem wasn’t that bulletin that the problem was my iPhone connected to my car with Bluetooth turned on was causing the problem. Sounded strange to me since I’ve always had an iPhone and I’ve always had XM Radio since probably the first day they were available in GM cars because I’ve always had GM cars for the most part. Anyway, for one whole month I turned off the Bluetooth on my phone and didn’t plug anything into my car and the radio station still changed all by itself. Months and months later I asked them to see if there were any updates and they said that there was and to bring the car in so I did and once again whatever they did didn’t change a thing.

I had no plans originally to purchase this car at the end of the lease because I don’t like to have a car that’s out of warranty because of the prices that they charge for repairs, but with the low buyout figure on this car and the high value on it if I want to sell it privately, I would be stupid not to purchase it which I plan to do. I only have 16,400 miles on the car in three years. I’m the only driver and there are rarely others in the car. Now that I am buying the car, I want the radio to get fixed while the warranty is still in effect until September. So, last week I went to the dealer and my regular service man wasn’t there and the one who was there had no clue why I was bringing my car in. I told him that the other service manager told me that he was going to replace the radio. So he said they would check it out. So I sat there for several hours while they did that and they came back and said that they had to order a new radio control assembly because my car had oxidation behind the screen causing a “ghost touch” making the radio switch stations intermittently! I looked at him and said so for three years there’s been oxidation there? Now, I know for a fact that my car was not sitting in some factory lot somewhere for months and months where maybe oxidation could’ve built up! That’s another whole story how I finally got this car but I had to call the factory directly myself since nothing was happening and my order had been in for four months. To make a long story short with that scene my car was built at the end of August and it was at the dealer by September 19, 2019. So it was a fresh build. Anyway the service guy said yes I’ve seen oxidation happen when I worked for a different auto manufacturer. So I said OK, but there’s a new problem now that’s been happening for about two or three weeks and that is when I go to send a text message with my phone plugged in and click on a person’s name on the screen I cannot start talking immediately because I have to wait until the little colored spinning wheel thing at the bottom starts turning then I can speak. It was never like that in three years until recently. As soon as I clicked on a person’s name I could start talking immediately. I explained that to him also but I think it went in one ear and out the other. Then yesterday or the day before, my phone was plugged in, my CarPlay button on my screen was lit up and I stopped to get gas. When I started the car again the CarPlay light wasn’t lit so I picked up my phone and saw that the connection was there because my phone was charging, but the CarPlay button wasn’t lit up on my dash. When I tapped it the screen would go off for a second or so and then it will come back on again but the CarPlay still wasn’t lit up, but my phone was still charging. Anyway, when I brought the car to the dealer yesterday the CarPlay thing was working and was lit up, but after I left there on the way home it was erratic going on and then off again. When they told me that the car was done I immediately plugged in my phone to try to send a text message to see if I could start talking immediately like I’ve been doing for the last three years instead of waiting for that spinning wheel at the bottom to start turning. Of course that problem was not corrected, so I went right back inside the dealership and asked them to have the technician who was working on the car to come outside so I could show him what is happening. By now, my blood pressure was going up. He started out by asking me if I recently updated my iPhone and I said no. He said because sometimes things happen like this. I said but it’s been like this for the last two weeks or so. Then he said to me do you have pictures with your contacts of the people you’re trying to text and I said yes some of them, but I said they’ve been there for three years and this never happened before. I was starting to get more aggravated by the minute but trying to control myself. Then I told him about the CarPlay thing not working correctly and I said that just happened a couple of days ago. They were gonna take the car back inside with my iPhone and see if they could do something further. Not wanting to sit there for the rest of the day since I didn’t have a ride home I said let’s wait and see if we fixed the problem with the radio stations changing all by themselves. It didn’t do it yesterday while I was driving home but it’s not unusual because it wasn’t that far to drive and I haven’t been out at all today so I may just have to start driving the car around using up gas for a ridiculous reason, but I have to see if the radio station is going to change.

This morning I called XM Radio tech department and explained the problem to them and they said that it could be a few things and that the dealer can call them directly and work with them to get to the bottom of this. I’m sure that’s gonna go over real big when I tell the dealer that. I know this post is long but I wanted to explain everything that’s been done so far that hasn’t solved the problem.

I am hoping that maybe there are others out there who have had this problem and have found a solution so that when I do go back to the dealer I will have some real world experience from others to relate to them. Thank you in advance for anyone that has any suggestions. I really appreciate it.

PS Since I haven’t been in any of these forums in quite a long time I see that my signature is way out of date and I will fix it but I didn’t wanna do anything right now for fear that this message would disappear.
Old June 14th, 2022, 4:48 PM
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Originally Posted by fastdriver
Hi all,

I have a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu premier leased on September 19, 2019. I love this car just like my last Malibu premier, but I have a very unusual problem or rather a few unusual problems with my XM radio. Since day one it changes stations all by itself while I am driving. It doesn’t do it constantly, it’s very erratic, but it usually happens at least once when I’m driving. At the very beginning I did not want the dealer to start taking things apart when the car was brand new and have other problems pop up or rattles. I did have the dealer “reset” the antenna connection I think it was. However that did nothing. Then I found out that there was a bulletin concerning this exact thing that I received from my brother who worked at a dealership in another state where I purchased the car. He sent me the bulletin and I made an appointment with my local dealer so they could see it and check this out. That visit ended with them telling me that the problem wasn’t that bulletin that the problem was my iPhone connected to my car with Bluetooth turned on was causing the problem. Sounded strange to me since I’ve always had an iPhone and I’ve always had XM Radio since probably the first day they were available in GM cars because I’ve always had GM cars for the most part. Anyway, for one whole month I turned off the Bluetooth on my phone and didn’t plug anything into my car and the radio station still changed all by itself. Months and months later I asked them to see if there were any updates and they said that there was and to bring the car in so I did and once again whatever they did didn’t change a thing.

I had no plans originally to purchase this car at the end of the lease because I don’t like to have a car that’s out of warranty because of the prices that they charge for repairs, but with the low buyout figure on this car and the high value on it if I want to sell it privately, I would be stupid not to purchase it which I plan to do. I only have 16,400 miles on the car in three years. I’m the only driver and there are rarely others in the car. Now that I am buying the car, I want the radio to get fixed while the warranty is still in effect until September. So, last week I went to the dealer and my regular service man wasn’t there and the one who was there had no clue why I was bringing my car in. I told him that the other service manager told me that he was going to replace the radio. So he said they would check it out. So I sat there for several hours while they did that and they came back and said that they had to order a new radio control assembly because my car had oxidation behind the screen causing a “ghost touch” making the radio switch stations intermittently! I looked at him and said so for three years there’s been oxidation there? Now, I know for a fact that my car was not sitting in some factory lot somewhere for months and months where maybe oxidation could’ve built up! That’s another whole story how I finally got this car but I had to call the factory directly myself since nothing was happening and my order had been in for four months. To make a long story short with that scene my car was built at the end of August and it was at the dealer by September 19, 2019. So it was a fresh build. Anyway the service guy said yes I’ve seen oxidation happen when I worked for a different auto manufacturer. So I said OK, but there’s a new problem now that’s been happening for about two or three weeks and that is when I go to send a text message with my phone plugged in and click on a person’s name on the screen I cannot start talking immediately because I have to wait until the little colored spinning wheel thing at the bottom starts turning then I can speak. It was never like that in three years until recently. As soon as I clicked on a person’s name I could start talking immediately. I explained that to him also but I think it went in one ear and out the other. Then yesterday or the day before, my phone was plugged in, my CarPlay button on my screen was lit up and I stopped to get gas. When I started the car again the CarPlay light wasn’t lit so I picked up my phone and saw that the connection was there because my phone was charging, but the CarPlay button wasn’t lit up on my dash. When I tapped it the screen would go off for a second or so and then it will come back on again but the CarPlay still wasn’t lit up, but my phone was still charging. Anyway, when I brought the car to the dealer yesterday the CarPlay thing was working and was lit up, but after I left there on the way home it was erratic going on and then off again. When they told me that the car was done I immediately plugged in my phone to try to send a text message to see if I could start talking immediately like I’ve been doing for the last three years instead of waiting for that spinning wheel at the bottom to start turning. Of course that problem was not corrected, so I went right back inside the dealership and asked them to have the technician who was working on the car to come outside so I could show him what is happening. By now, my blood pressure was going up. He started out by asking me if I recently updated my iPhone and I said no. He said because sometimes things happen like this. I said but it’s been like this for the last two weeks or so. Then he said to me do you have pictures with your contacts of the people you’re trying to text and I said yes some of them, but I said they’ve been there for three years and this never happened before. I was starting to get more aggravated by the minute but trying to control myself. Then I told him about the CarPlay thing not working correctly and I said that just happened a couple of days ago. They were gonna take the car back inside with my iPhone and see if they could do something further. Not wanting to sit there for the rest of the day since I didn’t have a ride home I said let’s wait and see if we fixed the problem with the radio stations changing all by themselves. It didn’t do it yesterday while I was driving home but it’s not unusual because it wasn’t that far to drive and I haven’t been out at all today so I may just have to start driving the car around using up gas for a ridiculous reason, but I have to see if the radio station is going to change.

This morning I called XM Radio tech department and explained the problem to them and they said that it could be a few things and that the dealer can call them directly and work with them to get to the bottom of this. I’m sure that’s gonna go over real big when I tell the dealer that. I know this post is long but I wanted to explain everything that’s been done so far that hasn’t solved the problem.

I am hoping that maybe there are others out there who have had this problem and have found a solution so that when I do go back to the dealer I will have some real world experience from others to relate to them. Thank you in advance for anyone that has any suggestions. I really appreciate it.

PS Since I haven’t been in any of these forums in quite a long time I see that my signature is way out of date and I will fix it but I didn’t wanna do anything right now for fear that this message would disappear.
did you get it fixed?
Try another GM dealership if possible.
All modern electronics are always buggy & trouble.
I would guess it's a software problem.
That's weird though.
Let us know what happens!
Old June 14th, 2022, 4:49 PM
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ok i just typed that & it posted itself
haha
Old June 15th, 2022, 3:39 PM
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Default “ghost radio”

Originally Posted by Gravydog316
did you get it fixed?
Try another GM dealership if possible.
All modern electronics are always buggy & trouble.
I would guess it's a software problem.
That's weird though.
Let us know what happens!
They changed some part I’m not home right now so I don’t know the exact name of it but it was something like the face plate or something because they said it was a ghost touch effect and that there was oxidation on the Contacts that Caused that problem. I knew from the beginning that that was BS because my My car was at the dealership within a week or two after being made I know that for a fact. So when do the oxidation build up because it’s been changing radio stations for three years now since the day I got it in September 2019. I did call XM Radio got their tech department and they told me that most likely it’s a hardware problem because the two updates or whatever that they have put out didn’t solve any problems as a matter fact things are worse. I haven’t called the dealer back yet even though I did email him last Thursday and I haven’t heard from him. I wanted my blood pressure to drop to normal before I made another call to him. I’ll let you know the next step because I’m not one that gives up easily and the next step will be a call to Chevrolet main headquarters or general motors in Michigan. Stay tuned. 🤬🤬🤬🤬
Old July 17th, 2022, 8:47 AM
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New radio installed on July 1, 2022 problem not solved. Radio still changes stations all by itself along with a few other issues with using CarPlay to send text messages. That problem only started about two months ago now. Other than that it worked fine for three years. I was in this forum, but I think in another Chevy area and I saw a Chevrolet customer service person responding to someone about some problem so I clicked on their name and sent them a long message. I hope I can find it again and any response they may have because I don’t know what to do next.
Old July 17th, 2022, 8:49 AM
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Originally Posted by shawnvw
Pull the radio out and check for power and ground at the radio. While the radio is out, check for coins in the radio. You'd be surprised how many i find that has money in it and the owner knows nothing about it.
Thanks, but I would have no idea how to do that to begin with. How would coins get in there? I’m the only one who ever drives this car.🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
Old September 30th, 2022, 5:03 AM
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Graveydog 316-

No solution yet! About two weeks after they finally replaced the radio, I emailed my service advisor to give him the bad news that the radio was still changing stations all by itself, but he never replied! I was really upset, but wanted to wait until my blood pressure went down before going back there and sitting for hours. Then, life took over so many other things happening that I just let it slide. Last weekend while coming home I wanted to text someone from the car and when I pushed my green CarPlay button the next screen went completely black- no contact list there. As a result of that happening now if my iPhone is plugged in and someone tries to call me the radio screen goes black and the only way I can see the text or answer the call is to pick up my phone. Also if the radio is on and playing and I pick up my phone and try to send a text message from my phone by clicking on the little microphone it won’t work because the screen goes black and it won’t record anything.🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

So, yesterday I decided to go back to the dealer and see what the story was why he never answered my email from July. When I walked in I didn’t see him so I asked the other service advisor if he was in that day and he said he doesn’t work here anymore. I said oh no wonder he never answered my email and the guy said yeah that would be a good reason. So now my car is going back there again Monday at 9 AM so let’s see what happens. In the meantime I have been in touch with XM Radio tech department and I have a case number and they told me that the radio man at the dealer can give them a call and they are more than willing to help out trying to resolve this matter. I’m hoping that the dealer will take them up on that offer because XM might have some other little things that they could possibly check in the car that maybe the dealer doesn’t know about?🙏🙏🙏🙏
Old September 30th, 2022, 5:07 AM
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Originally Posted by shawnvw
Pull the radio out and check for power and ground at the radio. While the radio is out, check for coins in the radio. You'd be surprised how many i find that has money in it and the owner knows nothing about it.
Thank you. I did do that, but it seems as if these topics are not as active as they were years ago when I first joined. Oh well, I’ll keep trying.
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