Truckgirl

I need information please.
We just purchased a new 2011 Silverado from Smedleys Chevrolet in Vandalia OH.
The agreement was, they would remove the OnStar Module. We signed the papers, Paid for the truck. Few days later, they said,"We can disable it, but we cannot remove it."
I said," Keep the truck & refund my money." They said," We are not Kmart, we do not do refunds."

So, I need to know how to tell if they have really disabled the OnStar completely or not.

I pick up the truck on Monday.

I wanted to warn others about this dealership.
Beware, the people I had dealings with did a bait & switch with me.

I hope someone can help me. Thanks

Chevy1TonDriver

Hi Truckgirl,

Yes, you can disable or even remove your OnStar.

If you were disabling it, I recommend locating the OnStar CPU Unit which is located in the trunk of your car, and removing the power supply connection. This method disables the unit, it will not record or communicate. However, it can be reconnected again. This may be your best method as if you want to sell the car, or change your mind later, you can reconnect it.

I do not recommend just removing the antenna as someone said in another thread on same question. Yes, it will disable the GPS and location inforomation, but it might still be possible for the cell phone communication to continue as it can work with even a very weak signal.

If you truly wish to go to removal, then you can disconnect the four connectors to the OnStar unit, and physically remove the unit.

You could even replace the unit and have that unit send the information to YOU instead of OnStar. ThirdParty equipment exists.

If you want the dealer to disable it, you can verify they did the job by looking at the right light (two lights) on the OnStar Mirror. If it is still on, OnStar is not disabled. It should be out (no colors) if they disconnected (or removed) it.

Hope this helps.

Silverado Truck Driver

Truckgirl

Thank You for Your help. Yes we do want to remove it.
We would be interested in, the sending to ourselves. The Mirror has been removed.
I know the OnStar unit is under the dash in Silverado. Is their another unit that needs to be disabled as well? Where is it located? The service manager said," Your truck does not have a back up battery for OnStar." The information online says it does. What a mess.
Where is the antenna for the radio? I understand it is a different frequency than OnStar antenna.

elkhornsun

There is also the antenna on the cab of the truck and I would expect that removing this would allow water into the interior of the truck and could cause a bunch of problems. I can see why the dealer did not want to disconnect this piece of hardware from the cab.

The antenna for the radio is the black mast that sticks up from the passenger side of the hood. Can't imagine that you could have missed this item unless the dealer left it off after prepping the truck.

holbrook.jeremy

There should be a document signed by both parties stating what the dealership has promised to complete pending the sale. I'd go back and tell them to remove the onstar or the deals off.

2010 silverado

I just let my onstar subscription run out and i have my truck for 2 years and havent had any issues with it not being physically diabled or removed. Was curious to why you want onstar removed completely???? Its illegal to spy or track you if you opt out of being an onstar subscriber.

Kreiger

This is my first post so greetings. Has anyone got behind the dash to unplug the On Star in a Silverado?

trswyo

I know this is an old thread, but when I was looking for info on doing this, this was one of the first threads on the Google Search, so for those in that come across this....

I have a 2011 Suburban (should be setup the same as a silverado), when I attempted to disconnect the VCIM, it did throw error codes. There are two white plugins on the back of the VCIM, if either one is removed it will display on the DIC that 4 wheel drive, stabilitrac, park assist, and one other item was not working.

When attempting to switch between 2 wheel, 4 hi or lo, on the control it would not work. Plugging both of the white plugs back, error went away, however service light stayed on for a while and eventually went away.

Kreiger

Thank you trswyo for that. I have not tried to disconnect the VCIM yet, is it behind the heater controls?

If you fiqure this out let us know. I did unplug the antenna though, it plugs into the XM radio which is behind the glove box.