maybe the sytem needs a reset........... a glitch a reboot may fix

 

The part that makes this odd is that there are _2_ cars that have exhibited the same (or extremely similar) behavior. That tells me there's a "configuration" problem when something gets unplugged, or as IgottaWoody indicates, something needs "reset," or other system issue... and not a ground problem or a bad fuse or other "one off" problem. Having said all that... I'm not any closer to solving it

Yesterday, I ran a test lead from the battery negative terminal up to the dash area so I could get a good continuity check on the ground... to make sure there wasn't a bad ground in the harness or a floating ground that wasn't getting full continuity. My meter showed 0.00 resistance between the battery ground and the 2 harness grounds I poked. So... rules that out. Back to scratching my head.

 

I just had my battery replaced in my 2006 HHR and now the lights on the A/C controls flicker on and off. They seem to be more active when I hit the brakes. They stay on while I drive, then flicker when I touch the brakes.
Any ideas?

 

well, it was worth a try. Any possibility of a bent pin in one of the plugs? I know I'm reaching, just trying to brainstorm/rule things out.

 

I pinged M_T_M_H as well, and he suggested the same thing. Some of the connectors have pretty small pins... so I'll check that next.

 

I'm almost nervous about pulling the dash top off for paint because of your problems. Almost........but I will be paying extra attention when I do to anything electrical. The rains finally stopped, but I've been working weird hours and that damn need of sleep has been getting in the way of projects.

 

When I did the stereo, I had weird lighting problems too. Took it apart again and couldnt find a problem, put it back together and it was fine.
The dash lighting system is very touchy, I have to open it up again this week, hope there is no weirdness this time.

 

Gonna go ahead and write this while I'm still mad...

GM is crap. There, I said it.

Unfortunately, since I've touched the wires, there's no way in hell that GM is going to warranty this issue. I'm not even going to go that route... because even though I now firmly believe their crap is the problem, I've pushed enough feces uphill in my lifetime to know that they won't ever get to any logical discussion... because I've touched the wires. Touching the wires voids not only the warranty, but logical analysis itself.

Tonight, I drove home from work a little later than usual, and so it was dark by the time I got here. So I saw the blinky light problem enough times that I decided to dig into it again. I got out my work lights and tools, and disassembled all the plastic around the console so I had plenty of unobstructed view of everything. I pulled the radio and AC controls loose, and wiggled them out of their pocket. I then painstakingly traced every switch loom back to where they all come together under the dash, just to the right of the steering column. Every loom was absolutely free of pinches or other telltale signs of a short (ie, the factory tape wrap was still nice), with the exceptions of 1) the ESC switch harness I "stretched" a grand total of 6" to relocate to the bottom of the console. When I did this a while back, I used a quality 16 gauge copper wire, soldered the connections (I am a VERY experienced solderer... this wasn't a blob-job), and used heat shrink on each connection, then sleeved the whole extension with a larger piece of heat shrink. Buzzing them with a meter showed that they were exactly as before the stretch; and 2) on that same switch harness, where I teed in the "auto ESC off" relay circuit... again, solder and shrink.

Back to tonight...

After reproducing the problem-- neither radio buttons or AC controls are lit (but radio display works fine). (And, possibly related... boost gauge isn't lit), I plugged in all of the switches-- driving lights, ESC, hazard, rear wiper, airbag status light, and dash light dimmer. Lights still don't work... UNLESS I step on the brake pedal. Then they come on for 10 seconds or so, then go back off. Or, if I hold the brake pedal down indefinitely, they stay on indefinitely. One by one, I pulled switches to see if any one switch caused a different behavior. Nope (which reinforces my earlier findings that the harness is fine). I then unplugged all switches, plugging them back in one at a time to check my findings from that direction. Same results.

Now, to reiterate a couple of curious behavioral issues... 1) after you turn off the key, whether the lights were on because I had just stepped on the brakes, or they were off because they weren't working, they CAME ON, only dimmer, along with the courtesy light... they worked in that state until the courtesy exit timer went off, at which point they turned off as expected; and 2) if the dash light dimmer is turned to a very specific SINGLE detent on the wheel, pressing the brakes DOES NOT turn the lights on. One tick in either direction and the regular (bad) behavior returns.

The fact that 2 others that I know of have reported strange behavior much like what I'm experiencing, and my anecdotal information in this thread, indicates quite clearly that GM Engineering has screwed the pooch and mis-engineered yet another product. I need to burn this thing to the ground and go buy an import.

/rant (temporarily) off

 

Well, I noticed after putting the radio back in that the radio lights go off whenever the rest of the dash goes on, and they flicker as Im cranking. The same thing happened the last time I pulled the radio. Guess I'll pull it again and fiddle with the wires, hope that it straightens itself out.

 

I wonder if a new dimmer might solve this. I have no real proof, and I hate swapping to fix ( I'm all about repeatable results )