Air Conditioning Issues

[jholley]

I'm curious how many folks here have had the notorious "air conditioning loses it's program after a battery change" issue. I have an '04 Sierra with 70,000 miles. I changed my battery about two years ago (it was out of warranty then) only to have the drivers side A/C randomly go full hot. I can shut the truck off and restart it and it seems to be ok for awhile but inevitably it does the same thing again. I've tried all the home remedies for the situation that I can find to no avail. I finally took it into the stealership today to have it re-programmed. I already thought that having to pay $95 for a re-programming just because the battery went dead was B.S.! The service rep just called me an told me that I need a new drivers side actuator and a recirc actuator to the tune of $1248. Once again I say B.S! All I did was change the battery. I'm going to argue my case with the general manager and the regional customer complaint department if neccessary but I'm not optimistic. I'm just curious if anybody has ever considered a class action lawsuit against GM for something that should have been a recall in the first place. There is no way I should be hammered with a $1248 bill because the damn battery went dead! What the hell does GM do when they have to change a battery? Suck up the cost of repairing the A/C? No damn wonder they are bankrupt! Comments please. I'm considering building a website called screwedbyGM.com. This A/C issue is just the icing on the proverbial cake of issues with this truck that shouldn't have happened.

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[JohnC]

I haven't had issues with the a/c controls, well except that one of the lights is out. Which is bull because you can't change just the bulb. You have to change the entier control unit. I did get hosed on the gauge cluster though. They warrantied them up to 70K, and mine had 75K. I told them it didn't matter a defective product is a defective product. To no avail though. It's funny how something simple like that and they have you over a barrel.

[jholley]

Yeah! To be honest, it makes me sad that GM is this way. I want to buy American but GM makes it hard to support them with all thier B.S.

[deyomatic]

I can't help either, but every time I do anything to my GMC I find myself dreaming about heading to the Toyota dealer first thing in the morning...
What gets me is the fact that they want to make ME feel guilty for not wanting to buy their vehicles when it's really their inability to engineer and produce a car that will work as well as Toyota and Honda that's keeping me away.
The only reason I have a GM vehicle is because it was free to me.

[clinebarger]

I work on japanese cars everyday they have there set of problems too. control head,air doors,expansion block that is under the dash 6 plus hours most of the time. The most A/C problems i run across on late model gm truck is the compressor that is made by nippon denso. the same japanese company that makes parts for most japanese cars. When you change a battery out on a late model car you should keep the modules memory by hooking another battery to the truck ive found lawnmover batterys to work well. Ill keep my Chevys & Dodges. And i didnt get them for free

[jholley]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

When you change a battery out on a late model car you should keep the modules memory by hooking another battery to the truck ive found lawnmover batterys to work well.

Thats sort of what I figured the dealer does to prevent this from happening. Maybe they should put that in the owners manual or something. I think it's unreasonable to assume that the average joe isn't going to change his own battery when it inevitably goes dead. If there is a special procedure to prevent damage to the vehicle then that procedure should be published. jmo

[JohnC]

[deyomatic]

I agree 100%...I wonder if it's a "secret" so that when it does go wrong they keep their service departments in business. As far as Owner's Manuals go, it seems like they've been useless since about 1990. 300 pages of warnings about things that will void your warranty but nothing that you'd need to know...again, probably designed to get you to buy the service manual. For example: In about 50 pages, my '60 Ford owner's manual tells me how to change the fluids, check the fluid level in the radiator, replace headlamps, and even how to push start the truck if equipped with an auto tranny and the battery is dead...My '05 GMC Owner's manual doesn't even tell me how to adjust the headlights...300 pages of junk.
Sorry to keep hijacking with rants...I just wish things worked they way they were supposed to.

[jholley]

Originally Posted by deyomatic

Sorry to keep hijacking with rants...I just wish things worked they way they were supposed to.

No worries bro. This whole thread is a rant