Lights, bells & ding, ding, ding.

[ORBucks]

Took my (new to me about 3 months)2008 Roadtrek 170 Popular for a short weekend trip. It has 39,000 miles on it. About 7 hrs into the journey the dash board lights & symbols start flashing, all of them, and the "lights on" dinger starts going off and wont stop. Turned around to head home --> The panel lights flashed off and on sporadically but the dinger stayed on the whole way. About an hour out from home the whole panel went down. No speedometer, gas gauge or anything. This happened several times and then it would reengage. The housing lights still worked as did my headlights. It is just on the panel. Any ideas or suggestions. I will be attempting to find a shop next week after the holiday but I am unsure of what to suggest. Thanks in advance.

[hbn7hj]

Above my pay grade. Next stop Chevy dealer.

Sounds like a failed BCM (Body Control Module) or connector. Maybe ECM (Engine Control Module).

[booster]

GM had a lot of trouble with the dashes in the trucks it appears. Many times it appears as dead or weird gauges and such and sometimes flashing on and off and totally dead.


IIRC, we had one on here recently that did similar. I think it eventually get traced to a bad power or ground wire to the panel.



There are a lot of videos of people repairing the panels and also quite a few that rebuild them if you send them in.


If you are going to look at it yourself, you will need a wiring diagram, preferably a factory service manual. Start with the power and ground, as it showing totally dead and trace back to the fault if there is a problem with either at the panel.

[ORBucks]

Thank you kindly. It appears to be above my pay grade also.

[ORBucks]

Thank you!

[DaveBad]

I was coming home from a long trip out west in my 2011 Subaru Outback. I was about an hour from home and my dash panel went nuts. Cruise control stopped working and a bunch of dash lights started flashing. One was a battery icon so I was afraid it wouldn't start if I stopped. Made it home and the next morning I started the car up and everything worked fine. Never had a problem again. I think the onboard computer somehow had a freak glitch and it reset itself after being shut down. Just a thought.

[mkguitar]

I'd use OBDII app ( or other OBD reader) to see what if any trouble codes are logged


we have 2 fuse box locations on our vans, under the hood and under the driver's seat


mike

[Travlinphoolz]

Just got my (new to me) 07 Roadtrek 190 P back from the Chevy repair check up. They had inspected the main fuse box in the engine compartment (right hand side) and pulled several fuses and showed me that many of them and probably all of them had corrosion on the end points. While they were still functioning OK he said that the Chevy Van design was very bad in that all the water draining off the windshield was directed to a piece of plastic over the fuse box which basically floods the fuse box and allows water to stay inside thus the corrosion. He indicated that if not replaced I might soon find myself on the side of the road with screwed up power system or now power whatsoever. So recommend you open that fuse box and pull many of the fuses to see if you have corrosion on the points. I had the box replaced for insurance.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Travlinphoolz

Just got my (new to me) 07 Roadtrek 190 P back from the Chevy repair check up. They had inspected the main fuse box in the engine compartment (right hand side) and pulled several fuses and showed me that many of them and probably all of them had corrosion on the end points. While they were still functioning OK he said that the Chevy Van design was very bad in that all the water draining off the windshield was directed to a piece of plastic over the fuse box which basically floods the fuse box and allows water to stay inside thus the corrosion. He indicated that if not replaced I might soon find myself on the side of the road with screwed up power system or now power whatsoever. So recommend you open that fuse box and pull many of the fuses to see if you have corrosion on the points. I had the box replaced for insurance.

I extended the plastic water diverter to carry the water further away from the fuse box. My fuse box also has plastic cover, which should also keep water out. Is your cover missing?

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by Travlinphoolz

pulled several fuses and showed me that many of them and probably all of them had corrosion on the end points

Hey Phoolz


welcome to the forums


I live in AZ where rain isn't a big thing yet still I had resistive oxidization on my fuses)



what I have done on my fuse centers ( 2, there is another under my driver's seat)


is to go through and make sure each circuit has the correct value fuse, and that there are spares for each value


each fuse was removed in turn and the legs cleaned with scotch brite and then a "plastic safe" contact cleaner applied to fuse and socket ( like deoxit) and then permatex dieletric grease applied to keep moisture out


this took a couple of hours


mike

[booster]

Originally Posted by Travlinphoolz

Just got my (new to me) 07 Roadtrek 190 P back from the Chevy repair check up. They had inspected the main fuse box in the engine compartment (right hand side) and pulled several fuses and showed me that many of them and probably all of them had corrosion on the end points. While they were still functioning OK he said that the Chevy Van design was very bad in that all the water draining off the windshield was directed to a piece of plastic over the fuse box which basically floods the fuse box and allows water to stay inside thus the corrosion. He indicated that if not replaced I might soon find myself on the side of the road with screwed up power system or now power whatsoever. So recommend you open that fuse box and pull many of the fuses to see if you have corrosion on the points. I had the box replaced for insurance.

GM had a recall or TSB on the fuse boxes, but I don't recall if it was for the water issue or the fact that nearly all of them broke the tabs when trying to get the cover off. If the tabs are broken the cover is loose and leaks very badly, it appears. Ours broke the first time opened, and I put a velcro strap around and haven't seen any signs of water or corrosion in it, but it does sit inside most of the time. You may want to try to find the documents and see if GM will give some compensation if it covers yours.

[susanwithhorses]

OMG we had the same experience with the same model RV. The short answer is replacing the battery isolator finally fixed the issue. The original was no longer available so a substitute was used.

It was "almost fixed" many times, which included a new alternator when we got home to MD, The alternator replacement seemed to help but in a few days the problem came back.
It started on a trip to FL towing a horse trailer. We have the alternator and battery check out there and it seemed ok. The problem was sporadic all the way back to Maryland. We had 20 to 30 of okay doing and then it would return for 10 to 20 min with the alternator spiking to 18 volts and then 0 .... Yikes!
No signed of it retiring since the isolator was replaced.

All the best
Stay safe.
Mike

[Travlinphoolz]

Thanks great stuff

[Travlinphoolz]

No cover is fine. And the so called “diverted” is still good. Tech said that the corrosion is very common issue with a bad design that I fully agree with.

[mkguitar]

I did the exact same fuse cleaning ( described above) on my gmc pick up and my 09 electraglide


mike