2019 Equinox has revoked my USB/AUX privilages, why?

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Prince_Polaris

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Okay, so. My grandma bought this Equinox in 2019, and since she prefers not to drive, I'm the one always at the wheel. In august she had a stroke, so while she's recovering, I'm driving it alone, and now that we are into winter, my precious van and car are both hibernating to keep out of the salt, so I'm driving her car.

It's also nice to have modern stuff like "ABS" and "airbags" I guess, but the stereo. Man, the stereo. The bluetooth is the worst I've ever used, with a full few seconds of delay between the source device and the speakers, and now I can't even bypass it anymore with other devices.

First, it started with the 12v port. The auto start/stop will cut power to all devices plugged into the port when it kicks the engine back on, which is just enough to shut off the CD player I have mounted to the dash or force my FM transmitter to reboot. Neither of these are good, because while the CD player will resume from where it stopped when I hit play, the transmitter comes back on by itself but starts from the beginning of whatever song it was on.

So, fine, whatever, I can just shift into neutral as I come to every red light. Oh, but the car was ready for that, and now it has decided to disable the panel with the USB and AUX ports. It started simple; when the car was cold, it would play AUX briefly before it cut off, and I could get it back by swapping to FM and back to AUX, where I could listen for another 12 seconds or so before it cut off again. Once the car was warmed, it was fine.

So I got a flash drive, loaded it with music, and put that into the car instead. Worked for a while, before I hit the same issue, where the car is behaving as if the drive is being unplugged and plugged back in. Sure, whatever, I can listen to the interrupted music for a while, and it eventually fixes itself.

So it got worse. Music interruptions that never end, as if a tiny goblin is hiding inside of the vehicle gleefully unplugging the USB module over and over. Then it just stops entirely, refusing to accept AUX or USB whatsoever, like this:


So, what in the world am I supposed to do about this? I can't even use android auto anymore, because the USB C port I used for that is included in this mess! I'm fine with troubleshooting sound in a 30 year old barge with a V8, but I don't know anything about these cars. I know plenty about computers, but these computers are only known by GM and the people working for them, not me and my PC A+ certification that expired in 2018.

Oh, yeah, and something in the drivetrain likes to vibrate weirdly around 40-45mph, but it's done that ever since we bought it. Gets worse if the car has a lot of weight in it. But I don't care about that, I want my MUSIC.

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TL;DR, Below-Radio USB-C/USB/AUX panel is intermittent and/or broken entirely, 12V port cuts power when auto start/stop cranks the engine, how fix?
 

Prince_Polaris

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Oh yeah, sometimes the entire radio will cut out and reboot, as in the screen goes black and it comes on like it does when the car starts, that may or may not be related somehow, idk man
 

Moonwink

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A battery that's about to die might be causing your problems. The computers in these cars demand a good battery in tip-top shape.

Vibrations in 45mph range sound like tire balance.
 

Prince_Polaris

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A battery that's about to die might be causing your problems. The computers in these cars demand a good battery in tip-top shape.

Vibrations in 45mph range sound like tire balance.

Just got new winter tires, so if it's wheel related, maybe the rim has an issue?

As far as I know, she's still got the original battery, so that's got to be about 5 years old by now...
 

ricklack

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On my 2013 the driveshaft carrier bearing went bad, causing vibrations at certain speeds, perhaps worth checking?

AGM batteries seem to often fail by 5 years old, I would try that to see if it fixes your Infotainment issues. Bad batteries cause all sort of weird glitches, as everything is controlled by computers and sensors. Just be sure to get an AGM battery.
 

Prince_Polaris

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On my 2013 the driveshaft carrier bearing went bad, causing vibrations at certain speeds, perhaps worth checking?

AGM batteries seem to often fail by 5 years old, I would try that to see if it fixes your Infotainment issues. Bad batteries cause all sort of weird glitches, as everything is controlled by computers and sensors. Just be sure to get an AGM battery.
Is it worth asking if a shop (or I guess just autozone) will test it, or is it going to be a while before it gets notecibly bad? Car itself hasn't said anything about the ol battery either...
 

Big Papi

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Auto parts chain stores will not be able to update the software. This is one of those instances going to the dealer and paying the price makes sense. Either that or a well equipped shop that has the GM Techline Connect capeability
 

Prince_Polaris

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Auto parts chain stores will not be able to update the software. This is one of those instances going to the dealer and paying the price makes sense. Either that or a well equipped shop that has the GM Techline Connect capeability
I was gonna go there to test the battery, not update anything. Surely the car doesn't need a "new battery" update if I buy a new one, right?
 

ricklack

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Is it worth asking if a shop (or I guess just autozone) will test it, or is it going to be a while before it gets notecibly bad? Car itself hasn't said anything about the ol battery either...
Make sure they do a load test on the battery - a quick test may not be accurate. TBH, if the battery is 5 years old, I would just replace it, as you will be doing that soon anyway. Costco has good prices if you are a member.
 

Bronzebox

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If it’s 5 years old can’t hurt to start by replacing the battery like Ricklack suggests.
 

AmmoJoe

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Okay, so. My grandma bought this Equinox in 2019, and since she prefers not to drive, I'm the one always at the wheel. In august she had a stroke, so while she's recovering, I'm driving it alone, and now that we are into winter, my precious van and car are both hibernating to keep out of the salt, so I'm driving her car.

It's also nice to have modern stuff like "ABS" and "airbags" I guess, but the stereo. Man, the stereo. The bluetooth is the worst I've ever used, with a full few seconds of delay between the source device and the speakers, and now I can't even bypass it anymore with other devices.

First, it started with the 12v port. The auto start/stop will cut power to all devices plugged into the port when it kicks the engine back on, which is just enough to shut off the CD player I have mounted to the dash or force my FM transmitter to reboot. Neither of these are good, because while the CD player will resume from where it stopped when I hit play, the transmitter comes back on by itself but starts from the beginning of whatever song it was on.

So, fine, whatever, I can just shift into neutral as I come to every red light. Oh, but the car was ready for that, and now it has decided to disable the panel with the USB and AUX ports. It started simple; when the car was cold, it would play AUX briefly before it cut off, and I could get it back by swapping to FM and back to AUX, where I could listen for another 12 seconds or so before it cut off again. Once the car was warmed, it was fine.

So I got a flash drive, loaded it with music, and put that into the car instead. Worked for a while, before I hit the same issue, where the car is behaving as if the drive is being unplugged and plugged back in. Sure, whatever, I can listen to the interrupted music for a while, and it eventually fixes itself.

So it got worse. Music interruptions that never end, as if a tiny goblin is hiding inside of the vehicle gleefully unplugging the USB module over and over. Then it just stops entirely, refusing to accept AUX or USB whatsoever, like this:


So, what in the world am I supposed to do about this? I can't even use android auto anymore, because the USB C port I used for that is included in this mess! I'm fine with troubleshooting sound in a 30 year old barge with a V8, but I don't know anything about these cars. I know plenty about computers, but these computers are only known by GM and the people working for them, not me and my PC A+ certification that expired in 2018.

Oh, yeah, and something in the drivetrain likes to vibrate weirdly around 40-45mph, but it's done that ever since we bought it. Gets worse if the car has a lot of weight in it. But I don't care about that, I want my MUSIC.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TL;DR, Below-Radio USB-C/USB/AUX panel is intermittent and/or broken entirely, 12V port cuts power when auto start/stop cranks the engine, how fix?
I have a 2019 never had that issue. I would suggest getting the start stop disable harness from Amazon. It was $20 like 2 years ago and worth every penny.
I would also try to disconnect the battery for a minute or 2 and then reconnect it. It may reset the radio.
 

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