2023 AT4X electronics bricked

Teegunn · May 24, 2023

My 23 AT4X, with 10K miles on it, would not crank and the electronics were bricked this morning upon trying to leave for work. I disconnected the battery about 10 times, sometimes letting it sit for 15 minutes before reconnecting. Didn't help. Both screens were flashing off and on, odd stuff popping up on them left and right, misc things would come on on their own, like the massaging seats, AC fan, etc - everything was wonky.

I finally call the local GM dealership and talk to the service manager. Nothing he had me try helped. I live outside of town up in the foothills of the mountains here in MT, and he drove out himself to see what he could do. We finally got on my GMC app on my phone, and saw that the truck was in the middle of a software download and got stuck. He did something (not sure what) and got the truck to at least crank and start. I followed him back into town, they have it now. He is swapping out the battery for starters, and once that is done they are going to try to force the OTA update there at the shop - the update shows it is paused in the middle of it and nothing he or I could do would restart it. Really hoping this fixes the issue. I had a big job I was starting today, and now don't even have a vehicle to drive currently, and no way to get my job trailer to the job. The shop manager drove me back to my house, so I didn't have to wait all afternoon in their waiting room.

This sucks for a 4.5 month old 80K vehicle. Will update when I know more.

Teegunn · May 24, 2023

I forgot to mention, I was driving mid afternoon yesterday, and the electronics all shut off. The truck was still running and driving, but screen was blank. AC was off, everthing on the dash was bricked. I pulled over, turned it off, and restarted it and everything came back to normal. But seems like something wonky started happening yesterday with the electronics. Hopefully it is just a stuck software update, but it's not like the software update was in the middle of installing, just halfway through downloading. So IDK what to think. Worrisome on a 4 month old truck. I can't afford to be stranded somewhere with stuff like this happening. Living in a rather rural state, this could strand you many miles from anywhere if one happened to be driving out in the mountains to camp, fish, whatever.

Sometimes I want to go back to simpler times where vehicles didn't have such complex electronics systems. Love the bells and whistles of these new trucks, but more complexity can mean more possible issues.

Teegunn · May 24, 2023

If they can flash the new software update successfully, after this I am turning off all OTA background update downloads. Again, don't know if that is the problem, but I and the service manager both think it could be, and would be a good idea to turn off auto updates.

Andystoy AT4 · May 24, 2023

I do not allow any OTA updates that pop up on the infotainment center for the reason that cell coverage varies a lot when driving and even parked at the house. There have been a few reports that the OTA failed to update as required but they seem to be rare.
I am not aware of any way to turn off any OTA updates anywhere, other than ignore them until they go away and possibly come back again.
I hope your up and running today.

Teegunn · May 24, 2023

Andystoy AT4 said:
I do not allow any OTA updates that pop up on the infotainment center for the reason that cell coverage varies a lot when driving and even parked at the house. There have been a few reports that the OTA failed to update as required but they seem to be rare.
I am not aware of any way to turn off any OTA updates anywhere, other than ignore them until they go away and possibly come back again.
I hope your up and running today.

I never had a notification pop up that said an OTA update was downloading in the background. But, there was one that was downloading, that got stalled/stopped about halfway through.

In the update settings, you can turn off OTA downloading in the background, and also turn off OTA downloading via wifi. The service manager told me to turn those off. I had them on.

The cell data service, which I believe is through AT&T on these trucks, has been excellent for me. In areas where Verizon (usually has the best/most coverage) will drop out in certain areas here in MT, AT&T does not drop out, so my truck seems to always have good signal for it's wifi/cell service. That being said, I will keep my OTA updates OFF with these two settings from here on out. I do not know for sure that the OTA update stalling halfway through downloading caused this issue - part of me thinks it is the root of the problem, but I am also not sure as it is not like the OTA update had downloaded and then stalled while installing the update.

The worst part is, not knowing what caused the issue. Now I will always been concerned about being stranded somehwere out in the sticks, or if I am on a long road trip and something like this happens. It's not like GM is johnny on the spot getting stuff fixed or figured out these days. I can't afford to be without my truck for a long period of time, do not own a backup vehicle. An 80K truck should be more reliable.

Andystoy AT4 · May 24, 2023

Thanks I will have a look in the update settings as you suggest and turn that one off as well.

SKMT · May 24, 2023

I had the same thing happen to my truck at 500km. I went out to start the truck in the morning and it was a brick. Nothing would light up. I checked the battery post and some relays clicked on and off. Found a loose nut next to the battery post. This plate feeds power to the other cables on the terminal. I tightened it down and put some silicone on it for good measure. The truck has been good since.

Teegunn · May 24, 2023

SKMT said:
I had the same thing happen to my truck at 500km. I went out to start the truck in the morning and it was a brick. Nothing would light up. I checked the battery post and some relays clicked on and off. Found a loose nut next to the battery post. This plate feeds power to the other cables on the terminal. I tightened it down and put some silicone on it for good measure. The truck has been good since.

Glad yours was an easy fix!

I did check various wires and connections similar to what you described. Nothing was loose.

Good news is, I got my truck back from the dealership service dept. They put in a new battery, and were able to flash the new update. Everything seems fine, maybe the media screen was a little sluggish for a while, but it settled down to normal after a few miles.

They had no real answers, except that they thought that for whatever reason, the OTA update got stuck and that is what bricked the system. Which is probably the actual likely reason. Still, concerning that an OTA update can brick an 80K truck this easily.

Hopefully this never happens again!

nabatron · May 25, 2023

Teegunn said:
Glad yours was an easy fix!

I did check various wires and connections similar to what you described. Nothing was loose.

Good news is, I got my truck back from the dealership service dept. They put in a new battery, and were able to flash the new update. Everything seems fine, maybe the media screen was a little sluggish for a while, but it settled down to normal after a few miles.

They had no real answers, except that they thought that for whatever reason, the OTA update got stuck and that is what bricked the system. Which is probably the actual likely reason. Still, concerning that an OTA update can brick an 80K truck this easily.

Hopefully this never happens again!

This man that’s some shitty news and some relief I guess. Yeah it’s concerning for sure with all these electronics in new vehicles now. I mean with my wife’s 21’ yukon we were out of town on vacation taking it for the first time. All of a sudden these error messages popped up, had to do with ABS and brakes plus some other random things. Took it to the nearest dealer, he ran the codes and he couldn’t find anything. Must have just cleared the codes and nothing has happened ever since.

All things considering hopefully none of that stuff comes back and that your truck is problem free. Hopefully when I order mine GM will figure out the issues lol

blacktop · May 25, 2023

It could have been a bad/defective battery. It's interesting that they replaced the battery and it appears to be part of the solution. Hard to imagine at only 4 months old but whenever I have electronics go wonky like that the first thing I suspect is the battery. Replacing it had solved many electronic issues in the past. Of course I'm only guessing but just throwing that out there.

slythetove · May 25, 2023

Teegunn - buy a lotto ticket - you're overdue!

Teegunn · May 25, 2023

blacktop said:
It could have been a bad/defective battery. It's interesting that they replaced the battery and it appears to be part of the solution. Hard to imagine at only 4 months old but whenever I have electronics go wonky like that the first thing I suspect is the battery. Replacing it had solved many electronic issues in the past. Of course I'm only guessing but just throwing that out there.

This is possible. I did put my 100 amp jump charger on the battery while I was trying to figure out if the battery was the issue. It didn't seem to help. But once the dealership service manager got the truck going - and one of the things he did was to put a jump battery (the lithium ion kind) on the trucks battery - he was able to get it started. Once we got the truck to the dealership, he put a battery tester on it, said it would take about an hour for it to determine if the battery wasn't charging right. It was charging slow, but he ran the test again and the 2nd time it failed, so new battery went in.

But the service manager and the tech who worked on the truck both said they thought the hanging/stalled OTA update was still part of the problem, or the cause of the problem. IDK if that is what the issue was, and not sure that would explain the battery charging slowly. It certainly could have drained the battery however.

In any case, just the fact that this happened on a 4.5 month old truck is concerning. Like next week, I have a 6 day remote country (like no cell signal, no roads once past the put-in) back country float trip on the Smith river here in MT (it's a beautiful mountain canyon river which they give out very limited permits to float). Say this happened or happens then, where there is not even cell signal - WTH would I do? Would be screwed, being stranded in a remote area with not even cell signal to contact anyone. Concerning.

slythetove · May 25, 2023

Teegunn said:
This is possible. I did put my 100 amp jump charger on the battery while I was trying to figure out if the battery was the issue. It didn't seem to help. But once the dealership service manager got the truck going - and one of the things he did was to put a jump battery (the lithium ion kind) on the trucks battery - he was able to get it started. Once we got the truck to the dealership, he put a battery tester on it, said it would take about an hour for it to determine if the battery wasn't charging right. It was charging slow, but he ran the test again and the 2nd time it failed, so new battery went in.

But the service manager and the tech who worked on the truck both said they thought the hanging/stalled OTA update was still part of the problem, or the cause of the problem. IDK if that is what the issue was, and not sure that would explain the battery charging slowly. It certainly could have drained the battery however.

In any case, just the fact that this happened on a 4.5 month old truck is concerning. Like next week, I have a 6 day remote country (like no cell signal, no roads once past the put-in) back country float trip on the Smith river here in MT (it's a beautiful mountain canyon river which they give out very limited permits to float). Say this happened or happens then, where there is not even cell signal - WTH would I do? Would be screwed, being stranded in a remote area with not even cell signal to contact anyone. Concerning.

Tell you what I'd be doing... take an extra battery and the hand tools to swap it. Guarantee I'd not go off grid like you're describing on the heels of this without that backup battery. Sucks, but I'd want the peace of mind.

You can likely even return it when you get back.

Teegunn · May 25, 2023

slythetove said:
Tell you what I'd be doing... take an extra battery and the hand tools to swap it. Guarantee I'd not go off grid like you're describing on the heels of this without that backup battery. Sucks, but I'd want the peace of mind.

You can likely even return it when you get back.

Totally agree. It is something I have thought about.

I do have a lithium jump battery, and despite being skeptical that something that is so small (maybe 8" x 3" x 1" thick), it does work and provide a lot of juice to jump. Problem yesterday was, I had given that battery to my daughter for her vehicle last week, so didn't have it with me to use, or I may have been able to get my truck started. The dealership service manager did do something else to get it started - and I asked him what he did but never got an answer. I do have a good 100amp jump wall plug charger, but that didn't give me enough juice. Maybe would have had I left it on long enough, but according to the service manager at the dealership, even on their big charger, the battery was barely taking any charge.

But your idea of having an extra battery is one I have considered. I'd actually like to just have a second battery period hooked in line with the main battery - but there is no place to put a 2nd battery in these trucks as I am sure you know. Even then, if something was draining your battery overnight, it would drain the 2nd also most likely, so better to just have one in my truck bed as a spare. I already have tools, compressor, nail guns, cordless drills/saws, materials/etc in my truck bed, what is one more thing like an extra battery. Not much, really.