Chevy No-No wires?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Security and Convenience
Forum Discription: Car Alarms, Keyless Entries, Remote Starters, Immobilizer Bypasses, Sensors, Door Locks, Window Modules, Heated Mirrors, Heated Seats, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=74937
Printed Date: July 12, 2025 at 6:47 AM

Topic: Chevy No-No wires?

Posted By: ss-installer
Subject: Chevy No-No wires?
Date Posted: March 22, 2006 at 8:33 PM

put a tv in a 2004 tahoe. customer took truck to dealership for warranty service and they said the warranty was voided because we tapped into the wrong wire. they said there are a group of wires that if you pull ANY current from the electronics start shutting down.

we paid for the service and went about our business.

anyone know of these NO-NO wires?

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Replies:

Posted By: xscash
Date Posted: March 22, 2006 at 8:38 PM

always hear of dealers saying crap like that. i went as far as going down to a dealer and challenging them to what they were saying...they had the remote starter out of the vehicle already...when we were done they cut me a check to reinstall the r/s. to tell you the truth, there are only a few people who work in those service depts.that can actually do more than replace parts until its fixed. so i say always challenge them.

Posted By: Fastlearner
Date Posted: March 22, 2006 at 10:28 PM

Amen. I believe that is information that they would have tell in a situation like that. Ask them where the wires are and what specifically they do. What wires did you tap into, ignition?

Posted By: NowYaKnow
Date Posted: March 22, 2006 at 10:56 PM

Well a tv normally only has power/ground/accessory/and sometimes domelight wires so what all did you tap into?

Obviously there are wires in a car that you shouldn't be tapping into for power. Was the car in for warranty service because something was wrong, or a scheduled maintenence? What did you change from the original install to now so that it was "fixed"? Let's hear some more details on the scenario.

Mike

Posted By: ss-installer
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 4:10 AM

tapped into a key switch in ignition harness. power windows quit working so they took it in for warranty. they fixed it and billed us $300.

they said there is a group of wires about the size of a nickel that you cant pull current from.

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Posted By: Fastlearner
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 8:56 AM

If that were true than why hasn't anyone else who has installed anything in that vehicle had problems. I know I have done plenty of things in GM full size trucks that I grabbed wires from the ign. and never had problems. I'm seriously starting to get really mad a dealerships for thinking they have the right to blame aftermarket equiptment for every problem. I know there is a law against voiding warenties and crap but there should be a law against blaming our doodie for their doodiety workers who don't know crap about electronics.

Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 9:18 AM

Just remember that the customer's warranty is not completely void. If they honestly found that the problem was a direct result of your installation, then the warranty claim for that instance will be void. Just reassure the customer that the dealership can not by law void the warranty of the vehicle completely because of one instance. I still don't beleive that tapping into an ignition wire to draw less than 1 amp of current would damage a larger ignition wire.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

Posted By: xtremej
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 10:07 AM

Sounds like a line crap to me. I installed a monitor/dvd combo 3 weeks ago on a 03 suburban and tied into ign wires for it. no problems...Definetly challenge the dealer to showing you exactly what they found "re-paired" I have had to do this only once this year, dealer said remote start damaged bcm and caused the power locks to quit working.. Coincidence, I've known the owner of the car for along time and she contacted previous owner of the car to find out that problem was intermitent for over a year before they traded it in. She still had the slips from taking it to the dealership for them to fix the power locks...... I was p8$$ed. These guys said some pretty bad things about me to the customer not knowing I knew her....I contacted the owner and he actually came to my shop to apologize. The tech was fired later that day, so challenge them to prove what caused the damage.....Let us know how it goes.

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Posted By: mike swanson
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 10:22 AM

I had the same thing in a saturn. I put an alarm in it and got power from a thick red wire under the dash.

Well her car started over heating and she took it in.

They said it was the alarm making the computer think that the car was over heating.

I flat out told the tech he was a moron.

I told the customer to take it to another stealership and if that was the case i would pay for it.

Well the new place found the stat was bad replaced it and the car was fine.

So then i billed the 1st stealer ship for my time and to rewire the alarm. they said they wouldnt pay and i took them to small claims. They paid b4 we even went to court over it.

Posted By: xscash
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 11:13 AM

hey, everyone who ownes a shop has had a customer (who was in the middle of purchassing a new car) tell them the dealer said "if you dont have us do the alarm-remotestarter, you will void your warrantee".... i found a news article that said it was illegal for them to say this .....but i cant find it anymore. i should of framed it. anyone seen this?

a customer told me this same thing ...only to find out that im the shop the dealer uses for their installs. posted_image

Posted By: damageinc97
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 11:54 AM

Sometimes the dealership has a legitamate gripe, but as things are stated, and this is from SEMA, If there is a questionable issue as far as warrenty goes on a modified vehicle, the dealership or service dept. has to prove that the aftermarket product has caused the malfunction, they cant say if you put a monitor in a headrest and the 4WD quits working that it is the installers fault, and I know they tried to do that before, because they dont understand these things.

Posted By: doibuy
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 5:22 PM

I was told by a dealership in AZ that Brown Accessory wire from the Ignition harness actually sends data as well as voltage in the 03 and newer GM full size vehicles (i.e. suburban, tahoe, yukon, silverado, sierra, escalade, etc) and that one of the vehicle we did a TV in had the power seats quit working due to the fact an installer tapped into this wire. They claimed that once they disconnected the TV the seats started working. Now I don't know if there is any truth to this or not, but they weren't trying to stick us with a bill or anything, so I've strayed away from that wire, and haven't had any other cases since then.

Posted By: cntrylvr79
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 6:33 PM

That's amazing since I've been tapping sat radios, overheads, and turn-ons for aftermarket radios to taht brown wire for years. Have never once had a problem with one of them.

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Cause I'm So white and nerdy...
First Class Certi-fried installer

Posted By: kohara73
Date Posted: March 23, 2006 at 8:59 PM

A buddy of mine was made to sign a piece of paper at a GM dealership last year stating that if he installed a remote starter into his new car that he had no warranty. I told him he was nuts and would have taken my $25K elsewhere.

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Keith

Posted By: Hornshockey
Date Posted: March 24, 2006 at 11:15 AM

XsCash -
It's called the Moss-Magnuson Act; basically says that an entire warranty cannot be voided by the installation of an aftermarket accessory. It really goes far beyond that, but that is the part that really applies to our industry. You can check it out here

and kohara, I would tell your friend that what he signed holds no value for the dealer. They included a warranty with the new vehicle and cannot void that warranty because of an aftermarket installation.

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Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while; you could miss it.

Posted By: xscash
Date Posted: March 24, 2006 at 12:43 PM

hornshockey, great that is it and i also found this from sema https://www.enjoythedrive.com/content/?ID=8124

this gets a little more on the steps that should be taken to resolve the arrguement.

we, as installers, shouldnt let a dealer ruin our reputation. this topic is imporant to everyone here. and should be a sticky. too many times dealers have done this.....and here is our defense.