NHTSA Complaint #10605821 — 2005 GMC CANYON

THIS VEHICLE USES A RESISTOR FOR VARIABLE SPEEDS (X4) ON THE VENTILATION BLOWER. DURING CONTINUOUS OR FREQUENT USE (I.E. DEFROST, AIR CONDITIONING) A BURNING SMELL DEVELOPS. THE BURNING SMELL INCREASES OVER TIME AFTER REPEATED USAGE AND THE INCREMENTAL BLOWER SPEED CIRCUITS ARE BURNED OUT AND DISABLED. THE WIRES ARE BLACKENED AND CONNECTORS MELTED AND THE PLASTIC CONNECTING BASE OF THE RESISTOR IS MELTED AND BLACKENED. AT TIMES THE VEHICLE WIRE HARNESS IS AFFECTED. GM HAS A "SERVICE BULLETIN" WHICH PRESCRIBES A "REPAIR" FOR THIS MALFUNCTION (I.E. NEW RESISTOR, PIGTAIL WIRES AND CONNECTORS, AND A BLOWER REPLACEMENT IF REQUIRED) ---- BUT IT DOES NOT FIX THE PROBLEM AND IT OCCURS REPEATEDLY THROUGHOUT OWNERSHIP OF THE VEHICLE. WE HAD TO REPLACE THE RESISTOR AND WIRES IN THIS CIRCUIT AT LEAST 6 TIMES IN THE LAST THREE YEARS. OUR CANYON BEGAN EXPERIENCING THIS PROBLEM AT ABOUT 85,000 MILES. EACH REPLACEMENT (INCLUDING LABOR AND PARTS) COSTS ABOUT $150. I CONTACTED GM LAST YEAR -- THEY GAVE ME A CASE NUMBER BUT WANTED ME TO PAY OUT OF POCKET BY THE HOUR FOR ELECTRICAL TROUBLESHOOTING. I ALSO CONTACTED CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE LAST MONTH WHEN THEY WERE ADVERTISING NEW RECALLS BASED ON SERVICE BULLETINS --- BUT THEY WERE NOT INTERESTED UNLESS AN OPEN FLAME WAS PRESENT IN THE SITUATION. WE EVENTUALLY BYPASSED THIS CIRCUIT BY INSTALLING CORE WIRE, A ONE-WAY SWITCH, AND A FUSE. AT THE VERY LEAST, THIS IS A DISTRACTION. AT THE WORST -- DEFROST, HEAT, A/C, ALL FUNCTIONS INVOLVING THE BLOWER BECOME DISABLED AND THE VEHICLE HARNESS CORE WIRE CAN BECOME DAMAGED. *TR