NHTSA Complaint #11395164 — 2017 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN

VEHICLE DASH AND HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF WHILE DRIVING, ENGINE STALLS AND DIES, POWER STEERING BECOMES INOPERATIVE. TRANSMISSION POPS OUT OF GEAR AND FREEWHEELS. SERVICE STABILITRACK LIGHT. VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR MY WIFE AND 5 KIDS WHEN THIS HAPPENS ON CURVY BACKROADS AT NIGHT LIKE JUST HAPPENED LAST NIGHT! THIS IS ALSO THE SAME PROBLEM AS OUR PREVIOUS CHEVY TAHOE SO WE KNEW THE PROBLEM WAS LIKELY RELATED TO POOR QUALITY BATTERY CABLES THAT ARE DEGRADING PREMATURELY. THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING ON A 3-4 YEAR OLD VEHICLE. AFTER SEARCHING A GM WEB FORUM AND FINDING OTHER PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE, THERE WAS A REFERENCE TO GM TSB 18-NA-161 ON THIS EXACT ISSUE I AM ABSOLUTELY AMAZED THAT GM HAS NOT DONE A RECALL ON THIS YET, AS IT IS A MAJOR SAFETY FAILURE LIKELY TO CAUSE A CRASH AND POTENTIALLY A FATALITY. I CHECKED THE TIGHTNESS ON THE CONNECTIONS BY HAND, WHICH WERE BOTH VERY TIGHT, THEN I RESEATED AND TORQUED THE BATTERY TERMINAL CONNECTION. I MEASURED THE RESISTANCE ACROSS THE POWER JUMPER, LUG TO LUG. THIS IS GM PART NUMBER 84494554, AND I MEASURED 0.3 OHMS ACROSS THIS LITTLE SECTION OF WIRE AT MULTIPLE POINTS ON THE LUGS. TRIMMING BACK THE INSULATION AND CONTINUING THE MEASURE, THE HIGHEST RESISTANCE APPEARS TO BE COMING FROM THE WIRE TO THE LUG CONNECTION AT THE FUSE BUS, AND NOT THE CRIMP CONNECTION AT THE BATTERY TERMINAL, AND NOT THE BOLTED CONNECTION TO THE BUS. THERE WERE SOME STRANDS BROKEN AT THIS CONNECTION. I MADE AND ADDED A TEMPORARY JUMPER OF THE SAME WIRE GAGE, AND THE RESISTANCE ACROSS THE SAME MEASURED POINTS DROPPED TO 0.0 OHMS. ABSOLUTELY A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE IF THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY DIES WITHOUT WARNING. I CAN SEE THIS SAME ISSUE HAPPENING ONCE, I FORGAVE GM ONCE YEARS AGO, BUT WITH THE SAME ISSUE HAPPENING TO TWO DIFFERENT VEHICLES 8 MODEL YEARS APART, THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BUY GM PRODUCT IN THE FUTURE.