Blue Lightning

I've got a debate going on so to speak about BCM Calibrations on the 2009 HHR's. I've been told by a few that calibrations cannot be done and most others have said that they can be done. What I'm doing right now is trying to see who is right. I would think that you would have to calibrate it for instance if you need to reprogram your remote or got a new remote. I'm not by any means a tech dude in this regard but of course I can piece some things together. This might be a question that Chevy Mngr can answer as well!

Thanks

Blue Lightning

solman98

I would imagine there are a few things that can be changed and a lot that can not.

badcoyote

I was told there is , I got a 09 hhr ss and had it a week and got a dead battrey from sitting for 3 days . Anyway I asked if anyone had this problem
and someone told me to check your BCM..... might need programmed to 12.9
something about onstar will go into sarch mode every 8 minutes to find your car if {it} dont know where you parked at . I was also told its a dealer repair,
I got a jump start from roadside ast. and took it to the dealer and they found nothing wrong and charged up the battrey and it never happen again .
Hope this helps Jimmy

ChevyMgr

Not sure what you mean by calibrations, but all BCMs can be programmed or have updated programming performed if new software is available.

FYI: The remote door locks program through the RCDLR, not the BCM.

Blue Lightning

Thanks Chevy Mgr! Understood on the door looks. That makes more sense when you put it that way.

Well...here goes...

Basically I had contacted GM about the idea of putting in a dome light with the override switch in my HHR. I bought my HHR August of 2009 and of course checked everything out but it was based upon the 2008 manual that I pulled up from the web. Sure there's always a change from year to year but I never would've thought that they would elminate the dome override switch. The idea stemmend from the fact that GM decided not to carry over the dome light with the override switch from 2008 to 2009. Even in the 2009 manual it says that it's supposed to be there however GM did not edit it out nor let anyone know that the it was a regular dome light. I brought it to the attention of the right people and after going back and forth, they admitted they made the mistake and gave me non-monetary compensation for it. I wasn't trying to get money of course I was just trying to get the issue resolved. However that did not fix the problem of course. The light basically stays on the whole time if any door is open so when one is detailing the car or tailgating or even getting a new head unit and speakers, concern about battery rundown exists. Then of course there's the problem with my radio not being able to control the chimes as my radio does not have this feature and those chimes are loud as every service advisor I've talked to has mentioned.

My idea that I brought to the execs at GM after talking to some dealerships is that if the 2008 dome light with the override switch could be installed into the 2009 that would solve the problem for any customers like myself that don't have a dome light with the override switch in their 2009 HHR. That would also fix the chimes issue as well because theoretically the radio could be modified to do. I wasn't trying to get it done for free as I was perfectly willing to pay for the part (which any dealership could order the part which last I checked, it was about $50) however they tried to tell me that the wiring was different for the 2009 HHR. After talking to about 5 dealerships around my area, it was confirmed that the wiring was still the same and that only the dome light itself was changed. However, they all said that in order for the 2009 HHR to accept a 2008 dome light with the override switch the BCM had to be calibrated to do so and that they could not calibrate the BCM without GM's approval. GM would have to send out a memo to all of the dealerships saying that calibrations were permissible. No problem as I understand rules so I contacted the appropriate people about and was told that the calibration feature for the 2009 HHR was removed. I found that hard to believe since I had already talked to the dealerships and they confirmed that it could be done. That's where I'm at right now. I'm trying to figure out the real deal.

Why am I doing all of this? Because I was at a tailgating event where there was a lot of HHR's (several were 2009's like mine) and the main complaint was that except for literally taking out a fuse, there was no way to shut off the lights. The question of the day was why would GM do something like this to a vehicle that was made for tailgating (and of course a lot of other things). I gave them them the same answer that GM gave me: A survey was done and it was said that customers did not want the dome light with the override switch in it anymore. At the end of the sentence, there was a resounding "Yeah...right." Yeah, I know it was because they were cutting corners which is why there are no floor lights in the vehicle as well but that's a different story. I did all of this going back and forth with GM only to provide an option to solve the problem...not to try to get something for free. If my idea could work, then that would provide a viable option for HHR Owners like myself that have the 2009 model. I don't know if the same issus exists for the 2010 models so I can speak on that of course.

That's the story so far!

Blue

HHorange

Wouldn't the lights still go out in 20 minutes anyway? or am I missing something?

Blue Lightning

Only if all of the doors are closed with the windows down. Unfortunately not with any of the doors open. If you are tailgating for example and you have the hatch open, the lights stay on almost indefinitely until the battery is drained. With the doors closed of course, yes the lights turn off usually within 5 minutes or stay on at the max of 30 minutes. I had the doors open playing my music while I was chilling outside one day and after an hour, the lights still did not go off. That was because my doors were open. If any door is open, the lights stay on continously.

Blue

skyeglen

Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier than all the runaround from GM to just pull the fuse, plug a wire with a teminal end into the hot side, put one side of a fuse on the wire, connect a wire to the other side of the fuse and run that wire to wherever you want a switch, front, back or hidden somewhere. The other side of the switch would run back to the other side where the fuse came out of.

Just flip the switch when you want eliminate the dome. Same as pulling the fuse but you don't have to get to the fuse or replace it after your done and want the dome again.

skyeglen

Sorry Blue, just saw your post in the other thread. I had forgoten there was a post in how-to.

Hope you get it sorted out with GM.

Blue Lightning

Thanks I appreciate it. You would think that if a customer came up with a solution to a problem and the solution would at the very least offer an option for customers to use, GM would take me up on it. They don't even need to give me credit for coming up with it....let's just get it done.

Blue