My Radio Went Stupid - 2008 GMC Sierra

So apparently this is a common issue, but I can’t seem to pinpoint it via Google. 

The radio went into Input Aux mode and nothing works except the clock. No volume, can’t shut it off, and can’t check the settings. The LCD screen also doesn’t dim like it normally does when the lights turn on. Oh and the turn signals stopped clicking. 

Apparently this is a give away that some form of switchgear has decided to stop working properly, which I can’t tell what, because everything seems to still be working fine.

A friend of mine said something similar happened to his 2007 GMC Sierra Classic. He had to replace the headlight switch and it all started working again. My truck is the next gen body style from his, so I don’t know if that could be the same fix. 

Anyone have an idea where to start looking? 

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid :

I can’t vouch for your generation, but I had similar issues when the headlight switch was failing on my 92 Suburban. It would also be very GM-like to carry over a somewhat flawed design from generation to generation over a 20+ year timespan. 

I had a kinda similar issue with my 2014, where the radio turned on, but didn't produce any sound.  Plus, I seem to recall some other oddities.  Pulling the radio fuse and then putting it back in fixed it.  Some kinda weird reset.  Not sure if that would apply to yours, but an easy test to see.

-Rob

rob_lewis said:

I had a kinda similar issue with my 2014, where the radio turned on, but didn't produce any sound.  Plus, I seem to recall some other oddities.  Pulling the radio fuse and then putting it back in fixed it.  Some kinda weird reset.  Not sure if that would apply to yours, but an easy test to see.

-Rob

The proper term that GM engineers use for that is "global reset." You would not believe how many things that they have you fix by doing a global reset. The '14+ radios are a whole 'nother johnnie from the '13-earliers, though

I think I have the stock stereo from my '10  Silverado if it cn help.  LMK

NordicSaab said:

I think I have the stock stereo from my '10  Silverado if it cn help.  LMK

Can't swap in a used OEM radio on the '07+ trucks. When the radio is installed and programmed, it has the VIN burned into it, and unlike older radios, you can't rewrite the vehicle VIN to unlock it. They are one-use radios.

NickD said:

NordicSaab said:

I think I have the stock stereo from my '10  Silverado if it cn help.  LMK

Can't swap in a used OEM radio on the '07+ trucks. When the radio is installed and programmed, it has the VIN burned into it, and unlike older radios, you can't rewrite the vehicle VIN to unlock it. They are one-use radios.

Why in the world would that be a thing.  This is not 1995, people don’t steal stereos. 

grover said:

NickD said:

NordicSaab said:

I think I have the stock stereo from my '10  Silverado if it cn help.  LMK

Can't swap in a used OEM radio on the '07+ trucks. When the radio is installed and programmed, it has the VIN burned into it, and unlike older radios, you can't rewrite the vehicle VIN to unlock it. They are one-use radios.

Why in the world would that be a thing.  This is not 1995, people don’t steal stereos. 

GM does some shockingly stupid things. I learned about this the hard way. A customer came in who had just bought a used '07-'13 down at some GM dealer in Maryland. When he first looked at it, I guess some radio functions didn't work and the dealer said they'd put in another radio for him before he picked it up. He goes to pick it up and it has a used OEM radio in it (probably because the dealer didn't want to put a new $750 radio in and cut into their sale profits), but it's locked. Dealer tells him just to take it to his local GM dealer when he gets home and they can just unlock it with a scan tool (Should've been a warning sign for him, if it was just that easy, why didn't they do it for him right then and there or when they installed the radio?) So he brings it in to us, tells us the story and we go and try and unlock it and there's no Radio Unlock command in the Tech II for the '07+ trucks. Call GM and they tell me it's a one-shot radio and the customer has to buy a new one. Tell the customer and he goes ballistic, calls the dealer he bought it from to try and get them to pay for the new radio and they tell him that he miled out of their used-car grace period.

NickD said:

rob_lewis said:

I had a kinda similar issue with my 2014, where the radio turned on, but didn't produce any sound.  Plus, I seem to recall some other oddities.  Pulling the radio fuse and then putting it back in fixed it.  Some kinda weird reset.  Not sure if that would apply to yours, but an easy test to see.

-Rob

The proper term that GM engineers use for that is "global reset." You would not believe how many things that they have you fix by doing a global reset. The '14+ radios are a whole 'nother johnnie from the '13-earliers, though

This surprisingly fixed the issue. So we’ll see how long this works until the next time. I’ve had the truck going on 3 years now without an issue though.  

NickD said:

grover said:

NickD said:

NordicSaab said:

I think I have the stock stereo from my '10  Silverado if it cn help.  LMK

Can't swap in a used OEM radio on the '07+ trucks. When the radio is installed and programmed, it has the VIN burned into it, and unlike older radios, you can't rewrite the vehicle VIN to unlock it. They are one-use radios.

Why in the world would that be a thing.  This is not 1995, people don’t steal stereos. 

GM does some shockingly stupid things. I learned about this the hard way. A customer came in who had just bought a used '07-'13 down at some GM dealer in Maryland. When he first looked at it, I guess some radio functions didn't work and the dealer said they'd put in another radio for him before he picked it up. He goes to pick it up and it has a used OEM radio in it (probably because the dealer didn't want to put a new $750 radio in and cut into their sale profits), but it's locked. Dealer tells him just to take it to his local GM dealer when he gets home and they can just unlock it with a scan tool (Should've been a warning sign for him, if it was just that easy, why didn't they do it for him right then and there or when they installed the radio?) So he brings it in to us, tells us the story and we go and try and unlock it and there's no Radio Unlock command in the Tech II for the '07+ trucks. Call GM and they tell me it's a one-shot radio and the customer has to buy a new one. Tell the customer and he goes ballistic, calls the dealer he bought it from to try and get them to pay for the new radio and they tell him that he miled out of their used-car grace period.

I already dealt with something like this, I swapped out the climate control module from a 2010 truck and my A/C stopped working, ended up the VIN number had to be programmed to the controller. $200 later and it was working. 

As far as the one shot parts go, I think it has to do with how often they're stolen and stripped. They one off all they can to reduce swappable status. 

SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:

NickD said:

rob_lewis said:

I had a kinda similar issue with my 2014, where the radio turned on, but didn't produce any sound.  Plus, I seem to recall some other oddities.  Pulling the radio fuse and then putting it back in fixed it.  Some kinda weird reset.  Not sure if that would apply to yours, but an easy test to see.

-Rob

The proper term that GM engineers use for that is "global reset." You would not believe how many things that they have you fix by doing a global reset. The '14+ radios are a whole 'nother johnnie from the '13-earliers, though

This surprisingly fixed the issue. So we’ll see how long this works until the next time. I’ve had the truck going on 3 years now without an issue though.  

I have had to do this a couple of times with our Merc.  The radio just acts stupid and needs rebooted.