2005 Chevrolet Colorado Electrical System
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
THE PASSLOCK ANTI THEFT SYSTEM ON MY 05 CHEVY COLORADO FAILED THIS WINTER LEAVING ME STRANDED OUT IN THE COLD FOR A HALF HOUR OR MORE ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. TO RESET IT YOU MUST TURN THE KEY FORWARD AND WAIT TEN MINUTES, THEN REPEAT THAT TWO MORE TIMES BEFORE IT WILL RESET AND THEN THE VEHICLE WILL START. HOWEVER IT TAKES A SPECIAL TYPE OF SCANNER THAT A DEALERSHIP MUST PLUG INTO THE INTERNET TO RESET THE CODE SO UNLESS YOU PAY A DEALERSHIP TO DO THAT YOU HAVE TO KEEP TRYING TO START YOUR CAR (UP TO A HALF HOUR OF TRYING) FOR THE NEXT 100 IGNITION CYCLES. I HAD TO DO THIS IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY THIS YEAR IN -10 TO -30 DEGREE WEATHER AND NO CHEVY DEALERSHIP WOULD RESET THE CODE FOR LESS THAN $90. *TR
CHANGED THE BATTERY. CAUSES THE DOOR SWITCH TO GO OUT. THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW, THE DOOR LOCKS AND KEYLESS ENTRY WILL NOT WORK. YOU NEED TO HOPE THE WINDOW IS NOT DOWN IF YOU CHANGE BATTERIES OR HAVE A DEAD BATTERY NEEDING A JUMP START. THE DEALER CHARGED ME $400 FOR A NEW SWITCH. A CHECK OF THE INTERNET SHOWS MANY MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR
ON 23 JUNE 2010 I WAS DRIVING MY 2005 CHEVY COLORADO TO WORK WHEN I BEGAN TO SMELL BURNING WIRES. I SHUT OFF MY VENT FAN SWITCH AND THE SMELL WENT AWAY. I TURNED IT BACK ON AND THE SMELL RETURNED. LATER AFTER WORK I FOUND A CHARRED WIRE CONNECTOR AND RESISTOR NEXT TO THE FAN MOTOR. THE RESISTOR HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY REPLACED IN 2006 WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS UNDER WARRANTY. THERE ARE ALOT OF POSTS ON-LINE FROM OWNERS OF THE SAME VEHICLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE. I CAN TELL THE SHORT STARTED IN THE RESISTOR WHERE THE CONNECTOR HOOKS INTO IT. THE PART NUMBER OF THE RESISTOR IS 015218254, AND THE CONNECTOR IS 015306069. THE RESISTOR IS MADE IN SLOVENIA. I FEEL THIS NEEDS TO BE A RECALLED ITEM BECAUSE OF THE FIRE HAZARD. *TR
WHILE DRIVING OUT OF THE BLUE CAR SAYS "POWER REDUCED. TRACTION FAULT." THEN THE CAR ROLLED TO A STOP. POWER STEERING WAS GONE. ALL ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS SHUT DOWN. CAR WOULD NOT START UNLESS SITTING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. THEN IT RUNS FOR ABOUT A MINUTE THEN SHUTS DOWN AGAIN. THIS REPEATEDLY HAPPEN SEVERAL TIMES ON THE WAY HOME. *TR
2005 CHEVROLET COLORADO 5 CYLINDER 4 WHEEL DRIVE AUTOMATIC 68,000 MI ENGINE MISFIRE 7 TIMES TAKEN TO GARAGE $1,300 PAID AND NO ONE COULD FIX PROBLEM. FINALLY TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER WHO CHARGED $325 TO CHANGE SPARK PLUGS AND THEN ADMITTED THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THIS ENGINE. INTAKE VALVE SEALS ARE DEFECTIVE. NOW VEHICLE NEEDS A $500 REPAIR OF FRONT TRANSAXLE SEAL. ALL ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS ON THIS VEHICLE ARE OF INFERIOR QUALITY, I HAVE EXPERIENCED 3 FAILURES OF STOPLAMP WIRING,4 FAILURES OF SIGNAL LIGHT WIRING, AND 2 FAILURES OF A/C BLOWER MOTOR, ALL DUE TO POOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS. MY CONCERN IS THAT IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT THE AIR BAGS WOULD NOT DEPLOY BECAUSE OF A SIMILAR PROBLEM. THIS IS A POTENTIAL SAFETY ISSUE, AND SHOULD BE EVALUATED. *TR
SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS I HAVE BEEN LEFT STRANDED TEMPORARILY BY MY COLORADO NOT CRANKING. THERE SEEMS TO BE NO RHYME OR REASON TO IT. SOME DAYS IT CRANKS FINE. OTHERS, IT MAY TAKE AS LONG AS 45 MINUTES AND SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO GET IT TO START. I HAVE FOUND MANY FELLOW COLORADO OWNERS HAVE HAD THIS SAME ISSUE AND IT SEEMS TO BE CAUSED BY A FAULTY PASS CODE SWITCH/SENSOR IN THE IGNITION. I BELIEVE THAT THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL ISSUE DUE TO NUMEROUS OWNERS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR
THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS OFF AND ON. ON AVERAGE, ABOUT TWICE A WEEK, WHEN I TRY TO START MY CAR USING MY ORIGINAL FACTORY KEYS (I'VE TRIED BOTH WITH SAME RESULTS) THE SECURITY ICON LIGHTS UP AND THE TRUCK FAILS TO START. I THEN HAVE TO WAIT 10 MINUTES FOR IT TO RESET. I'VE CONTACTED GM ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND THEY HAVE TOLD ME TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AFTER THAT HAPPENS. WHEN I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO STOP BY A DEALERSHIP, THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY NEEDED THE PROBLEM TO HAPPEN THERE FOR THEM TO DIAGNOSE AND THAT SCANNING IT WOULD DO NO GOOD. WHEN I HAVE TO BE SOMEWHERE, I HAVE TO NOW PLAN TO LEAVE AT LEAST 10 MINUTES EARLY IN CASE MY TRUCK DOESN'T START. SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS 2 OR THREE TIME IN A ROW AND I'M WAITING 20-30 MINUTES FOR THE SYSTEM TO RESET. I'VE DISCOVERED ONLINE THAT A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE PASSLOCK SYSTEM. *TR
THE THIRD PIN IN A PLUG THAT CONTROLS THE HEAT/AC SHORTS AND CAUSES BURNS MARKS IN THE INSIDE OF THE PLUG AND ALMOST THROUGH THE PLUG. HAD TO REPLACE THE HARNESS. THERE ARE ALSO COMPLAINTS ON COLORADOFANS.COM OF THE SAME PROBLEM. THE PART NUMBER IS A FEATURED PART ON GMPARTSDIREC.COM. PART # PK15218254 HTTP://GMPARTSDIRECT.COM/RESULTS.CFM?SINGLEPART=1&PARTNUMBER=PK15218254 COLORADOFANS.COM LINK IS: HTTP://COLORADOFANS.COM/FORUMS/VIEWTOPIC.PHP?F=8&T=48293 THIS HAS POTENTIAL TO BE A FIRE HAZARD AND PEOPLE SHOULD PROBABLY BE GETTING A RECALL OR REFUND ON THE PARTS THEY ARE HAVING TO REPLACE. *TR
2005 CHEVY COLORADO. BLOWER MOTOR FAILURE ON LOWEST 3 OF 4 FAN SETTINGS. DID ONLINE RESEARCH, LEARNED COMMON FAILURE WAS RESISTOR / CONNECTOR (MELTING OF WIRES AND CONNECTOR). CHECKED MINE. IT SHOWED SIGNS OF OVERHEATING (GREY PLASTIC TURNED BROWN ON ONE OF THE FOUR PINS. BOUGHT NEW RESISTOR AND CONNECTOR FROM GM DEALER AND SELF-INSTALLED. BLOWER NOW WORKS ON LOWEST AND HIGHEST SETTINGS ONLY. CALLED GM HQ. THEY SAID TAKE IT TO DEALER; NO RECALL OR SERVICE BULLETIN OUT YET. SEEMS TO BE A PRETTY COMMON FAILURE BASED ON WEB SEARCHES. I'M SAVING RECEIPTS IN HOPES GM ISSUES A RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE HAS AN ELECTRICAL FIRE. I DO HAVE PICTURES OF MY FAILED COMPONENTS I CAN EMAIL TO YOU IF YOU WANT AND I HAVE LINKS TO THE ONLINE INFORMATION I FOUND RELATED TO THIS ISSUE. THE ACTUAL FAILURE DATE WAS PROBABLY SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, IT HAS BEEN WORKING INTERMITTENTLY ON LOWER SETTINGS; IT FINALLY STOPPED ALL TOGETHER ON LOWER THREE SETTINGS AT THE END OF NOVEMBER AND IT WAS DEC 5TH WHEN I BOUGHT A NEW RESISTOR AND CONNECTOR. *TR
DRIVER INFORMATION CENTER ON A 2005 CHEVY COLORADO Z71 EXTEND CAB P/U SWITCHES FROM ENGLISH TO SPANISH. MILES CHANGE TO KM. ALL WITHOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING. TRUCK HAS 36,500 MILES ON IT. DEALERSHIP SAYS THE DIC IS BAD AND NEEDS REPLACED. OF COURSE THEY FIRST TOLD ME THAT IT WILL BE COVERED UNDER THE SPEEDOMETER SETTLEMENT FOR OTHER GH DIC'S. NOT! THIS IS A FOUR HUNDRED PLUS DOLLAR REPAIR. PROBLEM STARTED ABOUT 32K MILES. *TR
THE NHTSA ITEM NUMBER FOR THIS PROBLEM IS 10013546 MY 05 CHEVROLET COLORADO TRUCK HAS A FAN SPEED SETTING OF 0-4 WITH 0 BEING OFF AND 4 BEING HIGH. ABOUT A WEEK AGO SPEEDS 1-3 STOPPED WORKING LEAVING ONLY OFF OR HIGH. THIS TOLD ME IT WAS THE FAN RESISTOR. ONCE I FOUND THE RESISTOR I NOTICED THE PIGTAIL CONNECTOR AND THE RESISTOR TERMINALS WERE MELTED. I ASSUME THIS IS FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT. AFTER A QUICK SEARCH ONLINE I NOTICED THERE WERE OTHERS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. THE ONLY REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR THE PROBLEM ARE THE SAME PARTS AND HAVE NOT BEEN RE-ENGINEERED. WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE SAME PROBLEM DOWN THE ROAD.. THIS IS DEFIANTLY A FIRE HAZARD AND MALTING IS ONLY 1 STEP AWAY FROM THE FLASH POINT OF PLASTICS. TO THIS MOMENT GM HAS NOT ISSUED A VOLUNTARY RECALL ON THE VEHICLE. CHEVY REFUSED TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS BUT DID OFFER TO SEND ME A SERVICE CERTIFICATE WORTH $200. THAT GREAT BUT IT DOESN'T FIX THE FIRE HAZARD, NOR THE RECURRING PROBLEMS. *TR
WHILE DRIVING, THE RADIO WILL LOSE POWER, THEN THE A/C WILL STOP WORKING, THEN THE ENTIRE DASH WILL LOSE POWER (NO SPEED, TAC OR GAS GAUGES). THEN ALL WARNING/ FAILURE LIGHTS COME ON. WILL RESET AFTER YOU TURN CAR OFF. BEEN TO DEALER 7 TIMES FOR SAME PROBLEM. *NM
LEFT POWER WINDOW, POWER DOOR LOCKS, CLOCK RADIO, DOME LIGHT QUIT WORKING RANDOMLY. DEALER CANNOT DUPLICATE PROBLEM. ONSTAR DOESN'T WORK SOMETIMES. BATTERY SEEMS TO GO DEAD IF IT SITS MORE THAN 5 DAYS, REMOTE FOR DOOR LOCKS RANGE IS HORRIBLE BUT THEY SAY IT'S NORMAL TO HAVE TO STAND RIGHT NEXT TO THE TRUCK TO UNLOCK / LOCK IT. *JB
Trend Over Time
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Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2005 Chevrolet Colorado has 38 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.