2005 Chevrolet Uplander: won't start

Filed May 5, 2014 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 92,419 miles · PA

1st time wife driving in parking lot. Engine shut off, no power steering, brakes, dash board instrument panel went off. Total power failure. Couldn't start, not sure what she did to finally get it started. Not serviced @ this time. 2nd time vehicle would not start. Towed to pepboy's. Could not diagnose problem, but upon putting back together it started working. I drove to gm dealership. Could not diagnose because was not displaying issue. I had their master mechanic drive for week and he claims everything running fine. 3rd time < than month after 2nd time I'm driving +/- 40mph. Come up to intersection, pump brakes twice in quick succession and dashboard emergency light comes on along w/ other warning lights. No time to tell what they were. Depress brake to come to stop @ intersection and dashboard goes back to normal. I start out when light turns green and I get to +/- 30mph pump brakes twice again and engine shut off, no power steering, brakes, lights turned off "driving at night", dashboard instrument panel went off. Again total power failure. I put in park, would not start, turning key did nothing, no power whatsoever. I pulled key out and went to open door but could not open or unlock door. I could not get out of vehicle!!!! At this point I managed to flag someone down to assist me. They suggested to push off to side of road. I put key back in and put in drive "hard to do because everything is digitally displayed" and got to side of road. I tried to open door again and this time it opened. As of 04-05-14 vehicle back at same gm dealership where they claim before gm will even consider any defective parts & paying for anything. I first have to pay them to remove after market radio that previous owner installed to return vehicle back to factory condition. I'm still not sure what gm will take responsibility for even after they do this & when it happens again.

Filed Aug 11, 2013 · Electrical · 112,380 miles · IN

Car will not start without revving engine, sliding doors quit completely by both cables breaking within 2 weeks of each other. I come from a long line of gm family workers and I will never buy gm again!

Filed Jun 30, 2011 · Electrical · 92,226 miles · VA

Purchased 2005 chevy uplander april 2010. Not even a month or less having it had to replace voltage regulator/alternator/radio/starter. The lights would dim, flicker, wouldn't start. Now one year later the same problem as return and this time it cut off going down the road. It wont start sometimes and the voltage reader goes up and down. It is the same problem occurring. This is very unsafe to be doing this and you should have not to replace the same parts every year!

Filed Dec 13, 2010 · Engine · NC

My van will cut off while sitting still in park and also when I try to crank it sometimes it won't crank and then if it does it will cut back off.

Filed Jul 6, 2009 · Fuel system · MO

I have a 2005 chevy uplander and if have 1/4 tank of gas on downward slop it will not start. However, I have a the federal safety agency # but they say my van wasn't in the right month for that!!

Filed May 14, 2009 · Body · 54,000 miles · WA

We purchased a used 2005 chevy uplander from a dealership in vancouver washington. We only had the van for a couple of weeks and we were having problems with the drivers side door not closing. We would close it and it would latch then a couple seconds later it would reopen. We took the van into a chevy dealer to have the door repaired. They repaired it , but only to have the same problem accrue a day later. We called the dealer and took it back in only the dealer checked the door to see if it was working or not . The door did the same thing of closing then opening right back up. The dealer then drove it around to the back of the shop , only to later have the mechanics say that they could not get the door to malfunction. So they called us to pick up the vehicle. I went and picked it up and on my way home from the dealer the door was trying to open well I was driving . It did it quiet a few times. So I took the vehicle all the way back to vancouver to the dealer we bought it. I did not want to have to drive this van with our children setting right beside the door and something happen. I told them this and they said that the only thing they would do is take the vehicle as a trade in. They were not willing to look at the vehicle at all and we had just bought it from them five months before that. I am scared to drive the van on the highway because I never know when it is going to malfunction. The van also sometimes will not start I told the dealer about that to and they didn't know what to do because we never knew when the van would malfunction like this to.

Filed Feb 22, 2008 · Electrical · 40,000 miles · MI

I have had to jump start my 2005 chevrolet uplander several times. The car has been taken to the dealership three times (today 2-21-2008 being the third). The battery was replaced once, the radio was replaced the second time. I have not received a diagnoses to the problem today, but the vehicle would not start even with a jump from a tow truck. The only item installed after market on this vehicle was a sit and lift seat, installed by the dealership at a cost of $5000. The seat has performed without failure, other than a few times it would not operate unless the side sliding door on the opposite side of the vehicle was opened or closed, depending on it status at the time of the failure.

Filed Jan 14, 2008 · Electrical · 62,000 miles · NC

When I let off the accelerator the lights flicker and the blower slows down. Also, sometimes when I try to start it, the engine won't start.

Filed Oct 23, 2007 · Brakes, Electrical · 49,043 miles · OK

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet uplander. The sliding door on the rear driver side would not stay latched. The contact called the dealer and manufacturer and they stated that she was responsible for having the door repaired. The vehicle has been in the shop six times now for the latch failure and the door opening on its own. Each time the vehicle was retrieved from the dealer, they stated that it was repaired when it was not. When the button was pressed to close the door, it would begin to shut and an alarm would sound; however, it would not shut and flew open while driving. The instrument panel does not indicate that the door is ajar. The rear passenger side door is beginning to experience the same failure. Neither the weather nor the speed were factors. The current mileage was 51,800 and failure mileage was 49,043. The dealer stated the vehicle would not start, check brake condition, and humming noise left front hub area. Updated 12/12/07

Filed Aug 25, 2007 · Electrical, Fuel system · 11,000 miles · CA · 1 injury

The car intermittently tries to start the crank keeps turning but does not start. As well as I was traveling on freeway with a big rig on the side of me and the car stalled and steering locked. Thank god I managed to glide over to the exit lane. I was terrified as was my passenger. When I looked at the gauges I noticed I was out of gas, but I had just put in $20 . Chevy sent out tow truck to give me gas, but car still would not start. Finally hours later car was taken to chevy. When uplander was finished they said it was electrical short due to water in lines. Weather was great no rain or puddles anywhere. Uplander almost stalled on another night lights dimmed and tires stopped ,but then it worked fine. Strange very!!! Driver side sliding door opens or shuts when it wants. My daughter was in her car seat and I pushed button to close door she put her foot up towards door and it shut and locked. Luckily her tennis shoes were a little big so only minor bruising occurred. However my daughter is terrified of car. Also I have already put 6 new tires on car because they were bald at 13,000 miles first time. Tires in front are bald again. Uplander is not stable to drive on highway.

Filed Jul 9, 2007 · Transmission · 17,000 miles · KY

I own a chevrolet, uplander that has been giving me a problem with the rear end. It did not start until I had 17,000 miles on it. The car vibrated in the rear axle. I tried to get it fixed at the dealer. They kept saying it was different things, but I still have the problem. Have had it to the dealer 15 times, and the problem was getting worse. I am afraid to drive it, afraid that it will lock , and I will have an accident. The vibration was getting real bad when turning a corner.

Filed Feb 8, 2007 · Electrical, Engine · 13,000 miles · IA

Tl* - the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet uplander. The transmission failed at 11,000 miles. The mechanic repaired it instead of replacing, it and it continued to leak. The dealer replaced the transmission, and the new one from the manufacturer was also leaking. The vehicle was in the repair shop for 16 days, and the new transmission had to be resealed. When starting the vehicle the ignition was sticking in the start mode for 2 minutes after releasing the key. The passenger automatic sliding door did not latch shut, no warning indicator light appeared nor did it register with onstar as the door was being un latched. When attempting to open the door it will not open because the latch did not engage. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The contact was concerned about the safety risk involved. The contact filed a complaint with the bbb, and spoken to gm about all of the failures. The gear shiftws very difficult to move from park to reverse. All of the above listed failures occurred frequently. The most recent was the door and the starter. The starter failure occurred 15 to 20 times. The gear shift failed every time the vehicle was driven. The door failed 20 times. The current and failure mileage was 13,000. *ak the engine would crank, but it wouldn't start, the drivers heated seat was inoperative, there was an oil leak from the crankshaft seal, the power sliding door was inoperative. Updated 03/30/07.