Spark EV 2016 2LT - Flashing High Beams Randomly at Night

[alanlcit]

Hi, a couple months ago, my high beams started flashing randomly at night.

This only happens when the headlights are on (so I either have auto mode turned on, and it's dark enough to engage the actual headlights rather than just DRL, or I have the headlight selection in the "on" position).

It comes and goes randomly. Doesn't happen on every trip. Sometimes seems related to vibration, sometimes doesn't. When they flash on, pushing forward on the headlight stalk does NOT always turn them off (they can stay "stuck" on, unless I turn off the headlights and then turn them on again by rotating the selection knob).

Sometimes the brights flash on and off rapidly, sometimes they just turn on and stay on, until I am successful in turning them off again.

Does not appear to be related to weather or conditions (other than darkness, when in auto mode).

Does not appear to get noticeably worse if I lightly jiggle the headlight stalk...everything seems secure.

Someone is going to go full road rage on me if I don't get this fixed soon. I'm taking the car to the dealer for the recall service on the battery software to prevent "sudden bricking" of the vehicle soon, so I'll have them look at it then, but was wondering whether anyone had experienced this and had it fixed, with a particular root cause.

 

[NORTON]

... I'm taking the car to the dealer for the recall service on the battery software to prevent "sudden bricking" of the vehicle soon, ...

Never heard of the headlight problem before. Good Luck. Sounds like a tricky problem to trouble shoot if it doesn't happen consistently.

And I never heard of the 'Bricking' recall. Do you have any info you can share?

 

[alanlcit]

... I'm taking the car to the dealer for the recall service on the battery software to prevent "sudden bricking" of the vehicle soon, ...

Never heard of the headlight problem before. Good Luck. Sounds like a tricky problem to trouble shoot if it doesn't happen consistently.

And I never heard of the 'Bricking' recall. Do you have any info you can share?

Sorry, I didn't have the recall in front of me so I just summarized the worst case. It is the recall for the "High Voltage Battery State Estimation", issued in August 2017.

https://gm.oemdtc.com/7882/17059-customer-satisfaction-program-range-estimation-incorrect-2014-2016-chevrolet-spark-ev

I got the impression that perhaps it was related to the recent Bolt recall, but I have no evidence for that and it is probably a distinctly different issue (that Bolt issue is variously described as an issue with cells in the battery pack, requiring battery pack replacement and "Due to a battery low-voltage condition, the car may incorrectly report remaining range at low states of charge and lose propulsion before the customer expects.").

Anyway, yes, the high beam issue is going to be difficult for them to reproduce. I'm going to drive around with the headlights on (rather than auto) during the day and confirm that it will happen in that state, as well. That would make it easier for them to reproduce as they're mostly going to be working on the car in the daytime...

 

[alanlcit]

Looks like this happens reliably during the day, if I force the headlight selector to the "headlights on" position, rather than "auto" or "parking lights". So that's good. Basically, if the headlights are on (not DRL), then this issue tends to occur. So at least it will not be difficult for them to reproduce at the dealership.

It's very odd. I suppose it is a bad contact (or shorting of some form) in the headlight stalk, but who knows.

We will see...

 

[alanlcit]

This issue is resolved, it appeared to be a loose contact in a wiring harness. They tightened it up and the problem went away.

Other issues addressed:

Inaccurate BSE Recall - closed.
Random nut zooming around left rear door panel - found and removed.
Excessive wind noise from right front windshield area - determined to be related to weatherstripping on front triangle window assembly, new part (window + weatherstrip) ordered from GM and replaced. The noise is gone...
Software updated (I think) to version 16.40-42475606. This resulted in ridiculous mi/kWh until I reset it, and also all the charging alerts were turned back on (honking when plugged in, etc.).

Spark EV is back to full strength...