GM bulletin: coin in window switch can drain your battery
GM service bulletin: coin under window switch drains battery
GM bulletin: coin in window switch can drain your battery
Dead car in the morning? GM warns a coin under the window switch can drain batteries on Chevrolet, GMC and Buick models. See the simple fix and how to avoid it.
2025-12-16T17:48:18+03:00
2025-12-16T17:48:18+03:00
2025-12-16T17:48:18+03:00
Owners of newer Chevrolet, GMC and Buick models have increasingly run into a frustrating morning surprise: the car was fine the night before, but by dawn it was dead, refusing to start and sending them in search of a jump pack or a tow. GM has issued a service bulletin pointing to a paradoxically simple cause of the parasitic drain: an ordinary coin.According to the company, loose change can slip from a hand or pocket and drop into the recess of the driver’s door switch panel. If a coin gets stuck beneath the rocker of the master window switch, it can short the contacts so current keeps flowing even with the vehicle switched off. The result is a completely drained battery, and a diagnostic check may not reveal any broken components.The fix is refreshingly straightforward: service departments are instructed to inspect the driver’s switch panel for foreign objects—the coin should be visible, and there’s no need to disassemble the unit. If it’s there, it’s simply removed, and owners are advised not to keep change near that panel. It’s a neat reminder that a tiny nook in the cabin can cause outsized trouble, and that storage habits sometimes matter as much as circuitry.
GM service bulletin, Chevrolet battery drain, GMC dead battery, Buick window switch coin, parasitic drain, master window switch, driver door switch, coin short, jump start, simple fix, prevention
2025
Michael Powers
news
GM service bulletin: coin under window switch drains battery
Dead car in the morning? GM warns a coin under the window switch can drain batteries on Chevrolet, GMC and Buick models. See the simple fix and how to avoid it.
Michael Powers, Editor
Owners of newer Chevrolet, GMC and Buick models have increasingly run into a frustrating morning surprise: the car was fine the night before, but by dawn it was dead, refusing to start and sending them in search of a jump pack or a tow. GM has issued a service bulletin pointing to a paradoxically simple cause of the parasitic drain: an ordinary coin.
According to the company, loose change can slip from a hand or pocket and drop into the recess of the driver’s door switch panel. If a coin gets stuck beneath the rocker of the master window switch, it can short the contacts so current keeps flowing even with the vehicle switched off. The result is a completely drained battery, and a diagnostic check may not reveal any broken components.
The fix is refreshingly straightforward: service departments are instructed to inspect the driver’s switch panel for foreign objects—the coin should be visible, and there’s no need to disassemble the unit. If it’s there, it’s simply removed, and owners are advised not to keep change near that panel. It’s a neat reminder that a tiny nook in the cabin can cause outsized trouble, and that storage habits sometimes matter as much as circuitry.
