2006 H3 No chime when headlights left on

[rjmx]

My wife bought her H3 new in 2006, and got a dealer-installed GPS/radio to replace the original radio at the same time.
Since there's now a law in Massachusetts where you have to have your headlights on when it's raining, she's had a flat battery at least three times since it came into force. Luckily, I have a good set of jumper cables (and the headlights on my H3 are on all the time when I'm driving), but I eventually asked her why she ignored the chimes that come on when you open the door with the keys in the ignition. She says that they've never worked, and I verified that they're certainly not working now. I gather they work through the radio, so that's probably the culprit. Anyone else had the same problem with an aftermarket radio?


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[SedonaBound]

What kind of nav/radio was installed? The chime (and I believe OnStar phone) tones are programmed into the OEM radio/CD and I'd assume the OEM nav/radio too. The chimes are lost if the GM radio is replaced with an aftermarket unit, unless an aftermarket wiring harness (e.g. Metra GMOS-014) with a chime module is installed too. If it was a non-GM nav/radio, pull the radio to see if there's a secondary harness with a small module box between the gray OEM dash harness plug and the radio harness plug. If that turns out to be the issue, it was an incorrect installation, but I don't think you'll win the argument with the dealer with 9 yrs since the install. The add-on "chime" harness is about $80 and takes about an hour to connect up to the radio harness end. I also wonder if there's a OBD scanner code that dealers can use for turning the chimes on/off.
You can also try to convince your wife to turn the headlights to on/off manually instead of leaving them on AUTO. If she's anything like my wife and manual controls, good luck. :giggle:

 

[rjmx]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.
The radio/GPS is a Fujitsu Eclipse AVN30D. Onstar seems to work (I think): at least you can make calls through it, and I think I've even called my wife while she was driving. I'll try and pull it out this weekend and look for a chime module: I have to pull the dash anyway, because the instrument lights on the centre console haven't been working for several years, and she keeps asking me about it. I'm not particularly worried about taking it up with the dealer (as you say, 9 years is a long time, and that particular dealer doesn't do Hummers any longer). I just want to get it fixed.
Funny that I never noticed that there weren't any chimes, but then I never drove her H3 much. Claimed I hated it, but then last year I decided she was right after all and got one for myself
The problem isn't that she's leaving it on AUTO; I think that should be safe. But with this new MA law, you have to turn them on if it's raining, even during the day. So now she turns them on manually, and since they've been on AUTO for the last nine years, she forgets to turn them off. (She also forgets to lock the thing around 50% of the time, so that's no surprise).

 

[Clwnshu99]

When I installed my aftermarket pioneer, I lost my chime as well as on star. I did the metra harness and all. In understand there is a volume control on the metra harness but I've tried turning it both directions and I get nothing. I remember on star working before the replacement but I'm not positive if I had door chimes. If it's dead silent I can very vaguely hear the chimes but I really have to listen for them.