2023 Chevy Colorado OTA Update Drains Batteries by Leaving the Infotainment On
Word on the street is that changing some settings in the radio will solve the problem for now.
Getting in your car to find you have a flat battery is a frustrating occurrence. Usually, it's because you've got an electrical problem, or you forgot to turn your lights off. It appears Chevrolet may have come up with a new way to flatten your battery, though, thanks to a software update issue.
As covered by GM Authority, a defective software update for 2023 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon models may be causing problems out in the wild. Owners have been complaining on social media that their pickups have suffered from flat batteries, with a flurry of reports surfacing on social media in the past few days. Notably, both pickups are equipped with over-the-air update capabilities.
An explanation for the problem has been circulating through various GM message boards. A user, claiming to be a GM technician, stated that the issue is related to the infotainment system. Reportedly, a recent software update causes the system to get stuck in recovery mode, where it will continually drain the battery even when the car is off.
The user advised that the issue could be avoided by turning off the "download updates in the background" and "download updates via Wi-Fi when available" settings in the car's infotainment system. This would stop the update from occurring, thus avoiding the battery drain problem.
Reddit posts shed further light on the issue. One owner reported suffering a dead battery, with the problem immediately recurring after they swapped in a new battery. However, turning the radio's update settings off solved the problem.
This suggests that the problem is not a bad update that has been completed and installed. Instead, it appears that something is causing the truck to get stuck downloading or searching for updates even when switched off, to the detriment of the truck's battery. Other posts further back up this theory.
If you're driving around your new Colorado or Canyon lately, changing over a few settings might be wise to ensure you don't get stranded this week. The Drive has contacted GM for comment, and will update this article accordingly.
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