2015 C7 map/reading lights flickering
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,583
Likes: 16,942
My passenger-side LED map light failed in a similar manner. It's the only thing that's ever failed on my '14 thus far.
It flickered between dim and bright for a long time, and eventually just burned out after 6 months or so. You can't replace the bulb, the entire fixture needs to be replaced. I don't remember the price since mine was replaced under warranty, but it was about $200 if I recall correctly.
I have no after-market LED lighting on my car.
It flickered between dim and bright for a long time, and eventually just burned out after 6 months or so. You can't replace the bulb, the entire fixture needs to be replaced. I don't remember the price since mine was replaced under warranty, but it was about $200 if I recall correctly.
I have no after-market LED lighting on my car.
Last edited by Foosh; Dec 5, 2017 at 12:16 AM.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 246
Likes: 66
From: Daytona Beach, Florida
I am having the same problem. It gets worse in reverse. At first it only happened in reverse. Apply the brakes and it stops. So strange.
About to change battery due to age at 4.5 years. I don't know if that is related.
I will rewire the LED lights I installed.
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 55
Likes: 12
From: FL
I was having this same issue as well. My map lights were going off like strobes. I had a whole long story about going to my dealer which I won’t get into, but bottom line is they replaced the map light circuit boards as the LEDs are soldered on & you just can’t replace the bulbs. This stopped the strobing, but I now have an issue where 1 or both lights randomly come on. I took it back to them & they gave me a very long document that contains a section of weird electrical behaviors in all GM cars. It has areas where it talks about about aftermarket LED lights causing frequency interference. They told me to go back to factory light to resolve the issue. The quote to do is $200 for parts + a ridiculous amount for labor. I told them to forget about it. It would be nice if I could get the part # of the connector used to tap into the electrical system and detailed instructions with pictures or diagrams so I could keep my blue lights.
Thread Starter
6th Gear
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 6
Likes: 2
I just stripped the black covering a little to expose the wires of the factory footwell light and then plugged the factory light back into the connector as seen in the picture I originally posted. I cut the quick connect end off of the after market light making sure to remember which wire matched the factory wire based on the way the quick connect plugged into the car, and then used a wire tap like this
to tap into the factory light wires I exposed.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2024
Posts: 15
Likes: 16
I know this an old thread but glad it exists. Looks it its tied to those aftermarket LED strips. I happend to have a phone holder that reads out the car's voltage and it appears to only be flickering when the Alternator hits it and it spikes to 14.0+ volts for a little. Any additional load will stop them from flickering (step on the brakes, roll the windows down or up, wipers, move the seat) since the voltage dips when you do such things. Since all the other investigating has been done i think i'll just pull the LED strips to confirm i'm in the same boat as all these people from the past.
It's odd that the map lights are so affected by this, but i suppose they are on the same circuit and causing quite a bit of noise when the voltage gets up there. This noise must be lighting off and strobing the map lights... Man these chevy's an electrical nightmate.
Well anyway...thankful for all the archived info in this forum. I knew why the lights were flickering but I woulda went bonkers trying to find what was doing it....cheap leds again..lol
Also what's funny it started doing it after i put a new battery in her. I guess the old battery couldn't hit those voltages when the alternator kicked in.
It's odd that the map lights are so affected by this, but i suppose they are on the same circuit and causing quite a bit of noise when the voltage gets up there. This noise must be lighting off and strobing the map lights... Man these chevy's an electrical nightmate.
Well anyway...thankful for all the archived info in this forum. I knew why the lights were flickering but I woulda went bonkers trying to find what was doing it....cheap leds again..lol
Also what's funny it started doing it after i put a new battery in her. I guess the old battery couldn't hit those voltages when the alternator kicked in.
Last edited by frankdubbs; Apr 19, 2025 at 05:55 PM.
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 55
Likes: 12
From: FL
I know this an old thread but glad it exists. Looks it its tied to those aftermarket LED strips. I happend to have a phone holder that reads out the car's voltage and it appears to only be flickering when the Alternator hits it and it spikes to 14.0+ volts for a little. Any additional load will stop them from flickering (step on the brakes, roll the windows down or up, wipers, move the seat) since the voltage dips when you do such things. Since all the other investigating has been done i think i'll just pull the LED strips to confirm i'm in the same boat as all these people from the past.
It's odd that the map lights are so affected by this, but i suppose they are on the same circuit and causing quite a bit of noise when the voltage gets up there. This noise must be lighting off and strobing the map lights... Man these chevy's an electrical nightmate.
Well anyway...thankful for all the archived info in this forum. I knew why the lights were flickering but I woulda went bonkers trying to find what was doing it....cheap leds again..lol
Also what's funny it started doing it after i put a new battery in her. I guess the old battery couldn't hit those voltages when the alternator kicked in.
It's odd that the map lights are so affected by this, but i suppose they are on the same circuit and causing quite a bit of noise when the voltage gets up there. This noise must be lighting off and strobing the map lights... Man these chevy's an electrical nightmate.
Well anyway...thankful for all the archived info in this forum. I knew why the lights were flickering but I woulda went bonkers trying to find what was doing it....cheap leds again..lol
Also what's funny it started doing it after i put a new battery in her. I guess the old battery couldn't hit those voltages when the alternator kicked in.
UPDATE: Took my car to a 3rd dealer when I had an air conditioning issue as not going to use the 1st 2 dealers anymore. I told them about my map light issue as described on this thread. His head mechanic diagnosed it & came up pretty quickly that the issue is due to (believe it or not), that he needs to replace the passenger door latch control circuit (part # 84451454). He replaced it & the map lights now work as they should. Had nothing to do with my after market lights. Hope this helps anyone else.
