File in Section:

Service Bulletin

Bulletin No.:
Date:

PIC5854
May, 2013

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
Subject:

Normal Characteristic - HD Radio Signal Cuts In And Out, Skips, Or Drops Out

Models:

2013 Buick Enclave
2013 Cadillac ATS, SRX, XTS
2013 Chevrolet Traverse
2013 GMC Acadia
2014 Chevrolet Impala

The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.

Condition/Concern
Customer may comment that the AM or FM audio volume changes, mutes, echoes, cuts in and out, repeats
broadcast content, or skips intermittently. Customer may notice the HD symbol turning on and off on the radio
display when this occurs.
Note: This does NOT apply to XM, CD, DVD, Bluetooth streaming audio, or connected applications such as
Pandora or Stitcher.

Recommendation/Instructions
Advise this is normal operation when listening to a weak AM or FM HD station.
Each station can have multiple HD stations. For example, if FM 93.7 offers an HD signal, HD1 plays the same audio
as the non-HD station and is shown as 93.7 HD on the radio display. A station may have additional HD channels
HD2-8, which may broadcast different audio/songs. These channel presets would be indicated as 93.7-2 through
93.7-8, if available.
If the HD Radio signal loses reception while listening to channel HD1, the radio will revert back to the main non-HD
(analog) Radio channel. The audio quality of the analog signal is not as crisp or clear as the HD signal. A weak HD
signal may result in the radio switching back and forth between digital and analog signals. If the HD Radio signal
loses reception while listening to channels HD2 to HD8, the radio does not revert to the non-HD version like it does
when the HD signal drops out when listening to HD1. Instead, the radio mutes until the signal can be recovered or
until the channel is changed. You may also hear skips or echoes if the HD reception is weak. Digital HD broadcasting
signals are weaker than the normal signal strength of the analog station, so HD listening may not deliver the same
range as non-HD station listening.
If signal reception is causing repeated cycling of the audio between analog and HD, HD may be turned off in the
radio settings to avoid this cycling.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR TURNING HD OFF:
⇒ Turning HD off for ATS, Impala, SRX and XTS: Select the following icons - Home / Audio / Menu / HD Switching
Off. If the vehicle has a preset saved as an HD station the HD will automatically turn on when that preset is
pressed. Recommend resaving presets as Non-HD stations for the above.
⇒ Turning HD off for Acadia, Enclave, or Traverse: Select the following icons - Home / Now Playing / Menu / HD
Disable. If HD is turned off selecting HD presets will not turn HD back on. If the customer turned HD off and
selects a preset saved as HD2 thru HD8, a message will appear advising to turn HD on.

Customer Information
Please communicate to the customer this condition is a normal operating characteristic of their vehicle. It will not
impact the designed performance or reliability of the vehicle. Please share this information with the customer,
including a copy of this message.
Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is
resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed.