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8" MyLink display screen blank

307K views 45 replies 31 participants last post by  Father of Seven 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hey gang! Trouble shooting the first issue on our 2016 Malibu Hybrid. Has 13,000 miles on it but we've only had it for a week. There have been 3-4 times when we would get into the car and the MyLink display did not turn on. Hitting the power button directly below it doesn't do anything either. We would drive it, park and shut it off. Then the next time we'd head somewhere it would work fine.

One of the times this happened we also happened to notice that the USB port in the center dash was not supplying power to a phone plugged into it. Not sure if that is related to the same issue or not, but the next time the display was working, the USB worked...

So using my mad Google skills the first solution that pops up is the first post at a link over on the Chevy Cruze forums that states:

"I looked around a bit and only saw random posts about his topic. If you have a newer Cruze with the touchscreen MyLink and your screen is blank.... here's how you fix it.
First off, what you'll notice is that the USB port isn't functioning and no matter how many buttons you press the MyLink won't turn on. After speaking with the Chevy Infotainment team I've learned the reason this happens is that the radio is clearing its cache (desk) of stored memory (in basic terms it's like a cookie but for your stereo).

In order to return MyLink to a functional unit, you have to shut off the car, open the door, close the door, don't lock the car (I didn't anyways) and let it sit for 5 minutes or longer. Once you turn the car back on the system will be reset and return to normal. Don't worry, none of your settings will be deleted.
Hope this helped you out!"

I'm not sure if my wife has tried this yet...but in the meantime, my question is this:

If this is the issue and fix, should it be happening this often (once every 2-3 days?)
 
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#2 ·
Hey gang! Trouble shooting the first issue on our 2016 Malibu Hybrid. Has 13,000 miles on it but we've only had it for a week. There have been 3-4 times when we would get into the car and the MyLink display did not turn on. Hitting the power button directly below it doesn't do anything either. We would drive it, park and shut it off. Then the next time we'd head somewhere it would work fine.

One of the times this happened we also happened to notice that the USB port in the center dash was not supplying power to a phone plugged into it. Not sure if that is related to the same issue or not, but the next time the display was working, the USB worked...

So using my mad Google skills the first solution that pops up is the first post at a link over on the Chevy Cruze forums that states:

"I looked around a bit and only saw random posts about his topic. If you have a newer Cruze with the touchscreen MyLink and your screen is blank.... here's how you fix it.
First off, what you'll notice is that the USB port isn't functioning and no matter how many buttons you press the MyLink won't turn on. After speaking with the Chevy Infotainment team I've learned the reason this happens is that the radio is clearing it's cache (desk) of stored memory (in basic terms it's like a cookie but for your stereo).
In order to return MyLink to a functional unit you have to shut off the car, open the door, close the door, don't lock the car (I didn't anyways) and let it sit for 5 minutes or longer. Once you turn the car back on the system will be reset and return to normal. Don't worry, none of your settings will be deleted.
Hope this helped you out!"

I'm not sure if my wife has tried this yet...but in the meantime my question is this:

If this is the issue and fix, should it be happening this often (once every 2-3 days?)
All I can say is if that happened to me, that I would know the SVC MGR's middle name by now. Who knows if it is providing the "teen user" functionality as promised (if you needed it - indicative of a major issue). FWIW, the car should not behave like windows 95, requiring a restart in 2016/2017! CPS:serious:
 
#3 ·
I have been in a lot of gen9 Malibus and have not seen this. I would take this right to the dealer and ask for them to check it out. Since you say it is occurring every 2-3 days, it is possible they won't reproduce it. Ask them to check the current software version and update to the latest. Express concerns that the unit may be faulty since Chevrolet wouldn't release any software that behaves this way. If they did, this forum and the wilderness that is the internet would be awash in users complaining of this. I don't have time to dig at the moment but I think there is a TSB about USB port issues also.

If you want to go in informed, check the software version yourself then compare to the latest release here: https://tis2web.service.gm.com/tis2web

Good luck!
 
#4 · (Edited)
Hey gang! Trouble shooting the first issue on our 2016 Malibu Hybrid. Has 13,000 miles on it but we've only had it for a week. There have been 3-4 times when we would get into the car and the MyLink display did not turn on. Hitting the power button directly below it doesn't do anything either. We would drive it, park and shut it off. Then the next time we'd head somewhere it would work fine.

One of the times this happened we also happened to notice that the USB port in the center dash was not supplying power to a phone plugged into it. Not sure if that is related to the same issue or not, but the next time the display was working, the USB worked...

So using my mad Google skills the first solution that pops up is the first post at a link over on the Chevy Cruze forums that states:

"I looked around a bit and only saw random posts about his topic. If you have a newer Cruze with the touchscreen MyLink and your screen is blank.... here's how you fix it.
First off, what you'll notice is that the USB port isn't functioning and no matter how many buttons you press the MyLink won't turn on. After speaking with the Chevy Infotainment team I've learned the reason this happens is that the radio is clearing it's cache (desk) of stored memory (in basic terms it's like a cookie but for your stereo).
In order to return MyLink to a functional unit you have to shut off the car, open the door, close the door, don't lock the car (I didn't anyways) and let it sit for 5 minutes or longer. Once you turn the car back on the system will be reset and return to normal. Don't worry, none of your settings will be deleted.
Hope this helped you out!"

I'm not sure if my wife has tried this yet...but in the meantime my question is this:

If this is the issue and fix, should it be happening this often (once every 2-3 days?)
Almost sounds like it could be a defective sdd drive in the unit or some how related to it. Maybe the system keeps corrupting itself and has to go through a self repair cycle. Definately sounds like it's worth bring it in to the dealer.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
We'll definitely be taking it in to see what the dealer can find. I appreciate your input guys!

Not sure if this is related but let me ask this - when you approach the car without the keyfob and open the door (to grab something you left in the car for instance), is it normal for the MyLink display to illuminate? The MyLink display goes through it's startup graphic with the bowtie, MyLink logo and those fancy swirling lines...and then goes dark.

I would expect some of the interior lights to illuminate (which they do) in this situation, but wouldn't expect that screen to fire up unless the car knew I had the fob with me and might potentially be firing it up to drive somewhere...
 
#6 ·
One Chevy dealer here locally also has a collision center that is doing some rework on a paint job on our other car this week - so when they pulled my loaner around I had to chuckle because it is a 2017 Chevy Malibu LT. :) So now we currently have 2 Malibus in the driveway...

I popped into the service department while I was there and asked them if it would be best to try to bring it in while the screen was not working properly and of course they said yes...so we'll see if we are able to do that.

I did notice that the MyLink startup logo is different between the two vehicles - not sure if that relflects any type of firmware or software update that might be needed or not...will continue to update this thread as I find out more.
 

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#8 ·
Hi Smunderdog,

We apologize we weren’t able to get to you sooner, but are glad to hear you are working with your dealership to have this addressed. If you would like, we would be happy to contact them on your behalf and provide an additional layer of support on our end. Please send us a private message along with your full contact information, dealers name, and VIN if this is something of interest to you.

Bret B.
GM Customer Care
 
#10 ·
Possible Solution: MyLink display screen blank

Possible solution to blank screen. I know that everyone is seeing this problem, and that the customer reps are sorry and say to take the car to the dealer, yada, yada, yada. I have gone that route twice with zero results. I have also tried all the solutions I have read on this forum. So I started keeping track of what I was doing each time it went blank. Ten times out of ten time the problem occurs when I am backing up and then shifting to drive forward.

If I am still drifting backwards a little when I shift to drive, the screen will go from the back up view to a blank screen. However, if I come to a complete stop backing, wait a quarter second, then shift to drive - no blank screens. In my opinion there is a problem in the control circuits for screen presentation, or the shiftier itself. This is not a fix, only an observation, it has worked for me. I have not had a black screen for the last two months.

I hope it works for you.
 
#11 ·
Hi, I just leased a new 2017 Malibu LT on May 11th. This Sunday, (yesterday) only 10 days and 320 miles later, I started my vehicle and my entire my link display and odometer reading display were black. The radio won't come on and I can't see any digital readout. . I tried resetting by shutting the car off and opening the door. I just took it into the Chevy dealer at drivers village this morning. They are trouble shooting it currently however they have no answers at the moment. How common is this problem, especially with such a new car? Thank you very much. L Nasser
 
#13 ·
Hey gang! Trouble shooting the first issue on our 2016 Malibu Hybrid. Has 13,000 miles on it but we've only had it for a week. There have been 3-4 times when we would get into the car and the MyLink display did not turn on. Hitting the power button directly below it doesn't do anything either. We would drive it, park and shut it off. Then the next time we'd head somewhere it would work fine.

One of the times this happened we also happened to notice that the USB port in the center dash was not supplying power to a phone plugged into it. Not sure if that is related to the same issue or not, but the next time the display was working, the USB worked...

So using my mad Google skills the first solution that pops up is the first post at a link over on the Chevy Cruze forums that states:

"I looked around a bit and only saw random posts about his topic. If you have a newer Cruze with the touchscreen MyLink and your screen is blank.... here's how you fix it.
First off, what you'll notice is that the USB port isn't functioning and no matter how many buttons you press the MyLink won't turn on. After speaking with the Chevy Infotainment team I've learned the reason this happens is that the radio is clearing it's cache (desk) of stored memory (in basic terms it's like a cookie but for your stereo).
In order to return MyLink to a functional unit you have to shut off the car, open the door, close the door, don't lock the car (I didn't anyways) and let it sit for 5 minutes or longer. Once you turn the car back on the system will be reset and return to normal. Don't worry, none of your settings will be deleted.
Hope this helped you out!"

I'm not sure if my wife has tried this yet...but in the meantime my question is this:

If this is the issue and fix, should it be happening this often (once every 2-3 days?)
I just had the same issue with my 2016 Malibu. The complete infotainment system would not work. This included the rear view camera, radio, etc. All were dead. I followed the instructions of opening and closing the driver side door and waiting at least 5 minutes and the system now works. I originally looked at the instructions as "black magic" but it worked. Enough said! The design engineers should have some kind of indicator that says the system is clearing its cache so the owner knows what's going on. This should be relatively easy to do. This would have saved a lot of time, confusion, and investigation.
 
#14 ·
Roger that; I would like to see the Lat/longs of the customer(s) and the appropriate time stamp to help determine whether the issues are temperature related. (I wrote up a white paper and sent it into GM months ago and never heard back). I think the fan on the outside of the unit is recirculating hotter air and causing these issues.
 
#15 ·
I have had our 2016 Malibu to dealer 3 times now. 2x for a reset and this past time I gave it to them for a full day. NOTHING. Our link reboots on it's own, which leads me to believe it is in fact corrupting itself as suggested in forum. We are going to try NOT pairing our phones to see if that is the culprit. Dealer tells me there are no bulletins about this and I informed that I will be looking for forums asap. I provide for my grad student and problem keeps getting worse! I will try the resolve that has been posted regarding shutting off car and letting sit for 5, but I shouldn't be dealing with this at this point. My Chevy team is great to me, but I am starting to feel like this is a corporate issue and not local. Someone knows whats going on with this functionality issue and is not coming to the table to share the resolve.
 
#16 ·
Hello all. This happened to me a week after I bought my 2016 Malibu. I wasn't sure what was going on and I noticed today July 11th 2017 it has done it again but I think it has to do with what someone said the temperature in the car. When I got in the car today, I noticed that the temperature display read 100 degrees and then it suddenly went black. although the music continued to play the screen remained black until the temperature in the car lowered to 95 degrees and gradually the screen lit back up.
 
#17 ·
At 4,310 miles, my Malibu LT has now done the same thing, gone blank. I am in a panic as I am leaving on a lengthy trip come Sunday. Spoke with salesman, bringing it into dealer in the morning. The turn off, don't lock, let sit for 5 min did not work, screen still blank. Hoping for a quick diagnosis and repair.
 
#18 ·
I had this same problem with my 2017 Malibu LT @ 4310 miles. Shocked the hell out of me. Found this thread and read all of it. Tried the engine off and close but not lock the doors for 5 min. That did not work, so I disconnected the neg battery terminal for 5 min, reconnected it and PRESTO, the display came back up. BONUS: the auto stop feature stopped working in the first hundred miles, but I was not concerned with that and figured it could wait until my first checkup. BUT, that also started working again, YAY! Thanks for all the info and will be making that first appointment first week of August.
 
#19 ·
Not a Malibu but I have the same issue with my 2015 Camaro. My screen freezes for about 5-15 minutes, then goes black and comes back on after about another 5 minutes. Today when I was in reverse the camera showed on the screen and once I put the car in drive, the camera remained on for a few minutes then reverted back. A few minutes ago I was on a phone call and the system froze however it dropped the call and would not allow me to make another call for about 10 minutes. During that time it was still frozen as if I was on the call. The person I was speaking with on the call said that there was a loud screeching sound on the phone but did not disconnect so she hung up. I only have about 26,000 miles on this car as it is a weekender only but I'm very concerned.

Note: I have tried the varying fixes listed in the forum to no avail. Really dread the run around I know I'm going to get at the dealership.
 
#20 ·
2016 Premiere 2.0T ~27,000mi

As of yesterday I am having the same issue. I was actually turning close to my house, another vehicle approaching was a little to close to center and I had to move over. Once this happened I ran over a segment of the road where it was broken away (along the edge) and got a good jarring out of it. The second that happened the screen went black. Everything still worked, as far as I know. Obviously if it required the scrren to notice i have no idea but the rest of the center stack was fine and the skip buttons still worked, music still played yada yada. As the day went on screen never came back. This morning I started it took the kids to the bus and still nothing. About 5 hours later to go to the dealership it decided to start working. Of course they couldn't tell me anything because it was at the time functioning. Now to about an hour ago when I left I wasn't even 2 miles down the road. When I first pulled out it wasn't displaying any song information from the Bluetooth. After driving down the road with essentially zero bumps it just quit. As of right now its sitting and I haven't gotten in it again yet. I will be taking it back again tomorrow. Hopefully it still isn't working and they can figure it out.

Side note... after blue booking my car for some crazy reason I might actually be able to get more than I paid for it so the appraisal will happen tomorrow as well.....
 
#22 ·
Update! Took it to the dealer thankfully it was still in-op. They looked it over for a few hours and couldn't find any problems. They did a global reset and it started working. Had them keep it an extra day to verify and nothing new came up. They still didn't know the cause. Then yesterday I was driving and I couldn't play any audio from my phone or adjust the volume in any way. Also it wasnt displaying any information for media regardless of the source (AM, FM, Sirius, Aux, Bluetooth). I was going to run it in today but it was working again anyway. Told them I will continue to keep notes and not bother coming in until it completely goes out or if I am in town when it happens.
 
#23 ·
I've got a different problem with my 7" screen in my 2017 Malibu LS if I reverse the car at all the display goes from a reasonable brightness to stuck on too bright. Very distracting at night only fix I've found is to not reverse or if you do and find your self driving down the road with a blinding display go to the settings and shut off the display completely. Just got the car 5 days ago 700 miles on it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#25 ·
Update.... screen went out again after using remote start yesterday, got it in while still in-op. Got it back today, they removed the unit cleaned all the connections and did a flash reset this time. We will see if this fixes it at all.

I had this same problem with my 2013 Dodge Dart with the remote start too, except the entire center stack would go out, not just the screen... FCA never figured it out and it actually failed right before I traded it in
 
#26 ·
Sorry.....

Went out again Wednesday with the remote start but came back in after sitting for about ten minutes. Then it went out again this morning (Thursday) and back at the shop again. In and out of car and driving for 20-30 minutes several times and still wasn?t displaying by the time I got to the dealership later. On the phone with Service manager earlier asked me a maillion questions because, from what I was told, GM has no idea what?s going on......as of an hour ago lol hopefully that changes tomorrow.....
 
#27 ·
I too am having a problem with my MyLink going black. I also noticed that my OnStar light is solid Red. My blinkers are not making the clicking sound when they blink. My USB is not charging my phone either. I can however turn on the audio manually but the backup camera does not come up when in reverse. The radio goes off after a few minutes as if it is in aux mode. When I get out of the car I have to manually turn the radio off where as before it goes off automatically when I open my door to exit the car. I will try closing the door but not locking it and letting it sit for five minutes. I will also try to watch that I don't put it into D when still rolling backwards slightly. That is...once I get it working again.
 
#28 ·
3 months ago I purchased a 2017 Chevy Malibu LT. I was loving my car until I started having issues with my MyLink Radio, warning chimes and turn signals. Well yesterday when I started my car and my radio had updated. My iPhone had disconnected and radio turned off then back on. I figured this was due to the update. I went into a store to Christmas shop and when I returned to my car I started it and noticed my Radio didn’t come on. As I was backing up the rear camera was working but I turned my turn signal on and noticed I didn’t hear the clicking sound. I pulled over before I left the parking lot and turned off my car. When I started it I then notice there was no warning sounds at all and my OnStar light was red. I headed straight for the dealership where I purchased the car. They were closing in an hour so I was told to bring the car back on Monday. I’ve contacted Infortainment Customer Service and the reset they walked me through still didn’t work. I’m so mad but thankful because my car is still under warranty. It only has 7,125 miles on it. Do anyone have the answer to this problem?
 
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