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Stabilitrak and traction control needs service

husker1223

Full Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Messages
39
Location
Annapolis Maryland
2007 5.3 avy.

Here's a weird one.  Driving about 40 mph, my traction control and stabilitrak lights come on and say they both need service.  The truck begins to run rough.  Take it to the dealer and they tell me I have a broken spark plug, that appears to have been overtightened and blames me and it is not going to be covered by the warranty.  I have 11,000 miles on the truck.  Never touched the plugs, never went near them.  My word against theirs.  Unbelieveable response from a dealer for blaming me, and how in the world does that cause the stabilitrak and traction control issues?
 
due to an overwhelming response for which we are not equiped to handle, your query has been removed from our system.  please contact your local administrator or government representative and file your complaint with them.  thank you and have a nice day. :kidding:

 
Hmm, I had this happen to me... backed out of someones driveway and those systems both failed and I noticed the vehicle was rough/sluggish. I pulled off the road and turned the truck off for a bit. Turned it back on and those messages have never come back. Has your truck had these messages and problems since it first happened? And seriously, spark plugs? Odd... I can't see how that's even remotely related... sounds like a BS reason for the problem since they couldn't figure it out... but I have no idea... too many computer gadgets these days...
 
I post on the same problem yesterday if you want to go read up on my outlook on this situation, what is mostly important is to make sure this solved your problem with the traction control turning off.  It is very clear that the dealers cannot come up with any answers on this issue and will blame it on anything that they can find.
 
I had this into the dealer 2 times in the past when i was still under warranty, they dont know how to fix it
or what it even is but mine has became a serious issue now and i am going to go to GM direct because i have taken this in 2 times like i said with nothing done about it. 
 
Hey guys,

I may or may not have the same problem with my 07, but I had similar symptoms. The traction control/stabilitrack light turned on and off while I was driving down the highway. I was in the middle of nowhere so I drove about 15-20 miles with this happening. Mind you, I was not seeing or hearing any problems with the truck.

I stopped at a grocery store to pick up dinner before dropping by the chevy dealer in the town. WHen I got back to the truck, it would not start. I called a tow truck and he got underneath the truck and banged on the fuel tank and the trunk started right up....Dealer ship is replacing the fuel pump as we speak (though it won't be done till tuesday).

I have no idea if the two are related but I will be very interested to hear what the service department says. It seems very strange.

Long story short....check your fuel pump? :rolleyes:
 
Banging on the fuel tank to jump start the fuel pump i guess, but what did the dealer come up with for the stabilitrak traction control  ???  or did they not have a answer on that situation.
 
What the service adviser said (and sounds reasonable) is that the computer was detecting a lean condition and was trying to compensate for it by shutting things down.
 
jwcarter82 said:
What the service adviser said (and sounds reasonable) is that the computer was detecting a lean condition and was trying to compensate for it by shutting things down.

Aha! Now THAT would explain things. When I had backed out of the driveway it was at an odd slant and I was going painfully slow backing out onto the road so I must have triggered it. And that would also explain why once I pulled off the road onto a flat parking area and let the vehicle sit off it came back fine. Just need a computer reset and then it was good to go. Crazy computerized systems these days...  :p

Thanks for the info  (y)
 
I put a new K&N filter on my 08 5.3 drove only couple miles ck engine came on along with (service traction stabilizer ) also traction light comes on then it says its off. I'm thinking what does the two have to do with each other ????
I take it to my local dealer however he is perplexed I tell him I'm leaving in the morning for vacation and driving about 1500 miles. He says he thinks it will be alright.  So he clears the codes and I'm off in the morning. HOPE I make it back !



 
It's not the type of filter that you have to oil is it.
 
I traded my 2004 Avalanche for a 2010 Avalanche today.  Left dealership and drove 3 miles to a restaurant.  After that stop we drove less than 1 mile and I noticed the needles on the cluster jumped sevewral times and the stablitrack message said it was off and then the traction control needs servicing.  The A/C warmed up and all the gauges were on empty or zero.  i drove back to the dealer, but it was after closing.  I shut the engine off to see if things might clear up, and then it would not even click the starter.  After around ten minutes, I tried it again and it started.  The gauges were all normal, and the traction control warning was gone.  But there was a check engine light.

A salesman happened by and I left my new truck there with 8 miles on the odometer. I hope they find something that caused the problem.
 
I would not worry, something like that should be easy to correct.
 
kyeagle said:
I traded my 2004 Avalanche for a 2010 Avalanche today.  Left dealership and drove 3 miles to a restaurant.  After that stop we drove less than 1 mile and I noticed the needles on the cluster jumped sevewral times and the stablitrack message said it was off and then the traction control needs servicing.  The A/C warmed up and all the gauges were on empty or zero.  i drove back to the dealer, but it was after closing.  I shut the engine off to see if things might clear up, and then it would not even click the starter.  After around ten minutes, I tried it again and it started.  The gauges were all normal, and the traction control warning was gone.  But there was a check engine light.

A salesman happened by and I left my new truck there with 8 miles on the odometer. I hope they find something that caused the problem.

I would have called OnScare, engaged the Safe & Sound & Roadside Assistance and asked them for the codes or issues the vehicle was reporting. It would have been a great gift for the Service Manager to find the next day when he checked to see which lot boy failed to do the Dealer Preparation & Pre Delivery Inspection properly.

I found the check list in my 2K10 a few days after taking delivery in April. The day after it was delivered from Mexico, it went through the checklist and I was surprised to find it listed some intriguing problems we've all come to know and love, Service 4WD amongst others.

When I took it to my service dealer to get it logged in, he pulled up a GM history report, not the stuff AVFox was doing, and it showed 4 or 5 major problems the selling dealer had worked on over the course of 10 weeks it in their possession. It appears that each time they started it, someone actually looked at the DIC and reported any problems. I was quite impressed they took the time to manage it before it was sold as opposed to letting the new owner go through the frustration and aggravation.

I'm certain your future driving/ownership days will be brighter and fulfilling.  :B:

You will be receiving the JD Powers survey via email or snail mail in a few weeks. Though this is aggravating and not a good initial experience with this vehicle, you may be able to parlay it in a manner to allow the Service Manager and Sales manager to step up above and beyond for your future visits and needs. They will be all over you for Favorable responses to the various surveys you'll be receiving now.

Then again, it could be the beginning a Lemon List. I certainly hope not.

YMMV
 
MS03 2500 said:
It's not the type of filter that you have to oil is it.
Yes it is.. I took it straight from the box and installed it. After they cleared the codes it only came on one more time. Since that time we have drove 1788 miles without a any check engine light or traction stabilizer light coming on.
Do you think the oil may have triggers the air flow sensor or something?  Thanks
 
MS03 2500 said:
It's not the type of filter that you have to oil is it.
Yes it is.. I took it straight from the box and installed it. After they cleared the codes it only came on one more time. Since that time we have drove 1788 miles without a any check engine light or traction stabilizer light coming on.
Do you think the oil may have triggers the air flow sensor or something?   Thanks
 
CrazyCard said:
Yes it is.. I took it straight from the box and installed it. After they cleared the codes it only came on one more time. Since that time we have drove 1788 miles without a any check engine light or traction stabilizer light coming on.
Do you think the oil may have triggers the air flow sensor or something?   Thanks

Do yourself a favor clean your MAF sensor. Do a search "cleaning MAF"

If there is too much oil on it, it sucks the oil onto the MAF
 
MS03 2500 said:
Do yourself a favor clean your MAF sensor. Do a search "cleaning MAF"

If there is too much oil on it, it sucks the oil onto the MAF

Thanks MS03....  will do
 
I was driving my '08 avalanche when suddenly, all the gauges zeroed out or read empty. The battery gauge was the only one to stay normal. Just as well, the stabilitrak light and abs light turned on. Initially, I pulled over but then I started to accelerate only to have it drive rough and hit hard into first gear. Once I turned the truck off, it has yet to start again. Any suggestions or advice to this matter would be greatly appreciated.
 
My service stabilitrak and service traction control light came on as well as the CEL, and right as those lights came on my engine started to run rough. i have changed my plugs, wires, and coil on cylinder 6 which was the one throwing the code because at the time i was unaware of a bad lifter, so now i have changed all my lifters as well. I drove my truck for 2 days after changing the lifters and then the service stabilitrak and service traction control light came on with the CEL and the motor running rough, i put the scanner on it and its telling me cylinder 6 misfire. does any one have any recommendations?

Another thing is that, I believe my air ride compressor went out. My shocks are still holding air but usually when i would go start my truck in the mornings it would kick on and you could hear it, a few weeks ago the compressor would kick on and be very loud and if i was sitting at a drive thru it would kick on about 4 times while ordering  and picking up the food from the window.  now it doesn't even come on at all, could the failed compressor be the cause of the stabilitrak light and traction control light coming and in turn be the cause of the engine running rough? I'm not sure how any of this would be connected but it seems like weirder things have happened with these trucks.
 
As far as the engine do a compression test on it.
 
I have had the "service StabilTrac" and "service traction control" messages pop up on me a few times now.  I had the codes read about 2.5 years ago shortly after it happened for the first time although the messages were gone when I took it to my mechanic.  He scanned for codes and looked at me weird and asked me what warnings had popped up.  The reason for his strange look was that there were no codes stored for the StabilTrac or traction control but there was a code stored for the steering wheel position sensor, which is connected to those other 2 systems so it does make sense.  He told me that pre 07 Avalanches had lots of problems with the steering wheel position sensors going bad because they were tightened too tight, but that in late 06 GM corrected the problem.  He told me that if it happens again to not worry too much about it, but if it starts coming on a lot that the S.W.P.S. would need replacing.  I will say this though, every time that I get the messages it is always when I am coming to a stop while steering ever so slightly to maintain my lane as the roads here are quite rutted and it has never ran rough at all either.
 
My Service Stabilitrac & Traction Control lights have been coming on for several months. Always when slowing or sitting stopped. So far my mechanic hasn't been able to figure out what's going on. If I pull away with the lights lit, second gear hits very hard. Put in a new GM tranny early last year but this started happening right after a battery change a few months back. Very frustrating. Seems to be much more frequent in wet rainy weather. Dry sunny weather and it rarely does it. Replacedc both coil packs because he thought that was what was causing the messages, but it didn't help
 
I too have Service Stabilitrac & Traction Control lights on and off for about 4 days.
Shifts hard 1-2 gear when its on. Will came off and on when driving at around 30-40 mph. Stays on when sitting idle in park. 07 avalanche
 
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