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4 Wheel Drive

meehmik

By meehmik
in Ask A GM Technician

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meehmik Enthusiast

meehmik

Posted
Posted

Yesterday while driving through a snow bank on the side of the road to avoid a large truck I got stuck on ice, I was driving in the two wheel drive mode and couldn't get traction to get out of this snow bank. I was sitting still and tried to switch to 4 wheel to pull free from the snow, I heard a loud bang :) and then the dash display said " service 4 wheel drive" it now was locked ito 4 wheel drive but didn't feel like it was engaged ?

I got off the ice and went up the road and switched to 2 wheel drive, it wouldn't come out and I had to drive up the road to a pull off where I shut the truck off to see if I could figure out how to disconnect the 4 wheel drive system. After 5 minutes or so while I was perusing the owners manual I gave up and figured i would have to put in the shop....when i re-started the truck it seemed to have re-set and now everything appears to be working fine !

It's a 2008 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 L engine and electronically controlled 4 wheed drive system, should I be worried about this or is this a common issue ? Should i get it to the shop now ? :fume:

Jsdirt Senior Enthusiast

Jsdirt

Posted
Posted

I had this exact problem when my truck was brand new back in '07.

 

I went to work in a blizzard - was in AUTO for the entire 27 mile commute. Parked, came out of work 12 hours later, & had that message as soon as I started the truck. I tried turning the dial to 4H, 2H, & back to no avail. I did the same -- shut truck off, waited, then restarted. Haven't seen the problem again in going on 3 years.

 

Mystery machine ... :fume:

vester Enthusiast

vester

Posted
Posted
Yesterday while driving through a snow bank on the side of the road to avoid a large truck I got stuck on ice, I was driving in the two wheel drive mode and couldn't get traction to get out of this snow bank. I was sitting still and tried to switch to 4 wheel to pull free from the snow, I heard a loud bang :fume: and then the dash display said " service 4 wheel drive" it now was locked ito 4 wheel drive but didn't feel like it was engaged ?

I got off the ice and went up the road and switched to 2 wheel drive, it wouldn't come out and I had to drive up the road to a pull off where I shut the truck off to see if I could figure out how to disconnect the 4 wheel drive system. After 5 minutes or so while I was perusing the owners manual I gave up and figured i would have to put in the shop....when i re-started the truck it seemed to have re-set and now everything appears to be working fine !

It's a 2008 Silverado 1500 with the 5.3 L engine and electronically controlled 4 wheed drive system, should I be worried about this or is this a common issue ? Should i get it to the shop now ? :uhoh:

 

Similar things happened to my 07 Suburban. I took it into the dealer and they pulled the codes. They had to apply a software update from GM. My owner's manual says that you should first try turning the vehicle off the back on to see if the service 4wd goes away. If you are under warranty, I would definitely have the dealer pull the codes.

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