Jump to content

2009 5.3 Stabilitrak Traction Control Problems

LuckRunsOut
 Share

Recommended Posts

LuckRunsOut Enthusiast

LuckRunsOut

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone, long time lurker, first time posting.

 

I have a 2009 Silverado 5.3 Crew Cab with the 6 spd tranny. Last February I got it tuned by Justin at a group meet up in Houston. Justin breathed new life into my truck and made driving it more pleasurable. I didn't want to tune it to necessarily race it and burn rubber all the time, I just wanted a better driving experience. Everything has been awesome until last night.

 

We got some very cold weather here in deep south Texas. It got down to the upper 20's. Sleet, ice and some snow. It never gets like this down here! The truck stayed in the garage throughout the duration of this winter storm. During the day, I went to get something i left in the truck and turned it on and I get a few warning messages. "Service Stabilitrak", "traction control off", "service traction control" and the little traction and engine light came on. I also immediately noticed that the engine was idling a little rougher than usual. And now when I put the truck on drive and let go of the brake, the entire truck starts shaking. I took it for a drive and also noticed that when I'm coming to a complete stop the truck shakes/buckles when downshifting.

 

What could be happening? I disconnected the battery, reconnected and it didn't help. I have 49K on the odometer. My concern about taking it to the dealership is the blackbear tune. Will they just turn me away? Anyone else have the same kind of experience? Obviously the problem was caused by the weather, but it was never driven during the winter storm.

 

Sorry for the long post, but as you could imagine, this is frustrating. I emailed Justin, but I got an auto response, saying he would be out of the office until Monday. Plus, I really wanted to know if anyone here on these message forums could give me any insightful advice.

 

Rick

jandersinc Enthusiast

jandersinc

Posted
Posted

I don't know what the problem is. This is why it's risky to modify your new truck. You might be stuck with the repair bill. If you want to play, you gotta pay!

 

Although they'd probably have to show your tune caused the problem to deny warranty coverage.

MikeNH Senior Enthusiast

MikeNH

Posted
Posted

I'd be real surprised if anything related to the tune could cause faults in the TC/ESC system. Get to an Autozone and have the codes read or call OnStar if you have a subscription to get code info.

kdixer Enthusiast

kdixer

Posted
Posted

Try charging the battery. The cold weather could have caused a weak battery to rear it's ugly head. If the system is not getting proper voltage it can cause some freaky things.

08AllTerrain Enthusiast

08AllTerrain

Posted
Posted

I just recently had a similar problem on my '08 Sierra with 5.3. I finally took it to the dealer after having talked to Onstar who told me it was a throttle position control sensor. That sensor apparently is apart of the throttle body so they had to replace the throttle body. They told they had seen it quite often and fortunately it was covered under the powertrain warranty. My truck is also tuned but I just swapped the units out. I also got a reduced engine power message so may not be the same thing but figured Id give my two cents..good luck!

arctictwist Enthusiast

arctictwist

Posted
Posted

I just had the same thing happen at 35,000 miles as soon as the cold hit and we got bad storms. turns out i had a bad hub in the front driver wheel.

LuckRunsOut Enthusiast

LuckRunsOut

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello guys,

Thanks for the replies. I recharged the battery and that didn't help. I also took the truck to my local mechanic. He hooked up his OBD II and he said it couldn't pick up anything because the truck has been modified. I then took it to autozone and they said the same thing. Their computer wouldn't read anything when they plugged it in.

 

I also realized that my factory remote start doesn't work either. It just flashes the headlights and does nothing. I've been doing a lot of research, looking up problems with the stabilitrak message and for many the solution was a bad throttle body. I thought maybe this might be whats happening to me, but I'm not getting the "reduced engine power" message like they did, so I'm not sure if thats my situation.

 

Arctictwist said he had the same problems when the winter storm hit and the problem was a bad wheel hub. That sounds a lot like what I might have.

 

At this point, I want to take it in to the dealership but as I mentioned earlier, I don't know what will happen because of the blackbear tune.

ujtruck Enthusiast

ujtruck

Posted
Posted

you need a good OBD II tools to tackle this issue - One that from Snap-On will work

 

check your Wheel Speed Sensors

Check your ABS System

 

you will know your issue in no time

98 Z71 SLT Senior Enthusiast

98 Z71 SLT

Posted
Posted (edited)

This has nothing to do at all with ABS/trac control etc

 

The problem is this...you have a severe engine misfire. When the pcm recognizes your truck is not firing on all 8 cylinders, you go into a limp-mode. ABS,trac control,stabilitrak is DISABLED because of the misfire.

 

Also your remote start is inop because of the dtc's in your pcm

 

Get your engine fixed...then all other systems will return to normal.

 

What really sucks for you now is that you can't retrieve codes...so you are stuck.

Edited by Super Stealth
javzh Enthusiast

javzh

Posted
Posted

that is complete BS about not being able to retrieve codes.

i have a blackbear tune as well. i recently installed longtube headers and had the same stabilitrak message you have. but it was because i cracked a spark plug when i did the install. i had a rough idle and misfires.

 

So i plugged in my friends OBD-II reader and retrieved the codes. if your check engine light is on then you should also be able to retrieve codes.

code said i had a misfire on cylinder 8, i replaced the cracked spark plug and the stabilitrak message never came back.

 

check your plugs and wires.

Grebbler Enthusiast

Grebbler

Posted
Posted

That is freaky. Justin's tune should not impair reading codes.

 

A bad PCM causing bad engine running / loss of code retrieval - causing other issues to cascade?

 

As far as i know, Jason uses used/traded PCM's. They are expensive and that's fine.

This is not a knock against Jason, but I elected to keep my stock PCM as a spare just in case I have an issue like you are having.

 

This way if the truck acts the same after swapping the old one in I can rule out the PCM and look to other modules or wiring. If swapping solves the issue then I can send Justin's PCM back and still drive (although not nearly as much fun) until the problem is found.

 

I hope it turns out to be silly and cheap. I am a big fan of cheap.

LuckRunsOut Enthusiast

LuckRunsOut

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hey guys, just wanted to give you all a quick update.

 

I took the truck into the dealership (or stealership lol) this morning. I was kinda nervous because of the blackbear tune, but I rolled the dice and left it there for service. A few hours later, I get a call from the service dept. Turns out that a mouse had chewed off one of the direct injectors. They found the dead mouse in pieces...They then said that it couldn't be covered under the powertrain warranty because it didn't result in mechanical failure. $292 for the repair. And I guess it makes sense because like i had mentioned in my first post we got a winter storm in Texas and I guess the mouse was looking for a place to keep warm. They didn't mention anything about the tune, and I was happy to get my truck back. Thanks for everyones input and advice. This truly is a great website!

agrats84 Enthusiast

agrats84

Posted
Posted

Wow. You lucked out in the scheme of things. I had a cat do the same thing, but the smell when I turned the heat on gave me a clue. A pretty cheap fix for what it could have been. I have been researching getting my truck tuned by Justin, but am going to opt for the AutoCal for the reasons you were concerned about with the dealership. However, it gives me new confidence that they didn't mention anything to you about it.

AirSkeeter Enthusiast

AirSkeeter

Posted
Posted
This has nothing to do at all with ABS/trac control etc

 

The problem is this...you have a severe engine misfire. When the pcm recognizes your truck is not firing on all 8 cylinders, you go into a limp-mode. ABS,trac control,stabilitrak is DISABLED because of the misfire.

 

Also your remote start is inop because of the dtc's in your pcm

 

Get your engine fixed...then all other systems will return to normal.

 

What really sucks for you now is that you can't retrieve codes...so you are stuck.

 

You are spot on with this comment. The truck that I traded in yesterday had alll of the same issues. It turned out to be a dropped cylinder and possibly a warped head. Apparently the 2007 5.3 has some of these issues. The SM told me that the computer shuts all of those systems off and goes into limp mode, as you said.

ChevyTech77 Senior Enthusiast

ChevyTech77

Posted
Posted

The stability and traction system will default to off with any engine/trans driveablility issue. Get the check engine light/driveablility concern fixed first and the rest will be history.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Forum Statistics

    250.5k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts

  • Member Statistics

    342,972
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    Whit.the.COB
    Newest Member
    Whit.the.COB
    Joined

  • Who's Online   2 Members, 0 Anonymous, 1,331 Guests (See full list)

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • TrueBlue
      Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

      By TrueBlue · Posted

      I gotta say, I'm enjoying your narration. The troubles you've been having are amusing as you describe them. It's good to see that you're finally getting some satisfaction out the old beast though.
    • Atlas
      Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

      By Atlas · Posted

      Declaring victory would upset the demons that possess this Blazer, so I won't. But I did make progress today--after it put up a fight. Always a fight.   I had the day off so I spent the morning cleaning up the shop and I thought I'd get ahead of things by filling the cooling system in prep for the final part I needed to arrive: the driver's side knock sensor. Glug, glug, glug....and then the unmistakable sound of liquid hitting the shop floor. It induces the same chagrin when the sonar and targeting laser temporarily malfunction during a late night bladder evacuation over the toilet with the bathroom light off. D'OH!!! That made a mess...   Oh, hey, that knock sensor I removed? It threads into a wet port. Who knew?! Learn something new every day. Put a pin in that chore, I'll fill it the rest of the way later.   The knock sensor arrived at about 1pm. I threaded it in, connected the wire, filled up the coolant, checked for leaks, and... drumroll.... fingers crossed for a perfect start, excellent timing, model fuel trims, and ...no squeaks... Here goes.....   No, it didn't start. At all. I cranked it a few times and it wasn't sounding good. Furthermore, I heard leaking again. Jesus H Tapdancing Christ, stop leaking all over the dang floor. This time I had accidentally overfilled the coolant reservoir and the churn of the water pump via cranking caused a bit to burp out. Ok, just, breathe... Put the flamethrower down. Dang thing wouldn't burn anyway, leaks too much...   Did you know the rotation of a round crank sensor in a round hole, matters? I do now. Took me about half hour to retrace steps and realize what I had done. Then it started right up.   No squeaks. The squeak was the old balancer.   Once it entered closed loop, fuel trims are dead on, hovering right around zero at idle. No more -30%. I'll credit the injector rebuild on that one.   Timing? I think there's an OBD 1.5 translation error with my Actron scanner. It's anywhere from -20 to -30 at idle, sometimes as high as -40 cruising. Sorry, the engine just isn't running that smoothly at -40 degrees ignition advance. It's just not. It's smooth all through the rev range and has decent power. I'm going to have to trust the seat of my pants on this one.   The new exhaust is very quiet. The old catalytic converter? Not melted, but definitely not healthy. Rains glitter when you turn it on its end...all the precious metal is flaking out. Once the new exhaust system burned in/smoked off a bit, the engine's exhaust smell is normal again. Not that I'd recommend going around huffing car exhaust, but, you know what I mean?   One problem to correct. The new exhaust has the opposite problem of the old spliced up exhaust. It wants to hit the floor where the old one wanted to rest on the cross member. Happy medium, please? Still noodling on that one, need to look at how I can adjust some hangers.   I don't know what's next. On one hand I want to run away from this thing as far and as fast as I can -- there have been a lot of NOT fun moments. On the other, now that it kinda drives nice, maybe drive it around for a little bit?   Shhh... it's not currently dripping oil all over the floor. I can see just a little wet at the bottom of the timing cover where it meets the oil pan seal. It's not dripping multiple drops with every ignition cycle, in fact, after some driving this evening it has yet to even form a drop that could drip off yet. But the weekend is young... I fully expect this could turn into Exxon Valdez by Sunday. Because this Blazer hates me. LOL.      
    • Grumpy Bear
      The Peckish Synapse

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      About that:   Once upon a time in a land far far away lived a car company that was shy about taking your money and wanted to be sure that they gave you more that you asked for so that you'd come back. No really, not a fairytale. 😱   But after the field got thinned out enough to limit the competition it seemed good enough to give you only what you asked for. Fair enough I say but in such a market you have to give something the others are not or they go to the one who does. Gimmicks or glitz. Oh, fins and chrome. Yea, shinny crow like cars. Yum.    Field narrows a bit more and 'brand loyalty' becomes a thing and the minute it does they start thinking to themselves, "Could we make more money if we gave them less than they expect and they will hang in there for brand and comfort with the known?" They gave it a try and da*n, it worked!!    Well, what if we teach them, groom them into believing that less is "Normal" and cut some more corners. Will that work? Oh heck yea!    🤔 I wonder, can we give then WAY less than they expect and make them mad enough to spit nails and STILL get them to pay up? Sure, if we get everyone else to do the same so that the choice is less or nothing at all. How would be do that? Platform sharing.  What a concept, right?  Steal like there is no tomorrow and it's legal too!    Truth is no one is going to give up driving, not for very long. The Gen Z crowd is fine with it and will be as long as someone not Gen Z will haul them around. At some point we all die.    Economic voting only works if you cast a NO vote now and again and enough of them to get dumb and dumber to wise up. Well, that's how I was taught anyway. And it should have worked. Would have worked. But the Bail out!!   Look, you have another choice if  you take that bag off your head. If the dumb it down to some predetermined expectation of how John Q Public will use it the, that is under design it to failure they you use it to a lower stress mode. D'ho!    A 1950 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 will go anywhere a Suzuki Hayabusa will and for just as long. But you will have to treat it for what it is and not for what you wish it was. 
    • Vu1can
      Bridgestone vs Goodyear tires?

      By Vu1can · Posted

      Maybe I was just too unlucky, but I had nothing but bad luck with Bridgestones. Out of 3 sets, they all started losing a lot of air when they got down to about 1/2 tread life, and at that point also wet traction suffered more than it should have. Also, the only tire I ever had in my 60 years of driving that had a side wall blow out was a Bridgestone.   I'm currently running Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT and am very happy with them.   
    • davester
      Broke Down on the Mountain

      By davester · Posted

      maybe when the trip is over, check all the other joints in the front end, like all the ball joints, tie rods, pitman & idler arms, etc...

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...