Service Stabilitrak / Service Traction Control

Well, things were going well this afternoon while I was working on my Denali, and I was wanting to back out of the garage, and I had my intake off, so I figured I'd roll her out in reverse. I put the key in on run (not started), foot on brake, door ajar, and dropped it in reverse. Upon rolling out in reverse slow as a snail, I stopped in my driveway, noticing the brakes were making a weird noise, but I figured it was just because I didn't have power braking at that point (engine not running.

I did my work (installed a HID kit), then put things back together, reconnected the negative battery lead, and tested things out. HIDs worked fine after I adjusted a ground lead on the passenger side wiring harness...

ANYWAY, when I buttoned everything back up, and started the truck, I got a check engine light, and a "Service Stabilitrak" and "Service Traction Control" message, then of course it says "Traction Control OFF".

I don't think I screwed anything up with the HID install (everything works fine), but could I have messed something up rolling it out in reverse with it not running?

Any ideas would help, and since I don't have a programmer yet that would be able to read these codes, I'm sure I don't have much choice other than to take it in to the dealer. Did I do something obviously wrong?!? :confused2:

Thanks for any insight / help!

Getwired said:

Well, things were going well this afternoon while I was working on my Denali, and I was wanting to back out of the garage, and I had my intake off, so I figured I'd roll her out in reverse. I put the key in on run (not started), foot on brake, door ajar, and dropped it in reverse. Upon rolling out in reverse slow as a snail, I stopped in my driveway, noticing the brakes were making a weird noise, but I figured it was just because I didn't have power braking at that point (engine not running.

I did my work (installed a HID kit), then put things back together, reconnected the negative battery lead, and tested things out. HIDs worked fine after I adjusted a ground lead on the passenger side wiring harness...

ANYWAY, when I buttoned everything back up, and started the truck, I got a check engine light, and a "Service Stabilitrak" and "Service Traction Control" message, then of course it says "Traction Control OFF".

I don't think I screwed anything up with the HID install (everything works fine), but could I have messed something up rolling it out in reverse with it not running?

Any ideas would help, and since I don't have a programmer yet that would be able to read these codes, I'm sure I don't have much choice other than to take it in to the dealer. Did I do something obviously wrong?!? :confused2:

Thanks for any insight / help!

Click to expand...

Disconnect the negative battery cable overnight (or for 10-15 minutes) to reset the lights/computer, you should be good to go. I had a similar light (mine was because I let the truck idle while checking the HID kit, and I didn't have the airbox on).... Let us know how you make out.

-Travis

Yup that did it.

I guess the truck didn't appreciate my rolling in reverse without the engine running, and the brakes were pretty p.o.'d too. It sounded like the ABS was engaging pretty aggressively yesterday while I was rolling out, which is why I think the service codes were set...

Anyway, I disconnected the battery lead for a half hour or so, and things are good now. All idiot lights out... :thumbsup:

Thanks for the great suggestion - I was getting worried I had hosed something up.

HMMMmmmm.... Still have trouble....

Well, I think it's time to take 'er to the dealer for service. Stabilitrak and Traction Control service indicators came back. :mad2: Called OnStar, and had them run a diagnostic, and they stated that the ABS/Stabilitrak controller has an issue (I figured as much), and they also mentioned that my fuel system has a problem, which was a surprise. :cuss: I'm wondering if the fuel system error they show has to do with my Volant Intake...or with just having the intake off when I had the key in "run" yesterday when I was doing the work. I thought I had cleared the "check engine" code earlier today.

Anyway, I've disconnected the negative battery lead, will let it sit overnight, and will test again tomorrow. I'm sure the ABS/Stabilitrak issue will come back, but I need to try, right?

Question I have is this: before I take it to the dealer for service, do I need to take off the intake and disconnect my HIDs? I don't think so, but I'd appreciate any input from you guys. I love my truck, and my dealership is pretty good, but I've never had to deal with potential aftermarket issues vs. warranty before so I don't know what to expect.

Getwired,

Any updates on your truck? Also, where are you located? I am in MD, I noticed you are in the DC suburbs. I plan to install my HID kit this weekend

Nothing yet. It's going in for service tonight & tomorrow. I'm struggling with whether or not I should put the factory intake back on there and play dumb if they ask any questions re: HID lights. What do you think I should do with the intake? My check engine light is on now, and Onstar diagnostics say there's a problem with the fuel system. I sure hope this doesn't get nasty. :ack:

They will definitely not give you a hard time on the Intake because it doesn't void your warranty.

Unless . . .

uvamack said:

They will definitely not give you a hard time on the Intake because it doesn't void your warranty.

Click to expand...

Unless the MAF somehow went Tango Uniform and then they'll say it got hurt during the CAI install.

Not a good "run" of "luck" lately...

Yeah, I thought of that as well w/r/t MAF sensor. I would be surprised if that was it. The intake has been on there for a couple of weeks, no problems. The check engine light came on after the "service stabilitrak" and "service traction control" messages popped up. I'm trying not to worry about this too much.

This sucks though: Literally 15 minutes after dropping the truck off tonight, my ABS light came on in my second vehicle, on the way home with my wife. (I recently had my brake pads changed - I think the brake fluid was just a tad low - topped it off, and it seems okay for the moment).

NOW, to top it all off when I get home, Vista is telling me my hard drive is getting ready to fail. If I "disappear" for a few days -- you'll know my drive died...

I swear this is like a bad dream. Now all I need is for all my teeth to fall out and to show up at work not wearing any pants.

I need a vacation. :ack:

Simple fix: Smart truck, stupid owner!

Well, it's turned out pretty well thus far. Picked up the truck this afternoon, and it did cost me a $59.99 diagnostic fee. According to the tech @ the dealer:

1) The Volant intake has a small hole in the seam where it was cast, and it was causing the MAF sensor to report less air than the engine was getting, causing a fuel mix problem. The hole was patched temporarily to allow futher diagnostic (using a highly complex strip of electrical tape). Dealer "offered" to patch it for me permanently for $94.00 (labor), but I said no way, I'd just epoxy it for $4.00. The hole is about the size of a grain of rice - I'm actually surprised I didn't notice it.

2) MAF sensor issue / hole has apparently been an issue for a while, since I put on the Volant and didn't notice the hole. Computer stores small/non-critical error codes, and doesn't trigger an idiot light unless the codes persist, which in my case took about two weeks. There is another issue w/ the Volant intake which I've mentioned over here.

3) Computer disables certain other functions based on error conditions. In my case, the traction control and stabilitrak errors were caused by the computer turning those functions off due to the check engine condition as per above (supposedly to prevent cascading failures), and NOT by rolling out in reverse without the engine running.

It's nice that GM puts some "fuzzy-logic diagnostic intelligence" into their products, but for a computer guy like me coming from a (usually) cut/dry troubleshooting school, this was a "curve" I wasn't expecting.

I consider myself lucky not to have hosed up anything else (yet). Bottom line: Inspect your parts carefully before you install them - lesson learned. Ghetto-fied Volant image below.




....Oh yeah, and my other vehicle was a tad low on brake fluid due to recent pad replacement like I mentioned -- just added some and she's golden.

....Also, my computer's drive IS toast. Grrrr.....

Since you said you're a computer guy, then you did have a backup, right?

Glad to hear you got your problem solved. BTW, the GM CAI would have been covered under warranty.

True...True...

Yep, I have a full backup. What it doesn't do is save me the aggravation of a Vista installation again, or the time it takes to restore 800GB of data...

Yeah, I definitely thought about that re: GM CAI... I really like my Volant tho, despite the hole (which I'll epoxy tonight, and you won't be able to tell there's anything wrong). Point taken, but I'm still out my $59.99.

Looks like my problem is fixed for real...

...I've had my vehicle off and on the road all day, and it runs fine again. PHEW! Weird how "a little thing" like an air leak can trigger a cascading "shutdown" of stuff. Glad it seems to be fine, as I'm headed on a road trip next week, hauling a bunch of kids and towing a trailer!