Chevy Traverse Stabilitrak/Traction Control problems

Mr_Shiftright · September 2016

That's too bad. So what happened?

vesolehome · September 2016

I'm glad I found this board but I can't believe years of this problem and GM has done nothing.
I have the same issue the last week on my 2013 Traverse. Today and a week ago. Stability warning, low engine power and I was driving. Had to put flashers on and pull over. This is very dangerous. The dealership couldn't find the error last week. I called GM and filed a claim. I'll be back to the dealership this Monday.

There are a lot of posts here - years of them about this problem. Has anyone seen a fix for this? Thanks

vesolehome · September 2016

1soccerdad1 said:
The reduced engine power "feature" put me and my family of five at serious risk. While passing on a two-lane highway in the mountains, the the same Stabilitrak, traction control, and reduced power occurred. As I was going up the mountain, I rapidly lost acceleration. Fortunately, the car I was passing recognized I was having an issue and slowed to allow me to reenter the lane to an avoid oncoming vehicle. I had experienced this issue once before and took it to a dealership for repair - $645.40 at McCarthy Chevrolet in Olathe, KS to replace a fuel rail pressure sensor. I had read this same blog prior to that service, but they were not familiar with an extended warranty on the throttle body. I guess it was not the fuel rail pressure sensor that I paid $645.40 for, but feel fortunate that my family and others were able to narrowly avoid serious injury.

Did you ever find out what it was

vesolehome · September 2016

jflrn05 said:
I have encountered this problem on a 2016 Traverse with 3,550 miles. It began last week, I did a reset per owners manual and it was OK for a day. After making an appointment with the Chevy dealer and having to wait 2 days it happened 2 more times. Both times while making a right hand turn at under 25 mph. When I went to my scheduled appointment, the service rep looked at me as if I had a 3rd eye. The result was that they could not recreate the incident, but they did "recalibrate" the steering sensor. Why was that done when they couldn't find the problem? A day later the Service Stabilitrak, Service, Traction Control and Traction Control Off messages were displayed , as well as the Traction control Idiot light. A prescribed reset cleared it. It happened twice the next day, the last was while getting on an Interstate at rush hour. Accelerating beyond 35 mph was not possible. Not appreciating that sort of excitement, I drove the car home, dropped my wife of and drove to the dealership. I left the car running to prove that I, in fact did not have a 3rd eye and that there was a problem with this vehicle.
I just received a call from the dealership and was told that it is the steering sensor and that part is on "Extreme Back Order". Must be a popular item. The person then said that they would try to get the part from GM but it may take a few days.
The questions raised by this experience are: If the Operators Manual included with the vehicle instructs you on how to reset the failure, why is it that the Service Dept. personnel tell me that they have never heard of this happening? And if this alleged failure does not happen, why is the suspect replacement part so difficult to obtain?

Have you had problems since and did that fix the problem

meechigana2 · October 2016

I bought my 2012 chevy traverse in January 2012 and first had the problem the day before Thanksgiving in 2013. The stabilitrak warning came on and the engine light was blinking. I stopped the car and turned it off and then when I restarted it the warnings were off. I was in a parking lot and didn't notice a change in the feeling of the car/engine, etc... Fall of 2014 the same thing happened as I was going pretty slow into a turn and before I could pull over the warnings went off. Today as I'm driving the family, the stabilitrak warning goes off, the engine light starts blinking and it feels like the car is going to stall (again going slow as I'm stopping at a right turn light.
When I took the car in the first time they said they got a pretty general code and couldn't replicate it. The second time I was told the same thing but it appears as though they didn't document that in the service notes (I was also getting an oil change). I call today and although it's under extended warranty, it appears that I'm going to need to pay for a rental while they diagnose this problem that I first asked about in November of 2013. I think I'm done with Chevy cars but need this one to last at least four more years and that's why I bought the extended warranty. How does one go about contacting GM directly if they can't find the answer with the service department?

Mr_Shiftright · October 2016

You might try socialmediaATgm.com. That's the e-mail address used by the GM customer service reps who read this Forum.

cincydadchevy · October 2016

2014 traverse... Just bought used w/ 20K miles. Same behavior as above (stabiltrac error/traction control/park assist)... luckily we were parked when error hit, but am pretty freaked out for all the same reasons listed. Dealer replaced trans sensor and cleaned out the throttle body (at my request after reading these posts) even though they looked at me like I was crazy for asking them to do the throttle body cleaning.

Please let me know if there is a fix for this issue. I'll pay the money... just need to feel confident car won't quit on me while I'm with the kids.

Also... Does anyone have a case number that I could reference when calling GM? It may be helpful if we compile a list of these and we can help them connect the dots.

elabel1986 · December 2016

Hello I have a 2014 Chevy Traverse with 59k miles I have had a power loss issue for this vehicle 3 times in 2 months. My wife drives this car with my 2 new born twins that where born early and we have had a terrible summer with been in the hospital for 4 months. My wife and I where driving back home when the vehicle stopped on us and we almost crashed, I right away called the dealer for the third time and explain to them that I could of been killed but they just said bring it in. I stopped by autozone to get the codes for them since last time they said they did not get the codes and could not do anything for us. We are really worried about this, and as a GM employee I love GM vehicles but this is worrying to us I hope you can help with this the dealership had our vehicle for 4 weeks and they told us they could do anything for us, basically told us that if it happens again and we die or get into a serious accident or not to just BRING IT IN so they can look at it......

PF_Flyer · December 2016

What codes did Autozone come up with?

Mr_Shiftright · December 2016

I think you're going to need a higher skill level than Autozone for this issue.

elabel1986 · December 2016

PF_Flyer said:
What codes did Autozone come up with?

P0689
P1682

elabel1986 · December 2016

Mr_Shiftright said:
I think you're going to need a higher skill level than Autozone for this issue.

So autozone is not good enough to pull my codes out? You acting like i had them diagnose my vehicle I just had them read the codes prior to me taking it back to the dealership that way they have a copy.

Mr_Shiftright · December 2016

They aren't trained technicians was my point. They might not have even gotten all the codes that could be read.

But it sounds like you know better than to just throw parts at a car based on some extracted codes. The ECM may not be faulty at all here. It's possible there's some glitch in the wiring harness.

thecardoc3 · December 2016

You know that Envoy Essay I did a few weeks back on the Mechanics forum? This failure would fall right into that exact same category. The code descriptions are: P0689 Engine Controls Ignition Relay Feedback Circuit Low Voltage and P1682 Ignition 1 Switch Circuit 2.

Together those two codes suggest an open or high resistance in the feedback and switch circuits meaning the PCM probably lost that power supply. It would be very easy to prove that is occurring when it acts up, the bigger and most important question is "why". Testing would start by identifying those exact circuits at the under hood fuse block assembly and at the PCM and then run the vehicle in order to get it to act up. With the failure occurring voltage drop measurements would be used to prove exactly where the circuit is failing. Remember how I had to add tag wires to provide test points?

This Traverse failure "could be";

A problem with the under-hood fuse block or its connections.
The relay, and/or the relay's connections to the fuse block.
The PCM or it's connections.
It could be in the wiring in between the PCM and the under-hood fuse block.

Like I said, exactly like the Envoy which BTW beyond demonstrating how a problem like this is approached really doesn't mean anything because what was wrong with the Envoy has nothing at all to do with what is going on with this Traverse. Every failure has to be investigated and solved for exactly what is happening this time and any pressure to use some past experience as leverage to try and jump to some conclusion only serves to devalue the training and talent that are required to take a disciplined approach to these problems and that's why it isn't worth it for techs to even bother to learn how to do diagnose problems like this. As far as everyone else is concerned when it is broken and stays dead it would be relatively easy to figure out. When its random like this the tech who gets assigned to fight it out usually gets screwed out of the hours on the clock that typically have to be invested against it. People like myself who have learned how to deal with these problems also got to enjoy being the person who gave our time away while doing it and we got to deal with the attitude that anything that the consumer was charged towards diagnostics was a rip-off because Auto-Zone etc. would diagnose the cars for free. The problem is, they didn't do diagnostics. They pulled codes and in many cases suggested what parts someone should toss at the car based on the code alone.

From the perspective of the techs who actually diagnose and repairs these kinds of problems consumers are getting something they didn't pay for because no matter what else that consumer has spent, it didn't go to the tech and the tech doesn't get to earn a living while they deal with these random failures.

elabel1986 · December 2016

thecardoc3 said:
You know that Envoy Essay I did a few weeks back on the Mechanics forum? This failure would fall right into that exact same category. The code descriptions are: P0689 Engine Controls Ignition Relay Feedback Circuit Low Voltage and P1682 Ignition 1 Switch Circuit 2.

Together those two codes suggest an open or high resistance in the feedback and switch circuits meaning the PCM probably lost that power supply. It would be very easy to prove that is occurring when it acts up, the bigger and most important question is "why". Testing would start by identifying those exact circuits at the under hood fuse block assembly and at the PCM and then run the vehicle in order to get it to act up. With the failure occurring voltage drop measurements would be used to prove exactly where the circuit is failing. Remember how I had to add tag wires to provide test points?

This Traverse failure "could be";

A problem with the under-hood fuse block or its connections.
The relay, and/or the relay's connections to the fuse block.
The PCM or it's connections.
It could be in the wiring in between the PCM and the under-hood fuse block.

Like I said, exactly like the Envoy which BTW beyond demonstrating how a problem like this is approached really doesn't mean anything because what was wrong with the Envoy has nothing at all to do with what is going on with this Traverse. Every failure has to be investigated and solved for exactly what is happening this time and any pressure to use some past experience as leverage to try and jump to some conclusion only serves to devalue the training and talent that are required to take a disciplined approach to these problems and that's why it isn't worth it for techs to even bother to learn how to do diagnose problems like this. As far as everyone else is concerned when it is broken and stays dead it would be relatively easy to figure out. When its random like this the tech who gets assigned to fight it out usually gets screwed out of the hours on the clock that typically have to be invested against it. People like myself who have learned how to deal with these problems also got to enjoy being the person who gave our time away while doing it and we got to deal with the attitude that anything that the consumer was charged towards diagnostics was a rip-off because Auto-Zone etc. would diagnose the cars for free. The problem is, they didn't do diagnostics. They pulled codes and in many cases suggested what parts someone should toss at the car based on the code alone.

From the perspective of the techs who actually diagnose and repairs these kinds of problems consumers are getting something they didn't pay for because no matter what else that consumer has spent, it didn't go to the tech and the tech doesn't get to earn a living while they deal with these random failures.

Thank you TheCarDoc3

berri · December 2016

This has been a known issue with GM since something like 2007. How come it is not resolved by now and why are people still buying vehicles with it???

stever · December 2016

Maybe because it's not "one" thing? It's almost like a check engine light - lots of possibilities as to what may have triggered it.

Mr_Shiftright · December 2016

Probably because it's not any one thing. The entire network within the car reacts this way but the causes might be quite different each time.

berri · December 2016

Just sounds like a whole system that's not ready for prime time to me.

thecardoc3 · December 2016

berri said:
This has been a known issue with GM since something like 2007. How come it is not resolved by now and why are people still buying vehicles with it???

It isn't a "known issue" it's just a broken car. It also just happens to be a failure that is very close to what was going on with the Envoy that I happened to have had to deal with and bothered to share here. While I can see the parallels between the two cars, I can also clearly see significant differences that make each of them totally unique failures from one tech's perspective. The approach and base routine that I would use to deal with this one would be very similar to what I had to do with the Envoy but it would have to be adjusted to the specifics of this Traverse. Even then there is no way to predict how much time would have to be spent while patiently waiting for the symptom to occur. There quite literally could be months in between failure events and no progress can be made if the failure isn't occurring.

Case in point... Remember with the Envoy the discovery of the .8v voltage drop on the relay command circuit ? While that was by all accounts "A Problem" it wasn't "The Problem". Nobody could really be faulted had they pulled the trigger and replaced the PCM for that discovery alone but experience has taught me to wait and prove if it was really the cause of the stall/no-start and it wasn't. Consider that I could have made a lot more money by replacing the PCM whether I found the fuse block issue or not and been totally justified in doing so. It just wouldn't have fixed the car COMPLETELY As it is there is a fair argument that replacing the fuse block and solving the primary issue hasn't completely repaired the Envoy either and should that PCM circuit degrade further it would end up doing "The Same Thing" that it was doing from the owners perspective.

berri · December 2016

Say it however you want, but you don't see all this AWD system failure stuff on blogs for Ford's, Toyota's, etc. GM appears to have problems with AWD systems more than the others. It may be the mechanical components, the computer system, electronics or some combination, but you just see an awful lot of failure experiences on the web. Each their own, but I wouldn't buy one.

stever · December 2016

Well, think back to the early Odyssey transmissions or Toyota gelling or Nissan CVTs and all the other problem children out there. There's a lot of press and a lot of posts, but when you get down to cases, the problems are likely only affecting two or three percent of owners. When you sell a lot of cars, that's a big number, and it's especially bad when your number comes up.

But all the other owners having no issues have no reason to log in and report that their cars are running fine.

Mr_Shiftright · December 2016

If you hung out in the ER room all day, what might you think of the condition of the human race?

berri · December 2016

I hear what you are saying about the issue being out in the tail of the curve statistically. I also understand that a vehicle can be crippled by a blowout. But there is another issue here I think dealing with lifecycle ownership risk and cost. If your around 3% defect rate is correct, and considering no vehicle is perfect, so while you may not read about it, say around 1% of any vehicle can have an AWD system failure: But that still makes GM in this situation two to three times more likely to experience the issue. The kicker is that Stabilitrak failures seem to be catastrophic failures in that they often appear to cost multiple days of vehicle downtime and thousands of dollars to resolve when it occurs. Small risk perhaps, but a nasty one when it happens. So why not just buy a different brand AWD like Ford or Toyota and pretty much avoid the potential issue? At least that is the logic I see in avoiding Stabilitrak right now.

stever · December 2016

My percentage guess is an extrapolation from figures provided by Warranty Week, and it seems that a 2 or 3% defect rate is pretty typical across the board for cars. So if a company assumes a 3% warranty return, they'll set aside enough money to cover that accrual rate. I figure that translates to a 3% defect rate. (Warranty Week)

In the first quarter of 2016, GM reported a claims rate of 2.6%. Ford was a bit under 2%. GM and Ford have the second- and third-lowest accrual rates per vehicle in the world, at least compared to other public auto companies that report their numbers. Toyota is up, but a lot of that is the airbag mess.

The fact that we're up to 13 pages (~260 posts) in here plus more in other GM discussions over the years indicates that this issue is a sore point for GM. But the reports wouldn't dissuade me from buying the related Buick Encore.

Interesting stuff in any event. Too interesting if it's your car that dies on the freeway during rush hour.

berri · December 2016

If there is a vehicle you really like you should just go for it. Life is too short.

ray80 · December 2016

stever said:

Interesting stuff in any event. Too interesting if it's your car that dies on the freeway during rush hour.

Of course if its a GM you get the reduced power message/condition that allows you to poke it along and off the highway rather then having it just die

kyfdx · December 2016

berri said:
If there is a vehicle you really like you should just go for it. Life is too short.

This

berri · December 2016

kyfdx - something seems to be missing. Happy Hour this afternoon

kyfdx · December 2016

berri said:
kyfdx - something seems to be missing. Happy Hour this afternoon

Nope.... exactly what I meant.

berri · December 2016

You know, I don't really find a must have out there either these days.

boxerlady · January 2017

I own a 2011 Chev Traverse that has a lot of kilometers on it. I had the service stabilitrak, traction control off, check engine light and loss of engine power lights all go off maybe about 3 years ago or so. It was so hard to diagnose because by the time I could get it in to the garage it was always fine. I would lose power at the worst times and it felt like I was hauling a 10,000 pound trailer. Let me tell you, it was a pain in the butt and I didn't feel confident in my vehicle. Finally, the garage was able to identify that it was the throttle body and replaced it. No problems since, until today. Last year, we here in Canada received notice regarding this issue and GM reimbursed me for the fix. Now, maybe 3 years from the original problem and a year or so after the service notice, my throttle body has gone again. The dealership says that the problem in the part has been fixed but now I'm thinking that the part I have would have been prior to that happening. Plus, my car now has too many miles on it. I am super angry because as far as I am concerned, you know there is a problem and now you won't stand behind it because its normal wear and tear because of the miles I have put on. Seriously? Crappy part replaced with the same crappy part. Makes me mad.

jenlynn25 · January 2017

I have a 2012 Traverse with these same issues. My abs light came on along with service traction control and stabilitrack after reading all these comments I am scared to drive it an hour to the dealership I bought it from. Even more so the service costs

jillybean007 · February 2017

We have a 2010 chevy traverse and it has 98000 miles. It started to lose power while going 65 mph in traffic then restarts itself immediately. For a second I lose ability to steer easily because power steering is off, all lights come on dashboard, then restarts. It happened an additional 4 times on way to dealer. The dealer has had it for 4 weeks. They replicated it. They said it was low oil. Then it was timing chain, camshaft ($2200) We just picked it up and it happened to husband on way home. Are you seeing this in others? I have already contacted GM and they are refusing to admit there is a widespread problem

berri · February 2017

Mr. Goodwrench sounds like he is stuck in the 80's!

Mr_Shiftright · February 2017

Mr. Goodwrench doesn't seem to be diagnosing the problem correctly. Maybe he needs to go back to school. Stabilitrak problems are tricky because the causes can be multiple.

berri · February 2017

Stabilitrak just seems to be way outside the parameters of comparable competitors if you go by complaints and blogs. Weird, since it has been around so long. Maybe GM just is weak in computer and electronics engineering? But it has convinced me to rule out GM crossovers. I don't want the headaches, nor the memories of an Oldsmobile that I owned with computer issues that could never be fully resolved. It is sad because otherwise I think GM has some nice crossover products.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2017

Well you could be right..it could be that some dinky little sensor worth $10 bucks will bring down the entire vehicle. Or maybe there's some issue with false data going to the computer through glitchy wiring/multiplexing.

t2dixon · March 2017

I've been having the same issue 2012 Traverse started yesterday I'm going into the dealer today, I'm not happy especially since I've been having other issues for 6 mos that no one can seem to resolve. And every time it's at my expense I'm at a loss I've never owed a car that has cost me so much! I emailed one of the GM service people and I'm calling the numbers bc all of these issue started after my extended warranty expired of course! I'm frustrated beyond belief in a single parent my job requires I drive I cover an enormous territory and without a car I'm in trouble!

carebear08 · March 2017

For the second time in a few months I have experienced the loss of power and the the error meagaes to service the traction control and stabiltrac but this last time on Thursday I actually lost a lot of power and my car was flooded with the smell of gasoline, of course the warranty has expired ! It's running ok now but I know it will happen again ! Does anyone know the average cost to repair this issue ?

Mr_Shiftright · March 2017

There's really no way to estimate repair costs on this because the malfunction has many causes.

carebear08 · March 2017

Ok thank you !

Mr_Shiftright · March 2017

I realize that's not very encouraging but this problem can be solved by the right person.

ray80 · March 2017

carebear08 said:
For the second time in a few months I have experienced the loss of power and the the error meagaes to service the traction control and stabiltrac but this last time on Thursday I actually lost a lot of power and my car was flooded with the smell of gasoline, of course the warranty has expired ! It's running ok now but I know it will happen again ! Does anyone know the average cost to repair this issue ?

Have you had it scanned for trouble codes yet, because the reduced power and stabilitrac messages could come up for numerous different issues and the only one(s) that count are for your vehicle?

( I see I type to slow again and question already answered

)

cnw1949 · April 2017

Today, I had my 2011 Traverse at the dealership for the Service Traction Control and Service Stabiltrac issue. When I picked it up, I was told it was a self-induced problem caused by depressing the brake pedal and gas pedal at the same time. I had not gotten home - six miles away - before it was back on. I took it back immediately. The service manager didn't act like he had ever heard of the issue before and had no clue what to look for. Tomorrow I will be contacting the Chevrolet and GM numbers mentioned in previous posts. It is unreal that there are now 14 pages of the same problem and no real solutions offered by GM.

thecardoc3 · April 2017

There are plenty of real solutions, one for every possible cause, its just that there is nearly an infinite number of possible causes. Each vehicle failure has to be analyzed and then repaired based on what is going on with it and not by what happened to a different vehicle. A tech with the right tools and training can make easy work of this kind of problem. What you are experiencing when a given shop (or dealer) doesn't have such a person working for them is the result of decades of the people in the trade being abused and disrespected.

kbfisher · April 2017

Clean out the air box. There is a small reservoir that holds blowback oil. Mine was full..looked like melted tootsies rolls in there! Also clean out the throttle body itself. First time I did that it was just caked with black oily gunk. Lastly clean the MAF sensor. All those steps will only take a half hour. Look up how to do it on YouTube.
We eventually had the throttle body replaced by Chevy and have had no issues. I had a recall letter. It needed replaced by 100k miles. I waited till the last mile to get it done.

miken218 · May 2017

We have a 2015 traverse awd fully loaded with 39,000 miles. This has been happening to us, and just called dealer to get it looked at and was told its out of warranty. Told them I have called a couple times in first year and was told to keep track of it. Just had to replace rear hub out of my own pocket, and starting to whine in rear differential. Pretty much getting it shoved were the sun dont shine!!! Gm owner since 16yrs old, might be time to switch!

toetagn · May 2017

I have 2014 traverse the service stabilizer / service traction control keeps going on and off
I take it to dealer he clears codes and tells me nothing is wrong .
I was in a accident because the car would not stop proper it shook and shacked when holding break down .
Lucky I wasn’t going to fast . after getting it fixed the dealer once again cleared codes and sent me on my way .
Please help why wouldn’t the traverse not stop and how can we get this fixed proper.
I have a 8 year old daughter and my wife in this car most time We don’t feel safe.

ray80 · May 2017

toetagn said:
I have 2014 traverse the service stabilizer / service traction control keeps going on and off
I take it to dealer he clears codes and tells me nothing is wrong .
I was in a accident because the car would not stop proper it shook and shacked when holding break down .
Lucky I wasn’t going to fast . after getting it fixed the dealer once again cleared codes and sent me on my way .
Please help why wouldn’t the traverse not stop and how can we get this fixed proper.
I have a 8 year old daughter and my wife in this car most time We don’t feel safe.

Find a better dealer . Shudder/pulsing brake pedal sounds like ABS system is detecting possible skidding is working to make safer stop (as designed). Did you hold your foot steady on brake pedal?

Chevy Traverse Stabilitrak/Traction Control problems

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles