Been a while.. question for you all - 2009 Silverado traction control issue

[smallblockjay]

First, it's been a while since I've been around this place. It's been kinda fun lurking and reading what's going on.

Now, the question. I've got a 2009 Chevy 1500 Z71 that has been giving me warnings for a while now and I haven't figured out what to look at. Every time I start it, the dash tells me "Service Traction Control," "Service Stabilitrac," and it turns the traction control off. The ABS light and traction control lights stay on all the time while the truck is running. If I put the 4wd selector in the Auto position, it will put the truck in 4H. I leave it set to 2wd and it has no problem and stays in 2wd. If I want it in 4wd, I can put it in 4H and 4L. Other than that, no other problems. It runs fine and nothing else seems to be wrong with it. It's not giving any diagnostic trouble codes.

This truck has the 5.3L active fuel management engine and 6 speed auto trans. The only work that's been done on it lately is I put new shocks and struts on it, replaced a sloppy ball joint, new tires and had the front end aligned. After all that work was completed, it had no problems for a while. When the problem started, I stopped to get gas and when I got in it to start it up, that was the first time I started getting the warnings on the dash. It has done it every time since. I have tried disconnecting the battery. That, of course, didn't change anything.

I just don't even know where to start looking on this thing......Wondered if anyone might know any common issues with these vehicles I might start looking at first and go from there.

Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

[anotheridiot]

First off check the charging system. Chevys are notorious for throwing the ABS light when the volts are low, or maybe I should say, that the ABS system is first in warnings when volts and amps are a little low. Get the ABS checked for 99, get the charging system checked for half that.

We just had that problem on my sons 03 though, it was just a wheel sensor, so we had to pull and replace the hub since the wheel sensors are not replaceable. Since you were having some issues and a ball joint was changed, its pretty likely that hub is going bad. Make sure you change the pair.

[Barry Donovan]

First off check the charging system. Chevys are notorious for throwing the ABS light when the volts are low, or maybe I should say, that the ABS system is first in warnings when volts and amps are a little low. Get the ABS checked for 99, get the charging system checked for half that.

We just had that problem on my sons 03 though, it was just a wheel sensor, so we had to pull and replace the hub since the wheel sensors are not replaceable. Since you were having some issues and a ball joint was changed, its pretty likely that hub is going bad. Make sure you change the pair.

I agree. That seems to be a common thing for some weeks now, not just chevy.

electrons give a heads up in peculiar ways.

[smallblockjay]

First off check the charging system. Chevys are notorious for throwing the ABS light when the volts are low, or maybe I should say, that the ABS system is first in warnings when volts and amps are a little low. Get the ABS checked for 99, get the charging system checked for half that.

We just had that problem on my sons 03 though, it was just a wheel sensor, so we had to pull and replace the hub since the wheel sensors are not replaceable. Since you were having some issues and a ball joint was changed, its pretty likely that hub is going bad. Make sure you change the pair.

Now that brings up an interesting point. The dealership replaced the hub on the same side as the ball joint. It was covered under powertrain warranty, so I had them fix that and they diagnosed the ball joint at the same time. Ball joint wasn't covered under warranty, so I did it myself. I didn't have any problem out of it for a good while after the hub replacement, then I did the ball joint, tires and alignment and it went about a month after that before the problem started.

To throw another wrench into it, I felt like the battery was getting weak and tried to replace it with an Optima red top I had laying around. Turns out that battery was dead, so I put my charger on the old battery and stuck it back in there. That was a few weeks before the traction control issues started.

Thanks for giving me some kind of direction on this. I haven't really done much about it because I haven't had the slightest clue were to start.....

[Dan Barlow]

There is a special way to charge a dead optima battery. I can't remember what it is but its probably on their web site. Or just take it out and stick a normal one in.

[anotheridiot]

second thought, how are the tires. this monte carlo is undrivable in the snow unless we turn the traction control off. Pretty sure it needs a new set of tires since we changed everything else.

[BigAL]

If the lights on the dash are coming on, it's storing codes on the computer, you need to read the codes, should tell you the problem. I'm having a simular situations with my '99 Camaro, it did exactly what your discribing, after checking the codes it said the right from wheel sensor was out of range. I'd bet your having the same problem.

[smallblockjay]

There is a special way to charge a dead optima battery. I can't remember what it is but its probably on their web site. Or just take it out and stick a normal one in.

I already tried charging it. It's an old battery. Pretty sure it's dead. I did charge the battery that was in it and put it back in right before the problem started.

[smallblockjay]

second thought, how are the tires. this monte carlo is undrivable in the snow unless we turn the traction control off. Pretty sure it needs a new set of tires since we changed everything else.

Tires are brand new all terrains. A couple hundred miles on them at most. Had an alignment done when I had the tires put on also.

[smallblockjay]

If the lights on the dash are coming on, it's storing codes on the computer, you need to read the codes, should tell you the problem. I'm having a simular situations with my '99 Camaro, it did exactly what your discribing, after checking the codes it said the right from wheel sensor was out of range. I'd bet your having the same problem.

Checked it for codes once. The OBD tool showed no codes. Guess I can try again, just to be sure.