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Error Code #P1516 Class Action
March 24th, 2013, 2:00 AM
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Error Code #P1516 Class Action
I am a Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Truck owner. These trucks are prone to a failure that is Error Code #P1516. Some of these can be easily fixed for less than $100.00 while other times the repair may involve thousands of dollars in parts and shop hours attempting to solve the error. GM designed the vehicles so that when this error code comes up the truck goes into a "Reduced Engine Power" mode and essentially goes dead. Sometimes it can be reset by simply restarting the vehicle after 20 seconds with the key off other times the vehicle will not run at all. This is a failure in the electronics that can be caused by one of about 20 different issues, however they are all related. The average American cannot affort to tackle this kind of vague repair issue. GM charges a small fortune for the repair parts with no cause to do so other than to make big $ by preying on it's former customer base. There are litterally millions of owners of these trucks starting in 2003 with this same issue going unaddressed through to 2008. Thoughts?
March 24th, 2013, 8:22 AM
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Well, if there are "literally millions" of these owners then a class action lawsuit by some large law firm should be happy as hell to take the case on.
Numerous bulletins have been published and most fixes (not all) are with the replacement of the throttle body/ECM and the re-position of the ground.
But, millions of people? And then saying GM intentionally designed something to break so that GM literally makes "big $ by preying on it's former customer base" is ludicrous.
First, I have never seen GM intentionally design something to break. Do they, and did they make poor designs? Yes. Did they not come forward and help with the issue? Yes, but so does every damn manufacturer in the world. However, GM makes NO money from diagnosing this problem other than for the parts sold and that is minimal when compared to the labor time that dealer will charge. So implying GM is making tons of money on these repairs is ludicrous. What amount they make will be cancelled out by loss of future customers, the issuance of bulletins and other misc. costs associated with any problem. (For OEM parts from GM, the dealer receives a 40 percent discount. So if there is a part GM sells to you over the counter for 100 the dealer only pays 60 and then charges you 100.)
And, if there were literally millions and they reported this issue to NHTSA; I'm sure there would have been some 941s performed by GM. Anytime a vehicle goes into reduced mode or stalls and fails to restart, NHTSA would like to know, these are considered safety problems.
Numerous bulletins have been published and most fixes (not all) are with the replacement of the throttle body/ECM and the re-position of the ground.
But, millions of people? And then saying GM intentionally designed something to break so that GM literally makes "big $ by preying on it's former customer base" is ludicrous.
First, I have never seen GM intentionally design something to break. Do they, and did they make poor designs? Yes. Did they not come forward and help with the issue? Yes, but so does every damn manufacturer in the world. However, GM makes NO money from diagnosing this problem other than for the parts sold and that is minimal when compared to the labor time that dealer will charge. So implying GM is making tons of money on these repairs is ludicrous. What amount they make will be cancelled out by loss of future customers, the issuance of bulletins and other misc. costs associated with any problem. (For OEM parts from GM, the dealer receives a 40 percent discount. So if there is a part GM sells to you over the counter for 100 the dealer only pays 60 and then charges you 100.)
And, if there were literally millions and they reported this issue to NHTSA; I'm sure there would have been some 941s performed by GM. Anytime a vehicle goes into reduced mode or stalls and fails to restart, NHTSA would like to know, these are considered safety problems.
March 25th, 2013, 10:16 AM
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I am a Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Truck owner. These trucks are prone to a failure that is Error Code #P1516. Some of these can be easily fixed for less than $100.00 while other times the repair may involve thousands of dollars in parts and shop hours attempting to solve the error. GM designed the vehicles so that when this error code comes up the truck goes into a "Reduced Engine Power" mode and essentially goes dead. Sometimes it can be reset by simply restarting the vehicle after 20 seconds with the key off other times the vehicle will not run at all. This is a failure in the electronics that can be caused by one of about 20 different issues, however they are all related. The average American cannot affort to tackle this kind of vague repair issue. GM charges a small fortune for the repair parts with no cause to do so other than to make big $ by preying on it's former customer base. There are litterally millions of owners of these trucks starting in 2003 with this same issue going unaddressed through to 2008. Thoughts?
ontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> rtlittledevil,I’m sorry you are experiencing this issue with your Silverado vehicle. Have you had the vehicle diagnosed for this issue? I would be happy to look into this further for you. If you would like me to proceed, please PM your VIN.
I look forward to your reply.
Louis
GM Customer Service
March 25th, 2013, 2:42 PM
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Having the same issue with a 03 GMC 2500HD. Have tried replacing TPS pigtail, throttle body, accelerator pedal sensor, checked grounds and still getting reduced engine power fault. Some days it will do this 10 to 15 times in a 20 mile trip.
December 9th, 2013, 2:04 PM
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I'm having this same issue currently, i've got an 03 silverado 2500hd with a 6.0, drove it to work just fine not a single issue on the way home "Reduced Engine Power" ten times in 30 miles. i've taken it to a local dealer there's a new TB, pig tails, peddle sensor as well as the box on the firewall. I am just at my witts end with it all, this was a great truck at one time - now i'm starting to debate on other options.
December 12th, 2013, 9:50 PM
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I have a 2003 Sub 2500 with 6L engine, with 439K miles on it now. I bought it new to replace my 95 5.7L 2500 (which I still have at 310K miles). I really like both trucks.
Back at about 200K miles, the 2003 started to have the Reduced Engine Power / Check Engine Light glitch. My wife is the primary driver of this truck, and she likes it a lot, but not so much when it does the REP/CEL. My local dealer replaced the pigtail (twice), then the throttle body. Numerous REP/CEL occurances in between these parts being replaced. Different Mech assigned, replaced the pigtail (third) throttle body (second), and the gas pedal assembly with position sensor (first). Problem apparently solved, after 5 weeks of trouble!
At 415K miles, (8 months ago), we had some chirping noises coming from under hte hood. The dealer shop first diagnosed bad flexplate. I replaced it, but noise didn't go away. I brought it back, and my favorite mechanic diagnosed bad lifter/cam. To save $$$$, I studied up on the LS engine, and then replaced the cam, lifters, gaskets, knock sensors, oil pump, hoses, etc. myself. Interesting to work on the LS (LQ or whatever) for the first time, after years of working on older gen chevy engines. I unbolted the clips for the wiring harnesses so I could move all of them out of the way, minimizing disconnecting all the harnesses, to save time. So the harnesses and connectors and sensors could have been disturbed and caused trouble. But the truck ran flawlessly upon completion, and the truck ran great for 7 months / 23K miles...
Now the '03 is back to having the REP/CEL issues on an infrequent basis. Happens at 70 MPH. or 45. the last two times, after backing out of the driveway, putting truck in Drive it happened. Weather not a factor - 80's. 20's. Rain. Dry (Texas fall weather).
I took it to the dealer shop to get the codes (P1516 mostly) a few times to check each time we had codes shown. I changed the gas pedal sensor (not the pedal/sensor assembly), got the REP/CEL a week or so later. I replaced the Throttle body, put about 600 miles on it before REP/CEL. Relocated ground wire from pass side rear of block to front of pass side head. 3 days REP/CEL. Codes read again. Still P1516, but also one for the pedal sensor. Then left at shop for mech to chase down possible grounding issues. Nothing glaring found. Picked up the Sub to drive over Thanksgiving weekend. 700 miles in 3 days, no glitch. Didn't drive on Sunday. Monday backed out of the driveway, put in drive, and got REP/CEL right there. Took right over to the dealer shop without shutting off, at 20 MPH, mech read the codes, verified the REP/CEL. I left it with him again, and today (about 2 weeks later) I got it back, he apologised to me that he just could not find the problem, but to bring it back any time and he would check it out again for me. Main issue is he couldn't get any code to set and stay, the codes always clear, and the truck runs normally after clearing the code. He didn't charge me for all his time (I bought and installed all the parts he would have replaced), so I certainly can't complain about the Service Dept. (Miller-Starnes).
I wish GM (or the aftermarket) would just issue a kit with a steel cable with ball joints on both ends and go back to the $15.00 throttle linkage that never breaks, and lasts forever. And give up on the $1200 worth of electronics for the drive by wire system. Or at least give us an option here. The lack of DBW control and going back to hard mechanical parts can't affect possibly have a negative effect on emissions, I would even keep the encoders for position sensing of the throttle for the ignition system, and fuel injection system (like on the '95 5.7L engines). So, I don't think this would be a bad idea.
I still hope to hit 500K with this truck, sometime next year!! It will be a challenge to keep the wife in this truck much longer though, she takes a dim view of these problems....
Thanks for reading!
Back at about 200K miles, the 2003 started to have the Reduced Engine Power / Check Engine Light glitch. My wife is the primary driver of this truck, and she likes it a lot, but not so much when it does the REP/CEL. My local dealer replaced the pigtail (twice), then the throttle body. Numerous REP/CEL occurances in between these parts being replaced. Different Mech assigned, replaced the pigtail (third) throttle body (second), and the gas pedal assembly with position sensor (first). Problem apparently solved, after 5 weeks of trouble!
At 415K miles, (8 months ago), we had some chirping noises coming from under hte hood. The dealer shop first diagnosed bad flexplate. I replaced it, but noise didn't go away. I brought it back, and my favorite mechanic diagnosed bad lifter/cam. To save $$$$, I studied up on the LS engine, and then replaced the cam, lifters, gaskets, knock sensors, oil pump, hoses, etc. myself. Interesting to work on the LS (LQ or whatever) for the first time, after years of working on older gen chevy engines. I unbolted the clips for the wiring harnesses so I could move all of them out of the way, minimizing disconnecting all the harnesses, to save time. So the harnesses and connectors and sensors could have been disturbed and caused trouble. But the truck ran flawlessly upon completion, and the truck ran great for 7 months / 23K miles...
Now the '03 is back to having the REP/CEL issues on an infrequent basis. Happens at 70 MPH. or 45. the last two times, after backing out of the driveway, putting truck in Drive it happened. Weather not a factor - 80's. 20's. Rain. Dry (Texas fall weather).
I took it to the dealer shop to get the codes (P1516 mostly) a few times to check each time we had codes shown. I changed the gas pedal sensor (not the pedal/sensor assembly), got the REP/CEL a week or so later. I replaced the Throttle body, put about 600 miles on it before REP/CEL. Relocated ground wire from pass side rear of block to front of pass side head. 3 days REP/CEL. Codes read again. Still P1516, but also one for the pedal sensor. Then left at shop for mech to chase down possible grounding issues. Nothing glaring found. Picked up the Sub to drive over Thanksgiving weekend. 700 miles in 3 days, no glitch. Didn't drive on Sunday. Monday backed out of the driveway, put in drive, and got REP/CEL right there. Took right over to the dealer shop without shutting off, at 20 MPH, mech read the codes, verified the REP/CEL. I left it with him again, and today (about 2 weeks later) I got it back, he apologised to me that he just could not find the problem, but to bring it back any time and he would check it out again for me. Main issue is he couldn't get any code to set and stay, the codes always clear, and the truck runs normally after clearing the code. He didn't charge me for all his time (I bought and installed all the parts he would have replaced), so I certainly can't complain about the Service Dept. (Miller-Starnes).
I wish GM (or the aftermarket) would just issue a kit with a steel cable with ball joints on both ends and go back to the $15.00 throttle linkage that never breaks, and lasts forever. And give up on the $1200 worth of electronics for the drive by wire system. Or at least give us an option here. The lack of DBW control and going back to hard mechanical parts can't affect possibly have a negative effect on emissions, I would even keep the encoders for position sensing of the throttle for the ignition system, and fuel injection system (like on the '95 5.7L engines). So, I don't think this would be a bad idea.
I still hope to hit 500K with this truck, sometime next year!! It will be a challenge to keep the wife in this truck much longer though, she takes a dim view of these problems....
Thanks for reading!
December 12th, 2013, 11:58 PM
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December 14th, 2013, 10:10 AM
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when the throttle is quickly snapped shut, like during a hard deceleration there is a brief moment when the engine is over fueled causing xs hydrocarbons that the convertor must deal with. add this up for the number of cars on the road and it is significant. dbw control eliminates this.
Its like tpm systems, you may not notice the savings but they are there entirely for emissions. Forget about your individual gas mileage. Its about global impact.
Other non emission advantages of dbw are elimination of conventional cruise control add on parts, quieter cabins due to one less hole in the firewall, speed of assembly during manufacturing.
Its like tpm systems, you may not notice the savings but they are there entirely for emissions. Forget about your individual gas mileage. Its about global impact.
Other non emission advantages of dbw are elimination of conventional cruise control add on parts, quieter cabins due to one less hole in the firewall, speed of assembly during manufacturing.
Last edited by tech2; December 14th, 2013 at 10:17 AM.
March 7th, 2014, 5:00 PM
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I am having the same issues with my 03 Silverado. I've tried cleaning to contacts, cleaning the throttlebody, replacing pigtails and still it's shutting down on me.. I am ready to let this truck go into a wall!!