My 2010 Suburban LT is on its second incidence of Stabilitrak failure. The first was almost 2 years ago to the day. That was resolved by disconnecting the battery and restarting the computer. This time the dealership says they *think* my lift is bad and it will be $5,500 to $6,500 to fix. I've read all over that the real issue can be one of a number of things and I'd like some guidance before spending this much on something they only think is wrong. Apparently this is a huge very common problem with these trucks. Has there been any service bulletin? Also any class action lawsuits? I'd be interested and have a friend who suffered the same problem with a Tahoe if anyone knows of one.

 

Welcome to the forum...
When you say "lift" do you mean lifter? its possible they are referring to the valve lifters of the engine which is very possible with the AFM ( Active Fuel Management ) engines. the AFM lifters fail, collapse and start a cascade of damage to the cam shaft and metal particles into the engine requiring the entire engine to be rebuilt....
Work with the dealership and also consider opening a case with Chevrolet Customer Service as they may be able to help reduce the cost of the repair..
keep us posted on what is found and done...

 

Interestingly, when I called he dealership back and asked for the specific failure codes they called back an hour later and said we opened it up and it was only your #7 spark plug. The total cost will be about $375. I'm grateful for this forum because otherwise I may have wasted 6k and still had the issue!

 

That is good to hear , however #7 is also one of the AFM cylinders...
Be sure to watch your oil level, if you are seeing the level needing to be added to it might be a sign of impending failure...and that $6k bill could be right around the corner.

 

ask them how the #1 plug looks, if 1 & 7 are bad theres probably an updated valve cover you need installed, I'm not 100% on your vehicle without looking though.

 

Ok, I'm confused stabilitrak failure is caused by a spark plug?

What the heck does spark plugs have to do with traction control?

I mean they are two entirely different systems, stabilitrak and AFM that is.

Oh and 375 for 1 spark plug and some seemingly horrible diag is robbery.

 

misfire codes along with many other p codes that turn on the check engine light will disable traction control/abs/stabilitrak causing the light/message to be on.


I love how everyone can scream about costs and prices but not know how or why systems function to begin with. Theres a reason its a career and theres overhead and people to be paid just like anything else. I think its completely ridiculous to go to the doctor and pay over $100 to get told to drink fluid and rest but everyone has bills to pay. If you saw the cost of the tools and equipment dealers are REQUIRED to have you wouldn't be as quick to jump.


And there was no clarification on exactly what they're doing for $375, in most cases its stupid just doing 1 spark plug.

 

I suspect the $375 was for all the spark plugs to be serviced, it was the #7 that was the primary cause....
The misfire can cause the traction control issues as its an overall drive-ability issue, the vehicles computer system can only do so much to diagnose what is going wrong so as an over abundance of caution it disables some features so that you can drive the vehicle in a "hobble" mode to a safe(r) location.
The other option is to completely shut down and leave you stranded where you sit....which would you rather have as an option...

 

cleveland....in this case I guess I can agree about the screaming over costs and prices but only if you don't know the back story on the AFM issues. AFM issues, and the costs and prices related are not really the fault of the owner in a lot of cases. In some cases, these issues occur within the warranty period, in other cases just outside, and in still other cases, well outside the warranty period.

In most cases, at least most I have read, owners are doing everything right and it still fails. I don't find it outrageous that someone would be screaming and yelling over a $6k bill on a truck they spent 50-60k on, that is experiencing this issue at 100k or less miles. The expectation for damn near any vehicle is that it will far outlive its warranty period with the only cost being period maintenance of things like shocks, tires, brakes, the occasional water pump or something of that ilk if maintained right. Not a engine teardown for replacement of lifters and whatever else.

As for the overhead, that I cannot comment on, other than to say if it was so hard to make money owning a dealership that there might not be 1 every few miles... Also, usually they charge a "diagnostic" fee up front, which either becomes part of the cost of repair, or not if the owner decides not to do the repair or if they just wanted the info. I would have to think some of this $$ goes to the cost of the overhead.

 

I am of the opinion that vehicles are now being designed with a finite life span to be traded in or pitched if you will, like it was last years model cell phone...
They have become very reliable given all of the options and features compared to a vehicle of 30 years ago that had what would now be consider the basics...

Take into account the nearly doubling of mpg from 30 years ago, again keeping in mind what we now have as creature comforts in vehicles....

Vehicles now days can pretty much be driven for 4-6 years with zero maintenance required and nothing more than 8-12 oil changes in that time, (which many are) then traded in for the newest one... and that is what the manufactures want...

I don't believe the AFM was a design meant to fail in this case nor am I defending the manufacturers or dealerships, just adding in some prospective to consider...

My 07 is now approaching 10 years of age and about 115k miles...she has severed me well , however I am very proactive (read overly ****) with my maintenance... my plan is to trade her in in 17... though I will admit both the Tundra and F150 are in my list of considerations