[mike31328]

Keep me updated in regards to your progress at the dealer. Feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions in the meantime. Thank you.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

Hi I'm Mike I have take my car in to the dealership 3 time the first time they said it was a dirty pcv value an the engine light went off for a few days it came back on an I told them I was having high idling an I feeling sort of hard shifts in the transmission an I told them can u check the transmission an they said they an there nothing wrong with it an so I taking it in again because the engine light on again an the give me a rental car an when I wented back it wouldn't started an I asked the floor manager to take a look and the whole dashboard was blinking off an on an they taken it again an when I came an got it they told me that one of pistons was crack an the replace it an before I got my car it wouldn't started they jumped started it an it came on an one of the staff told me I might need a new battery soon I said ok well why I needed a new one when it was not doing this stuff before so now my engine came back on an it high idling an my battery will not keep charged an when I'm at a stop light it trying to stalling on me an there a knocking noise now when I jumped started it an I haven't been hearing this noise before I taken my car in the dealership an my car justed cut off on me justed now an it holding 13.7 voltage the battery it was at 14.1 it started to go down slowly can u help me an my car is a 2016 chevy Malibu wit only 59,099 miles on it

Keep me updated in regards to your progress at the dealer. Feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions in the meantime. Thank you.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

An I'm taking it in tomorrow morning hopefully they fix it because if there sumthing else wrong with it down the road I'm justed going to trade it in for like a 2018-2020
equinox LT be cool to drive

Oh I kinda forgot bout the stabilizer pop up an my Cruise patrol don't work I'm going tell them that to tomorrow hopefully they find the problems though

 

[DrivenDaily]

Hi I'm Mike I have take my car in to the dealership 3 time the first time they said it was a dirty pcv value an the engine light went off for a few days it came back on an I told them I was having high idling an I feeling sort of hard shifts in the transmission an I told them can u check the transmission an they said they an there nothing wrong with it an so I taking it in again because the engine light on again an the give me a rental car an when I wented back it wouldn't started an I asked the floor manager to take a look and the whole dashboard was blinking off an on an they taken it again an when I came an got it they told me that one of pistons was crack an the replace it an before I got my car it wouldn't started they jumped started it an it came on an one of the staff told me I might need a new battery soon I said ok well why I needed a new one when it was not doing this stuff before so now my engine came back on an it high idling an my battery will not keep charged an when I'm at a stop light it trying to stalling on me an there a knocking noise now when I jumped started it an I haven't been hearing this noise before I taken my car in the dealership an my car justed cut off on me justed now an it holding 13.7 voltage the battery it was at 14.1 it started to go down slowly can u help me an my car is a 2016 chevy Malibu wit only 59,099 miles on it


An I'm taking it in tomorrow morning hopefully they fix it because if there sumthing else wrong with it down the road I'm justed going to trade it in for like a 2018-2020
equinox LT be cool to drive

Oh I kinda forgot bout the stabilizer pop up an my Cruise patrol don't work I'm going tell them that to tomorrow hopefully they find the problems though

Please share info about your car by reading this post. After that, we'll move your 3 posts that were merged into a single post to the correct section.

 

[red44car]

This seems to happen to my car about every 6-9 months. I pull the cover for the BCM thats by the passengers left foot. Take off both BCM connectors, put them back on and the problem is gone again for another 6-9 months. Just seems to be "one of those things" that you figure out and deal with. No big deal.

Don't waste your time taking it in to the dealer. A 5 year old could unplug and plug in the BCM connectors. Just do it and the problem goes away. If you have some dielectric grease, smear a little on. I don't, but still fixes the problem.

How hard is it getting to the BCM? Is there a site that will show what parts to remove? I've got a 2011 LTZ and I'm having brake light problems and ESC light is on.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Please see post #10. Until now, the thread title did not include that, but after looking through the thread I felt it was good to add it so new readers can more quickly find the solution.

 

[09-2LT]

Good morning all. I have a 2009 2LT 3.6 V6 with 208,000 miles.

For some background, my parents bought the car new. My mom drove it for several years and put about 120,000 miles on it. During that time, she would often get a "check gas cap" message. Multiple trips to the dealer and multiple new gas caps never solved the problem. After I bought the car in 2016, the occasional "check gas cap" messages continued and later I started getting "service ESC" or "service traction" messages. All of these messages would come and go with no change in the car's performance. Periodically, the express up/down feature on the drivers window also stops working.

Last week while pulling out of the parking lot at work, the transmission shifted very hard from first to second, the check engine light came on, and the car refused to shift out of second. Reverse worked fine but the car was locked in second going forward. No self shifting either. It was a long 45 miles home.

Google brought me here and after some reading it occured to me that every time I've gotten a service message, it's been during wet weather and it had rained the night before the latest episode too.

So I pulled all of the ECM and BCM connections, gently cleaned the pins with a small brass wire brush, and put dielectric grease on all the connections. Reconnected the battery and started the car. As soon as it shifts to second, the engine light comes on and its locked in that "limp mode" I've seen mentioned here.

After checking all the ECM and BCM connectors again, I started randomly checking wires and connections under the hood. This led me to a box between the battery and the firewall with a large connector plugged into the front of it and what look like 4 brake lines running into the top of it. I have no idea what this thing is or does, but the connector was full of dirt and corrosion. I cleaned it and added dielectric grease thinking I had solved the problem. I was wrong. The car still goes into limp mode as soon as it shifts to second. But on the flip side, the express up/down on the drivers window started working again. So theres that.

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. I've reached the point of giving up and taking it to a shop. All thought and comments greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[DrivenDaily]

That module with the brake lines is the ABS module. There is nothing wrong with cleaning that connector, and everything right.

Under the console is the BCM. If you take of the cover from the driver's side you can access another connector that isn't quite so obvious.

There is another control module connection between the battery and radiator support if you didn't find it yet.

Since your family has owned it since new, do you know if the trans fluid has ever been serviced? If not, you may want to consider it.

The Service ESC and/or ESC Off messages can plague you with their incessant warnings, but for my 2011 3.6L, it's most likely the SAS (steering angle sensor) located on the steering shaft under the dash. I just haven't gotten around to having it fixed. It'll come on almost daily for a period of time, then be off for months at a time as well, which suggests to me that it's just a dirty or corroded connection.

Another item to consider is the ECT - engine coolant temp - sensor. If it's bad and the temp gauge climbs pretty high, it could be signaling an overheat condition to the BCM that then tells the ECM to go into Limp Mode, but that's just a theory. I had my ECT fail 2 years ago and it kept driving normally even after popping a message that it was overheating. I pulled over, checked it all out, then continued. Only 5 miles later and it was in Limp Mode. The t-stat had actually failed in a closed position and the ECT was properly indicating the condition. The following week I made a round trip of 1500 miles after replacing the t-stat, water pump, most of the hoses, and cleaning the overflow reservoir. Not one problem, and it had only water in it (in case I needed to open it up again and keep from losing expen$ive coolant).

 

[09-2LT]

That module with the brake lines is the ABS module. There is nothing wrong with cleaning that connector, and everything right.

Under the console is the BCM. If you take of the cover from the driver's side you can access another connector that isn't quite so obvious.

There is another control module connection between the battery and radiator support if you didn't find it yet.

Since your family has owned it since new, do you know if the trans fluid has ever been serviced? If not, you may want to consider it.

The Service ESC and/or ESC Off messages can plague you with their incessant warnings, but for my 2011 3.6L, it's most likely the SAS (steering angle sensor) located on the steering shaft under the dash. I just haven't gotten around to having it fixed. It'll come on almost daily for a period of time, then be off for months at a time as well, which suggests to me that it's just a dirty or corroded connection.

Another item to consider is the ECT - engine coolant temp - sensor. If it's bad and the temp gauge climbs pretty high, it could be signaling an overheat condition to the BCM that then tells the ECM to go into Limp Mode, but that's just a theory. I had my ECT fail 2 years ago and it kept driving normally even after popping a message that it was overheating. I pulled over, checked it all out, then continued. Only 5 miles later and it was in Limp Mode. The t-stat had actually failed in a closed position and the ECT was properly indicating the condition. The following week I made a round trip of 1500 miles after replacing the t-stat, water pump, most of the hoses, and cleaning the overflow reservoir. Not one problem, and it had only water in it (in case I needed to open it up again and keep from losing expen$ive coolant).

I thought maybe that was the ABS module. I'll look for that connection behind the BCM and try it next. I had issues with the car running hot last summer but a new water pump fixed that. I forgot to mention that I replaced the alternator last year too. My mother had the car serviced religiously every 3000 miles by the dealership the entire time she owned it but I dont know if they ever touched the transmission. My mom is one of those ladies that walks into the service dept for an oil change and says "just do whatever you think needs done" so theres no telling what they did or didn't do.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Being the current owner and the previous owner's offspring, you might ask them for a copy or printout of the service records.

 

[09-2LT]

This connection looks like its had transmission fluid in it. Any thoughts on how to clean it without damaging it?

 

[DrivenDaily]

Contact cleaner after disconnecting all battery cables. Then plug it in and unplug it several times to burnish the terminal contact surfaces, then use dielectric grease to help reduce the effects of environmental changes.

 

[09-2LT]

Contact cleaner after disconnecting all battery cables. Then plug it in and unplug it several times to burnish the terminal contact surfaces, then use dielectric grease to help reduce the effects of environmental changes.

Worked like a charm. Running and shifting fine now. I'm not going to take it too far from home for a few days and see how it acts. We have a pretty good local transmission shop. I may take it in and have them check it over just to be sure.

 

[repairman54]

Looks like your in a salt zone with all the ''white'' on everything in that picture. A good contact cleaner with lubricant is your friend in connectors. Underhood cleaning would be a good idea to get all that corrosive salt out of there.

 

[09-2LT]

Well, it ran fine for a week. Then last night on my way to work, boom. Engine light comes on and locks into limp mode. Time to call the repair shop I think.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Dang! I hate it when that happens.

 

[09-2LT]

Finally got an update. It is indeed a bad sensor. Thats the easy part. This particular sensor is inside the transmission. The old guy who owns the shop says it's a 2 day job because they basically have to disassemble the entire front of the car and he's not sure when they can fit it in their already overbooked schedule. His son, who is the head mechanic thinks he can get it done in a couple hours (squeezed into the schedule) by lowering the cradle just enough to get to the sensor cover.

To be continued...

 

[09-2LT]

Picked the Malibu up today. $450 out the door and we move on until next time...

 

[09-2LT]

Picked the Malibu up today. $450 out the door and we move on until next time...

Well, she lasted 2 weeks. Driving home from work the other morning, one loud clunk, and the speedometer died, the outside temp in the display blanked out, and the transmission locked into 3rd gear. My local shop says its another electrical problem in the transmission but they would rather not mess with it when we have a pretty good transmission shop just down the road. Here we go again...

 

[2008le5]

I have a 2011 with 3.6L V6.

I get the Service Traction warning and ESC Off message and never get them together with a CEL. I can almost 100% of the time generate the 2 messages by simply turning the steering wheel. A year ago I replaced the front wheel bearings believing that it might be the VSS (veh speed sensors) that also serve as the ABS sensors. Nope.

The 2 codes you got might be why they recommend the injector harness service. Is yours a 4-cylinder engine? If so, there have been TSBs about the harness near the coil packs needing to be moved and/or shielded plus a ground wire added for the coil packs. What happens is the EPS (electronic power steering) draws so much power that it causes the alternator to charge very strongly. The power passes by the coils and can induce a current in them, causing a misfire. Also, they can misfire and cause an induced current in the EPS that makes it twitch or do other funny stuff. My V6 has hydraulic PS so it doesn't have this issue.

Get them to provide more information on why they recommend the service. You, after all, are the one who is in control of your wallet. Don't go easily into the dark night of misguided advice on services that aren't needed or are completely wrong.

is there a write up on the injector wire harness shielding and ground somewhere? thanks in advance

 

[Lborgetti]

I have a 2011 with 3.6L V6.

I get the intermittent svc traction light, I noticed when I drive on the road about four hours then all of a sudden let’s start flashing. So pointless to take to dealer since I did this and was told need tuneup or throttle needs cleaning which I already had done, Now I notice that intermittently when driving in stop and go my car will stall and idle fluctuates. I took to a gM dealer and since someone decided to sprayed oil on my engine I did not trust the dealer to work on my car. I am sure they prey on people with these intermittent codes and can’t reproduce them, I am figuring has something to do with wiring since driving four hours wires gets hot and then lets esc svc traction. Fretting cortisone sounds like an easy solution if that is the issue, I also know that my radio works but the light on the dash is black. This is why I am going toward an electrical issue. I noticed the wiring going to the 4 plugs and coils the protective covering over the wires is cheap plastic and just fell apart. this is Gm cheap wiring since I figure the heat has something to do with triggering the esc svc traction coming on. Please anyone any suggestions. dealer is a scam artist since somehow oil got poured on top of engine which I have pictures to prove.

I have 2011 Malibu 4 cylinder 7 th generation.

 

[DrivenDaily]

@Lborgetti
If, as you say, you have pictures to prove your inflammatory statements, please post them. Otherwise, accusing dealers of preying on people with intermittent codes, calling them scam artists, and other unsavory comments isn't the way to gain any favor or get much help.