CEL Plus Service Stablitrak/Traction Control Off

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BattleBornKyle

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Hey guys/gals,

New to the forum but I've always been a chevy owner. I have an 08 Tahoe LT with the 5.3 and 65K miles. I have recently had issues with the CEL coming on and getting the messages "Service Stabilitrak and Traction Control Off". I have taken it to GM 3 times in the past month with absolutely no change. The last time it was in there for over a week.

I get the car back and the service sheet says it is having a P0300 code-Random misfire detected on cylinders 5 and 7 over 2500 times as well as P0171 Bank 1 system too lean. They replaced the spark plugs on 5 and 7 and flushed the injectors. They did a vacuum leak test with no leaks. They recommended all spark plugs be changed and all wires. I changed all the spark plugs and wires as well as Ignition Coils for cylinders 5 and 7. But nothing changed. I am also getting a rough idle on the engine.

I'm losing patience at this point and I'm hoping I didn't buy a lemon and there is a fix for this out there. I have read every forum on the internet and realize this is a huge issue with these vehicles.

One thing to note, I can almost always get the car to get the messages to appear when I am on the freeway going at highway speeds and I go down a hill or off ramp and the vehicle uses the engine for desceleration. For some reason this triggers all the warnings. I also noticed putting a can of sea foam in the fuel tank will turn the CEL off but the messages do come back a short time later. Any help would be more than appreciated. I love this car but I'm starting to think there is no fix for it, Thank you.
 

kbuskill

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Sounds like AFM (active fuel management) lifter trouble.

Is there any lifter tapping noticeable?

The stabilitrac/traction control off is normal anytime a misfire is detected.
 
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BattleBornKyle

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Sounds like AFM (active fuel management) lifter trouble.

Is there any lifter tapping noticeable?

The stabilitrac/traction control off is normal anytime a misfire is detected.
Thank you for the reply, I don't notice any lifter tapping, might not have been listening for it though. Would that sound like a knocking sound?
 

indigent

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It's the AFM lifter/s going bad. I had the same thing happening to my '09 LTZ. I had a tick and ignored it because my 03 Tahoe had a slight tick all the time. Ended up collapsing the AFM lifter.

As far as a fix, I was ready to tackle replacing the lifters when life happened and I got into a pretty bad crash in my '03 and wasn't able to be involved in the repairs. My wife and my dad just did an engine swap instead of fixing the lifter. But I was a tad on the unconscious side so no one asked for my input.....;)
 

steve34459

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Lifter noise . This is 4 lifters failing same thing misfire and stabilitrac turned off while driving
 
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BattleBornKyle

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It's the AFM lifter/s going bad. I had the same thing happening to my '09 LTZ. I had a tick and ignored it because my 03 Tahoe had a slight tick all the time. Ended up collapsing the AFM lifter.

As far as a fix, I was ready to tackle replacing the lifters when life happened and I got into a pretty bad crash in my '03 and wasn't able to be involved in the repairs. My wife and my dad just did an engine swap instead of fixing the lifter. But I was a tad on the unconscious side so no one asked for my input.....;)
Dang sorry to hear that! Did you ever find out how much they were going to charge to replace the lifters?
 

steve34459

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Dang sorry to hear that! Did you ever find out how much they were going to charge to replace the lifters?

Hi, I am not @indigent, but i could give you what a gm dealer charged my brother for several lifter replacements and a cam replacement. In late 2015, the dealer quoted him $4000, but they "helped" him out because he bought the truck from a used car dealership less than half a year before that. They charged in $1400. He had the same problem, minus the cam, a few months ago and decided to go with another mechanic. 2010 yukon denali.
 
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BattleBornKyle

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So just an update, thank you for those that replied. Turns out cylinders 5,7 were only operating at about 20%. They replaced all bank 1 injectors and I haven't seen the messages in a week. Hopefully it stays this way.
 
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