my new work van! NF

[pike slayer]

this spring i started a new job and one of the perks is i get a new 2012 work van that i can take home at night. its a 2012 chevy express with stabilitrak/traction control.

i live out at the lake and the road in is a twisty hilly gravel road with 2 steep hills at the beginning of the road. monday we got dumped on and the road got real icy. monday evening im driving home and i gun it up these 2 hills and im almost up the second one and my tires start spinning and the stabilitrak/tractinal kicks in and it basically shut down the motor and locked up the brakes! i slid backwards down the hill smashing into the grade rail! some other ppl came along and pushed my front end to spin me around and back down the hill i went. i smashed up the back fender and bumper and im pretty upset. this new "safety" feature is a bunch of b.s!! i turned it off and i tried to spin the tires on some ice to see if its actually off and it automatically turns itself back on.

i've done some searching online and in the manual and basically from what i read is that you can temp. turn it off to get plowed out if your stuck! what the hell!?!? how does that make any sense?1? if i pull the fuse for it online it says it will turn off stabilitrak,traction control AND my ABS. it seems that this van is just destine for failure or just cant do icy hills what so ever!.

so now im trying to figure out what to do so i can get this computer on wheels home every night in one piece. you think get some studded tires for the back and hope they dont spin or throw a set of chains on it every night when i get to my road or am i missing something?

ohh and this stabilitrak/traction control is awesome around town, like pulling out into traffic,taking off at a light, or going around corners without fish tailing it.

[Terry]

my jeep has an off button for it

 

but I hate it around town..I go to pull into traffic my wheel starts to spin so on come control, gas shuts off brakes come on and I am blocking traffic because I can't get it moving fast enough

[kickingfrog]

Does it have winter tires?

[pike slayer]

ya there is an "off" button i push and hold it. on my dash it says "traction control off" "stabilitrak on" i continue pushing and it shuts off both. i go on some ice hit the gas to spin the tires and the thing kicks in again and shows on my dash that its back on. so if i press it once and take the traction control off and leave the stabilitrak on that it will make it feel like a regular vehicle?

[pike slayer]

it has some cheapo mud/snow tires on it that look like slicks/cheapo all seasons im talking to my boss about getting better tires for it, maybe some studded winter tires?

[Rod Caster]

I have it on my mazda 4x4 truck and it even kicks in in 4 low. Just like terry said, I get caught not moving because the bugger kicks in when I need to get tires going!! Can't stand the stupid system. If I need grip... I'll use 4x4 thank you.

 

Sorry to hear about what happened to you brian. I'd be pissed too

[John Bacon]

it has some cheapo mud/snow tires on it that look like slicks/cheapo all seasons im talking to my boss about getting better tires for it, maybe some studded winter tires?

 

Do you live in Ontario? I think studded tires are illegal here. A good set of 4 winter tires should help.

[glen]

stabilitrak should only kick in when you are sliding sideways. It will then put the brakes on to control the skid. This is very bad for climbing a hill on a corner with ice.

 

traction control kicks in when your tire spins. It then applies power to the other wheel. It does not slow you down.

 

 

Maybe it was just too slippery and you need ice tires.

Edited November 29, 2012 by glen

[Skipper D]

Call me old school if you's like , but after reading this i hear you loud and clear . I've allways been a fixer and can sort out just about any thing but these new vehicles with all their bells and whistles to me are getting more like potential death traps in certian situations including my new truck which i hate for many reasons but we wont go there . Take Abs brakes when they first showed up were wow some thing we all needed ... NO! , but it was'nt long we old schools found out just like you just did with your traction controll when coming up to a stop sign with abs brakes on a road full of pot hole the brakes would fail as the abs was unable to ajust its self quick enough and you would'nt get stoped til will after the stop sign , i am sure many of you here at one time or another experinced the same thing , if your not sure thats when the brake peddel is jumping under your foot and the sound of a little motor under the dash is growling and your not stopping when you want to . Well i know of many vehicles and maybe ones more so owned by us fixer types had their abs permanitly disconected so we could feel safe and in controll again . Any how to me the problem with traction controll sounds to be simmular and some one needs to go to work and disconect the sensors that monitor the wheel speed , at one time these would have been mounted at each hub but who knows where they have them hid now . If it was mine i'd find them and they would be gone ...... lol .

[bdox]

traction control kicks in when your tire spins. It then applies power to the other wheel. It does not slow you down.

 

Wrong! Traction Control on GM trucks/suvs/vans applies the breaks to the slipping wheel(s) to slow them down and allow them to grip.

 

source: 2009 silverado owner

[glen]

Yes but does it slow you down or help you get going.

[DRIFTER_016]

Yes but does it slow you down or help you get going.

 

If it's slippery enough it will stop you dead!!

My dad was driving his Honda minivan into our driveway in central Ontario quite a few years ago.

The snow was about 10" deep @ the bottom of the driveway.

He got stuck and the trac. control would not let the van even think about moving.

All you could hear was the ABS motor running and locking up the wheels.

Click the little button (Traction Control Disable) on the end of the shifter and you could drive right out of being stuck.

 

Traction control does work when driving down the road and you hit a patch of black ice but for extreme situations like the OP's it sucks!!!

[Sinker]

Ah....yet another GIMMICK for stupid people! LOVELY!!

[Sinker]

4 good snow tires, and 5-600lbs of weight in the back might help, but I don't know how well with that system!!

 

S.

[Rod Caster]

I've got an "off" button on my TC, but it only reduces its interuption by about 20 percent. If I hold the button for 5 seconds, it apparently turns the system off entirely... But for some absurd reason, it kicks back in the second my tires slip!! Grrr. I like to joke that I have several lawyers living under my dash

[bdox]

It's an absolute hindrance when you want to get moving, because if your wheels are slipping, it's applying the breaks. As long as you're not stopping/starting frequently, trying to rock free, or trying to do doughnuts, you're good. Unfortunately with the GM trucks, even with the 10-second press, you can't fully disable it unless you're in 4WD.

[DanD]

On the newer GM vehicles the Trac/Stability on/off button function (if there is one) is there just incase you get stuck and need to rock the vehicle back and fort to get moving. Once the wheel speed (not vehicle) reaches 25mph it automatically turns back on. I’m not sure when they changed to this system; but my 2005 Avalanche, if I turn the system off it stays off regardless of speed; but will automatically turn itself back on after a restart of the engine.

I think GM changed the on/off function too this for the transmission’s sake; no more 100mph wheel spins trying to get out of a snow bank. GM was tired of rebuilding trany’s under warrantee because people would lie and say no I didn’t get stuck and over heat the transmission; honest.

Like it or not you’d better get use too using the systems because they’re here to stay. And as far as disabling the system; you’re not going to be able to do that anymore on some vehicles because portions of the base brake’s hydraulics are now electronically controlled with something called “dynamic rear brake proportioning”. Disable the ABS, traction or stability by pulling a fuse or wheel speed sensor and you MAY not have any or every little rear brake function. That also means no more ignoring the tell tail lights on our dash; if a warning light comes on you’ll barely be able to drive the thing (power wise) because the electronics will stick the vehicle into limp in mode.

 

Dan.

[bdox]

Yes, the TractionControl/Stabilitrak is a function of the BCM, and therefore not modifiable by EFILive and other tuning software.

[pike slayer]

yup! i press the off button and the thing comes right back on at around 40km. im soooo annoyed, i cant get this stupid van home or now i dont have the balls to try it again without like chains or something on the tires. i was doing searching online and guys can hook up programers and they can set the amount of braking power and power lost when the stabilitrak/ traction control comes on and set it to like zero power so it still works but is really doing nothing. i have zero confidence with this van, im at a loss and making very difficult arranging to get home when my wife gets off work so we can take our good old reliable 4x4 truck home.

[DRIFTER_016]

yup! i press the off button and the thing comes right back on at around 40km. im soooo annoyed, i cant get this stupid van home or now i dont have the balls to try it again without like chains or something on the tires. i was doing searching online and guys can hook up programers and they can set the amount of braking power and power lost when the stabilitrak/ traction control comes on and set it to like zero power so it still works but is really doing nothing. i have zero confidence with this van, im at a loss and making very difficult arranging to get home when my wife gets off work so we can take our good old reliable 4x4 truck home.

 

 

Have you talked to the dealer about the issue?

I'm sure if you tell them the issue that they can deactivate the traction control for you. If not you can always tell them to take their piece of crap GM back and you will buy a Ford!!!!

[fishindevil]

I have a 2012 Chevy silverado with satabilitrak and traction control as well !! Push the button and get it on your display push it again to make the traction go to the off position then hold the button in for about 4 seconds !!!! Then it's deactivated and you should see the icon on your speedometer now it's only off for that engine cycle so when you turn the van off and restart it you will have to go through the same thing !!!!! I had to figure it out as well but I can now spin my tires no problem !!!!! So give that a try and let me know or pm me !!!!! Cheers

[Rod Caster]

Just researching a Ford Ranger forum to TCS disabling information on my truck...seems pulling the TCS fuse is the only way to go, but that will also disable the ABS system...

 

 

Better than that, I found this quote "artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"