08 Trailblazer WTF!!??

[BFS57]

Hello;
Had a problem with the Traiblazer tonight. Had just crossed the San Mateo Bridge (9 miles of no place to pull over) and pulled up to the stop light, When all of a suden, It felt like somebody crashed into the rear of our car!!! The dash lit up with a message of Stibilitrack is off. The engine is practically jumping out of the car, runs like poop! No power, Keeps quitting in park, had to re-start it a few times.
This is the I-6 6 cylinder engine. Could hardley make it up hill, engine felt like it was about to fall out on to the ground.
I, being the experienced driver with vehicles that are no working right, Forced it to drive to the house!
Well, I went inside texted a friend about what had happened, grabbed my flashlight, headed out to see what I could see!
My friend called me and I was in the midst of geting ready to start it up again. I started it, * thing ran like nothing ever happened!!!!!!!!!!~ I drove it, drove like normal!
Now, the Mrs, is scared to drive it till I find out just what happened. Only thought I have is something computer happened and shutting it off for a few moments, cleared the computer!?
Anyone know what kind of scan I need to do to see if it left a code?
I'm all ears at this point! Somebody "chime in"

Bruce

[BFS57]

Hello;
Any one know if the crank or cam position sensor might cause this kind of problem?

Bruce[/quote]

[416Ford]

My 02 Escape did something similar and it was a coil misfire. Ran fine and showed no code at the time. After a week or so it finally acted up when I was near the repair shop (If it has a computer issue I don't work on it).
And My wife would not drive it either.

[34ford]

I googled this and this is the comments. check out the web site.  Google is my best friend

www.gmfleet.com/technology/stabilitrak.html
Electronic stability control systems such as GM's StabiliTrak not only helps to enhance vehicle ... RIDE CONTROL SYSTEM MESSAGES AND WARNING LIGHTS ... Stop, turn off the engine for at least 15 seconds, then start the engine again.

[Arnold]

Hello;
Had a problem with the Traiblazer tonight. Had just crossed the San Mateo Bridge (9 miles of no place to pull over) and pulled up to the stop light, When all of a suden, It felt like somebody crashed into the rear of our car!!! The dash lit up with a message of Stibilitrack is off. The engine is practically jumping out of the car, runs like poop! No power, Keeps quitting in park, had to re-start it a few times.
This is the I-6 6 cylinder engine. Could hardley make it up hill, engine felt like it was about to fall out on to the ground.
I, being the experienced driver with vehicles that are no working right, Forced it to drive to the house!
Well, I went inside texted a friend about what had happened, grabbed my flashlight, headed out to see what I could see!
My friend called me and I was in the midst of geting ready to start it up again. I started it, * thing ran like nothing ever happened!!!!!!!!!!~ I drove it, drove like normal!
Now, the Mrs, is scared to drive it till I find out just what happened. Only thought I have is something computer happened and shutting it off for a few moments, cleared the computer!?
Anyone know what kind of scan I need to do to see if it left a code?
I'm all ears at this point! Somebody "chime in"

Bruce

  Ford Escorts 91-about 7 did this when the maf sensor was so dirty that although they did not show a code yet..they were pretty far out of range..all of a sudden acts like yours. In the Escorts case..I learned to just clean the maf sensor (tamper proof) and that ended that. Once they start that nonsense Escorts 100% did it again..never actually left me walking

[wayne petty]

a few things....  start with this voltage drop test... all six parts... engine running.. headlights on..  linked to make it easy to save to your computer or cell phone and allow you to print the image to use at the car/truck.. why... because dirty connections do exactly what you describe.. weird failures.. no codes..  guess what.. the voltage drop test is something i use daily... every car or truck gets it at least once when i open the hood.. and just before i finish to verify that its perfect..

the voltage drop test image  http://i.imgur.com/Mo57rdb.jpg


if you print out these diagrams.. you should be able to locate the same fuses in yours..  and using a test light... while somebody rotates the ignition lock cylinder...

http://imgur.com/a/3ia2d

in the first image with diagrams.. you will see it list the left instrument panel fuse block fuses labeled IGN0 and TBC those should have unblinking power while the key is being turned from ACC, RUN, CRANK, RUN, ACC..  drop outs will confuse the computer and think you are restarting the engine ..  this white wire turns on a bunch of stuff.. it must have clean connection if you expect the vehicle to operate.. otherwise you will have ghosts in your system that will plague you and cost you thousands in unneeded repairs..  

lets continue..  


on the midde of the image.. you will see the orange wire..   find the BRAKE fuse in the left instrument cluster. you could do any of the fuses listed on that diagram like the IGN3 fuse.. that circuit only gets power in the RUN position of the key.. please start and let the truck run several times.. .when checking these ..


the Next image... 3rd down from the top.. has a brown wire.. to the WS WIPER fuse..  that fuse in the left instrument panel fuse block gets power in the ACC And RUN position.. drops out during cranking and gets powered again in the RUN and ACC position..  


on that same page.... the PINK wire feeds some fuses in the Underhood fuse block.    look for the IGN E fuse in the underhood fuse box. ... that should be powered in the  RUN CRANK RUN positions..  again no drop outs..  there are several other fuses there to test that are powered off the same circuit so its a good idea to run at least one other.

the ignition switch has 2 power in circuits..  in doing the tests outlined above has just saved you hours of work trying to OHM the ignition switch..      you could do voltage drop test

in the 6th image down.. IGN 1 relay bus  ... you may want to remove the Ign 1 relay.. flip it over and see if its possible to extract the relay from the cover.. some are sealed.. some are not..  you will want to inspect the relay contacts for burning.. wear..  some of these relays have a braided wire to the contact plate.. you can move that over the edge and free up the contact plate to burnish the contacts... some contacts may have been burned enough that the relay won't close far enough to make good contact each time so a replacement relay is needed..   you might want to use a test light to the ETC/ECM fuse.. and also to the PCM 1 fuse. you might go farther and do a voltage drop test with the meter first set at 20 volts then at 2 volts if you get 0.00 at 20 VDC setting.. this is engine running from the positive battery post to the 2 fuses listed..

this is a basic diagnosis wayne style..  might take you 30 minutes... could save you thousands of dollars..

if you get intermittents on the first fuses you test above... turn off the engine.. disconnect the battery.. get in the truck and turn the ignition switch from locked to cranking and back to locked like 100 times.. then hook the battery back up with the key in your pocket..  get in and start the truck or perform the same tests.. operating the ignition switch with no voltage to it may burnish thru the carbon on the contact surfaces and restore operation for a while..   skilled might take the switch apart... 99.9% replace it. then open the old one to look inside at how bad it was..  some are quite complex inside.. some are just levers with contacts on them.

hope this helps you NO CODE diagnosis..

wayne..

[jaybee]

On a couple of occasions or so my 2000 Contour had strange behavior which wasn't identical to this but similar enough. The car would start fine, run perfectly for a couple of minutes. Suddenly it would have virtually no power yet continue to run smoothly. We're talking no speed increase while climbing the on ramp slow. Shut the key off for a few seconds, restarted and it was fine. No CEL, never set a code. I never did find out what the issue was, and it ran for quite some time after I gave it to my son...up until the transaxle started acting up at close to 200,000mi.

[wayne petty]

On a couple of occasions or so my 2000 Contour had strange behavior which wasn't identical to this but similar enough. The car would start fine, run perfectly for a couple of minutes. Suddenly it would have virtually no power yet continue to run smoothly. We're talking no speed increase while climbing the on ramp slow. Shut the key off for a few seconds, restarted and it was fine. No CEL, never set a code. I never did find out what the issue was, and it ran for quite some time after I gave it to my son...up until the transaxle started acting up at close to 200,000mi.

there is a HIDDEN issue that pops its evil head up once in a while with fords..

ford engine controls are almost always grounded to the same circuit..  so frayed ground wires greatly effect signals to the computer..  its really weird..  sometimes it works .. sometimes it does not..

it will also burn out the Throttle position sensor again and again..

restarting will sometimes reset the system enough to make it run good..

i know this car is gone... but it really takes a scan tool that does graphing of the sensor voltages...  and the engine speed needs to be changed while monitoring the various sensors..  if you get hash on things like the idle air temp.. coolant temp.. throttle position..  you will have weird issues.. those should be stable or increasing and decreasing..

guess what.. the transmission manual lever position sensor is also grounded thru the same sensor ground circuit..  so if the transmission acts stupid .. its an important thing to check..  the wiring to the manual lever position sensor can also frey..

a lot of you know my voltage drop test..   http://i.imgur.com/Mo57rdb.jpg   please perform the test on several different cars that work good or hopefully work good so you see what results you will get from your meter..

this can be performed first on the car or truck to verify the major electrical connections under the hood..  then some fords may have 8 or 10 sometimes more ground connections for different circuits under the hood ..

sorry to keep adding to the woes..  but... automotive electrical systems is not something that a lot of techs share... its actually not a thing that a lot of techs know ..

[BFS57]

Hello;
Well, a week has come and gone and by what the answers I'm getting it would never guess just what the problem was that cost me $600.00!!!!!
Believe it or not, The Throttle Body was at fault!!! Had a new one installed and the * thing runs perfect!! (Bosh)
Took it to a very small shop here locally that has some very good computer diagnosing equipment.
Thanks for all the great info. I would of never guessed in a million years that the Throttle Body was bunk!!

Bruce

[UGLY OLDS]

Bruce ... Have somebody run your VIN & check for open re-calls or "bulletins" ...I remember a "GM Policy"  for throttle body replacement during that model year time frame .... Depending on mileage / etc, you make get reimbursement from GM for a portion of that repair .....ALSO have them look for extended warranty on your I-6 engine ..IIRC, the 6 cyl or 5 Cyl had cylinder head issues with extended warranty coverage ....

Bob ..  

[BFS57]

Bruce ... Have somebody run your VIN & check for open re-calls or "bulletins" ...I remember a "GM Policy"  for throttle body replacement during that model year time frame .... Depending on mileage / etc, you make get reimbursement from GM for a portion of that repair .....ALSO have them look for extended warranty on your I-6 engine ..IIRC, the 6 cyl or 5 Cyl had cylinder head issues with extended warranty coverage ....

Bob ..  

Hello;
and just who should I try to find out about just such a recall!! I thought that the * part should of lasted longer, We only have about 68K on the clock on this car!!! My other 02' TB had 175K on it when I sold it and all I did to that one was a coil pack (1) and the plugs!! That bastard just kept on runnin!!

Bruce

[UGLY OLDS]

Bruce ... Have somebody run your VIN & check for open re-calls or "bulletins" ...I remember a "GM Policy"  for throttle body replacement during that model year time frame .... Depending on mileage / etc, you make get reimbursement from GM for a portion of that repair .....ALSO have them look for extended warranty on your I-6 engine ..IIRC, the 6 cyl or 5 Cyl had cylinder head issues with extended warranty coverage ....

Bob ..  

Hello;
and just who should I try to find out about just such a recall!! I thought that the * part should of lasted longer, We only have about 68K on the clock on this car!!! My other 02' TB had 175K on it when I sold it and all I did to that one was a coil pack (1) and the plugs!! That bastard just kept on runnin!!

Bruce

Check your PM's ...

Bob..