CEL, Service parking brake + ESC and rough running engine troubles

RobZ · October 31, 2020

I had a 2004 Duramax for 15 + years, never any trouble ( well 1 injector) I have a 2019 GMC Elevation, 25k miles and all these codes come up. When the CEL is flashing it's like its running on 4 cylinders. I am not feeling confident this new truck will be as great as the last. I have an appointment to drop it off at the dealer on Tuesday, will keep you posted.

MontanaSteve · October 31, 2020

Following. Somewhat similar symptoms, though mine occur after a random shift in the transmission. Has happened three times. First was slowing to a stop sign, maybe 10mph. The truck jolted hard, I thought I had been rear-ended, but nobody was behind me. Got the service parking brake, service ESC, traction control off, and CEL. Second time was leaving a stoplight, when it jolted hard, upshifted several gears and stuck there, same series of warning lights. Third time, driving home doing 70 mph, jolted again, felt like I had hit an elk, same warning lights, and I was now in a much lower gear and stuck there. I tried shifting to manual mode, but no gear indicator showed, and the +/- buttons did nothing. All three times required me to pull over and restart the truck. Dealer has had it for a week. They put a new TCM in the truck, but couldn't get it programmed correctly. They're now looking into wiring troubleshooting. One guy on the 3.0 Facebook page had the same symptoms. His dealer found heat damage to the wire harness where it was routed against the exhaust downpipe. I told my dealer that, but they're following the GM troubleshooting steps first. So now I'm in a loaner Colorado that I'm not allowed to take offroad, or use for towing - during hunting season. And I need to get firewood.

Sal Olvera · November 2, 2020

I have the same issue, brand new 2500 Silverado

About a month old . Got to the parking lot turn truck off for about 5 minutes. When turning engine back on the dashboard displayed emergency parking service required, service ESC. And check engine light came on . Was not able to restart truck and waited for few minutes. Tried again and truck started. Called dealership will bring truck for service in the next couple of days. The service ESC is gone but check engine light still on.

Jetblackz28 · November 2, 2020

I have a very similar experience with my 2020 1500, 5.3 w/ 8 speed about 7k miles on it. Was driving doing about 50mph and then all the lights started flashing and saw those same warnings on the dash. After a minute all lights and messages went away and the truck went back to normal. I took it into the dealer and they said there was a stored code for an engine misfire, but that was it. I asked why all the other lights went crazy and there only answer was some sort of power surge to one of the modules caused all the warnings.

Jay P · November 2, 2020

This may or may not be the cause. Read the attached TSB. It says it only applies to 2019s but still worth a try for the 2020s also (don't think it would apply to 2500/3500s).

BUELLTIN.pdf

MontanaSteve · November 3, 2020

Thanks Jay. I had seen that already posted by you and passed that TSB on to the service rep. She ignored it, as there’s nothing in the service write up about it. They put a new TCM in, gave it back to me, and it happened again 20 miles after leaving the dealer. I’m checking the fuse box bolts tomorrow myself.

Jay P · November 3, 2020

In my case it cured all kinds of odd electrical issues. Prior to tightening the bolts if I disconnected the battery I has ECM codes, Brake codes, steering angle codes, TCM codes and transfer case codes. Since tightening the bolts no more codes. I got about 1 whole turn to get the 53 in-lbs torque (the green indicators were up like they should be before tightening).

For your issue nothing like throwing parts at it.

Jay

MontanaSteve · November 3, 2020

15 hours ago, Jay P said:

In my case it cured all kinds of odd electrical issues. Prior to tightening the bolts if I disconnected the battery I has ECM codes, Brake codes, steering angle codes, TCM codes and transfer case codes. Since tightening the bolts no more codes. I got about 1 whole turn to get the 53 in-lbs torque (the green indicators were up like they should be before tightening).

For your issue nothing like throwing parts at it.

Jay

Got my truck back from the dealer last night, with a new TCM. Made it about 20 miles before the truck violently shifted again, with all the same messages. I just tightened my fuse box bolts, which is annoying as **** since I took the time to email the service rep the TSB about it. It took me longer to find my in-lbs torque wrench than to tighten the bolts. I got from 1/4 turn to 3/4 turn on my bolts. Crazy that a tiny adjustment like that could cause such an issue, but here's to hoping.

RWTJR · November 4, 2020

On 11/2/2020 at 9:10 PM, Jay P said:

Since tightening the bolts no more codes. I got about 1 whole turn to get the 53 in-lbs torque (the green indicators were up like they should be before tightening).

Jay

My truck hasn't had any problems yet but I have time and in-lb torque wrench. I went out to check mine and all the green indicators were up. Still, I too was able to get at least one full turn before reaching the 53 in-lbs/lbs-in indicated in the TSB (and even that does not feel very tight).

Maybe the torque wrench on the assembly line was set below the now recommended 53 in-lbs. I would recommend everyone check this to possibly avoid an issue.

ChacAT4 · November 6, 2020

On 10/30/2020 at 10:59 PM, RobZ said:

I had a 2004 Duramax for 15 + years, never any trouble ( well 1 injector) I have a 2019 GMC Elevation, 25k miles and all these codes come up. When the CEL is flashing it's like its running on 4 cylinders. I am not feeling confident this new truck will be as great as the last. I have an appointment to drop it off at the dealer on Tuesday, will keep you posted.

You have grounding issue along the wire harnesses. 2019s are known for that.

MC-10173718-9999.pdf

RobZ · November 6, 2020

28 minutes ago, ChacAT4 said:

You have grounding issue along the wire harnesses. 2019s are known for that.

MC-10173718-9999.pdf 1.91 MB · 4 downloads

I have the 5.3 V8, looks like this is for the 4 cylinder.

RobZ · November 16, 2020

Well, the second time the truck went in on Friday, they said cylinder 4 was miss firing, they said the plug was fouled and changed it. I picked up the truck and knew that didn't fix it, said I will be back. I have not had a fouled plug since I had a hot rod with Holley carb and a big cam with a lumpy idle...WTF?

Over the weekend same lights, same trouble. This time at highway speed the truck started missing and bucking, on a whim, then be fine. Dealer has it again for a third time.

530Nor Cal · November 18, 2020

I have a 2020 AT4 5.3, currently 8500 miles. This vehicle has been to dealership 6x since I owned. 1st month (1300 miles ) dead battery. I checked voltage it read 3.9 volts. Had to have towed to shop 91 miles from home. Dealership stated dead cell, this happens when they sit on lot.

2100, miles one month later , dead battery, vehicle towed again, Dealership stated " unable to duplicate " found nothing wrong..

Another visit, lights lit up on dash, Dealer stated , brake control modual needed replacement., At that time Dash read parking brake needed service.

Next visit left front suspension rattle noise. Dealer stated bolts needed retorque. Most recently truck would start then quickly die, 5 attempts 5 fails. Towed again with 7k miles. This time dealer stated it needed ECM .

Going round and round with with GM on this vehicle. Spent countless hours trying to work with them. Time I will never get back. What a joke .They have a reunite program that will return your vehicle to you . After many hours of phone time with all these different people I thought I was finally going to get my truck delivered back to me , only to receive a call from the reunite program staff stating that I was unable to participate in the program because I live to close.

She stated that You have to be outside of 100 miles and that I only live 91 miles from dealership,

She said she goggled it !!.

I now qualify to be a participant in the lemon law. I finally have enough documentation and qualify .

Disappointed with GM.

NOTE : when you / if you call the 1800 #, it will go to some far off country, that's where the customer service call go, I had a challenge

understanding, Just ask for a U.S. advisor, took a bit but in the end they transferred me.

RobZ · November 30, 2020

I finally got the truck back from the dealer. They had to replace the #4 lifters, solenoids and injector as well as the #1 injector. Also they had to replace the solenoid harness as it broke when they removed it.

Appeared to run good this morning, time will tell.

MWR62 · December 15, 2020

I have a 2019 Silverado RST 1500 with the 5.3L engine. I had the same problem at 28,000 miles I had the Service ESC, Service Brake System, and CEL light come on. It started running rough and shifting hard. I took it to the dealership. They replaced the spark plug in cylinder #7. Said the insulator on the spark plug was cracked. It ran fine for about 1 week and did it again. I took it in and they said the spark plug in #7 was not properly gaped. When I was driving off the lot it - all the warning lights came back on and it was running very rough (again).

They kept it 3 weeks. They replaced 8 lifters, 8 spark plugs, wiring, and a solenoid. This concerns me. This truck is 17 months old with 28,000 miles and they went into the engine. What would that cost me if it was out of warranty??? I've had it back a week and now I have a service brake monitor light that just came on. I contacted Chevrolet and was assigned a case number (9-6392866522). I requested an extension on the warranty, but they could not offer one at this time. I think my engine issues are linked to the Dynamic Fuel Management.

This is my 7th Chevrolet. I've never even looked a Ford F150's or Toyota's. But they are the contenders to replace this one.