Totally agree with heavychevy's comments. I chalk it up to the normal GM first-year growing pains with new models. However, I have jumped many a car in my life, and after a jump, all of them have had all systems up and running without endangering my safety. This is a bit different and un-nerving to say the least. Hopefully the battery swap will be what will come out of tomorrow's service session, but I hope that ends the issues. I still don't like the feel of a "dead" brake pedal with no braking action.

 

Re: Tahoe dilemma - Will not start

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****update*****
Spoke w dealer by phone and they're saying the truck is ready. 1st report was that the hybrid battery conked out and the truck didn't kick over to gas...& they didn't know why. It is bc of the hybrid battery conking out and the truck not "switching over" that it ceased to excellerate and the reason I had to pull off I85 w/ a disabled vehicle.
That report was on Friday 2/27 they kept it at the time b/c they couldn't determine why it shut off

3/2/09
Today they said they replaced the normal battery bc it was dead....no word on firmware upgrades or anything like that I'll post another update if anything changes when we speak to them in person.

This is totally not what I expected. Not that I had it figured out but I did think something in the form of software updates would be mentioned- the hybrid battery was replaced already so I've checked that off. Has anyone had this happen?

Oh, the truck was made 6/08

 

Bought my Tahoe Hybrid new on Saturday. Today I go to start the enigne and the check engine light comes on, the message on the dash say's "Reduced Enginer Power" and the truck starts shaking.

Turned the truck off and turned it back on several times to have the same result. called OnStar and they said it was a malfunction of the DCM module and to take it to the nearest dealer. This concerns me especially since the car only has 300 miles on it.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?

 

the only posts seem to be from Tahoe owners...I can't imagine it would make any difference as they are all made in the same factory, but then stranger things have happened..just curious.

 

OSU125,

While I have not had this happen to me, I do know of several Hybrids that were brought into my dealer that has similar complaints (Reduced Engine Power, SES Light). I don't remember what the outcome was, but I seem to remember hearing that it was the same thing in all of them and that it wasn't anything major. I hope you have the same situation.

If you have not taken it to the dealer yet I would recommend having Roadside Assistance tow it because if you are truly in "Limp Mode" (Reduced Engine Power), you should not drive it because you will probably not be able to even reach the speed limit. Good luck and keep us posted. I am curious because if it is just a problem with the DCM that would be interesting since the DCM is the "Door Control Module". It is very possible that if one module can not communicate with another it goes into a failsafe mode like you are experiencing.

 

This morning, as I start the vehicle, I saw the message - "STABILITRAK OFF" again. This is the 2nd time it happened after my last repair which they said fixed everything with the Tahoe Hybrid.

The message is brief so there is no way to take your camera out and take a picture of it. With nicka's advice, I actually tried to use my video camera but after 4 attempts, it became more of a hassle so I stopped doing it. Bad idea.


I'm sure everyone at GM is working hard to resolve these issues as they occur but as my service manger put it - "GM is still learning from all this."

I'm no longer bringing the vehicle into the shop anymore until my Lemon Law proceedings are over.

 

Nicka,

I had it towed to the dealership immediately, they have it now but have not gotten around to looking at it yet.

I'll let you know what they find out.

 

Dealer called, said that they thought that the battery had been incorrectly jump started at the previous dealership. So they are going to trickle charge it for 12 hours and then it should be ready in the morning.

My question is how could jumping the battery cause the engine power to be reduced and shake like crazy? If the dealership can't jump it properly how am I suppose to when the battery goes dead?

 

I have not experienced my vehicle shaking but I've had my battery run down to less than the required voltage to turn the engine more than 3x. These things are so complicated that it we can all be experiencing different defects all related to the power system. That is probably why the circumstances surrounding the error messages vary greatly and even after my last repair, I'm still getting a brief "STABILITRAK OFF" message.

As of yesterday, I have accepted GM's voluntary repurchase of my vehicle so I won't be a Hybrid owner for long.

 

Hey Defender,

Sorry to hear you will be leaving, but GOOD Luck with your next vehicle. I hope you were able to work something out with them that was better than their initial response to your BBB filing