# 'Service Stabilitrak' flashes for a moment - is my battery done for?



## Patman (May 7, 2011)

No. First off the stabilitrak is just a feature that "assists" in slick conditions. So no you won't get stranded It may be caused by a bad wheel speed sensor. To understand what stabilitrak is you can read this: https://www.gmfleet.com/technology/stabilitrak.html. I know when mine comes on, I turn off the engine and turn it back on and the light is no longer on. Mine started coming on after I backed into something and it is more an irritation than not.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

To clarify, I've read here that bad batteries or cables cause odd symptoms. Not worried about Stabilitrak itself, worried about a dead battery & no start.

Just went out & turned on the ignition w/o starting, headlights off. Ambient around 5 degrees F. Battery voltage 11.8, dropped to 11.6 within a half minute. Dead? Or just cold.


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## booyakashao (Dec 7, 2018)

Patman said:


> No. First off the stabilitrak is just a feature that "assists" in slick conditions. So no you won't get stranded It may be caused by a bad wheel speed sensor. To understand what stabilitrak is you can read this: https://www.gmfleet.com/technology/stabilitrak.htm. I know when mine comes on, I turn off the engine and turn it back on and the light is no longer on. Mine started coming on after I backed into something and it is more an irritation than not.


https://www.gmfleet.com/technology/stabilitrak.html <-- you missed an "l". Link won't work w/o it. 

I've had the stabilitrack icon flash when the car rides over ice and tries to maintain my course.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

Went to Autozone & guy there tested the battery with a small portable tester. With car off, it said the battery was OK but not fully charged. His tester said something about 'diodes failed', I guess because the engine running voltage was high, I think it said 15.4 volts iirc. Guy was concerned it was too high & would wreck the battery. I recall from the old days that voltage would run higher in cold weather, as it is today, so I am less worried about it. Properties of diodes change with temperature.

I drove it about 20 miles to fully charge it (against guy's advice, he said take it to dealer & tell them voltage was too high). Voltage showed 15.4-15.5 throughout the drive. Don't know if I should worry about this, inclined not to unless I hear / learn something different. Now, in warm weather, I know it should be 13 to 14 something, but it's cold today.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

booyakashao said:


> https://www.gmfleet.com/technology/stabilitrak.html <-- you missed an "l". Link won't work w/o it.
> 
> I've had the stabilitrack icon flash when the car rides over ice and tries to maintain my course.



Thanks I fixed it.


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## HatchLifeRS (Oct 3, 2017)

17Hatch6MT said:


> Went to Autozone & guy there tested the battery with a small portable tester. With car off, it said the battery was OK but not fully charged. His tester said something about 'diodes failed', I guess because the engine running voltage was high, I think it said 15.4 volts iirc. Guy was concerned it was too high & would wreck the battery. I recall from the old days that voltage would run higher in cold weather, as it is today, so I am less worried about it. Properties of diodes change with temperature.
> 
> I drove it about 20 miles to fully charge it (against guy's advice, he said take it to dealer & tell them voltage was too high). Voltage showed 15.4-15.5 throughout the drive. Don't know if I should worry about this, inclined not to unless I hear / learn something different. Now, in warm weather, I know it should be 13 to 14 something, but it's cold today.


The car is going to charge the battery at what it deems necessary. It'll then ramp the voltage down when it nears full charge. It isn't constantly charging at 15.4V.

As for the stabilitrack message. I had the same thing, went to the dealership and got the no codes so no fault found. Then they finally found there was a bulletin to reprogram it. They reprogrammed it and no issues so far.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk


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## knauerii (Nov 17, 2013)

Same issue last year, dealership reprogrammed it. Car is doing it again this year in single digit weather. I feel it’s cold related only and not an actual issue. The message only appears on startup in extremely cold weather. It leaves no lasting issues or concerns.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

If the dash doesn’t get a reading it shows that message. Even if everything is fine. Because GM can’t make proper error messages.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

17Hatch6MT said:


> Went to Autozone & guy there tested the battery with a small portable tester. With car off, it said the battery was OK but not fully charged. His tester said something about 'diodes failed', I guess because the engine running voltage was high, I think it said 15.4 volts iirc. Guy was concerned it was too high & would wreck the battery. I recall from the old days that voltage would run higher in cold weather, as it is today, so I am less worried about it. Properties of diodes change with temperature.
> 
> I drove it about 20 miles to fully charge it (against guy's advice, he said take it to dealer & tell them voltage was too high). Voltage showed 15.4-15.5 throughout the drive. Don't know if I should worry about this, inclined not to unless I hear / learn something different. Now, in warm weather, I know it should be 13 to 14 something, but it's cold today.


This kind of misinformation is why we recommend battery testing only be done with the proper equipment. The Cruze, and I suspect most newer vehicles, use a variable output alternator for fuel economy reasons. In the case of the Cruze the charging level can run from 14.0 to 15.6 volts, depending on the battery discharge voltage and amperage and the load on the engine.

In cold weather I remember my ECO's battery voltage being 15.4 to 15.8v, and that battery lasted until after the car was totaled (5 years, 103,000 miles).


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## Terry B (Oct 18, 2018)

My stabilitrak came on when my 2017 Cruze Premiere had LSPI at 25K miles. The dealer replaced all 4 pistons at no cost to me. If you start to get a shimmy or shake, take it in and have them check the pistons. They told me it was a design flaw. The stabilitrak light was my 1st indicator that something was wrong.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Snipesy said:


> If the dash doesn’t get a reading it shows that message. Even if everything is fine. Because GM can’t make proper error messages.


The stabilitrak messages come on any time the system itself has a problem(EBCM), or some other system which can affect stabilitrak operation has a problem.

As mentioned above, the message can come in during LSPI events. LSPI events are measurable misfires, when the ECM senses misfires it send a message to the EBCM telling it that the engine isn't going to be able to do its part in any events requiring stabilitrak intervention, this prompts the EBCM to let you know it can't do its job fully because it's lost full functional control over all the systems it utilizes. It's not a design flaw. And I would argue that if a module doesn't receive a signal, that "everything is fine" is inaccurate.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

Started just fine this morning, with the outdoor temp -19F. In the garage it was probably around 0F. The car has a factory-installed block heater & I had it plugged in. Not sure it activated; I think it has a switch that cuts on only below 0F. Was much harder starting after sitting out all day where the temp was about -10F when I started it. But, it did start. If I had to guess, I'd say the block heater actually did make some heat.


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## gannman2000 (Jan 28, 2019)

Don't worry about the 'Stabilitrak' error message. My 2014 Cruze eco (1.4L) started running poorly, weak power on hills, rough idle.
Every time it would start acting up, I would get the Stabilitrak warning, followed by a traction control warning.
Turns out the problem was a misfire on cylinder #3, and was ultimately caused by a bad coil/spark plug ballast resistor (a $8 part).
I was going to inspect the spark plugs, when I noticed the #3 spark plug spring (which includes the ballast resistor - it sits on top of the spark plug, inside the boot) was dirty (the others were very clean); that is when I suspected the ballast resistor had gone bad. 
Replacing the spring with ballast resistor did the trick - my Cruze is running very nicely now.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

I am just waiting for warmer weather and hopefully my 2013 RS will feel better and the Stabilitrak/CEL will go away? Been quite frigid the last few weeks here and car "throwing codes" but runs fine.


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