# Service ESP, Park Assist, Traction Control + CEL. No longer displayed by IC, what do?



## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi...

First off, let me apologize for the atrocious grammar in the thread title, I ran out of room! And I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, I wasn't really sure where this belonged. Anyways...

I'm new here (just joined after looking about a bit), and I know absolutely nothing about cars. Nevertheless, I'd be extremely grateful if you guys could help.

Anyways, I'm a junior in high school, and go to a vocational school for half of the day before leaving there and heading to my high school, then head home after my classes there. I drove to the vocational school just fine, the car worked like a charm, and I love the way it drives.

When I left the vocational school, though, I was pretty confused... I turned on my Cruze, and my driver information center said, "Service ESP," followed by "Service Park Assist," and then finally, "Service Traction Control." All the while, the check engine light was on as well, so I was pretty worried. Regardless, I had to get back to my high school, lest I be called out for truancy or something stupid.

I figured I'd just get out of the parking lot and call my guardians (my parents have passed) using the bluetooth feature, who might know what to do.

There was one issue with my plan: my car REFUSED to accelerate. I had to let the car coast up to maybe 20-25 MPH before I could use the acceleration pedal. If I pressed down on it, the engine would rev up, but my speed would not increase. I thought about pulling over and trying to restart my car - but it was too late for that - I was already going about 6 MPH out of my parking spot (it happened that I was out of the school and into the parking lot faster than most others that day, so I didn't get hit). There was nowhere to pull over at all - the lane was one-way, and all other parking spots were taken.

So I drove it. I drove for about 3-4 miles probably, until I reached a side street (everywhere else was too dangerous to just stop and turn on my hazards). So I pulled into the street, off of a very busy street that I had to take until I hit that street - which was very painful, accelerating at the mercy of the gradient of a hill out of intersections. People were getting mad, and I had to turn on my hazards each time until I hit 25 or so, where my car finally took over. I might also add, that in Ohio, or at least in the area I live in, police won't pull you over until 6 or 7 MPH over the limit - so, in the 35 zones, I'm able to go 40. Usually, my Cruze will hit 6th gear at around 37 to 39 or so... but not now, or at least the way it seemed. It was in what felt like 5th gear, but at around 2,500 RPM, and I looked at my gear shift indication - which, I was in drive - it said nothing. I tried shifting it into manual and shifting into 6th, but the car didn't respond - it didn't even say shift denied.

Anyways, I reached the side street, turned off my car, turned it back on. No change. So I drove it like that on a less popular road, which still made people angry - but at least I wasn't holding up a quarter mile of backed up traffic.

When I got to school and backed into a parking spot, I turned off my car, back on and tried accelerating... nothing again. So, I turned it off again, got out, turned it on with remote start, and got back in, put the key in the ignition, tried to accelerate, and it worked perfectly again.

At this point, all of the servicing messages were no longer showing up, either. The only thing I noticed was that my car's internal compass said "CAL" - which I assume stands for "Calibrate " - but I'm not sure if it was like that before. That, and the check engine light was still on.

Relieved I wouldn't have to go through that mess going home (I live in a city one or two cities away from my school, granted permission by the superintendent to attend) reliving that mess again, I went into the school.

Coming home, it was fine - but the compass still said CAL and the CEL was still on.

Later, after dinner, my brother-in-law suggested I try to take it for a drive to make sure it'd be fine the following day. So I did. Now, the CEL was off and the compass was working correctly, and the car runs and drives just like it did before this entire mess.

But I'm concerned. Does anyone know what happened, and/or how I could possibly prevent this in the future?

For more information, it's a 2011 Chevy Cruze LT with some 12K miles on it, automatic with a manual shift (the latter of which I don't really touch, as I'm afraid I'll damage the engine).

Sorry the post is so wordy, but I wanted to give an accurate description of my problem, which doesn't seem to me like a simple one.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I would get it to your nearest Chevy dealership. Hopefully there will still be codes stored they can use to track down the problem.


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## Ru5ty (Jun 20, 2012)

Something similar happened to me 5 days after purchase , I disconnected the battery and let it sit for a bit and then re connected it. No problems since... Unless you can check your codes your self , bring it to Chevy


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## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

obermd said:


> I would get it to your nearest Chevy dealership. Hopefully there will still be codes stored they can use to track down the problem.


Thanks for the reply. I will look into getting an appointment at the dealership tomorrow.



Ru5ty said:


> Something similar happened to me 5 days after purchase , I disconnected the battery and let it sit for a bit and then re connected it. No problems since... Unless you can check your codes your self , bring it to Chevy


Hm, thanks for the reply. I'll just set up an appointment, since cars aren't really my forte and I don't have the slightest idea on how to actually check the codes.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

Hopefully, you still have the remainder of the factory 3/36 bumper-to-bumper warranty!


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## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

spaycace said:


> Hopefully, you still have the remainder of the factory 3/36 bumper-to-bumper warranty!


I still have the warranty - I bought it used at 7K miles (from a lease or what?) and I've only put 5,000 on it in 7 months now.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

TheLunarFrog said:


> Hi...
> 
> First off, let me apologize for the atrocious grammar in the thread title, I ran out of room! And I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, I wasn't really sure where this belonged. Anyways...
> 
> ...




TheLunarFrog,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you have experienced with your Cruze. I would recommend that you take your Cruze into your dealer and have them look into this for you. I would also like you to keep me posted and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

I've scheduled the service date for this Friday. I'll see if they can give me the codes it may have spat into its database while I'm there.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Agreed, bring it into the dealer and ask them to scan it for stored codes. There should be a few.

If they don't get it, maybe ask some of the folks in the automotive side of the voc-ed department if they can help out. Assuming there's still an auto section in the voc-ed department, that is. The one I'm familiar with will help out one of their own if bribed with a pizza or two.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

TheLunarFrog said:


> I've scheduled the service date for this Friday. I'll see if they can give me the codes it may have spat into its database while I'm there.



TheLunarFrog,
Thanks for the update. Please keep me posted on the progress with your dealer. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi.

Well, that was fun... Not really, of course.

This is brilliant news, the dealer told me that there is a severe problem with the transmission controller after an hour of waiting. He then told me that I am in serious danger of damaging the car and such if I continue to drive it, and would like to keep it overnight.

That'd be fine with me if I could get a rental or a ride from my sister - but of course, I'm 17 (not old enough to rent a car by 6 months) and my sister isn't around tonight.

So, knowing that, I decided I'd drive home and reschedule the appointment to get it fixed. It's currently rescheduled to be dropped off tomorrow morning by my brother-in-law (who is the title holder until I'm 18, then he'll transfer it to me), who is actually old enough to rent a car.

As for the drive home, it was pretty nightmarish. The problem from before, which has not occurred again since it happened the first time, is back - but worse.

First off, I pulled out of the dealership just fine - but had to turn around because crossing traffic would take too long. So I pulled into a large shopping plaza where I could turn around without worry. When I was leaving the plaza, the information centre brought two warnings over my speed: Service Traction Control, followed by Service ESP.

That wasn't the bad part. A little while down the road, the problem got worse, where I would attempt to accelerate out of an intersection, but the car would refuse to accelerate, much like before. However, when I reached 8 MPH (second gear shift point in automatic), it shifted into second gear and worked fine after that.

Another intersection. This time, my car started shaking violently as I was stopped at the light. Green light. Acceleration is still non-existent until 8 MPH, where the gear shifted to second. This time, I could hear the gear box shifting gears. The car then stuttered, accelerating and then stopping such, repeating until around 14 MPH, where it was fine. Shifting worked fine from this point on, but I could now hear the gear box the entire ride.

Yet another light. Of course, it's red. Car still shook violently, and the acceleration problem from before is still there - except now, I can very, very slightly accelerate up to 8 whereas before, I could barely or not at all and would just need to coast it. The shaking between 8-14 MPH is still present and very obnoxious. I could also at this point barely accelerate past 14, up until 25. The problem seems to be effecting only 1st-3rd gears, so I carry on.

Next intersection, no difference, except my heat has gone cold. This fixes and breaks itself throughout the rest of the ride - which has never happened to me before.

I keep going home. I'm in a 45 MPH zone, going 49-50, and can still hear the gear box. No new problems.

I arrive home. I turn the car off, and it shakes violently until it turns off completely. There's a ton of smoke coming out of the hood of the car. The oil was changed for free as part of the servicing, but I'm not sure if they just spilled oil or if it's my car having not completed one of the recalls, which I know does effect this: the oil after an oil change can drip onto the engine shield and ignite, causing smoke and/or fire.

I pop the hood with a fire-resistant glove, ready to extinguish a fire. Nothing, but there is oil all over the engine shield.

The only codes stored were the ones in the thread title and warnings of a damaged transmission controller.

Obviously, I'm a bit upset about this, especially since doing something that's supposed to fix it made it worse. Either way, it's under warranty, as I expected. I'm a little skeptical though, as if they managed to revive and worsen the problem that existed already by just looking for the problem, what happens when they actually take apart my car to replace the transmission controller? I suppose I can only just hope they'll actually fix it this time...

I will update again when I get the car back (Monday or Tuesday).


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

My hat goes off to you , GOOD Luck chuck and beware of the wolves in the mist.of the night ,in other words,
the isolated insidents or something like those terms .this car is hormonal like a woman so carress her more often.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

^^^^
:signs053::question:


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

TheLunarFrog said:


> Hi.
> 
> Well, that was fun... Not really, of course.
> 
> ...



TheLunarFrog,
Thank you for the update on this. I would be happy to look into this further for you and get you a service request open with GM. In order for me to do this I will need to gather some additional information from you. Can you please send me a PM with your name, address, phone number, VIN, current mileage and the name of your dealer? I look forward to your response. 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

TheLunarFrog said:


> The dealer told me that there is a severe problem with the transmission controller after an hour of waiting. He then told me that I am in serious danger of damaging the car and such if I continue to drive it, and would like to keep it overnight.
> 
> That'd be fine with me if I could get a rental or a ride from my sister - but of course, I'm 17 (not old enough to rent a car by 6 months) and my sister isn't around tonight.


I realize it is inconvenient to not have your car, but when advised driving your car could cause more damage & you didn't listen any damage occurred would not necessarily be covered under warranty. 

Common sense, when a mechanic tells you not to drive to avoid more damage it would be SMART to listen.


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## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

Chevy Customer Service said:


> TheLunarFrog,
> Thank you for the update on this. I would be happy to look into this further for you and get you a service request open with GM. In order for me to do this I will need to gather some additional information from you. Can you please send me a PM with your name, address, phone number, VIN, current mileage and the name of your dealer? I look forward to your response.
> Thank you,
> Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


Stacy,

Thank you for your assistance, but the car was returned to the dealership the following day. It took a day longer than expected, so I had to use my sister's Equinox (which in comparison to my car, I hate with a passion!), which worked out for the day, going to and from school. Today, I got the car back, and it works fine. The acceleration is faster than it was when I got the car, which I'm happy about, and my fuel economy is better - now around 38-42 MPG, up from 30-33 (much better than that Equinox's 21.8...). I don't even mind it took an extra day - I'm happy now, my fuel economy went up and it's easier to drive it now.

Thanks to everyone for your help!




spacedout said:


> I realize it is inconvenient to not have your car, but when advised driving your car could cause more damage & you didn't listen any damage occurred would not necessarily be covered under warranty.
> 
> Common sense, when a mechanic tells you not to drive to avoid more damage it would be SMART to listen.


I had no choice. I would have loved to leave the car overnight. The problem is I had no way home, and the dealership would close within an hour or two. I couldn't get a ride, and I'm not old enough to rent a car. That's just how it worked out.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

TLF: What does the write up sheet state was done to your car? There should be some description of the work done to fix it.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

TheLunarFrog said:


> Stacy,
> 
> Thank you for your assistance, but the car was returned to the dealership the following day. It took a day longer than expected, so I had to use my sister's Equinox (which in comparison to my car, I hate with a passion!), which worked out for the day, going to and from school. Today, I got the car back, and it works fine. The acceleration is faster than it was when I got the car, which I'm happy about, and my fuel economy is better - now around 38-42 MPG, up from 30-33 (much better than that Equinox's 21.8...). I don't even mind it took an extra day - I'm happy now, my fuel economy went up and it's easier to drive it now.
> 
> ...




TheLunarFrog,
Thank you for the update. I am happy to hear that your dealer was able to get your concerns addressed for you. I am also happy to hear that you have your Cruze and you are satisfied with the service that you received. If you ever have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## TheLunarFrog (Feb 11, 2013)

Jim Frye said:


> TLF: What does the write up sheet state was done to your car? There should be some description of the work done to fix it.


Not sure. My brother-in-law would have it since I didn't take it in the second time. I'll see if he still has it still.


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## iKermit (Dec 13, 2010)

You are handling this well...

I am sure i'd be on the news and everywhere on Cruzetalk. Let us know... Hopefully they give you a new Transmission controller or just transmission... If it still does it, can you say Lemon law?


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

iKermit said:


> You are handling this well...
> 
> I am sure i'd be on the news and everywhere on Cruzetalk. Let us know... Hopefully they give you a new Transmission controller or just transmission... If it still does it, can you say Lemon law?


Well, since the TCM is buried inside the transaxle itself, it seems it would be easier (labor wise) to just R&R the whole thing.


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