Changed battery, shocks, and struts and now have all kinds of problems

[Chooko]

Firstly, I have done some searching, but I'm not finding anything and I need to get this Tahoe fixed ASAP for my wife, so I apologize in advance if there is a thread about this somewhere.

The vehicle is a 2010 Tahoe 2WD, LS, I think, with the 5.3L and just over 200,000 on the clock. Today I replaced the shocks and struts (which were factory as far as I know) with Bilsteins. I also put a new battery in it. Now I get multiple lights and messages including "service stabilitrac" the ABS light illuminated int he dash, and I also noticed this evening that the air conditioning, which worked perfectly before these things were done now blows full hot even with the temperature set at 60 and the AC selected on.
The guy at Autozone says that disconnecting the battery has resulted in a condition requiring a "reset of the PCM" and that only the dealership can do this. However I've been looking around here and online, and there are plenty of people seemingly disconnecting batteries on these vehicles without requiring a trip to the dealership.

I am pretty good at turning wrenches, but not always the best at figuring out which little black box has a problem. This is my wife's daily driver, so I need to get it fixed immediately, especially because I go out of town in a few days. I will be forever grateful for any suggestions.

Joe

 

[Doubeleive]

did your old shocks & struts have electrical plugs on them? if the new ones do not then you will need to get resistors to make the messages go away, also you could have accidentally unplugged the abs sensors in the process of doing other work, i would double check everything. hvac probably just needs to be re calibrated I pulled my battery out other day and when I hooked it back one side the a/c was blowing hot air but once I cycled it a couple times it went back to normal, there is a procedure you can at home to re-calibrate the hvac @swathdiver may know the process, I think you have to pull the fuse for the hvac while the vehicle is off for 10 seconds or something of that nature, i'm sure someone will chime in

 

[swathdiver]

Alternate Method (w/o Scan Tool)
Clear all DTCs.
Place the ignition switch to the OFF position.
Install the HVAC actuator.
Connect all previously disconnected components.
Remove the HVAC/ECAS fuse for a minimum of 10 seconds.
Install the HVAC/ECAS fuse.
Start the vehicle.
Wait 40 seconds for the HVAC control module to self-calibrate.
Verify that no DTCs have set as current DTCs.

 

[Chooko]

Doubelieve - Thanks for the reply.

Neither the new nor the old shocks / struts had any electrical connectors on them whatsoever. The new ones seemed identical in terms of features, so I don't think that is the problem. As for the AC, you might be on to something. After reading your post I went and did some experimenting, and the problems are different per side. I can get the passenger side to blow hot, but it seems like I never gets cold. The driver side now will get cold, but I can never get it to blow hot. I'll look into re-calibrating the HVAC. Thanks again for the quick reply.

Joe

 

[Chooko]

Swathdiver - Thank you also for the reply.

I just looked around on several sources including the sticker on the inside of the cover for the engien compartment fuse block, and I can;'t find reference anywhere to an HVAC/ECAS fuse. However I did find fuses # 39 (HVAC BATT), 48 (AUX HVC-IGN), and 55 (HVAC-IGN). I just tried the procedure you posted with all three of those pulled. IS one of those the correct one? The procedure "might" have worked. I'll check in the heat of the day tomorrow.

Edited to add, I just noticed there is also fuse # 70 (HVAC BLWR), which I will try tomorrow.


Joe

 

[swathdiver]

Swathdiver - Thank you also for the reply.

I just looked around on several sources including the sticker on the inside of the cover for the engien compartment fuse block, and I can;'t find reference anywhere to an HVAC/ECAS fuse. However I did find fuses # 39 (HVAC BATT), 48 (AUX HVC-IGN), and 55 (HVAC-IGN). I just tried the procedure you posted with all three of those pulled. IS one of those the correct one? The procedure "might" have worked. I'll check in the heat of the day tomorrow.

Edited to add, I just noticed there is also fuse # 70 (HVAC BLWR), which I will try tomorrow.


Joe

http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php?topic=112692.0

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/81984-hvac-doors-out-of-calibration/

It can drive one batty, I do it with the Tech-2, no muss, no fuss.

 

[Doubeleive]

ok then check to be sure you didn't unplug the abs harness front or rear, front's are easy to see visually, the rear one's sit on top of the frame rail directly above the rear shock top mounting bolt location so those are easy to accidentally unplug and not notice it, you can reach up with your fingers and feel them, there is one on each side. a tech2 would tell you exactly where the problem is or a good snap-on, etc if you know anyone with one. a standard code reader wont do it, has to be one that can the bcm codes.

 

[Chooko]

ok then check to be sure you didn't unplug the abs harness front or rear, front's are easy to see visually, the rear one's sit on top of the frame rail directly above the rear shock top mounting bolt location so those are easy to accidentally unplug and not notice it, you can reach up with your fingers and feel them, there is one on each side. a tech2 would tell you exactly where the problem is or a good snap-on, etc if you know anyone with one. a standard code reader wont do it, has to be one that can the bcm codes.

All hail Doubelieve the wise and magnanimous! The driver side rear was disconnected. I was definitely sticking a socket on an extension up there blind yesterday to get to the top shock mounting bolt. I'm not sure how that disconnected the harness since it has a clip to keep it secure, but it appears that that is exactly what happened.

I can't thank you enough Doubelieve. Now to verify the AC is working, or continue pulling fuses and disconnecting the battery until it does.

Joe

 

[Doubeleive]

All hail Doubelieve the wise and magnanimous! The driver side rear was disconnected. I was definitely sticking a socket on an extension up there blind yesterday to get to the top shock mounting bolt. I'm not sure how that disconnected the harness since it has a clip to keep it secure, but it appears that that is exactly what happened.

I can't thank you enough Doubelieve. Now to verify the AC is working, or continue pulling fuses and disconnecting the battery until it does.

Joe

Nice, I only know about that because when I replaced mine there was a technical bulletin about the connectors getting pulled apart when changing the shocks, glad that info helped.

 

[Chooko]

I pulled all 4 fuses having to do with HVAC, and waited about a minute. Then I reinstalled them, turned the key to run, and waited for a minute. I did hear a bunch of light whirring and such coming from under the dash, which I assume was the actuators re calibrating themselves. Now everything "seems" to be working properly, although the passenger side blows weaker than the driver said. But this "might" have been the case prior to this fiasco.

I think I'm going to buy a Tech-2 since this is the third GM vehicle that I own that I think it would work on, and they are all at least 9 years old and have over 100,000 on them.

Thanks again for all the help.

Joe