Check Engine Light 99 Surburban

(this post)

99 sub w/75k miles
This light comes on intermittently.
Specifically when climbing grades @ high RPM
this has been doing is on & off for approx 20K miles
It would go off within a day off it's occurrence and I figured it was poor spark at high speed.
Had to get it smogged (CA thing). It passed all output parameters with the exception that the test picked up an OBD fault. Chk Engine Light.

Had to take it to the dealer to be diagnosed. They indicated that the problem lies in the 5th piston misfire at high speed under stress.

the fix .... hone valve guides $2000.00

I have performed meticulous maintenance and always changes oil between 3 to 5K
I can’t believe this is the cause.
secondly- is there a way to reset the light/history so I can get the smog cert? dealer say's must fix prior to resetting.
My position is it doesn’t effect normal smog requirements-
I need more time to look into the alternatives but need the smog cert now.

Any suggestions?

Got a very similar problem. Miles are just over 100K. I get a bad shimmy as I drive up a grade at speed. Actually concerned about the tranny or transfer case, as the motor has been maintained well, and the latest Check Engine Light indicator is coming just after a tune up. The only info Iv'e gotten on this is a friend with a '99 who had to replace the transmission. Anybody else with any thoughts?

I dont know if you know anybody with a scan tool that can pull the codes for either of you or if your mechanical ability is up to par to fix the problem yourself but retrieving the codes will give you a step in the right direction I'm a tech and if you pull the codes I might be able to give you some ideas.:smile:

My dealer is telling me the same thing about the valve guides need bored out. They tell me about $1300.00. They also tell me that GM will pay for half. They said they just did one last week and that they want me to wait a week or two just to make sure that it fixes it. I'm thinking about calling GM and asking them if they will pay for all of it. Look under Tahoes and you will see other people are having the same problems. Mine is a tahoe also. If you have any other question or answers, please email me at [email protected]

jspruil, I am very interested in hearing about your problem. I was on a return trip from CA last week when my check engine light came on. The 98 surburban (90,000 miles) started running horribly when I tried to speed-up or climb a hill. I had the code checked at Autozone and they told me I had a misfire in the 5th cylinder. I checked the plug and wire and everything seems fine.

Did you get them impression from the dealer that this is a common problem? I would like to get as much info as possible before I take the car in for repairs.

Thanks

you will find that I have the same problem. Look under Tahoe's and you will read what my dealer told me. Look for my email address too.

what do you know i have the same problem with my 1997 yukon i keep fouling cyl 5. all i think is that it needs to be timed and i cant time the dam thing. anyone know how to get arround the computer timing because i cant even find timing marks on this dam thing. thumbs down gm!

I had the same problem. I was not even at 36000 miles yet. I was told the fuel injectors needed to be cleaned. So I did it. Then it happened again. I was told something else needed to be done. so I did it. Stil all under 36000 miles. Then I was told I needed a valve job. Of course this was now over 36000 miles and was not covered by warranty. I fought with the dealer and the company eventually covered a valve job.

Since then I have received a notice in the mail from Chevy that this is a common problem in chevy's, There is a warranty that covers some 1996-2001 model year S-10, Blazer, Astro, C/K Pickup, Tahoe, Suburban, Chevy Van/Express, "P" or "W4" trucks that are registered in California, equipped with a 4.3L V6, 5.0L V8 or 5.7L V8 engine and California emissions, may experience a "Service Engine Soon" light, misfire, rought idle or hard start dure to a deposit build-up on the Sequential Centeral Port Fuel Injector (SCPI) poppet valve(s). The deposit build-up may cuase injector proppets to stick closed. Certain fuels have been found to interact with the SCPI system to cause the deposits.

They said this is not a recall. But if you have this problem General Motors is providing a special warranty coverage to owners or applicable vehicles registered in California. It is warrantied for ten (10) years of the date your vehicle was originally placed in service or 200,000 miles, whichever occurs first, the condition will be repaired for you at no charge.

If you have already paid fore some or all of the cost to have the SCPI fuel system reapired or replaced, and you have not received reimbursement under a Vehicle Service Contract, and the in-service time and mileage was less than 10 years and 200,000 miles, you should write to Chevrolet Motor Deivision, P>O. Box 33170, Detroid, Michigan, 48232-5170 to seek reimbursement.

If you have any questions or need any assistance, just contact your dealer or contact the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-222-1020.

I know this was long, but hopefully it helps someone. I wish I had it prior to having the valve job. I have used the warranty again about a month ago. I had rough idle and service engine soon. The fixed it no charge.

Brennicurn

I have a 2002 Astro with 22,000 miles and the service engine light, like so many others I see on this message board, will go on when under heavy load/full throttle conditions. It will flash for about 30 seconds and then go away. One Chevy dealer "fixed it" with a new distributor cap. Another Chevy dealer is currently working on it but strongly believes the misfire is the number 5 cylinder ( 4.3 V6) and is caused by a faulty valve guide. While my Astro is still under warranty, my concern is when the warranty is up, and this happens again, what then? If nothing else, I hope this message helps someone else out there.
Pete.

Same problem going up hill misfires, light comes on goes away, go up another hill comes back, Any real answers yet??????

i forgot about this post!! Well actualy i found out the problems for these issues. Random misfire, 5 and 7 fouling rough idle at stop, missfireing going up hill, here is what i did to slove these problems replace fuel pres regulator, this is what is underneeth the intake manifold its a pain to get to! Take fuel injectors to get cleaned it cost me 5 bux an injector localy, Clean inside intake manifold about 5 cans of carb cleaner. Change Spark PLUGS this is very important.. USE ACDELCO PLAT plugs with 5.7L Vortec, change spark wires, change distribiuter cap and rotor. And thats it.. this is a very good place to start it seams to help alot of people with v6 and v8 vortec eng.
Later

for smog issues with the smog computer reading check eng lite.....
When u get to the smog place unplug wireing harnes from computer on drivers side under the hood on most gm's when their about to do the test plug in all wires and say test away when they plug in obdII the computer wont see a problem untill the engine is shut off and then turned back on..
this is how i passed :-)

Same problem going up hill misfires, light comes on goes away, go up another hill comes back, Any real answers yet??????

Quality Chevy of Escondido CA. bored the valve guides under warranty, however they said it may or may not come back. So far so good. I have put about 2000 miles on the van since with no problems. It seems this is a very common problem that some dealers are willing to admit and some are not. If you live in Southern California, Quality Chevy did right by me so I would talk to them.

disconnect both battery cables for 20 minutes. trouble codes should be reset once you reconnect the battery.

Quality Chevy of Escondido CA. Thanks for the tip I live in Poway. Dave