What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

2000 Tahoe ABS Activating and Service 4wd

Chevy305

Chevy305

6 Lug 14bsf Status
 Premium
GMOTM Winner
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Posts
12,947
Reaction score
2,687
Location
New Hampshire
I posted this on GMFS and got nothing, hopefully you guys are more help :thumb:

I have a 2000 Tahoe with a 5.3 and my "service 4wd" light comes on randomly while driving and is gone the next time I start my truck. My code reader didn't display any trouble codes even when the light is on.
Also more importantly, my abs is randomly activating as I come to a stop. It comes as I am slowing to a stop maybe about 10mph and under. I do know that my front driver caliper is sticking slightly as well. Could that cause abs to activate?

Also possibly related, while turning to the right at speed (like around an exit ramp) I get a bad grinding scraping noise from the front driver's wheel. It sounds like my wheel bearings are shot. Could this be my problem? And would this be cause of my abs activating and "service 4wd" light? I jacked up the front and felt for play but everything feels tight. What gives?
 
5mph and under give or take . search the term " abs stop "

bad sensor or rusty wheel bearing hub were the sensor bolts in and it pushes the sensor up/away from the tone ring causeing to much gap for the computer to read correctly at low speed .

and grinding noise like old metal roller scates on concrete is bad wheel bearing most of the time.
 
The hub assembly contains the abs sensor right? If that's the case I'll just replace the hub assembly and see where that gets me.
 
sweetk30 said:
5mph and under give or take . search the term " abs stop "

bad sensor or rusty wheel bearing hub were the sensor bolts in and it pushes the sensor up/away from the tone ring causeing to much gap for the computer to read correctly at low speed .

and grinding noise like old metal roller scates on concrete is bad wheel bearing most of the time.
Click to expand...

This!

Happened in my friends truck going down some pretty steep hills in Duluth Mn after a blizzard. I guess there's a TSB About it he said, but I might be wrong, that was about 5 years ago. He pulled the ABS fuse, and the issue stopped, along with the ABS trying to kill us.
 
Chevy305 said:
The hub assembly contains the abs sensor right? If that's the case I'll just replace the hub assembly and see where that gets me.
Click to expand...

Yep, abs sensor is built into the unit bearing. Probably got a bearing ready to come apart.
 
Sounds like two different problems.

ABS- Few solutions already on here.

Is it automatic push button 4wd? If yes, the "service 4wd" light sounds like the encoder on the transfer case motor. $90 and 20 minutes
 
Did both problems start occuring at he same time?

Does the Abs light ever come on? Intermittently? Does the Abs light come on when starting the truck?

I believe you may have two problems.
A bearing, hub, brake problem that is causing some type of binding that is making the Abs believe it needs to engage and in theory functioning correctly so no code is present.

The second issue is the service 4wd light. Does it come on only in 4wd? When trying to shift out of 4wd or in? I have had my own Z71 Suburban as well as two of my friends trucks have an intermittant 4wd light and in all three cases it was the encoder.

I believe that the abs sensors will affect the functionality of the "auto" 4wd but not the high or low positions.

My disclaimer:
All of this of course is my opinion based on my experiences. Yours and others will differ.
 
Sounds like a bad wheel bearing to me! My 03 Tahoe is doing this right now. It was making some wheel bearing noise (new one on order along with a much needed brake job) and as of today it is parked because it started the random ABS activations. Just too much slop in the unit bearing messing with the ABS sensor,
 
I have the push button 4wd with "auto" feature. The 4wd light came on when the ABS starting acting up. Also no abs or brake lights on the dash ever.

So today I replaced the hub assembly and freed up the caliper. Unfortunately I couldn't break the caliper slide bolts free so I didn't replace the pads but I needed this back together so I just cleaned and greased the pad slides and the caliper pistons. After this my caliper is no longer sticking, no more ABS activation, and no more 4wd light though I haven't driven it very far yet to truly test it. Time will tell if that hub was the cause of all my problems.
 
Well I guess I spoke too soon because the 4 wheel drive light came back on and I still have that high speed grinding noise when I turn. Could that be ball joints?
 
I like the OEM stuff from rockauto.com if you are willing to wait for it to be delivered.

Just changed the unit bearings and brakes on my Tahoe tonight. $1200 later I no longer have any ABS or Service 4WD indicators, squealing while driving and much better brake feel.

Tomorrow I'll change the rears out as well. Leaves me to change the windshield before I sell the truck to my best friend the week after. He has a Tacoma that is starting to fail left and right, I'm actually pulling the engine out of it shortly and swapping in a lower mileage used one so he can sell it. The existing one has a blown headgasket. He has his first kid due within the next month and needs a reliable vehicle big enough to haul the kid around in safely. Car seats are retardedly large these days, LOL! I'm basically trading him trucks. Told him to get his Tacoma fixed up a bit and to sell it. Whatever he gets for it I'll take for the Tahoe.

My fleet is now down to 3!
 
89yimmiJ said:
Sounds like two different problems.

ABS- Few solutions already on here.

Is it automatic push button 4wd? If yes, the "service 4wd" light sounds like the encoder on the transfer case motor. $90 and 20 minutes
Click to expand...


One of our shop trucks has given us grief with a service 4wd light off and on for a long time. It never showed up under the scanner. Long story short that's what it was.
 
I'm told my 4wd light could be the selector ring thingy in the tcase. :dunno: It still shifts into all the gears just fine so I'm not sure :dunno:
 
You need to have the codes pulled from the tccm,something most generic scan tools cannot do,to find out what the problem is. Chances are its the encoder position sensor on the fritz.
Code will be c0327 if that's the case
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom