Joram

So saturday I took the car out for a little joy ride. Spun a couple donuts for grins. I haven't done one in this car in over a year. After i did it the "Service Active Handling" message came on. First time I've ever seen it on. I disregarded it and figured it would go away after i shut the car off and turned it back on. It didnt come back on for a couple days. Now here i am wednesday and it came back on while commuting to work. This time i was driving in a straight line doing 40. Should I be concerned? I just read a couple other threads on here just now, and they make the message sound potentially hazardous.

psp6158

Go to your browser, not search on here, type in service active handling c6 and it will bring up numerous threads here on the forum. Spark plug wires, wheel sensors, blue plugs under passengers side floor disconnected, EBCM, BCM, battery, codes will help.

furiousox

it's a huge bitch to troubleshoot. Mine came on a few months ago and scared the crap out of me, but it hasn't happened again since. Once the car is off all error codes are gone, based on my research from all the threads on here and in Google...I was told best way is to leave the car on as soon as the error message shows up and try to pull the error code, but that's not always feasible lol

ratomicZ06

I did same thing as op, got real squirelly going sideways and got the same light. It wouldn't turn off after multiple staRT stops..... then.... the following day it was gone for good. Never saw it again. That was a year ago. Goofy.

I've been to the drag strip and that doesn't trigger it..... straight line burn outs

Joram

Guess i'll blow it off and play it cool until it becomes a more frequent thing

Bill Dearborn

Next time it occurs don't shut the engine off go directly to an autoparts store that has a scanner that can read ABS and OBDII codes. Do not turn the engine off until the codes have been scanned. The system resets with each engine start so the condition that caused the diagnostic code that generates the message may disappear with a restart. The Codes will not tell you what failed but will guide you to the diagnostic to use to find what failed. By the way did you have a check engine light that came on at the same time as the Service AH message? If so it is highly possible there is an intermittent engine issue that is shutting down AH.

Bill

shane p

I might be way off here but I thought I read somewhere about a plug on the column, my car does it to sometimes just backing it out of the garage it will come on then it might not happen again for months.

Joram

No check engine light. Only the Service AH

LFZ

How old is your current battery? A new battery does wonders......just from my experience.

sbrooks64

Mine came on when I was doing laps at the Atlanta Speedway. It went off after I was finish. It hasn't come on since

ZIE06Bernie

Shane did you ever determine exactly what was causing this problem.

On the weekend I had similar problem. Pressure washed the car then went for a drive to dry the brakes - drove into garage then reversed a few feet and ABS light came on and display showed service vehicle soon on display. Turned vehicle off then restarted and ABS etc returned. Gongs as well, then it shut the engine down completely and tried to contact emergency "on star" its called I think. But that is not used here.

I turned the car off then restarted and the warnings were gone and all returned to normal. Scanned for code but nothing there whatsoever. Haven't driven since and now unsure whether related to washing or something else. And the fact it shut the engine down was something that does cause concern especially if out in the donga somewhere.

Any feedback from anyone would be appreciated. Pity I don't have a Tech 2. Mine is an Innova 3160 which I bought because it supposedly checks ABS on many vehicles but when it arrived it does not work on Corvettes.

It's all a bit of a PITA when these things appear.

shane p

No I never did figure it out, last time I drove the car it never came on. It has never shut the engine off on me it says "service active handling" and the traction control light comes on but doesn't seem to effect anything else. I will try to hook a scan tool up next time it happens.

Bill Dearborn

Remember when you see the Service something message come on the incident that caused it is already over. That presence of the message indicates to the driver that some sort of corrective action needs to be taken but it also tells the knowledgeable person the system is shut down and the incident will not occur again during that ignition cycle. There isn't anything to panic about when the message is present. When it comes to improper activation of the system with the steering pulling one way or the other the time to worry is when there are no messages or indicator lights and you think the system is working properly. Again the presence of the message means the problem has already occurred and the system shut down so the problem wouldn't cause a driving issue. Now if you were depending on ABS, Active Handling or Traction Control to be active then you have a problem because they aren't present and it is like driving a car from the mid 80s or before, the driver has to know how to drive.

Bill

548chevelle

Is there anyway to just shut off some of this stuff? I got a Service Traction Control light two weeks ago. It came on when I started the engine. Drove the car for 30 minutes with it on. Came home and checked for codes. No codes. Next day I started the car and the light didn't come on and hasn't been on since. This stuff is a real pita.

Bill Dearborn

Sure just pull the two fuses that supply power to the EBCM. However, you will have to live with the Service Messages then. The brakes will work just fine until you lock them up and then you better remember how to do threshold braking. Same goes for TC, you will have to know how to do throttle control. Nothing you can do about AH since it does things a driver can't do with just a brake and gas pedal and steering wheel.

When you see the just the TC message occur it probably means you have some engine control issue since TC requires the ECM be capable of modulating torque as the EBCM directs.

If you shut off the engine before reading the codes you may lose them and cheap scanners don't seem able to read history codes.

Bill