RickHoppe

My first post and its a problem....... so I'm sitting at a stop light this morning with 2000 miles on my new GS and all of a sudden the car starts to shudder and barely runs. The car feels like the back end is jumpinig all over the place and I get a "Service Rear Axle" message. I think I saw a quick message about the Stabilitrack system. Any ideas?? The shuddering diminished and finally stopped by the time I got to the dealer. Still have message.

BEZ06

Hi - and welcome to the forum!!

I see you've been hanging around for a couple months, but sorry to see that you have an unfortunate problem that has prompted your first post.

Your problem is not uncommon - and the fix may have nothing at all to do with the rear axle!!

My brother-in-law had the "Service Rear Axle" alert last year and I did a search here on the forum for what the problem may be - and I was surprised that most everybody that gets that message has an entirely different issue.

In many cases the Service Rear Axle message has turned out to be a problem with an injector or spark plug wire!!!

I told my b-in-law that, but he thought I was crazy that a Service Rear Axle alert meant an engine problem - but he had it towed to the dealer and they replaced a couple fuel injectors, and no more problem for many thousands of miles now.

Take a look at these threads - and do a search and you'll probably find a lot more relating the Service Rear Axle message to injector or spark plug problems, or even stuff unrelated to either the engine or the rear axle:

The first one discusses an actual rear axle problem (low fluid), but the others have various different problems that caused the alert to come on:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...g-came-on.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ine-light.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...k-and-cel.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...r-problem.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...dy-please.html

Good luck finding the problem, but the past experience of forum members is that the Service Rear Axle message may indicate a problem in a totally unrelated area!!

.

RussM05

When my battery was going out, I got that message. But my battery is 3.5+ years old.

NSC5

As BEZ06 noted any problem with engine power delivery can result in rear axle and stabiltrak error messages. The eLSD, stability, and traction control system all depend upon an expected smooth control of power delivery to function properly and if there is an engine malfunction these subsystems will generate error messages.

Loose spark plug wires were very common issues earlier in C7 production and that is something you can easily check on your own. Recently I have seen a few reports of injectors failing which will cause the same sort of symptoms (partial or no fire of one or more cylinders). Did you have an illuminated CEL when you arrived at the dealer? Normally significant engine malfunction will result in one or more DTCs being set and this will guide the dealer in finding the problem.

RickHoppe

Thanks. I suspect you've hit on something here. I was sitting at a light when the engine suddenly started running really rough and shaking the whole car. When I pulled away it was way down on power and missing. I drove straight to the dealer. By the time I got there it had settled down but the message was still there. Being Saturday afternoon the dealer had no "corvette techs" there and asked me to bring it back Monday! Based on everything I'm putting money on an injector problem but we'll see. I'll let you all know when its resolved.

RickHoppe

I took it to the dealer this AM and they checked the codes. There were a whole bunch of them. After some research they think they've narrowed it down to a bad "Chasis Control Module;Fuel control module" and it will take a couple of days to order and replace. If the module is shorting it could be pulling fuel from the engine and screwing with the brakes and electronic Posi. We'll see.....

djnice

Interesting. We are in parallel universes. As you can see I was posting in another similar thread. However, I don't have the engine running rough issue. Additionally mine has the service parking brake light on, and it is not giving any codes. I am at 3,000 miles on an 18 Z06.

NSC5

The fuel control module could definitely cause that as it will cause a very rough running engine and that will cause the other system issues you experienced.

While I was at a conference hotel my 2008 CTS (my first car with a gas direct injection engine) was accosted by a mouse who nibbled through the insulation on one of the wires associated with the high pressure fuel pump control and the result was an engine ran extremely rough. This seems to be some sort of limp mode the engine goes into when proper fuel pressure control is lost and it had enough power to pull itself on a flat bed wrecker but that was about it.

djnice

You say screwing with the brakes...what is occurring with the brakes.

RickHoppe

The Chassis Control Module was replaced and the car is now fine. This module apparently is related to traction control and stabilitrak systems. When it failed it acted like it was trying to correct for spinning wheels sliding out of control. From what I understand those functions are time limited to 30 - 45 seconds which explains why it settled down on the way to the dealer. It also pulls torque from the engine but I'm not sure how. It could be ignition or fuel controls. Anyhow, all is well. BTW the dealer did everything as promised. Next time I need to remind them not to wash it though. I hate water spots on my chrome rims.....

djnice

Yeah, I think mine needs CCM or rear diff control module.

RickHoppe

I was at the dealer yesterday picking up some touch up paint and the parts person told me that Chevy has requested the Chasis Control module be returned to them. She said this is not uncommon practice for new corvette parts. At least this shows that Chevy is really interested in "improving the breed" so to speak.

djnice

Rick, How much did you drive yours with the problem? What were all the symptoms you noted? Is it possible the problem started to appear after you started having warmer outside temperatures in your area?

Dealer and I are still trying to sort what's wrong with mine and GM's not wanting to replace stuff yet.

BTW, welcome to the forum. What year is your GS and what trans?

RickHoppe

Its is a 2017 GS with about 1500 miles when the problem occurred sitting at a long stop light. The engine started missing and the whole car was shaking. I pulled away from the light with it barely able to accelerate. By the time I nursed it to the dealer the problem had subsided but the Service Rear Axle message was still there. A total of about 12 miles. Temperature is not an issue since its hot all summer here in Hilton Head SC. It was kicking all kinds of codes when the dealer checked it including cylinder missfires, the axle issue and others they didn't detail. Since they replaced the Chasis Control Module I've put another 1800 miles on it with no problems. Good luck with yours. If you read my original thread it may shed more light on the problem.

Texavfan

Seems to be some gremlins floating around, first my vert top quit, then it came back and the radio is out, now the service rear axle message popped on. Top still works, radio is out and message went away. I am taking it in for check this Saturday. I have had many, many new GM vehicles but none with this many issues so early, hoping it is just a programming issue.

djnice

My issues appears to have been caused by an improperly seated connector on the CEBUS. Hopefully the dealer can figure it out, but its difficult for them when there isn't an active code being displayed.

Spike5

Stabilitrak/rear axle service request idiot light went off at 450 miles. Highway speed. No over-rev. No engine shutter. Took the car in today for 500 mile oil change. Mechanic asked me if anything happened to set off fault code. Answer.....No. He deleted the fault code and off I went. Made it two miles before fault code flashed again. ARGH!!!! Good feedback on the forum here though. Hopefully, one of the solutions here will work. 2017 Grand Sport. I waited paitently for 500 miles to have a spirited drive. Now, I can't. ��

djnice

Spike, when are you going to the dealer again? My issue was due to a connector and the message would come and go making it very difficult for the dealer to narrow down where the problem was at. So I ended up getting lucky and finding the connector and correcting the issue myself.

Spike5

DJNICE - Have not scheduled an appointment yet. Can you describe in more detail what connector you are referring to and where it is located? Thanks,

djnice

My issue was intermittent and I only had service parking brake, service rear axle, and rear axle system off. Once the rear axle is off the stability control stops working correctly, but not stability control message. The codes would come and go and once they are no longer active they are stored in history. Your issue may be different if your getting different codes or they stay after multiple restarts. That said, checking the connector is pretty easy. At one point I had the connector partially fixed and my only issue was the diff not locking correctly.

The connector is mounted on the right side frame rail to the right of the transmission. It has a plastic cover that you can remove by pressing a tab. Then you can remove the connector from the frame by pressing a different tab. I took apart the connector and took the back wire covers off. I pulled on all the wires to make sure they are solid and straightened them a little. Since some of the wires are GMLAN I don't want them crammed together possibly causing interference. I centered all of the pins and receivers and pushed a small plastic blade in each receiver. Then I shot both sides of the connector with contact cleaner, added a thin layer of dielectric grease and put it back together. There is photo of the connector in this thread. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-when-hot.html