HI
my problem started when the brake lights refused to go off. next day battery flat. got jump start from garage owner and he fiddled around for a while. suddenly Traction failed/service stab failed etc etc warning lights came up. then they disappeared. disconnected battery overnight. next day same again. went to garage, they removed brake sensor, cleaned it and the brake lights were fine. they also mentioned that whilst driving it into their garage that the same warning lights came on but then once the brake sensor had been re-connected the warnings disappeared. told me to drive it round and if problem persists come back. next day all ok so drove 10 mins into town, parked. returned, started engine and vehicle was acting strangely - some power loss; very hard breaks and very responsive; very little power in reverse. it was like driving in 4WD on a normal road and a very strange driving experience. no warning lights came up. i disconnected SERV STAB by pressing button for 20 secs then re-connected Serv Stab by pressing button again. all ok but next day did same thing!!! what the hell is going on???? anybody got any suggestions?

 

Usually when people ask for diagnostic help, the first thing any responding person would need is..... Model (yeah we get it is an H3, but which one), year, and is it an MT or AT.

This is because different years and models use different TCCMs, PCMs, and some have TCMs and others don't. Without that, good luck.


As for anything electrical with an H3: Do you have the OEM battery terminals? If so, they are for crap, cut them off and replace with quality aftermarket units so we know there is no voltage fluctuation issue caused by the terminal connections.

Do you have a trailer hitch? If so check the wiring leads under the door sill to make sure they are not rubbing the body where it feeds the license plate light or trailer plug.

 

hi thanks for response. 2008 model, 3698cc, 5 cylindars. its automatic and is a european model (RHD). the original battery was replaced with a MUTLU (Turkish) battery in february of this year - i live in northern cyprus by the way! the battery terminals are original and have never been a problem in the past. i have owned the vehicle from new and its done 45,000 kilometres.
today i was driving and the warning lights came on (Traction failed/Serv Stab/etc etc). same issue with sluggish power and hard brakes. i stopped and tried the "50 presses of 4WDup/4WDdown" (as suggested by others) whilst in neutral with engine off but ignition on, then selected Park and turned on engine. no joy. turned it off again and waited 30 minutes and the problem had gone away once more!

 

by the way - no trailer hitch

 

Welcome.

When I asked for model I meant is it a Base, Adventure, Lux or Lux Off Road, but I do not believe the South African built H3s are designated that way.

So.... do you have a rear locker (the button on the dash that has wheels with an "X" in between next to the traction control button)?

You may have a bad Transfer Case Actuator which is the usual culprit, but many things can cause what you have going on. Does your truck shift from Hi, to Hi Lock, then Low Lock and then back without trouble?




Your H3 has both a PCM and TCM, together with a BCM, not to mention a TCCM (Transfer Case Control Module) which are all very particular to even the slightest voltage fluctuations. I can assure you, the OEM battery terminals are absolute CRAP. I would not tie them to your traction failed messages, but I would to brake lights stuck on and what you thought was a dead battery.

 

The connections get worse over time. The OEM terminal clamps ARE crap and as Doc suggested, it may be time to replace them.

At the very least, unhook both clamps, clean them and the battery posts and reconnect them. It may improve the connection. But then again it may not.

 

hi thanx so far. not sure where south africa comes into all this or what relevance it has. i havent got a clue about Base, Adventure, lux or lux off road. there is nothing on the log book about this apart from it says H3 luxury package on the door posts. there is no X - along that cluster (reading left to right) it starts with 4 with an up arrow next to it, then 4 with an up arrow and lock, then 4 with a down arrow and lock then way along on the extreme right a car symbol with 2 zig zags under it. there is no Hi Lo and i am not sure what a rear locker is. i stress that this is built for the european market.

 

From your description, you have an H3 lux model.
It doesn't have a rear locker (rear locking axle) so you don't have an Adventure package and it's a 5 cylinder so you don't have the Offroad package either (that would be a V8 motor with lockers).
RHD, right hand drive models were built in South Africa.

 

You can find alot of information from your H3, by looking at the RPO CODES inside the glovebox..

RPO stands for Regular Production Option. RPO codes are usually three digits long, represented in the letters A through Z and the numbers 0 through 9. Each vehicle has a group of codes assigned to it, unique to the options found on that vehicle.

enter your 3 digit codes here to find out more information:

GM-Trucks.com | RPO Code Lookup

 

Just an FYI, I've NEVER heard of this being suggested ever. The only thing that will do is keep switching your transfer case actuator between 4HI and 4HI lock. doing it too many times may even be a negative (bad) for the system.

If this problem does happen again (I hope it was just a computer burp), remove the positive battery cable (10MM) and touch it to the negative (not the other way around!). Reconnect and try to start it to see if the computer has reset and the trouble codes on the DIC are off and you have full power again.

Hope this helps!