Problems with 2011 Chevrolet Traverse POWER TRAIN

Driving at highway speed of 75 mph, the motor siezed without any warning. the motor locked and the technician said the engine needs to be replaced. he commented something wrong with the engineering of the engine specific to oil. he is concern that changing the engine may result in the same situation given the motor's design.

The engine time chain is bad. if the time chain finishes braking it will kill off all the engine making the repair over $5,000 it seems like is a very common problem on these cars with the 3.6 vvt v6 engine, as i have seen people go thru this also online many people were talking about how unrelaible these cars are on that way. i have different quotes from different mechanic shops the lowest been $2,500.

Timing chain issue code p0008 avoided crash. locked up engine weak timing chains are stretching causing the engine to lock up major safety hazard at highway speed. much more of a safety issue than the air bag or seat belt recalls

The vehicles control panel displays multiple errors such as engine power is reduced, park assist off, traction control off, brake (in red), abs and all the gages go up and down, automatic locks-lock and unlock all while driving on city street and highways. attempting to pull the car over, the transmission wont go into park. multiple times it won't start and sometimes the vehicle fails to gain speed while driving.

The timing chain when out on my 2011 chevy traverse. there are known issues with these vehicles not much older than mine and i am hearing about a lot of issues with the 2011 models as well. i think that this should be looked into. the timing chain went out when i was driving on the highway with my family and that could have turned into a deadly situation. my vehicle was purchased used but has been well maintained. with just over 100k miles and known issues with the timing chains in these vehicles i really think that it should be looked into.

Air conditioner snowflake light blinks 3 times then goes off and turns onto auto. air conditioner charged and repeats what is mentioned above.

2nd owner. at 91k miles whole electrical system blew out. cost $600 to fix. at $111k miles engine light came on. went to dealership and timing chain needed to be replaced. parked the vehicle as dealership said it keeps happening for 2011 traverse and they are waiting for recall. 6 months later decided to take car back to dealership to get fixed quoted $3800. on way to dealership (20 minutes away) going 40 miles an hour car started making machine guns noises and slowing down. pulled into a neighborhood and parked car. called a tow company and had them tow it back to the house. luckily, our neighbor works at a mechanic shop and came over. he turned the car on and it shut right off. after his examination he said my engine had seized and would need to replace it. already having to reset the electrical system now i need to replace a timing chain and replace an engine?? seems after reading all of the complaints the 2011 traverse has major issues and this needs to be addressed!

Timing chain

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. while driving approximately 45 mph, the traction control warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle failed to accelerate. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. a dealer was not contacted. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

'timing chain'. recently engine light appears on and goes off while driving my 2011 chevy traverse lt 3.6l with almost 113,000 miles. i used my scanner and codes p0008 and p0017 appeared. after doing my research i discovered that, 1. the codes are for the engine timing chain. 2. tons of customers that own the same make, model and year as mine along with many different gm model vehicles that have the 3.6 l engine, are having the same code and engine problem. 3. gm knows about this issue since they have extended the warranty up to 120,000 miles on some of the 2011 chevy traverse's and other gm makes and models. gm advised me that my vin is not covered and i should bring my vehicle to the closest gm dealer to have them diagnose the problem. i brought my vehicle to adams chevrolet located in havre de grace, maryland on 01/10/19. adams chevrolet tech stats: found codes p0008 and 0017. found timing is not in sync due to faulty timing chains. stated customer declined repairs at this time. customer would need to replace timing chains and actuators. i contacted gm a second time a few days after i brought my vehicle to adams chevrolet, the gm employee stated that she will note everything and has my current address and phone number on file if they need to get ahold of me. she stated again my vin is not covered and that i should keep in touch with a customer service employee from a gm dealership and see if they will work with me on a price at my expense. i have had an issue with the power steering while driving in 2018 and adams chevrolet recently advised me that there is an extended warranty on the power steering as well but timing chain is not covered on my vin. my 2011 chevrolet traverse timing chain and /or issues related to that problem needs rplaced for free or i will gracefully accept a new vehicle from gm for free and you can have my traverse back. respectfully,dylan

Bad shuddering in between shifting gears at low speeds. mechanic determined that it is 3-5-r wave plates in the transmission. in accordance to the chevrolet garage, this is an on going problem in traverses and have replaced them in numerous vehicles. if not corrected immediately, it will lead to a replacement of the transmission..

I was driving on a highway and my car lost power, it showed "traction control off" and then "service stabilatrack" i was able to coast off the side of the road and the engine shut off and it will not restart. had to have it towed to a repair shop and waiting to hesr from them.

Without warning, i get an alert on my information panel that stabilitrak is off and traction control needs servicing. at the same time, the vehicle downshifts hard and rapidly decelerates. several months ago, the check engine light started coming on at random times resulting in an emission error code. the catalytic converter was replaced. a month later, same error code. this current problem happens frequently at various speeds while in motion only.

I got my car 6 months ago, so far the brakes went out, rotors went out, all struts had to be reolaced, heater broke, air conditioner leakes, and now timing chains need to be replaved. i found an inspection completed 2 weeks before i bought my car done at another dealership. the list of issues is scary.

Bought car certified used in 4/2014 from dealer who performed recall 13079 (water pump shaft leak). while driving on highway at 68 mph, car lost power, overheated with smoke coming from hood. wife was driving with kids in back - could have gotten into an accident or car could have caught fire. local shop says water pump leaked and failed causing coolant leak. called gm reg. defective recall work and for reimbursement for repair costs - they refused saying its not a safety issue and that the original work wasn't a recall but a customer satisfaction program. i disagree - car could have gotten into accident due to lost power and could have caught on fire. gm should issue recall and reimburse costs for defective worksmanship.

I purchased this 2011 traverse used in 2013 with approximately 28,000 miles on it in aurora, co. it now has about 118,000 miles. i have had warning lights on the abs and stability control systems come on, along with error messages indicating stability control and awd are deactivated for about a week that do not reset upon restarting the car. today, i experienced numerous losses of engine power, as though the car had dropped into neutral, while driving surface streets at approximately 30-35mph. despite pressing the accelerator, the vehicle immediately dropped down to 10-15mph for several seconds. research online in the chevrolet forums indicates a throttle body issue, but shows no corporate investigation or recall into this, though many people report similar losses of power on highways at 60+mph, suddenly dropping to 10mph. i am concerned about safety in traffic if such a loss of power occurs again.

Timing chain went out at 86000 miles

I keep getting codes for emission and timings chain. my back up safety sensor and wheel sensor doesn't work.

Timing chain needed at 60,000 miles, i was told gm is aware of the problem, it was suggested to wait for the recall, after waiting one year still nothing happened. $3000.00 to fix!

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that the check engine indicator illuminated one week after the vehicle was purchased. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the timing belt was faulty. the vehicle was not repaired. the dealer was not notified. the manufacturer was notified. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 117,000.

June 24, 2017 driving at 70mph on 2 lane highway with outside temperature around 85 degrees and suddenly lost power, speed dropped quickly, engine light came on and stopped car on side of road. narrowly avoided accident from sudden deceleration. turned off engine and waited about 15 seconds and restarted engine. drove ok after that. had similar loss of power with warning lights of "power reduced" and engine light came on february 2017 in grocery store parking lot. left engine off for about one hour and then restarted ok but acceleration sluggish. took car to auto mechanic and they could find nothing wrong.

I had to replace an engine at 30k miles due to 'metal in oil". never once missed an oil change and no warning of any issue until car died in the middle of a busy road while trying to turn right onto side street.. after replacing engine had to get new wheel senors as they went bad 2 weeks later. one and a half years later here we are dash flashing saying 'service stabilitrack, service traction control, engire power reduces". check engine light also on. mechanic says i will need a new accelorator pedal along with throttle body. the car itself at this point is under 50k miles. also passenger side window does not go up or down with drive side door levers.

A beep occurs and an error - no traction control off - service stabilitrack - engine power reduced; the vehicle has 110k miles and this have never happend before. these errors have accured when the vehicle is in motion and also right as you start it up. dealership has offed to "try to fix" the issue for the tune of $5000 however they do not know if it will actully fix the issue. so chevy what are you going to do about this?

The check engine light came on when driving on a city street going approximately 45 mph. the next day the temp gage spike to 260 in same conditions and as soon as pulling into the driveway coolant spilled into the driveway. the fan continued to run even after vehicle was turned off. added coolant to get to dealership that is 4 miles a way. halfway there engine started smoking, pulled over & coolant leaked everywhere again. needs a new water pump, thermostat, coolant fluid exchange due to leak, & transmission fluid exchange. *tr

Bought the car october of 2010 and now thetiming chain needs replacing. i read all 2009 models timeing chains were replace by chevrolet under a special warranty and i believe this problem was not fixed for the following year

Obd-ii code: p0008; timing chain stretched causing check engine light.

Even on the slightest of inclines, after stopping while in drive, the vehicle rolls backward. a few times it almost rolled backward into the car behind me. it's an accident waiting to happen. other traverse owners have told me the same thing happens in theirs.

The drive or propeller shaft came loose from the transmission while making a low speed left turn. bolts were intact, but nuts were not found.

Vehicle started overheating due to low coolant. it was discovered that there was a leak in the pump shaft.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. while driving various speeds, "engine power low" illuminated on the instrument panel and the vehicle stalled. the failure occurred on two occasions and was intermittent. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the timing link on the inside of the motor failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 108,000. the vin was not available. ..updated 10/26/16 *bf *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. while driving 55 mph, the vehicle independently decelerated to 25 mph. the stabilitrac warning indicator illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 72,000. the vin was not available.

In january 2016, my vehicle started having stability track issues. it got so bad i had the car sit up for a month then called a mechanic out to diagnosis the car. they sent me to the chevy dealership and they fixed something within the steering, but that did not stop my stabilitrak from malfunctioning. while driving the stabilitrak light turns on and says it needs servicing. then it makes the engine slow down and it starts stalling so we have to pull over and turn the car off and turn it back on for it to do the same thing again within minutes. if the cruise control is on it turns it off starts to stall and puts my family and i in danger, i just thank god we've been able to alleviate major accidents. it's been one minor accident but because we were already going slow it didn't affect either car, so we let it go especially because our vehicle was at fault not the people behind us.

Timing belt issues and power steering pump leak and issues needing replaced.

December 2015 drove the 2011 traverse to the grocery store. after parking the cooling fan was on after engine turned off. very loud fan noise had me concerned. after driving home i notice no fan noise so i felt it was an isolated incident considering it is cool winter weather outside. next a.m. we went to church approx 7 mile trip and fan was running when we turned off car again and saw puff of steam or smoke coming out from front of hood. reasoned it was morning fog? or evaporating water! on the way to do errands 2 days later engine was running about 260* on gauge on dash. fan came on when i parked and ran very loudly. i went straight to dealership which is across the street and met chevy service rep. he said it was just the car reacting to run the defrost mode on the ac system and sent me on my way. before i reached our home the temp gauge was at 260* or higher because it was on the highest point on gauge. returned the next day to dealership as car had now overheated again, no fan coming on at all, and service writer said turn it off before it does damage. wow! left car and was called the next a.m, with diagnosis as bad water pump covered by recall. work was done and then i was informed the rack amd pinion assembly was leaking and needs to be replaced and the engine mount is broken. i am sure the leak on the rack and pinion is due to overheating and extra pressure on the gaskets. no leaks ever noticed before this visit during multipoint inspection performed by dealer on 9/10/15. area of fluid is fresh on rack area. estimate at $1745.00. i'm sure this recall will be happening soon. i just received the november 2015 recall on faulty throttle position sensor repair. i can only hope the recall for the steering system leak and failures will come soon. . fyi we have owned 30 chevrolet cars and we have never had anything like this happen or the amount of recalls occur

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. while driving 25 mph and approaching a red light, the brake pedal traveled to the floor and failed to stop the vehicle. as a result, the contact's vehicle rear ended another vehicle. there were no injuries and a police report was not filed. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed, but the technician could not find a failure. in addition, the contact stated that when the vehicle was parked on incline, it would roll backwards when the gear shifter was placed in drive. the manufacturer was made aware of the failures. the approximate failure mileage was 90,622.

The car just completely stopped. no warning no lights no oil light no service engine. just quit going down the road at 60mph with my children in the car. now i am being told it is the motor. i have serviced the car i should have and treated it very well. there is not one reason a 2011 should just quit. i also had a issues with traction control in the dead of winter the car would flash traction control off engine will lose speed service stablitrack and the car would drop from 65mph right to 25mph in 5 seconds flat which was extremely dangerous any time of year not just winter. get those 2011 chevrolet traverses off the road.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer because of a grinding noise emerging from the engine every time a turn was made. the technician diagnosed that the power steering unit was faulty and needed replacement. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 36,300. updated 09/18/15*lj

I just recently purchased this 2011 chevy traverse last night from the dealer. my first time buying a used vehicle. within 3 months, my heat stopped working in my vehicle. i purchased the vehicle at 40,000 miles. brought it to the dealer, and asked if there was anything they can do as i just purchased this vehicle not too long ago, and they stated there wasnt any recall. i would have to pay out of pocket to have this fixed. just recently this month i have been having an issue with a whining noise when i am driving, and when i am turning the wheel. i took my vehicle to a mechanic and they filed all of my fluids, including power steering which was low. found out that i have a leak. i started doing some research on this, and found out that all of the 2011 chevy traverse vehicles had this same issue. i am going to contact the dealer today to see what they can do, as i didnt purchase an extended warranty with this vehicle. should this not be something that is covered under chevrolet if the majority of these vehicles are having this same issue?

Engine overheated, reduced engine power came on and car shut down. had to have it towed. water pump had to be replaced, car is only 4 years old. doesn't make sense. *tr

Car became very sluggish speed dropped down to 40mph the check engine light came on followed by two messages "traction control off" and "service stabilitrak" car barely moved after that. i pulled onto the shoulder of the road turned the car off, attempted to turn it back on the car wouldn't start after 3 mins the car started and i was able to make it home however the check engine light is still on and the error messages are still being displayed. i googled the problem apparently it's very common and a recall need to be issued. *tr

I was driving to work and luckily had already gotten off the freeway, driving aprox. 35mph the vehicle started to loose speed, a couple of msgs were popping up "stabilitrac off" "service stability control" "reduced engine power". the speed dropped down to about 5 mph, i had to pull over in order for the vehicles behind me to pass me. i put the vehicle on park and while idling, it started vibrating. i turned it off and then turn it back on. after this it seemed to be doing good. , enough for me to get to work

Tl*the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that while driving at 60 mph, the alarm activated independently. in addition, the service traction and the power reduced warning lights illuminated. the failure occurred multiple times. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 50,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, the vehicle lost power. in addition, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate. the traction control warning light illuminated and stability track off, service stability track, traction control off, service traction control, engine power is reduced was displayed across the message board. the vehicle was towed to a dealer. the technician was unable to duplicate the failure or repair the vehicle. the manufacturer was not notified of the failures. the failure mileage was 65,057.

Tl*the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet traverse. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate. in addition, the traction control off and the engine power reduced warning lights illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 69,000.

Daughter was driving, with kids in car. 6:45 pm 1/25/2015. traction control warning light came on and acceleration dropped instantly. she pulled over and turned off vehicle. restarted and still could not get past 45 mph. pulled over again and turned off for five minutes. when pulled back onto highway was able to proceed normally, edmunds forum and chevytraverse forums stated this has happened repeatedly.

Stabilitrak warning light engine losing power down to 20 mph.went online this is an on going problem with many gm cars and should be fixed at the cost of the manufacturer. *tr

I was driving down the expressway going 70 miles an hour and my car all of a sudden went into safe mode and dropped to 10 miles an hour in a matter of seconds. i came very close to being rear ended by the car behind me and i had to swerve off the road into loose gravel and almost lost control of my car. i took the car to hank graff chevrolet where i purchased it and they said the throttle body had went out along with the rack and pinion. i was told that it was not covered under warranty and i would have to pay $2500.00. i called the detroit zone office and [xxx] told me that everything would be covered under warranty except for the alignment. i then received a call from the service writer a few days later and was told that gm would not cover it. i talked to the zone office again and asked why wouldn't this be covered, it is a safety item and other traverses have had recalls for the throttle body. i was told sorry mine was not one of them and i would have to pay. i feel that you need to know about this as it can cause some major accidents or even deaths if this happens to someone else. i was very lucky that this did not result in a serious accident. my car has only 69000 miles on it, why would these parts fail at such a low mileage. the car has never been in any accidents and there has never been any previous repairs done on this vehicle. thank you information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

I was driving home from work one evening. i just came off of the highway, then there was chimes coming from the 2011 chevy traverse. then on the dash read traction control off stability control off service traction control service stability control engine power reduced. i went form 40 mph to 20mph in less than a second. contacted the dealership was told to stop driving immediately and have it towed to them. i get a call the next morning regarding the traverse and an estimate of $230.00 for a diagnostic and cleaning the throttle. not even a month later it happened again right before i was about to enter a highway, i called the dealership again and they told me to have it towed and they will perform another diagnostic and give me another estimate for the exact same problem. they called back later that day with another estimate of over $500.00. i told them i was not paying another cent to repair the exact same problem that i brought the truck in for the first time. he gave me some story about it could be 1001 problems that causes this problem and i told him that is the purpose of a diagnostic to find out what the problem is the first time. long story short i did not pay the $500.00 to fix my traverse a second time for a repeat problem. the worker made it seem like he did me a favor for not charging me. thank god i was not onb a highway when this happened or that i did not have my children with me. chevy needs to fix this problem asap before a very bad accident happens and they will be sued. *js

Wife was on the highway when the stabilitrak turned off and the engine went into a safe mode dropping her speed instantly. luckily, she was in traffic and not going full highway speed or else she would have been a major accident hurting many people involved. there was a recall on the 2010 traverse for this same issue, and even though there are plenty of complaints about this issue on the 2011 (http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/14979/chevrolet/traverse/chevy-traverse-stabilitrak-traction-control-problems), no recalls have been issued. do there have to be deaths involved with this issue before chevy decides fix this issue? the complaints also include the dealership attempting a bunch of attempted fixes, with some of them correcting the problem and some not (throttle body being one). in this state, this vehicle is not safe, and its not due to customer abuse or high mileage parts. this needs to be addressed by chevy and corrected asap. we have also had to have the seat belt fixed under recall, the a/c unit under warranty, and recently received a notice that the power steering unit has a recall but not to bring it to the dealership until it fails. i expect a call from chevy in order to get this issues fixed at their cost. i will continue to post on all forums, blogs, social media, etc until this is given the proper attention. *tr

Have had two incidents where the stability track has come on and had to pull over and turn vehicle off wait 10 minutes and restart and finally it goes off. the last incident was i was driving the light comes on saying engine power reducing and it drops speed down to where i have to pull over not to get hit. i pull over turn the truck off and it starts but reduces power again and turns itself off this happens about three times before i give up. i then have to call a tow truck when they arrive and tries to start it does start now. i have been having this vehicle for 6 months. *tr