[Landon Sully]

So we bought the 2009 traverse LTZ AWD over the summer as a gift to my mom because her car had over 200,000 miles on it and first gear started to slip, plus you could see the wear and tear in the interior. We had the car for a long time. So when we got the traverse with the Bucket seats in the middle row we thought it was so cool and even now I am in love with comfort. The first problem we had was a aggressive vibration at 45 mph and we took it in to Firestone and had to get new tires and an alignment after that it was fine for about 2 weeks then the alternator would start to cut out and it finally went out while we where at the lake. We replaced it on the gravel and with limited tools so we felt accomplished. After about a month and a half of driving to work and replacing the alternator 3 times we started to notice a misfire and loss of power. After replacing all spark plugs and 2 coil packs it ran well, other than the alternator slowly going bad (all because of 1 wire that broke when we where at the lake). A week goes by with the new spark plugs and then we start to get stabili track and traction control messages on the dash and have no idea what they are there for. By the end of the week we lost a bunch of power and had to floor it in low manual mode to even get over small hills. One time we barley made it over the hill and on the decent on the other side of the hill we lost all power and in 1st gear and it floored it would not move. Barley had to touch the gas to get it to move, we got it to a parking lot and the fluids looked fine but there was a burning smell. We towed it home and decided we needed to look at the coil packs and spark plugs again and they where good to go so then we moved to the o2 sensors. Car threw o2 codes since we bought it. We replaced all of them and saw no difference. We then replaced the alternator because we knew we didn’t have anything to lose. After replacing many things, we excepted defeat and towed it to fire stone for them to find a problem. After they looked it over for 3 hours they called and said they can’t find a single thing wrong except maybe a couple pinched wires that they fixed. They didn’t make us pay full price since they didn’t find the problem. That made us feel better because even real mechanics couldn’t find a problem. We then knew that we had to take it to the dealer and pay a but load to see what the problem was. After about 3 hours they called and said you need new catalytic converter because the ones you have on are completely clogged up. When they said this we where like ok and we saw and understood how it would fix it but at the same time we were thinking that it wouldn’t work. We then towed it to a exhaust place that we had taken many other vehicles too. They charged us a cheaper price than the dealer but said we need to wait on parts so we did. We then found out that the traverse has 3 Catalytic converters, blew my mind. After they put new ones in it runs perfect now and the only dash light it the tire monitoring system needs to be serviced. We are pretty sure we can look at them ourselves without a computer to tell us until we have more money to spend on it. Now we know that you probably shouldn’t drive with bad o2 sensors for as long as we did. Now the car runs and drives like a dream. I hope this helps anyone who has done what they know and still can’t find the problem.

 

[electbc]

Thanks for the writeup. Yes usually after driving it with a misfire the cats will clog up. Usually there are problems with using aftermarket parts such as plugs, coils and cats, OEM is recommended for these components. The batteries in the TPMS sensors do only last so long, they usually go after 5 or so years so it is a good idea when tires are replaced in the 5 year range to replace the sensors at the same time and avoid trips back to tire store or dealer. Prices on new TP sensors are all over the place, so shop around.

 

[rbarrios]

I read your thread and thought---- CATS are clogged.
As for your TPMS.
Get the part # for your 2009 from gmpartsdirect.com.
Then go looking for the best reasonable price.
I bought 4 from ebay, I think for $30 or $50. But youll find decent prices if you look.
They can be installed when you get new tires.
2009s can be relearned manually with the air in/out method. if its the older sensors.
Newer ones can be relearned with the tool- to activate them.
You can find the tool on ebay for about $10 (the chinese version).

 

[Landon Sully]

Thanks for the relies. The thing I’m still confused is after replacing everything with OEM parts, there was still a miss fire or 2 up until they replaced the cattle attic converter’s. Was the computer just freaking out it made the misfires?

 

[Troublesome3]

The Cats being clogged and causing excessive back pressure can cause misfiring. That's why it continued until they were replaced

 

[revpeach]

Back in the day of carburetors and GM was using double walled exhaust pipes, the inner wall would collapse and block the exhaust. I've seen a plume of exhaust gasses roar up through the carb when the engine was revved up due to the back pressure.

 

[Montereyjack2$]

I would have started with having the CPS tested. If it is failing it will result in all kinds of problems with the operation of the engine. Not likely that a catalytic converter is "clogged" and with an O2 sensor problem the check engine light would go on as it is part of the emissions controls. Time to find a good mechanic who is not clueless rather than guessing about it or hoping for long distance clairvoyance on the part of people on this forum. By the way I have found that checking Yelp reviews is a good way to find competent people in a wide range of professions in ones local area.