Defeated auto stop / start on my 2021 Traverse

[JTK]

I know this technology is here to stay, but in the little bit of time I experienced it in our new to us 2021 Traverse LS AWD, it had to go. It's got to be the most annoying and mechanically disastrous thing you can do to a conventional ICE powered vehicle.

One fella on a Traverse forum I joined claims he had success with just unplugging the hood switch on his 2018 Traverse. When I tried this with my 2021, it immediately lit the MIL and set a "hood switch circuit high" code P257F. There must be differences between the years.

I know many 'black box' modules exist that plug into various locations depending on the GM vehicle. These are typically in the ~$150 range.

Still stuck on this hood switch thing, I found various mail order sources selling short jumper harnesses that plug in between the hood switch and hood switch harness that are guaranteed to work. I ordered one from amazon that cost me $14.78 all-in and it arrived at my door the next day. It works! I'm kind of dumbfounded on how it works because you still get the "hood open" message if you pop the hood with this cable in place. My LS model does not have remote start, so I don't know if that would be effected or not, as I know hood switches will mess with that.

I'm going to get one for my daughter's 2016 8th gen malibu next..

Hope this helps others.

Here's the product: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6ZLN9WP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

There's tons of others sellers who offer these as well, all pretty close in price. I just happened to choose that one.

 

[JavierH19]

Didn't know this thing existed though i knew of the obd ones. I tried to find one compatible with my 21 escalade but i guess they don't make one. It's annoying having to press the button every time but i don't wanna pay 250 for a single use obd. it'd be nice if it at least doubled as a basic elm 327 scanner too which are only 10 bucks.

 

[JTK]

Didn't know this thing existed though i knew of the obd ones. I tried to find one compatible with my 21 escalade but i guess they don't make one. It's annoying having to press the button every time but i don't wanna pay 250 for a single use obd. it'd be nice if it at least doubled as a basic elm 327 scanner too which are only 10 bucks.

Is the hood switch harness easily accessible on the Escalade? Have a look at the connectors to see if they're a match to the available harnesses. That is cool that the escalade has a disable button for the s/s. The traverse doesn't have any way to disable it, other than hacks like keep the gear shift in manual mode and toggle it to 9. I could see that not going well with my missus who will drive this thing 99.5% of the time LOL.

 

[14Accent]

Here's the schematic of the anti-theft system in your Traverse. As you can see, the hood switch is no longer a simple "on-off" switch, there's resistors internal to the switch. I'm guessing the "bypass" simply sends the correct resistance to the ECM to make it think the hood is open, but sends a difference resistance to the BCM to keep the "hood open" warning functional.

 

[JTK]

Thank you @14Accent !

I didn't peel back the loom on the harness, but now I'm curious if there's resistors in there. This little harness actually appears to be build pretty well. It's loomed and taped nicely and the connectors were decent. The only hitch was the "red lock" on the one end is kind of a grayish color and is flimsy.

It would be interesting to know if this would effect those with factory remote start. My LS model is as bare bones as a 2021 Traverse gets.

 

[14Accent]

Thank you @14Accent !

I didn't peel back the loom on the harness, but now I'm curious if there's resistors in there. This little harness actually appears to be build pretty well. It's loomed and taped nicely and the connectors were decent. The only hitch was the "red lock" on the one end is kind of a grayish color and is flimsy.

It would be interesting to know if this would effect those with factory remote start. My LS model is as bare bones as a 2021 Traverse gets.

It shouldn't effect remote start as long as the PCM doesn't see the hood as being open.

Since you report that your "hood ajar" warning still functions with the BCM in place, I'd imagine the remote start would still work fine.

 

[f355spider]

On my BMW you can buy an app that (with use of an OBD scan tool) allows you to code in or out, various features. The first thing I did was turn on the start/stop function. I also turned off the seat belt chimes (I always wear my seat belt, I don't need a reminder), warning/disclaimer that pops up on the nav screen at start up, and other annoyances. You can also make adjustments to features that are normally only available with dealer level shop tools.

Is there a similar app for domestic cars?

 

[z71bill]

I took my Tahoe to a “tuner” shop.

$75 and about 10 minutes later I no longer had that deactivate 4 cylinders mode that does nothing and can cause a major problem when one valve gets stuck in a deactivated cylinder.

Cost to tear engine down to fix $$$$$$.

 

[loneryder]

On my BMW you can buy an app that (with use of an OBD scan tool) allows you to code in or out, various features. The first thing I did was turn on the start/stop function. I also turned off the seat belt chimes (I always wear my seat belt, I don't need a reminder), warning/disclaimer that pops up on the nav screen at start up, and other annoyances. You can also make adjustments to features that are normally only available with dealer level shop tools.

Is there a similar app for domestic cars?

Why turn it on? Most people want it turned off. It’s odd that my 14 MB has it(with a button to turn it off) and my 15 MB doesn’t have it at all.

 

[97prizm]

I know this technology is here to stay, but in the little bit of time I experienced it in our new to us 2021 Traverse LS AWD, it had to go. It's got to be the most annoying and mechanically disastrous thing you can do to a conventional ICE powered vehicle.

One fella on a Traverse forum I joined claims he had success with just unplugging the hood switch on his 2018 Traverse. When I tried this with my 2021, it immediately lit the MIL and set a "hood switch circuit high" code P257F. There must be differences between the years.

I know many 'black box' modules exist that plug into various locations depending on the GM vehicle. These are typically in the ~$150 range.

Still stuck on this hood switch thing, I found various mail order sources selling short jumper harnesses that plug in between the hood switch and hood switch harness that are guaranteed to work. I ordered one from amazon that cost me $14.78 all-in and it arrived at my door the next day. It works! I'm kind of dumbfounded on how it works because you still get the "hood open" message if you pop the hood with this cable in place. My LS model does not have remote start, so I don't know if that would be effected or not, as I know hood switches will mess with that.

I'm going to get one for my daughter's 2016 8th gen malibu next..

Hope this helps others.

Here's the product: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6ZLN9WP?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

There's tons of others sellers who offer these as well, all pretty close in price. I just happened to choose that one.

A hood switch jumper defeats the start stop. Wow! GM electronics are truly mind boggling. I do know that if the cigarette lighter fuse blows on certain GM models it causes issues with obd emissions Inspections as the vehicle won't reset. I only found this out while working as an emissions Inspector.

 

[JTK]

I just found something interesting while trying to order one of these bypass cables for my kid's 2016 Malibu. The ones available on Amazon cannot ship to my address! I do live in NY which is one of the lovely PZEV states, so I wonder if that has something to do with it and not all vendors are abiding?

Either way, I found one on eBay for a couple dollars more and it ships, so it's ordered.

 

[Dave1027]

A hood switch jumper defeats the start stop. Wow! GM electronics are truly mind boggling.

Probably that way because mechanics would not want the engine shutting off when working on it with the hood up. Makes sense.

 

[f355spider]

Why turn it on? Most people want it turned off. It’s odd that my 14 MB has it(with a button to turn it off) and my 15 MB doesn’t have it at all.

typo, meant "off"

 

[repairman54]

Probably that way because mechanics would not want the engine shutting off when working on it with the hood up. Makes sense.

Just like remote start will not work with the hood open but that's a safety concern.

 

[Marcozi]

Hmmm, I can shut off stop/start in my bimmer by pressing the tab about the start/stop press button.

 

[zzyzzx]

I just found something interesting while trying to order one of these bypass cables for my kid's 2016 Malibu. The ones available on Amazon cannot ship to my address! I do live in NY which is one of the lovely PZEV states, so I wonder if that has something to do with it and not all vendors are abiding?

Is there really any doubt in your mind?

 

[JTK]

Is there really any doubt in your mind?

I was just going to post back about this. The "cannot ship to my address" thing was my error! Somehow I toggled my amazon money gobbling machine to amazon dot CA instead of the US version. It was probably trying to get me to stop buying things.

 

[Slick3914]

Thank you @14Accent !

I didn't peel back the loom on the harness, but now I'm curious if there's resistors in there. This little harness actually appears to be build pretty well. It's loomed and taped nicely and the connectors were decent. The only hitch was the "red lock" on the one end is kind of a grayish color and is flimsy.

It would be interesting to know if this would effect those with factory remote start. My LS model is as bare bones as a 2021 Traverse gets.

I’m thinking I need to try one and see if the remote start works on my ‘21 RS. All in the name of science, LOL

 

[JTK]

I’m thinking I need to try one and see if the remote start works on my ‘21 RS. All in the name of science, LOL

For the $15 it's worth a try. These harnesses pop in and pop out with no effort. When in place, it doesn't even look out of place unless you know what you're looking at.

 

[dlundblad]

I’m very glad our 2022 4Runner doesn’t have this. Unfortunately, the new Tacoma probably does, but who knows.