If the accident involved the front end of the car, then the active air shutter assembly may have been damaged so this could be part of an insurance claim. Contact the shop that did the work.

The air shutters are located behind the front grill opening and are designed to improve fuel economy by reducing drag at high speed and they also are used to warm up the engine more quickly in cold weather. When commanded shut, they reduce air drag by sending air around instead of through the engine compartment.

Stuck open or closed will set a performance code. Stuck closed would be a major problem because the engine will overheat and the A/C system and charge air cooler won't work properly from lack of airflow. It sounds like your shutters are stuck in the open position and they still need to be fixed because they will continue to set a code and if damaged they could close and then stick in that position.

These exist primarily as a way to eke out a tiny amount more mileage for the CAFE protocol. ATS models with adaptive cruise don't have them because the sensor would be blocked by the shutters so they aren't exactly a critical part of the vehicle as long as they don't fail closed.

Rodger

 

I agree with the above, but especially with getting your car back from a collision repair 4 days ago this is the first place it should go. Almost guaranteed something wasn't fixed properly and if this was an insurance claim it should be part of the bill to the insurance company.

 

Rodger,

As my car is now 9 years old and I have no plans to get rid of it, if I had a shutter problem I was responsible for and I just disabled the opening/closing to keep it open all the time or removed the shutters, would I have a permanent check engine light or just a code that would show up when I checked for them? As every car I have ever owned was built this way assuming no real performance negative (slightly slower to warm up, slightly lower mpg only?). I understand why manufacturers squeeze out every mpg on new cars but I wouldn't pay a lot or spend a lot of time on it on an old car unless there was a good reason.

As my car gets older I think about all the things on my car that I don't care enough about to fix unless it was very simple. The list is pretty long (heads up display, navigation, lane departure warning system, seats vibrating as a warning, the grill shutters, parking sensors and display, low windshield washer warning, etc.). None of them seem to affect anything I care about but I might end up living with permanent failure warnings.

 

^You will have a code if you disconnect the electrical connector to the shutter assembly. Perhaps disabling the physical connection between the shutters and the motor that operates them would work, leaving the electricals in place.

 

This might be possible, interesting idea. I suppose it depends on the actuators itself. I know from personal experience that removing AFM (active fuel management) valve actuators from the exhaust on a Camaro (but still keeping them plugged in) for example, will still trigger a CEL due to over-rotation of the motor in the actuator. So it is possible this may happen unless you came up with a way to prevent the motor from over-rotating.

 

I think because this system is part of the EPA profile it will continue setting a code unless actuators and sensors are intact and functioning which is a nuisance. But if it fails closed, I would just remove it.

This system is used on a bunch of GM vehicles now including some of their light duty trucks. It is not terribly failure prone so there is a good chance it will never cause a problem for you and the parts aren't terribly expensive.

Rodger

 

As 16ats wrote, trying to disable the system is likely going to set a DTC and trigger a CEL because it is designed to monitor and diagnose itself. That is the way most of these systems work as a closed loop with the command sent and a response back showing it was carried out as intended.

I remember some people were having issues with the AFM sound control valves in the exhaust with the C7 generation Corvette. Fortunately my Z06 didn't come with them because early in production, GM found out that if the car was tracked, the heat from the supercharged LT4 exhaust quickly killed them. The naturally aspirated LT1 killed them at a much slower rate

Rodger

 

We just got our vehicle back from getting a complete paint job on our 2016 cadillac cts and I checked it with my ODB2 code reader and found it throwing this permanent code P059. This shop was very disorganized and I won't be returning again (because of several screwups including rework and keeping the vehicle 3 weeks on 3-5 day quote). I suspect the wiring harness was not reconnected at the bottom of the active aero grille by these clowns and will disassemble today to gain access to that connection and report back when remedied. Not surprisingly this poster experiencing this right after body work.

 

Update - resolved. Thinking the P059F code and CEL were possibly a wiring harness not reconnected or damaged after the front bumper was removed by a body shop for painting, I disassembled the front bumper and inspected the Active Grille Shutter, it's integral actuator motor, it's fuses and wiring harness and diagnosed nothing out spec or disconnected that might cause loss of communication with the ECM which set this permanent code. Reassembled vehicle front end. Then the info surfaced from my Cadi service manual that said the vehicle would need to be driven approximately 13 miles above 44 mph for communications to resume and clear the P059 code. I then did that and the CEL and code disappeared that was caused by temporary disconnection - yay! Hope this helps someone else. Best wishes.

 

i purchased my complete grill shutter on ebay for 184.00 taking it to my local mechanic to install. for 300.00 LAbor Cost. be sure to check your Vin for the correct part.