Use the search feature for "fretting corrosion" and see if that might be what you need to do.
Posts by DrivenDaily
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I have a 2011 with 3.6L V6.
I get the Service Traction warning and ESC Off message and never get them together with a CEL. I can almost 100% of the time generate the 2 messages by simply turning the steering wheel. A year ago I replaced the front wheel bearings believing that it might be the VSS (veh speed sensors) that also serve as the ABS sensors. Nope.
The 2 codes you got might be why they recommend the injector harness service. Is yours a 4-cylinder engine? If so, there have been TSBs about the harness near the coil packs needing to be moved and/or shielded plus a ground wire added for the coil packs. What happens is the EPS (electronic power steering) draws so much power that it causes the alternator to charge very strongly. The power passes by the coils and can induce a current in them, causing a misfire. Also, they can misfire and cause an induced current in the EPS that makes it twitch or do other funny stuff. My V6 has hydraulic PS so it doesn't have this issue.
Get them to provide more information on why they recommend the service. You, after all, are the one who is in control of your wallet. Don't go easily into the dark night of misguided advice on services that aren't needed or are completely wrong.
I get the Service Traction warning and ESC Off message and never get them together with a CEL. I can almost 100% of the time generate the 2 messages by simply turning the steering wheel. A year ago I replaced the front wheel bearings believing that it might be the VSS (veh speed sensors) that also serve as the ABS sensors. Nope.
The 2 codes you got might be why they recommend the injector harness service. Is yours a 4-cylinder engine? If so, there have been TSBs about the harness near the coil packs needing to be moved and/or shielded plus a ground wire added for the coil packs. What happens is the EPS (electronic power steering) draws so much power that it causes the alternator to charge very strongly. The power passes by the coils and can induce a current in them, causing a misfire. Also, they can misfire and cause an induced current in the EPS that makes it twitch or do other funny stuff. My V6 has hydraulic PS so it doesn't have this issue.
Get them to provide more information on why they recommend the service. You, after all, are the one who is in control of your wallet. Don't go easily into the dark night of misguided advice on services that aren't needed or are completely wrong.
Since it is doing it again, and since the recall was performed, and since they believe that it was done in a satisfactory manner, you're probably on the hook for the repair at this point.
A call to your dealer might yield some help from them and/or GM, but that's not a given.
Deoxit is a good contact cleaner that you can use to clean the contacts on the plugs and the BCM, plugging them in and out a number of times to help burnish the surfaces, then apply some more dielectric grease before plugging them in the last time.
I had the recall done on my 2011 some time ago. There's a small square pad that's supposed to be permanently secured to the BCM case using a special glue (epoxy I think, but ...), certain wires removed from the factory harness, then the harness re-secured with a zip-tie to the pad. The pad in my car came loose in less than a week but I've never had my lights turn on or off at the wrong times, so for me this is a moot point.
The problem is with those vehicles who are having the issue again. It's unsafe no matter how you slice it. I've seen only a couple in my area with the lights on while driving on the freeway, only to turn off when they hit the brakes. The real fix that would most certainly be permanent would be to redesign the brake apply sensor (fancy-schmancy, overly complicated replacement for a simple switch) and either replace it with a switch or just add a switch to the system. Brake lights have been turned on and off for decades with simple switches and even if they failed, it was a simple job that anyone could do. Replacing the "sensor" can be done by anyone, but then it has to be taken to the dealership to have the BCM reprogrammed to recognize the new device. This design is poorly conceived because it's entirely possible to have designed it where the BCM would automatically recognize any changes to the "sensor", renewing what they refer to as "homing" each time the key is turned and/or the brake is applied. There are enough other "nanny" nuisance messages that adding another would be fairly easy to do and perfectly acceptable to any owner. It would let the driver know that they need to go through a simple re-learn process, which would be to place the car in Park, acknowledge the message, then step on the brakes a few times (or until the computer said it was happy) in order for the re-learn process to be completed in-situ. But I believe that someone saw an opportunity to make some money in the service department by driving (pun intended) people into the garage when just a little bit more consideration could have been used to make the car able to sort itself out. I know this, that for myself, the more that a device is able to take care of the owner instead of take advantage of them, the better I'll like it and the more I'll sing its praises, which will drive (pun intended again) more folks to their sales floor for more vehicles that are designed better than this.
"Sensor" in quotes above is to indicate that "it" is more like a pair of volume controls hooked up in reverse, one getting "louder" as the brakes are applied, the other getting "quieter". Then the BCM has to compare them, validate them, and then decide whether to turn the lights on or off. This particular design fails the test of time and, therefore, the test of good design.
I'll end my rant now, but I think you get my point.
A call to your dealer might yield some help from them and/or GM, but that's not a given.
Deoxit is a good contact cleaner that you can use to clean the contacts on the plugs and the BCM, plugging them in and out a number of times to help burnish the surfaces, then apply some more dielectric grease before plugging them in the last time.
I had the recall done on my 2011 some time ago. There's a small square pad that's supposed to be permanently secured to the BCM case using a special glue (epoxy I think, but ...), certain wires removed from the factory harness, then the harness re-secured with a zip-tie to the pad. The pad in my car came loose in less than a week but I've never had my lights turn on or off at the wrong times, so for me this is a moot point.
The problem is with those vehicles who are having the issue again. It's unsafe no matter how you slice it. I've seen only a couple in my area with the lights on while driving on the freeway, only to turn off when they hit the brakes. The real fix that would most certainly be permanent would be to redesign the brake apply sensor (fancy-schmancy, overly complicated replacement for a simple switch) and either replace it with a switch or just add a switch to the system. Brake lights have been turned on and off for decades with simple switches and even if they failed, it was a simple job that anyone could do. Replacing the "sensor" can be done by anyone, but then it has to be taken to the dealership to have the BCM reprogrammed to recognize the new device. This design is poorly conceived because it's entirely possible to have designed it where the BCM would automatically recognize any changes to the "sensor", renewing what they refer to as "homing" each time the key is turned and/or the brake is applied. There are enough other "nanny" nuisance messages that adding another would be fairly easy to do and perfectly acceptable to any owner. It would let the driver know that they need to go through a simple re-learn process, which would be to place the car in Park, acknowledge the message, then step on the brakes a few times (or until the computer said it was happy) in order for the re-learn process to be completed in-situ. But I believe that someone saw an opportunity to make some money in the service department by driving (pun intended) people into the garage when just a little bit more consideration could have been used to make the car able to sort itself out. I know this, that for myself, the more that a device is able to take care of the owner instead of take advantage of them, the better I'll like it and the more I'll sing its praises, which will drive (pun intended again) more folks to their sales floor for more vehicles that are designed better than this.
"Sensor" in quotes above is to indicate that "it" is more like a pair of volume controls hooked up in reverse, one getting "louder" as the brakes are applied, the other getting "quieter". Then the BCM has to compare them, validate them, and then decide whether to turn the lights on or off. This particular design fails the test of time and, therefore, the test of good design.
I'll end my rant now, but I think you get my point.
And in Gen7, don't forget the "other" BCM connection, visible by removing the cover on the driver's side.
Just so you won't be forever waiting on a reply, the "Chevy CS" team has not frequented this site in years, and even when they did, it was just boilerplate unhelpful tongue-wagging.
To really help yourself, please read this post and share your vehicle info. That way, our members might be able to help point you in a direction that'll result in an improvement or maybe even a cure.
Year, trim level, engine, trans . . . . . . . . ?
Please share info about your car by reading this post. After that, we'll move your 3 posts that were merged into a single post to the correct section.
Please see post #10. Until now, the thread title did not include that, but after looking through the thread I felt it was good to add it so new readers can more quickly find the solution.
That module with the brake lines is the ABS module. There is nothing wrong with cleaning that connector, and everything right.
Under the console is the BCM. If you take of the cover from the driver's side you can access another connector that isn't quite so obvious.
There is another control module connection between the battery and radiator support if you didn't find it yet.
Since your family has owned it since new, do you know if the trans fluid has ever been serviced? If not, you may want to consider it.
The Service ESC and/or ESC Off messages can plague you with their incessant warnings, but for my 2011 3.6L, it's most likely the SAS (steering angle sensor) located on the steering shaft under the dash. I just haven't gotten around to having it fixed. It'll come on almost daily for a period of time, then be off for months at a time as well, which suggests to me that it's just a dirty or corroded connection.
Another item to consider is the ECT - engine coolant temp - sensor. If it's bad and the temp gauge climbs pretty high, it could be signaling an overheat condition to the BCM that then tells the ECM to go into Limp Mode, but that's just a theory. I had my ECT fail 2 years ago and it kept driving normally even after popping a message that it was overheating. I pulled over, checked it all out, then continued. Only 5 miles later and it was in Limp Mode. The t-stat had actually failed in a closed position and the ECT was properly indicating the condition. The following week I made a round trip of 1500 miles after replacing the t-stat, water pump, most of the hoses, and cleaning the overflow reservoir. Not one problem, and it had only water in it (in case I needed to open it up again and keep from losing expen$ive coolant).
Under the console is the BCM. If you take of the cover from the driver's side you can access another connector that isn't quite so obvious.
There is another control module connection between the battery and radiator support if you didn't find it yet.
Since your family has owned it since new, do you know if the trans fluid has ever been serviced? If not, you may want to consider it.
The Service ESC and/or ESC Off messages can plague you with their incessant warnings, but for my 2011 3.6L, it's most likely the SAS (steering angle sensor) located on the steering shaft under the dash. I just haven't gotten around to having it fixed. It'll come on almost daily for a period of time, then be off for months at a time as well, which suggests to me that it's just a dirty or corroded connection.
Another item to consider is the ECT - engine coolant temp - sensor. If it's bad and the temp gauge climbs pretty high, it could be signaling an overheat condition to the BCM that then tells the ECM to go into Limp Mode, but that's just a theory. I had my ECT fail 2 years ago and it kept driving normally even after popping a message that it was overheating. I pulled over, checked it all out, then continued. Only 5 miles later and it was in Limp Mode. The t-stat had actually failed in a closed position and the ECT was properly indicating the condition. The following week I made a round trip of 1500 miles after replacing the t-stat, water pump, most of the hoses, and cleaning the overflow reservoir. Not one problem, and it had only water in it (in case I needed to open it up again and keep from losing expen$ive coolant).
Being the current owner and the previous owner's offspring, you might ask them for a copy or printout of the service records.
Contact cleaner after disconnecting all battery cables. Then plug it in and unplug it several times to burnish the terminal contact surfaces, then use dielectric grease to help reduce the effects of environmental changes.
Dang! I hate it when that happens.
@Lborgetti
If, as you say, you have pictures to prove your inflammatory statements, please post them. Otherwise, accusing dealers of preying on people with intermittent codes, calling them scam artists, and other unsavory comments isn't the way to gain any favor or get much help.
If, as you say, you have pictures to prove your inflammatory statements, please post them. Otherwise, accusing dealers of preying on people with intermittent codes, calling them scam artists, and other unsavory comments isn't the way to gain any favor or get much help.
Thank you for providing that so quickly. That's a mess, alright! I've had dealerships and instant oil change places do the same, and worse.
It's the level of expectation that's lacking, and the folks doing the work live "down" to the expectation. I'd get on a soap box about now, but there's no need to waste my breath.
Everyone gets a bit edgy when they've been done wrong. It takes time to learn that sometimes it isn't intentional, just poor work habits and/or low standards.
What you should consider before going into the shop is what you'll accept when you leave. If your mind is set so that you won't accept a mess like that, then before paying for it, you inspect the vehicle to be sure that the requested service has been performed to your satisfaction. For an oil change, you lift the hood, pull the dipstick, and check that the oil filter has been changed. For a spin-on, it's easy. For a cartridge, not as easy. Then, if all the physical items meet with your approval, you check for oil spills or other issues and discuss them before accepting it back. For that mess, you could simply say that it's not acceptable and they need to clean it up to a reasonable level.
I've had my car returned with oil stains like your image shows, although not quite as large, but also with oily hand prints on the hood, door, outer handle, inner handle, steering wheel, and shifter. When I sat in the seat with the door open, I saw a small line of oil running down the body near the hinge. My decision that day was to never go back instead of confront them. Now I do my own oil changes, but if I can find a shop with reasonable labor rates where I supply the oil, I'll consider that. Until then, I'm on my back.
I've had my car returned with oil stains like your image shows, although not quite as large, but also with oily hand prints on the hood, door, outer handle, inner handle, steering wheel, and shifter. When I sat in the seat with the door open, I saw a small line of oil running down the body near the hinge. My decision that day was to never go back instead of confront them. Now I do my own oil changes, but if I can find a shop with reasonable labor rates where I supply the oil, I'll consider that. Until then, I'm on my back.
Unplug and re-plug the blue connectors fully a dozen times.
When done, apply a small amount across the female openings in the blue connector using a plastic brush with soft 1" bristles. Also, apply a small amount using your finger to the pins, being careful not to bend any.
The action of plugging and unplugging is to clean the connections. The grease is meant to help keep the environment from getting in again to cause corrosion.
Also, reach around the back of the Delphi BCM and there's another blue connector! You can see it from the driver's side.
When done, apply a small amount across the female openings in the blue connector using a plastic brush with soft 1" bristles. Also, apply a small amount using your finger to the pins, being careful not to bend any.
The action of plugging and unplugging is to clean the connections. The grease is meant to help keep the environment from getting in again to cause corrosion.
Also, reach around the back of the Delphi BCM and there's another blue connector! You can see it from the driver's side.
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