Service Ride Control
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 864
Likes: 0
From: Kelowna BC
Service Ride Control
So my Service Ride Control light has been on for a while now. When I bought the car, my mechanic said that the switch was a bit flakey, as the Service Ride Control light would sometimes go on and then go off. Well, now it's on, and it's not going off. I'm guessing it's time to fix something, but I'm not sure if I should replace the switch, or if I should have the suspension worked on.
Has anyone got any thoughts on this? Is it easy to do what work is required, or should I take it to the shop?
TIA
Has anyone got any thoughts on this? Is it easy to do what work is required, or should I take it to the shop?
TIA
Race Director
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 17,101
Likes: 4
From: No more yankee my wankee, the Donger is tired!
Re: Service Ride Control (92BAV)
If you have a service manual, there is a section that explains how to retrieve any stored trouble codes from the SRC computer which is the first step in repairing the system plus there are troubleshooting charts that walk you through a logical repair procedure based on conditions observed or measured.
On the the early model, all digital dash C4s (which were made through 1989), plus any other mid model year C4s that had a 12 pin ALDL connector, you ground pins A & B on the ALDL connector under the dash just to the right of the steering wheel and count the flashes on the SRC light to see if any trouble codes have been stored. On all C4's with a 16 pin ALDL connector (except the 1996 model), you ground pin G and the trouble codes for the SRC computer will be displayed on the LCD screen that doubles as your trip odometer and speedometer. The appropriate service manual describes exactly how to extract the codes for either system as well as explaining what the codes mean.
Without the computer codes, you are shooting in the dark if you try to troubleshoot a FX-3 problem but a couple possibilities are bad grounds or battery wires going to the dampening adjustment motors or bad ground/signal leads coming from the position sensors to the computer. So, first you should check all connectors associated with each shock and make sure they are not corroded or dirty. Wiggle each of them in turn and see if the problem goes away. If it does, you have a bad connection to deal with.
Another possibility is the driver transistors in the SRC computer itself. If the computer commands the dampening motor to move but the driver transistors are bad or leaky, nothing will happen (or not enough will happen), the expected results will not be fed back by the position sensors, and the SRC trouble light will come on. Changing the actuators or shocks will not correct this sort of failure, you must repair or replace the computer itself.
On the the early model, all digital dash C4s (which were made through 1989), plus any other mid model year C4s that had a 12 pin ALDL connector, you ground pins A & B on the ALDL connector under the dash just to the right of the steering wheel and count the flashes on the SRC light to see if any trouble codes have been stored. On all C4's with a 16 pin ALDL connector (except the 1996 model), you ground pin G and the trouble codes for the SRC computer will be displayed on the LCD screen that doubles as your trip odometer and speedometer. The appropriate service manual describes exactly how to extract the codes for either system as well as explaining what the codes mean.
Without the computer codes, you are shooting in the dark if you try to troubleshoot a FX-3 problem but a couple possibilities are bad grounds or battery wires going to the dampening adjustment motors or bad ground/signal leads coming from the position sensors to the computer. So, first you should check all connectors associated with each shock and make sure they are not corroded or dirty. Wiggle each of them in turn and see if the problem goes away. If it does, you have a bad connection to deal with.
Another possibility is the driver transistors in the SRC computer itself. If the computer commands the dampening motor to move but the driver transistors are bad or leaky, nothing will happen (or not enough will happen), the expected results will not be fed back by the position sensors, and the SRC trouble light will come on. Changing the actuators or shocks will not correct this sort of failure, you must repair or replace the computer itself.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,444
Likes: 0
Re: Service Ride Control (92BAV)
I have a 92 service manual. Once you get the code email me and I will tell you what it is.
Just in case you don't understand the system, each shock has a valve on the top of it. When turned it sets the shock from softer to firm. There is an actuator (little motor) that turns the valve via a little gear to the correct setting based on the selection you made sport/performance, etc...
The codes will tell you if there is an issue with a particular shock. Simply pop of the wire clip that holds the actuator to the shock and pull off the actuator. The gear on the shock should only turn about 3/4 in rotation and stop. If it spins around and around the shock is bad. If it stops then the actuator is bad.
It takes all of 10 seconds to remove the actuator on a front shock.
You can send the shocks back to Bilstein to be rebuilt for about $100 bucks each. You can get new ones for about $200 ( I think from dougrippie.com)
[Modified by Jay Axson, 9:53 PM 10/3/2001]
Just in case you don't understand the system, each shock has a valve on the top of it. When turned it sets the shock from softer to firm. There is an actuator (little motor) that turns the valve via a little gear to the correct setting based on the selection you made sport/performance, etc...
The codes will tell you if there is an issue with a particular shock. Simply pop of the wire clip that holds the actuator to the shock and pull off the actuator. The gear on the shock should only turn about 3/4 in rotation and stop. If it spins around and around the shock is bad. If it stops then the actuator is bad.
It takes all of 10 seconds to remove the actuator on a front shock.
You can send the shocks back to Bilstein to be rebuilt for about $100 bucks each. You can get new ones for about $200 ( I think from dougrippie.com)
[Modified by Jay Axson, 9:53 PM 10/3/2001]
