EBCM Replacement
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,480
Likes: 555
Everyone has heard "Think Outside The Box" . My Headlight Control Module went out. I know you can get used ones pretty cheap but they are just that, used and as old or older than the one that failed.
I designed and built an HCM from scratch. It works perfectly. I'm just a hack, surely not an electronics expert. I just know some of you really talented folks can re-engineer the EBCM.
I designed and built an HCM from scratch. It works perfectly. I'm just a hack, surely not an electronics expert. I just know some of you really talented folks can re-engineer the EBCM.
There was a forum member who set out to do just that...as far as I know, he's never been heard from since...not quite sure what that means...
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,517
Likes: 159
From: Lafayette Louisiana
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 121
Likes: 11
From: Thousand Oaks California
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,480
Likes: 555
No, I've never seen that thread...the other guy claimed to be some kind of electronics engineer or something like that...his thread was like 10 or 12 pages and it just kind of ended with everyone hanging...I don't think he's been heard from since...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,480
Likes: 555
Perhaps this one by the member in New Zeland whose car could not be registered without the ABS system working:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-97-00-c5.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-97-00-c5.html
That's not it either...the thread started with a guy who claimed he was an electrical engineer, or something along those lines, and wanted to buy some bad EBCMs to work on, and I remember he was having a hard time getting them at first, but then he did and he found out how impossible the epoxy coated board is the work with, and after quite a lengthy thread, he just stopped posting....
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,480
Likes: 555
And this is the part that's so puzzling to me. What benefit is it to GM to just sit on the info? They aren't doing anything with it, so it isn't making them a cent. Notta. I don't see how it could be anything but beneficial to GM to make it available to the highest bidder. Maybe no one bids on it...maybe many do, who knows, but at least make it available...
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,737
Likes: 349
From: Layton Utah
http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...ket-parts.html
It's not a matter of GM making the information available. It's the economics of production. See Tadge's discussion to the question.
It's not a matter of GM making the information available. It's the economics of production. See Tadge's discussion to the question.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
No one here has mentioned it yet, but it's likely some of the integrated circuits used in the module are obsolete. Even with the full schematics, programming and design data it's not very likely you could build it without re-engineering it to use new IC's.
Anyone who thinks you can reverse engineer it by monitoring the I/O has no clue about electronics or how complicated the EBTC module is or how pointless that kind of exercise would be.
Sorry, but it's the same answer as the last 1000 times this has been complained about. The module is too complicated to build engineer from scratch or reverse engineer and the existing design likely has obsolete components. So, there is simply no possibility any aftermarket company will ever be able to make a replacement and make money selling it.
Anyone who thinks you can reverse engineer it by monitoring the I/O has no clue about electronics or how complicated the EBTC module is or how pointless that kind of exercise would be.
Sorry, but it's the same answer as the last 1000 times this has been complained about. The module is too complicated to build engineer from scratch or reverse engineer and the existing design likely has obsolete components. So, there is simply no possibility any aftermarket company will ever be able to make a replacement and make money selling it.
Last edited by lionelhutz; Jun 24, 2017 at 01:08 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 3,399
Likes: 1,339
From: Havre de Grace Maryland
No one here has mentioned it yet, but it's likely some of the integrated circuits used in the module are obsolete. Even with the full schematics, programming and design data it's not very likely you could build it without re-engineering it to use new IC's.
Anyone who thinks you can reverse engineer it by monitoring the I/O has no clue about electronics or how complicated the EBTC module is or how pointless that kind of exercise would be.
Sorry, but it's the same answer as the last 1000 times this has been complained about. The module is too complicated to build engineer from scratch or reverse engineer and the existing design likely has obsolete components. So, there is simply no possibility any aftermarket company will ever be able to make a replacement and make money selling it.
Anyone who thinks you can reverse engineer it by monitoring the I/O has no clue about electronics or how complicated the EBTC module is or how pointless that kind of exercise would be.
Sorry, but it's the same answer as the last 1000 times this has been complained about. The module is too complicated to build engineer from scratch or reverse engineer and the existing design likely has obsolete components. So, there is simply no possibility any aftermarket company will ever be able to make a replacement and make money selling it.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 792
Likes: 32
From: Tempe Arizona
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
Hummmm, seems like the same perception the US Auto makers made on the life span of auto mechanics until the Japanese car manufacturers saw it another way beginning in the '80's. Maybe give the plans to the Chinese to duplicate. They seem to have no problems duplicating anything.
Get a company in China to build it cheap.... That' turn out well.
The simple fact is that no-one would make a profit by re-engineering the module and going to production on them. It'd would be $millions to get one to market by the time the R&D, prototyping, testing & qualifying and then final production is done assuming they have all the original documentation on the design. And I doubt GM/Delphi would release the info because it's likely proprietary since it contains stuff still done on their new cars.
Last edited by lionelhutz; Jun 26, 2017 at 12:19 AM.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,355
Likes: 139
From: Surprise AZ
Originally Posted by lionelhutz
Get a company in China to build it cheap.... That' turn out well.
The simple fact is that no-one would make a profit by re-engineering the module and going to production on them. It'd would be $millions to get one to market by the time the R&D, prototyping, testing & qualifying and then final production is done assuming they have all the original documentation on the design. And I doubt GM/Delphi would release the info because it's likely proprietary since it contains stuff still done on their new cars.
The simple fact is that no-one would make a profit by re-engineering the module and going to production on them. It'd would be $millions to get one to market by the time the R&D, prototyping, testing & qualifying and then final production is done assuming they have all the original documentation on the design. And I doubt GM/Delphi would release the info because it's likely proprietary since it contains stuff still done on their new cars.
Kind of like in the back to the future trilogy where he repaired the time circuits with 1950s technology. (Tongue in cheek here guys)
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,804
Likes: 358
From: Northville, MI
One of the problems is the supplier went belly-up years ago before anyone wanted the information on their product. The manufacturing process, schematics, components, etc are gone and lost somewhere. IF someone were to miraculously produce a solution, they would quickly sell about 1000 of them and then the orders would trickle in one or two at a time. In today's economy, that would be a very bad investment for a small to medium size electronic company and the large companies with the ability to produce a clone will not because all their resources are geared to the millions of new cars being produced each year and that is where the money is.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 959
Likes: 50
From: Peters Colony Republic of Texas
One of the problems is the supplier went belly-up years ago before anyone wanted the information on their product. The manufacturing process, schematics, components, etc are gone and lost somewhere. IF someone were to miraculously produce a solution, they would quickly sell about 1000 of them and then the orders would trickle in one or two at a time. In today's economy, that would be a very bad investment for a small to medium size electronic company and the large companies with the ability to produce a clone will not because all their resources are geared to the millions of new cars being produced each year and that is where the money is.
The Lizzard
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,747
Likes: 224
From: Hillsboro Oregon
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
One of the problems is the supplier went belly-up years ago before anyone wanted the information on their product. The manufacturing process, schematics, components, etc are gone and lost somewhere. IF someone were to miraculously produce a solution, they would quickly sell about 1000 of them and then the orders would trickle in one or two at a time. In today's economy, that would be a very bad investment for a small to medium size electronic company and the large companies with the ability to produce a clone will not because all their resources are geared to the millions of new cars being produced each year and that is where the money is.
Don't forget that only a large company could take on the liability of this. If a small company did it and got sued over it for some reason it could easily bankrupt them. There is no incentive to do this when it's a money pit.At least the newer model is appearing again. The older 97-00 cars have no fix.
Last edited by lionelhutz; Sep 17, 2017 at 12:23 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,747
Likes: 224
From: Hillsboro Oregon