On my 97 had the ABS and Traction Control light come on while driving. On the dispaly panel a message came on saying " Service Vehicle Soon".
I pulled the car off the road and turned off the ignition and let it set a few minutes then turned back on. The two lights didn't come back on. I drove about 100 miles and still no trouble lights. The question is way did they come on in the first place. I'm new with this car so not sure how to proceed with this. Thanks

 

I get the ABS/TC light occasionally if braking on a bumpy road...no biggie....if you cleared them and they didn't come back I wouldnt worry...

 

Very funny that I signed in this morning to post the same question only to find that someone else had asked it and was at the top of the list.

I have a 2000 Coupe. The same problem discribed above happens to me, but, Although this started out as a sporadic problem, as of yesterday it is now happening every time I drive.

No loose gravel, no reason to activate traction or stability control and yet the same sequence of error lights. Traction Control, then service vehicle soon.

I even tried putting the car in Competitive Mode, to see if that would stay the problem, but it keeps coming back.

The problem occurs randomly. I might be able to reset it and drive 20 miles without the lights triggering or I could reset it and drive 3 miles.

I also have seen this posted on here before.

HELP, Is this a problem with our Vettes? How do I fix it?

Oh where is Evil Twin when you need him??????

 

FWIW...you MAY want to check the connections of your ABS plugs in case one is loose..can't miss 'em plugged in down there by the calipers..not saying that is your problem but its easy and free

 

Well,

I pulled the battery first. I was starting to get worried that I had a leak and was expecting to find acid all over everything.

To my surprise everything was clean. Tested the battery and it appears to be at full power.

Being mothers day I was allowed limited time to troubleshoot the problem. So I checked the ABS connects. I actually disconnected and reconnected each.

I did not have a chance to pull the rear wheel or I would have cleaned the ground that was back there.

I drove it around for a few minutes and it seems normal again. I'll know more when I drive later or tomorrow going to work.

I was looking for a post regarding cleaning the grounds, but couldn't find it. I think it was Bill Curlee that had posted a detailed description including pictures. If anyone has a link to that post it would be most appreciated.

Thanks

 

The message "service vehicle soon" is explained in the owners manual but basically there is a problem with one of the modules on your car and you need to check your codes to find the trouble.

 

Anytime you have a problem with your car, you should see if you have any DTC's stored in the DIC. Here is a web site that explains what they are and how to pull them up.

http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm

THIS is the best web site. It list the code by the year of your car:


http://www.corvettedoctor.com/Codes_Page.htm

Pull up your codes and write each one down. Once you write them down, CLEAR THEM!

Once you get use to this you will catch your self checking them while you drive down the road!

Let me know what codes that you find and post them.


BC

 

Ok, now I am starting to worry....

Here are the two TCS Codes I am getting..

C 1286 Steering Sensor Bias Malfunction
C 1287 Steering Sensor Rate Malfunction

What does all this mean? Where should I begin to look? The car is performing perfectly (or so I thought)

 

Have you recently had your steering disconnected?

There is a steering wheel position sensor on your steering column and if you haven't recently disconnected the column from the rack anytime recently then it's time for a trip to the mechanic for some work.

 

The most logical thing to do is check the circuit ground. It is G-402 and it is on the passengers side, inside the wheel well just behind the rear tire. Recommend getting an ohm meter and reading the resistance between the Electronic Brake Traction Control Module (EBTCM) (that is behind the differental) and chassis ground. If you look closely at the EBTCM you will see a ground stud with a single wire on it That is the ground for the EBTCM. Please read the resistance of the module body to a good clean chassis ground and let me know what you read.

I will not tell you what it should be so I dont infulance your readings.

I have a feeling that this could be causing some of your problems.

Bill

 

Oh sure,
Keep secrets why don't you.

Sadly, work is interfering with working and playing with my car, so this will most likely have to wait until Saturday morning. I will post what I find at that time.

I do have a couple of questions.

1. When testing the resistance, do I need to have the engine running or just in the "on position"
2. Do I need to have the code set? I ask this because when I first start the car the DTC error and TC light do not come on. It is only after driving for a little while that they come on.

Finally, I wanted to add two additional bits of information. The error messages that come up say service traction control or service active handling.

I happened to be down near the beach in an area where there is often a lot of sand on the road. It makes testing active handling and traction control and ABS very easy.

After the code is set and the traction light is illuminated, the traction control is still functional, as is the ABS. The only thing that didn't seem to work was the active handling. No auto braking, that I have come to appreciate on slippery days when I forget what is attached to the bottom of my right foot.

Also, my brake pads are at the end of their life, maybe a little past that. I ordered my new pads and rotors and will get them installed as soon as they arrive. Although there is no squealing, and no apparent loss of braking I wondered if this could have anything to do with the problem

Anyway, thanks Bill for all your help....
Rich

 

Rich

The car's ignition needs to be off. The codes do not matter. The resistance of the module to chassis ground needs to be as close to ZERO as possible. It will most likley not be zero but very close to it. Something like .01 to .03 ohms is not necessarly a bad reading. Just make sure that you ZERO your ohm meter and take that into account. My digital Fluke Volt Meter will read .01 ohms if the lead ends are not clean.

So now you know what your shooting for. If the resistance is HIGH, that is your first step. You will need to clean all of the ground points on the EBTCM and the Chassis.

Before you attempt this,,, I have some precautionary steps to follow so that you dont cause more damage than already exists. I have been through this issue too many times and already know the down falls. If the resistance is high, let me know and I will give you all of the steps necessary to safely correct it without damaging your EBTCM.

Bill

 

Bill,
You're the greatest.
I will get to this Friday night or Saturday Morning and let you know what I find.

Thanks again.

I LOVE THIS FORUM.

 

Give me an e-mail address and I can send you some cool EBTCM pictures. You will LOVE them!

BILL

 

I sent it to you.

Thanks so much, you are the greatest.

 

Bill,

I am getting ready to head out to work on the car.

Do you have a link to the ground cleaning directions that you posted a while back. I've searched but so far I can't find it.

We really need to make posts like that into stickies.
Thanks,

Rich

 

This is the link to the post that I made a long time ago. Somehow it got corrupted and the pictures are missing. Take a look at it and see if it helps. Someone pasted the write up portion in to the post. I will try to reconstruct the post later tonight.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ion&forum_id=1

Here are some of the pictures of stuff that was in the post.

Chassis ground connector and ground stud:



Chassis ground connector and eyelet ground removed.



Chassis ground, Seprating the connector from the ground lug.



Connector disassembled. Corrosion on inside pins.


Chassis ground locations:

 

Thanks Bill,
This is a great help. I was just looking to locate the ground for the EBCM.

Say a prayer....

 

Here are some other ground related pics:

Ground connection engine compartment passengers side front frame rail.

Rusty ground stud!!



Female side of the dirty chasis ground connector.



Ground Splice Pack. There are lots of these all over the car!!





Chassis ground connection at rear frame area. The connection is on the outside of the frame between the rear wheel and the fender well. This one is for the fuel pump/gauge ground.
Yours will be a stud. My stud broke off when I removed the nut. Repair was made with a self tapping metal screw. On 97 and 98 cars, there will be one on the passengers side also for the Rear Mounted EBTCM ground.



Hope this helps.

Bill C

 

Here is what the Fronted Mounted EBTCM looks like:



That ground connection will be in the engine compartment, on the FRONT FRAME RAIL. It will look like this:



There will be an eyelet ground under the metal tab. That is your EBTCM ground wire. It will look like this:



On the later cars, the EBTCM also had a ground wire at this point!