Crazy, crazy DIC
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 174
Likes: 0
From: Charlotte North Carolina
Crazy, crazy DIC
Well, lately the DIC seems to have developed a few electronic gremlins, and I would like to see what you guys think might be the problem.
First off, we had the car at the Charlotte Auto Fair at Lowes Motor Speedway, and were parked at the top of the backstretch, in a little bit of banking.
About 10 minutes after we left, the "low oil level" warning came on. Now, we knew it had plenty of oil in it, but even after extended driving and resetting the DIC, it kept popping up. Even stopped off and bought some Mobil 1 to top it off (was down about half a quart)...warning still came back.
It continued with that warning intermittantly for the next few days, but has since gone away.
Next, now it wants us to service the tire monitoring system. Again, this is intermittant. I do realize that it might jsut be time to replace the monitors, since the car is 6 years old now. But again, the warnings are intermittant.
Just this weekend, was cruising along with the top down, going down the road, and the fuel gauge drops to empty and the DIC says "low fuel" or whatever. Car still had plenty of gas in it, but still went to top it off, and took something like 12 gallons. Started it up again, problem went away... for now.
What gives?
First off, we had the car at the Charlotte Auto Fair at Lowes Motor Speedway, and were parked at the top of the backstretch, in a little bit of banking.
About 10 minutes after we left, the "low oil level" warning came on. Now, we knew it had plenty of oil in it, but even after extended driving and resetting the DIC, it kept popping up. Even stopped off and bought some Mobil 1 to top it off (was down about half a quart)...warning still came back.
It continued with that warning intermittantly for the next few days, but has since gone away.
Next, now it wants us to service the tire monitoring system. Again, this is intermittant. I do realize that it might jsut be time to replace the monitors, since the car is 6 years old now. But again, the warnings are intermittant.
Just this weekend, was cruising along with the top down, going down the road, and the fuel gauge drops to empty and the DIC says "low fuel" or whatever. Car still had plenty of gas in it, but still went to top it off, and took something like 12 gallons. Started it up again, problem went away... for now.
What gives?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 798
Likes: 0
From: Manchester NH
The fuel guage problem is a known issue.....it is corrosion on the senders. I've had the problem a few times even after having the senders replaced - keeping the tank above 1/2 full all the time seems to help, but it could be complete coincidence that I've experieced that trend.
The rest of your gremlins could be caused by either a weak battery, ailing alternator, or very likely some ground connections that are developing some character.
A quick forum search should produce some posts that describe where all the ground points are and how to deal with them. GM engineers must have stolen a few ideas from the Jaguar engineers of days past.
Also, did you check what codes were thrown? There was a post on this today.....your car might be nice enough to tell you exactly what it thought was wrong - I bet you have some communication failures in there - these are usually the escorts of the gremlins and are often caused by the Rube Goldberg grounding scheme.
Best of luck,
Pete
The rest of your gremlins could be caused by either a weak battery, ailing alternator, or very likely some ground connections that are developing some character.
A quick forum search should produce some posts that describe where all the ground points are and how to deal with them. GM engineers must have stolen a few ideas from the Jaguar engineers of days past.
Also, did you check what codes were thrown? There was a post on this today.....your car might be nice enough to tell you exactly what it thought was wrong - I bet you have some communication failures in there - these are usually the escorts of the gremlins and are often caused by the Rube Goldberg grounding scheme.
Best of luck,
Pete
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 174
Likes: 0
From: Charlotte North Carolina
Originally Posted by pburant
The fuel guage problem is a known issue.....it is corrosion on the senders. I've had the problem a few times even after having the senders replaced - keeping the tank above 1/2 full all the time seems to help, but it could be complete coincidence that I've experieced that trend.
The rest of your gremlins could be caused by either a weak battery, ailing alternator, or very likely some ground connections that are developing some character.
A quick forum search should produce some posts that describe where all the ground points are and how to deal with them. GM engineers must have stolen a few ideas from the Jaguar engineers of days past.
Also, did you check what codes were thrown? There was a post on this today.....your car might be nice enough to tell you exactly what it thought was wrong - I bet you have some communication failures in there - these are usually the escorts of the gremlins and are often caused by the Rube Goldberg grounding scheme.
Best of luck,
Pete
The rest of your gremlins could be caused by either a weak battery, ailing alternator, or very likely some ground connections that are developing some character.
A quick forum search should produce some posts that describe where all the ground points are and how to deal with them. GM engineers must have stolen a few ideas from the Jaguar engineers of days past.
Also, did you check what codes were thrown? There was a post on this today.....your car might be nice enough to tell you exactly what it thought was wrong - I bet you have some communication failures in there - these are usually the escorts of the gremlins and are often caused by the Rube Goldberg grounding scheme.
Best of luck,
Pete
Thanks for the tips! Now at least I've got a place to start
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,561
Likes: 447
From: Atlanta metro Ga.
As previously stated, the "faulty fuel readings" are a result of using fuel w/ too much sulfur content (like Shell). Sticking w/ Amoco / BP has worked out pretty for me so far..
The other issue w/ the low oil level sensor.. That was a result of parking the car on that banking for an extended period of time.. I think there is even a TSB on it (maybe not). Others have reported similar results..
The oil floated away from the sensor while parked, and for what ever reason (maybe by design) it takes a while for the PCM / DIC to shut that alarm off after it has been set..
Good news is you don't have anything "crazy" going on, just good 'ol GM quality!
The other issue w/ the low oil level sensor.. That was a result of parking the car on that banking for an extended period of time.. I think there is even a TSB on it (maybe not). Others have reported similar results..
The oil floated away from the sensor while parked, and for what ever reason (maybe by design) it takes a while for the PCM / DIC to shut that alarm off after it has been set..
Good news is you don't have anything "crazy" going on, just good 'ol GM quality!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,966
Likes: 22
From: Frederick Maryland
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
Originally Posted by pinskiC5
Well, lately the DIC seems to have developed a few electronic gremlins, and I would like to see what you guys think might be the problem.
First off, we had the car at the Charlotte Auto Fair at Lowes Motor Speedway, and were parked at the top of the backstretch, in a little bit of banking.
About 10 minutes after we left, the "low oil level" warning came on. Now, we knew it had plenty of oil in it, but even after extended driving and resetting the DIC, it kept popping up. Even stopped off and bought some Mobil 1 to top it off (was down about half a quart)...warning still came back.
It continued with that warning intermittantly for the next few days, but has since gone away.
First off, we had the car at the Charlotte Auto Fair at Lowes Motor Speedway, and were parked at the top of the backstretch, in a little bit of banking.
About 10 minutes after we left, the "low oil level" warning came on. Now, we knew it had plenty of oil in it, but even after extended driving and resetting the DIC, it kept popping up. Even stopped off and bought some Mobil 1 to top it off (was down about half a quart)...warning still came back.
It continued with that warning intermittantly for the next few days, but has since gone away.
