HELP: VTD (vehicle Theft Deterrent) problem My 1999 vette with 22,000miles won’t start. Phil
UPDATED MARCH 7, 2008

History: Starter turns the engine, but engine won’t start. ( No Fuel)
IPC displays codes:
10-PCM No Comm
28-TCS 2 codes. C1276 H C and U1255 H C
40-BCM 1 code U1255 H C
58-SDM 2 codes U1000 H C and U1016 H C
60-IPC No codes
BO-RFA 2 codes U1096 H and U1016 H C
Action Taken:
1. I inspected the Chassis Ground Connectors G101; G102; G103 &G104. There was no corrosion in the connectors. I sprayed contact in the connectors and cleaned where the connectors G101 & G102 and ground wire attaches to the chassis.

2. I took out the battery and the battery tray and looked for acid or corrosion on and around the PCM and
the wire harnesses. Everything looked good, no corrosion. Remember the car has 22,000 miles and
is always kept in the garage.
3. I replaced the Battery with a new battery.
4. I also went and checked the Serial Data Buss by the BCM and checked the two Gray Star Serial Buss Connectors to see if the top portion on the connectors were connected to the bottom securely. The door electrical components all work on both doors. I reviewed your sticky section and cleaned the G101;G102:G103 & G104 connectors.

If I disconnect the car battery for several minutes and the reconnect the batter, the car will start and run normally until I shut the car off again.

 

Check your battery for leaking acid !

Also check battery for low charge.

That's a lot happening !

 

Post up your DIC codes....it will be easier to help. I don't know that what you have necessarily sounds like an anti-theft issue without codes.

 

And fill out your profile

 

It does not matter, if an older battery leaked on the PCM, under the battery tray, you'd never know until you looked.

 

If the VTD was activating the starter wouldn't turn at all. Sounds more like you have a voltage problem somewhere. As mentioned above run the codes on the DIC and see what you have. Don't use a code reader as they only read engine codes.

Bill

 

There are "scanners" or code readers that some people buy to read the DTC data from their cars. The Corvette C5 is a unique vehicle in that we can display ALL of the codes from ALL of the computers in our cars on the DIC. The scanners usually only pick up codes stored in the PCM, and if you have a Theft Deterrent problem, that code would most likely be in the BCM and would not be picked up by a scanner. Just use your DIC and all will be well .....

Top of this page in the red/brown banner across the top it says USER CP ..... select that and go in and update your profile.

Useful stuff is where you are located (so people can suggest shops and stuff local to you), which model and year car (Auto or stick?) as sometimes model/year differences are important in diagnosing problems, and finally if you've made significant mods to the car, listing those can also be helpful.

 

Phil,

Don't know how to put this more plainly ..... FILL IN YOUR PROFILE ..... posting this information here won't help the next time you need help ..... FILL IN YOUR PROFILE ......

As I said above .....


Top of this page in the red/brown banner across the top it says USER CP ..... select that and go in and update your profile.

 

From what you posted, I would definitely do as Oldvetter said, immediately go to the battery....I would remove it and have it tested, and remove the battery tray and inspect for leaking acid and/or damage to the mass of cables and wiring you will find there. I hope you don't have acid damage, but go there first! Good luck and keep us posted as to what you find.

 

10-PCM - Powertrain Control Module
10-PCM NO COMM. <--------------------
Loss of Communication with PCM
NO MORE CODES

There's your problem right there ... with the PCM not communicating with the other computers ... NOTHING is going to work.

You need to IMMEDIATELY pull your battery out, remove the tray, and inspect for battery acid damage to the wiring near the PCM. Next check the PCM itself .... you may find it easier to remove your front right wheel and then the liner at the back of the wheel well.

Check the fuses that power the PCM .....Underhood Fuse Block .... should be 16 and 23 ... both 10 Amp.

Let us know what you find ... but until the PCM is working ... ignore every other code ... most of them (Uxxxx) are caused by the "missing" PCM

 

WOW!






BC

 

[QUOTE=BlackZ06;1564211119]10-PCM - Powertrain Control Module
10-PCM NO COMM. <--------------------
Loss of Communication with PCM
NO MORE CODES

There's your problem right there ... with the PCM not communicating with the other computers ... NOTHING is going to work.

You need to IMMEDIATELY pull your battery out, remove the tray, and inspect for battery acid damage to the wiring near the PCM. Next check the PCM itself .... you may find it easier to remove your front right wheel and then the liner at the back of the wheel well.

Check the fuses that power the PCM .....Underhood Fuse Block .... should be 16 and 23 ... both 10 Amp.
======================================== ============
It sounds like your help will help me alot. I'm out of town now and wont be back until the 4 of March. I then will immediately pull the battery. I will let you know the results. Thankyou, thankyou Phil
my e mail address is philinkeys@sprintpcs.com if you think of anything else

Let us know what you find ... but until the PCM is working ... ignore every other code ... most of them (Uxxxx) are caused by the "missing" PCM

 

Phil,

The "lurk" icons are Bill Curlee's way of saying he is "watching" this thread .... Bill is one of the best (if not the best) electrical guru on the forum ... good to see him here .....

If he has thoughts he'll post them ... and if Bill and I are in conflict on something ... trust Bill ... he gets it right 99.99999 percent of the time.

 

Well,,,,,,,lets see,,,, ,,,,Man,,,,theres a LOT going on here all at once.

You said that you can get the car to start and run, so all is not lost. I have a strange feeling that you have a problem with the serial data buss.

There are a couple of places that this can happen and there all easily checked.

First look in the passengers foot well. Remove the toe board and look to the LEFT of the BCM (Large silver box). You will see TWO thin Grey connectors:





Those are the STAR serial buss connectors and all the serial data from each computer module runs through them. MAKE SURE that the top of the connector is firmly inserted into the bottom portion. The top portion of the connector is a shorting bar and can pop out. If it pops out or is loose, all the modules on that circuit will cease to function.

If your getting NO COMMS indications for modules, you either loosing serial data or power to those modules.

When you are having these problems, do the door functions work on both doors?

Next: There will be the rubber accordion tubes between the doors and the door frames on booth doors. Some times the connections and wires on the plugs in the accordion tubes short and cause serial buss problems. Shake the accordion tubes and see if the symptoms change.

Look at my IMPORTANT ELECTRICAL INFORMATION (long) post in the sticky section at the very beginning of the tech section. It has a LOT of good basic electrical troubleshooting info in it. Take a very close look at all of your chassis ground connections and clean them.

Pin down some more indications and let us know what you figure out.

BC

 

One thing that might be useful to know about this: what was going on with the car before this started happening? I mean, did it just start on it's own, or were you or someone else doing some work on the car? If so, what? I always try to figure out if something I did caused the problem before doing an all out troubleshooting expedition....

 

Bill Curlee, you are the man! The same issue the original poster is having, happened to me this evening. I thought all hope was lost, until I found your post. I went outside to my car, checked the Star serial bus connectors and nothing changed. wiggled the accordian in the passenger door, and EUREKA! The interior light came back on, the dash gauges all came back to life and all the lights that were lighting up the dash like a Christmas tree went off.

There is obviously a short in the wiring in the door. I need to get on that ASAP. At least for now, I know where the problem lies.

THANK YOU!

 

New battery? Did you say new battery? Did you just put the new battery in? New batteries are sometimes bad, even though they will even intermittently provide enough power to start the car. Battery terminals being improperly installed/torqued can also be a problem on these cars. Bill Curlee is the real expert, but if you did just change the battery right before these problems the battery or it's installation may be your problem.
Good luck,
Jeff

 

[QUOTE=BlackZ06;1564130811]There are "scanners" or code readers that some people buy to read the DTC data from their cars. The Corvette C5 is a unique vehicle in that we can display ALL of the codes from ALL of the computers in our cars on the DIC. The scanners usually only pick up codes stored in the PCM, and if you have a Theft Deterrent problem, that code would most likely be in the BCM and would not be picked up by a scanner. Just use your DIC and all will be well .....
======================================== =============
March 4, 2008
I want to thank you for helping me with my VTD system problem. I got home today from vacation and went to work on the problem with the help of your suggestions. I was the under hood chassis ground connector on the right side. The connection was good (clean) but the ground had a little rust on it. Thank you again for all the help that you have giving me. Phil in Houston

 

Phil,

Bottom line is .... did the problem get fixed ????

If not, we can still help, one suggestion is be sure the car is insured and then torch it ....

Seriously, the car can be fixed .... let's all work together on the "problem" ...