One of the wires was burned and exposed. I replaced it, which fixed my "low oil" light.

I'm on my way to get a DMM to start working on this last problem.

 

Ok, that confuses me. You said "The sensor that connects right where the oil filter screws in"....had the damaged wiring. That is is the oil temperature sensor, not the oil level sensor.

 

Okay-

Last night, i saw the oil temp sensor(driver side) had damaged wiring.

I also inspected the oil level sensor(passenger side), and one of the wires was severely damaged. I replaced the segment of wire this morning, and my low oil light has gone away.

Next step, is to fix the oil temp senor wiring, and get the multimeter to begin the procedure. The only problem I have remaining is the "service vehicle soon P1637 code." Strange how they all happened at the same time.

 

Ok, I'm following you now.

Hmmm...that sucks. I'd be having a talk with the shop that did the work when this is over

Do you have the service manual procedure for P1637?

 

Wow, I think I'd be done with that shop after yelling at them for putting an idiot on my car. Something that had me scratching my head was when you said this was the 3rd? time replacing the clutch. Do you pull a horse trailer or use your Vette in tractor pulls???

 

I had them install a twin disk in my car the first time. On the way home, the throwout bearing made an awful noise so it went back. They took it all apart , new throwout, and it was fine.

I never liked how the twin disk acted, so I just had them throw in a much more docile clutch.


Lucky- i have the gearchatter pages for the service procedure on P1637.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

Hmmmmmmm,,,, P1637.....DTC P1637 Generator L-Terminal Circuit

Heres a very good excerpt of a post from Evil Twin many years back on the alternator and how it works:

Originally Posted by Evil-Twin
If you have the original alternator, it is clutch-less. Newer C5's with automatic ( A4) came with a clutch at the pulley to address belt squeal when putting in and out of gear. You have a Valeo 110 amp alternator made in France... it is a good unit. Your specs seem to be OK. The alternator is not your everyday alternator, it communicates with your PCM, the PCM that came with your car.,. GM came up with a clutch type A4 alternator with 140 amps, made in Mexico... the alternator works OK, but does not communicate well with your pre 2000 PCM. Many people experience charging system fault messages with this unit..The PCM thinks it is a 110 unit.
AS our Resident Electrical guru has mentioned, and I concur, if you have a problem with your alternator, the PCM will flash you a message stating you have a "charging system fault".,.,.If you do not have this, then I suspect you are ok...
The latest word I heard from the people who sign my pension check is that they have a fix for this: and its is the new Mexican made clutch driven 140 amp alternator, and a PCM reflash.... But to be honest... this is from the same group that said they have a fix for the column lock disaster... If I were you, I would never give up my original alternator.
You have a smart alternator, here is how it works:

The L-terminal circuit from the generator is a discrete circuit (a discrete circuit has no splices and only one Src and destination) into the PCM. The PCM applies ignition voltage to the generator L-terminal circuit. A small amount of current flows from this circuit through the generator windings to ground to create a magnetic field which starts the generator process. When the generator is at operating speed and producing voltage, a solid state switch for the L-terminal circuit in the generator opens and the PCM detects that the initial startup current flow has stopped.
The PCM expects to detect low voltage on the L-terminal circuit prior to the generator rotating at operating speed and conversely expects the circuit to be at ignition voltage potential when the generator is operational. When the PCM detects a fault (circuit shorted to ground, or circuit shorted to voltage), the Driver Information Center will display Charging System Fault.

The generator has an input to the PCM called the F Terminal to indicate the percentage of total capacity that the generator is producing. This signal is detected by the PCM as a duty cycle from the generator and displayed on the scan tool as a percentage. The PCM can monitor the generators output under all conditions to determine if it is functioning normally.

When there is low demand from the electrical system on the generator, a low duty cycle percentage will be displayed. As more accessory load is placed on the generator, the duty cycle output detected by the PCM will approach 100 percent. A normally functioning generating system will never reach 100 percent as indicated on the scan tool.

The L and F terminals are the red and grey

I tried to make this as simple as possible so those thinking 1960's/70's alternators/gen will throw all that old stuff away, clear their head and rethink smart alternator/gen. systems.

Thanks Bill Curlee for the vote of confidence...

Good Luck
Bill aka ( ET )

Check the samll red wire and the female pin on terminal B of that connector and make sure that is not damaged.

 

The voltage between the ALT(BATT) terminal and positive battery terminal = 0v

The voltage at ALT(BATT) with engine off = 12.52V

The voltage at ALT(BATT) with engine on = 14.29V

I do not have the charge system fault message anymore

 

Looks good. What is the battery voltage at the battery terminals when running?

Glad to see your back in action.

BC

 

I still have P1637 / service vehicle soon message , and I guess I spoke to soon because charge system fault was displayed just now when I started it.

Battery voltage at terminals when running = 13.80V

 

Do this:


If the BATT terminal on the alternator is still 14.xx volts...

Connect a temporary wire between the POS battery terminal and the BATT connection on the alternator. (I use a jumper cable ) and see if the problem is gone.

BC

 

Just tried this and still have the problem

 

Call me, PM Sent

Bill

 

well, i must say, after spending about 20 mins on the phone with Bill, and then a couple hours of work on my own, i have successfully fixed my problem.

The problem was a wire was mistakenly grounded instead of getting power on the back of the starter.

I can't thank Bill enough for ending my frustration. Very nice thing of him to do for me. You the man!

 

Well done!!!!!!!!!!

Took some voltage measurements on the plug on the alternator. Found battery voltage missing from Pin D. It read 0 volts.

Measured that pin to ground with an ohm meter and it was attached to ground. It read ZERO Ohms

That shop and the tech who worked on it has some explaining to do!!!!

Bill

 

Nice job Bill...now here's the even bigger question: why did they disconnect the wiring from the starter for a clutch job?

 

Thanks Mike. It was really strange seeing THAT wire attached to ground I was doubting my self for a second!! But no volts and 0 ohms is no volts and 0 ohms. Your right,,,no need to remove the STARTER!

The really SAD part is,,,,that ground that the wire was connected to DOES NOT need to be removed and it was removed to ground that wire which never should have ever been attached there.
WTF??????????


I had Dan hopping all over the car in 105 degree heat I felt sorry for him! There were times when I felt him thinking "What the hell is this guy going to have me do next??? ???

Dan,,,if I were you, I would print this post out and show it to the shop owner. You had a significant amount of unnecessary and negligent collateral damage caused by this shop. They OWE YOU an apology and an explanation and maybe even a refund.
If you don't get it,, post up brother! You might save some other Texas forum member a lot of problems.

There are other shops in Texas that have a VERY GOOD rep!! ENGLANDGREEN is one of them. Steve and Jason are super people. Next time you need a shop, check them out.

Glad to be able to help and even more happier that you back on the road!!

Bill Curlee