Electrical Gremlin Grab-Bag
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 871
Likes: 3
From: Alpha/Coopersburg NJ/PA
Electrical Gremlin Grab-Bag
So, I have 4 distinct electrical problems I'd like some guidance with.
1. I sometimes get the message "Serv. Tire Press. Mon. Sys." When I look at the tire pressures, the right front tire will read RFXXXX, but then after some time passes, it goes back to giving a reading that varies, but is in line with the other tires. Is this a bad sensor, or something else?
2. My rear defroster doesn't seem to work. Where's the best place to start with this?
3. My fog lights don't always come on when I press the button (I know the headlights need to be on). when they do, the one on the passenger side seems to be out. How do I proceed?
4. Most worrying of all, when I was driving today, I was cruising at about 50MPH accelerating very gently, when suddenly, the "ABS" and "Traction Control" lights came on, and a warning message about both. I had not floored it, stopped suddenly, taken a hard turn, missed a shift, or anything. I pushed the traction control button several times. Nothing. So I pulled over, stopped the car, and looked under the hood. Nothing amiss. When I restarted the car, the warnings were gone, the car's traction control and ABS were working fine (I did a speedy take off from a light, and a hard stop at another light, just to make sure), and have continued without incident for 45 miles of driving at all speeds and in all manner of terrain, up down hills, rough, smooth, etc. What on earth was that?
1. I sometimes get the message "Serv. Tire Press. Mon. Sys." When I look at the tire pressures, the right front tire will read RFXXXX, but then after some time passes, it goes back to giving a reading that varies, but is in line with the other tires. Is this a bad sensor, or something else?
2. My rear defroster doesn't seem to work. Where's the best place to start with this?
3. My fog lights don't always come on when I press the button (I know the headlights need to be on). when they do, the one on the passenger side seems to be out. How do I proceed?
4. Most worrying of all, when I was driving today, I was cruising at about 50MPH accelerating very gently, when suddenly, the "ABS" and "Traction Control" lights came on, and a warning message about both. I had not floored it, stopped suddenly, taken a hard turn, missed a shift, or anything. I pushed the traction control button several times. Nothing. So I pulled over, stopped the car, and looked under the hood. Nothing amiss. When I restarted the car, the warnings were gone, the car's traction control and ABS were working fine (I did a speedy take off from a light, and a hard stop at another light, just to make sure), and have continued without incident for 45 miles of driving at all speeds and in all manner of terrain, up down hills, rough, smooth, etc. What on earth was that?
Last edited by Endeka; Dec 2, 2011 at 06:36 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 18,643
Likes: 14
From: Norman Oklahoma - The Only State in the Union with no Blue Counties!
Check for codes and make note of all that are indicated and then clear any codes. Have your battery tested. Do a search on this Forum for ground locations on our cars. Locate all of them, clean / tighten all of them. Sounds like alot but with a jack/pucks/stands you an do it in a day. Not all ground points require lifting the car. Many are under the hood. Drive the car a bit and check codes again. Repost results.
Electrical ground problems can have you chasing your tail and will drive you crazy! Getting your ground points in great shape will eliminate a ton of possible causes for your stated problems and are also a great DIY preventative maintenance measure.
The C5 is the world's first general production, "supercar". It is an electrically challenged Chevy, but one that can be tamed. Good luck. There is a huge amount of info here and great people that will help!
Lord knows they have helped and taught me a lot!
Electrical ground problems can have you chasing your tail and will drive you crazy! Getting your ground points in great shape will eliminate a ton of possible causes for your stated problems and are also a great DIY preventative maintenance measure.
The C5 is the world's first general production, "supercar". It is an electrically challenged Chevy, but one that can be tamed. Good luck. There is a huge amount of info here and great people that will help!
Lord knows they have helped and taught me a lot!
