Dukenukemx

I did this repair a month ago based on this thread by replacing the relay. It worked fine as I drove it around flooring it on purpose to get the message "traction control engaged".

The other day it rained for the first time in nearly a month here and once I got on the highway I broke traction by accident and now I permanently have the C1214 code. It won't clear or go away when I unplug the battery. I tore it back apart to inspect my work. Is it possible the new relay from Digikey went bad and got stuck? Anyway to test this?

Vanover

Looks like a lot of corrosion,you might need to send it out for repair.ABSfixer.com

Dukenukemx

That maybe my next step but what corrosion? And anyway to test if this module is bad?

lionelhutz

I'm not trying to offend, but your solder joints are terrible. Those ***** on the relay legs means you didn't get the circuit board hot enough. So, clean off that solder and try again. This time, hold the iron tip to one side touching both the board and relay leg and then touch the solder to the other side waiting until it flows down into the hole in the board. The joints should make a nice "hill" around the relay legs like the other joints on the board look.

Vanover

Maybe it's a glare in the pic.looks a little like corr.

Dukenukemx

That's what I was thinking. I just cleaned off the solder that was on there and used better quality flux to clean it off better. Tell me what you think. Don't worry about telling me I'm bad and should feel bad. I'll test the board out tomorrow. Any other ideas?

lionelhutz

It's hard to tell in that picture but I think it's better. I'm not positive about the 2 joints on that large circuit board trace though. It takes a fair bit of heat to get a large area like that hot enough to solder correctly.

Clean that brown flux residue crap off the board though before installing it.

Dukenukemx

I cleaned the PCB off and quickly hooked up the ebcm and plugged back in the battery only to get the same message about the abs and traction control system. So I'm stuck yet again.

I did a quick test and the red circles are shorted for the relay. That makes sense since they're connected on the pcb. ABSFIXER.COM is a last resort. But is it ebcm or BCM?

What I'm going to do right now is check the fuses, cause that's something I haven't done yet. Remove BCM to see if anything is corroded or just wrong looking. Then if nothing is found I'll just order another relay. After all the 1214 code is directly related to the relay, so the digikey relay I installed could just have gone badly, which doesn't say much for the quality of that relay. At that point if nothing works I'll be calling the people at absfixer.

Vanover

I thank we know we're the prob.is it's the EBMC.i called abs fixers today for my pickup it's $166.33 for the repair.i thank your chasing something that's not there.keep us posted with what you find.

Dukenukemx

I removed the relay and gave it a test. It is after all a 12V relay. I hooked it up to a car battery and listened for clicks. The pins I circled in red activate the relay, as I can hear it click. The green circles are always closed and shorted. The blue circle is dead and most likely used for structure integrity to hold the relay better to the board.

The green circled pins are always closed and that tells me the relay is shorted closed. But I don't have a diagram of the relay and how it is suppose to work so if someone could look at this and confirm it for me that would be great. On the PCB it shows the blue circled pin doesn't seem to go anywhere so I assume that it's just there to help hold the relay in place. There's no traces going anywhere.

Bill Curlee

Here is a picture of a PRISTEEN unmolested EBTCM / EBCM (what ever one that you would like to call it) circuit board. It came out of a well sealed EBTCM/BPMV Compare it to yours.

I, (like a few other people) see some CORROSION or eroded PCB areas. Did you find any MOISTURE in the module when you opened it back up???


That module MUST be completely sealed on to the Brake Pressure Modulator Valve (BPMV) or water can get in. If water or moisture gets in, it will destroy the module!

Vanover

I'm glad somebody else saw it,I was going to have my eyes checked.JK I really thank it needs to be repaired/replaced.

Dukenukemx

I did a quick check of the relay and it started working again. Used a 9v battery this time instead of a car battery. Clicks on and the green circle pins work just fine. I won't be using this relay again, cause reasons, so I'll just get Digikey on the phone and see if they can replace this for free and overnight it.

Pretty clear that the new relay was stuck on and that's why I was getting C1214 before the car was even started. There is no corrosion. I did a bad job at soldering the first time and a put a little too much black silicon to seal it, but that wasn't the problem. Bad relay is bad.

Vanover

I hope that is it.if it is I'm sorry for the bad info.

Dukenukemx

That's alright, I got off the phone with digikey and they're overnighting me a free replacement with free shipping. Gotta get more gasket silicon sealer and see what happens tomorrow. I'll post more pics. I'm sure someone else in the future might find this thread useful if they're trying to figure out their C1214 code.

lionelhutz

Good work troubleshooting. You are correct, the contacts should have switched so they were welded. Here's hoping the new relay works better for you.

Dukenukemx

Well, I'm having a bad day. I got the new relay from Digikey and installed it. But because of removing the relay too many times or just being a Gorilla on my part, the metal sleeves for two holes was pulled out making me unable to solder the relay into the board. Though I did have a solution which was soldering a wire from the trace to the relay pin, thus fixing the problem. Though I did leave that pin in the top right un-soldered cause it didn't do anything.

I put the whole thing together and put it in the car and no more C1214, at least it didn't come up before driving the car. I went down the road to test it out and gave it lots of gas and the ABS light came back with the C1214 code. And like last time it wouldn't clear.

So I assumed the relay was fused closed again and began wondering why. So I checked my battery and it was giving out 15.50V. Started it and I was getting over 18V. I think I know why the relay was fused shut as well as other recent electrical problems I was having. Alternator is overcharging like crazy and I need a new one.

As you can see from the photos the relay wasn't fused shut but the wire I ran to the pin must have melted off from the power surge. I quickly solder it back and plugged in the battery and it shows the C1214 code isn't coming back, thought I did get P1637/P1638 but I think that's because I physically removed the alternator. I'm hoping when I get the replacement alternator that when I try to activate the traction control system that it didn't cause more damage again. Gonna problem avoid using the Red RTV silicon until I fully test the repair. Don't like getting that stuff all over my hands.

Bill Curlee

Those electrolytic capacitors also look COOKED! Maybe it your camera but they looked swollen and out of shape....

Brother,,, looks like that EBTCM is TOAST!

The GM Alternator needs a FEED BACK voltage from the battery/load center to know what it needs to do.....

Its the small "FUSED" RED that comes from the starter solenoid. Use a meter and see if you are reading FULL Battery voltage on that wire all the time.

Pop the plug of the alternator and read it at the connector.

If it not reading battery voltage or full voltage,,, that could be your issue on the overcharge voltage.


Bill

Dukenukemx

I fixed the EBCM again and plugged it in with only 1 screw holding it in and drove it. I gave it too much gas and the ABS and traction control system seem to be working fine. I tried this a few times to confirm this.

The battery and alternator were tested again this morning and 12V+ on the battery and the alternator was giving out 14.6V. So far everything is working fine but I'm still going to replace the alternator. Waiting on RockAuto for the order. I guess the alternator is intermediately going to 18V. It is the original alternator and it looks like it's been through hell.

Dukenukemx

Nah, it's all the glue used to seal the EBCM. The white glue is the original from manufacturer and the black and red are my glue that I had to clean off. They flood the electronics inside with the stuff. Prying open the unit is the hardest part of repairing these things.