I've been having a flood of issues over the past several months. At first I thought they were all individual issues that weren't related, but at this point I'm starting to wonder if they are all somehow related to some kind of weird electrical issue.

One day I noticed in a vehicle's reflection in front of me that my driver side fog light was burnt out. Not a big deal, I just turned them off (it's not like they do much anyway).

A week or two later, my driver's side low beam went out. Obviously that's a bigger deal. I went ahead and got all new bulbs; low beams, high beams, & fog lights. I just went with standard Sylvania SilverStar Ultras. Less than a week later, the same driver's side fog light bulb burned out again. I still haven't replaced it yet, but it was annoying to say the least.

Then the bigger issues started. A few months ago with both of my power windows stopping rolling down at the exact same time. This was extremely weird to me because I believe they each have their own relay and control module, and obviously their own motor, so it seems that the chances of both going out at the exact same time should be slim. I checked all of the fuses and they were fine, but still haven't gotten around to taking it in to get it checked out. I pulled the DIC codes, but none of them seemed relevant:

• A6-SCM B2860 H
• B0-RFA U1096 H
• B0-RFA U1064 H
• B0RFA U1016 H

The same day that I was checking the fuses for the windows, I started getting a Steering Column error in the DIC.

A couple weeks later I noticed that my oil pressure gauge immediately upon starting the car goes to max and stays there all the time while it's running.

I later started getting notifications that my washer fluid was low. Upon topping it off, the notification still popped up for a week or two. Then suddenly it stopped. But yesterday it started going off again.

Today I had the scariest one yet. While driving to work I got the ABS light & Trac Control light both come on at the same time with the DIC error "SERVICE TRACTION SYS" and I believe "SERVICE ABS SYS" (the pic that I snapped only caught the first one). At the next red light I stopped at, I killed the car. When I started it back up the lights were out, and they didn't come back on the rest of the drive to work. I pulled the DIC codes when I got to work. The first is obviously related to it, but I haven't done a lot of research on it as I'm typing this while I'm on my lunch break.

• 28-TCS C1225 H
• B0-RFA U1096 H
• B0-RFA U1064 H
• B0RFA U1016 H

I don't know how or why these issues would/could be related, but if any of you guys have any ideas, I'm all ears.

 

• U1016 Loss of Communication with PCM
• U1064 Loss of Communication with BCM
• U1096 Loss of Communication with IPC

These codes, plus all other things going on at the same time, sound like a corrupted Serial Data Bus.

This is a well known problem and you can read more here. It is usually caused by bad contacts in a connector within the doors' rubber accordion that could corrupt the Serial Data Bus, impacting the normal data flow.

The Serial Data Bus goes through each rubber accordion to the corresponding door control module. The female pins of the connector on that wire harness get deformed (see picture below), causing bad contacts and loss of communication/corruption in the Serial Data Bus and affecting all modules linked by it.



Check the connectors for deformed pins. If bad pins are found you would need to repair the connector (disconnect the battery first), fixing the female pins so they have a positive grip, or replace it. If you want to replace the connector take a look at this post for some ideas.


NOTE: Did you test the "burned out" bulbs to see if they were actually burned out and the problem wasn't the result of a bad contact/socket?

 

Thanks for the awesome info GCG. That all sounds pretty straight forward, so I hope that's all that's wrong with it. I'll try to check it out this afternoon or tomorrow.

And as far as the bulbs are concerned, I checked both of the initial burn outs and they were for sure burnt out. When I replaced the fog lights, I used the 885 50 watt bulbs instead of the 899s, and when the driver one burnt out the second time the whole inside of the glass bulb was blackened. Not sure what caused that, but I bought another 885 bulb but just haven't gotten around to putting it in yet.

 

Let us know how it goes. Just to make sure: check the connector inside the rubber accordion on both doors.

Regarding the short life of the fog light bulb replacement, you bumped it up to 50W so there is more heat now. Did you clean the new bulb before installing it and use gloves to do that? Skin oils from the fingerprints can cause the bulb glass to unevenly heat and crack, blowing the filament.

Have you considered upgrading the fog lights with LEDs? The BeamTech and NightEye in the 880 Series provide much more light than the halogens, while remaining way cooler. Click here for more details.

 

I made sure that I wore gloves when changing all of them. I wiped each one of them with a clean microfiber cloth after taking them out of the pack. The only thing I can think is that maybe when I was putting it in through the slot that it made contact with something and got some grime on it. I'm gonna try and be extra careful when I put the new one in and see if that works.

I actually would have loved to replace all of the bulbs with LEDs, but I got conflicting opinions on how bad LEDs scatter in the factory headlight housings, so I decided to stick with halogen for the headlights. I didn't want the fog lights to be mismatched, so I stuck with the halogens for them too. I'll take a look at your recommended ones and may go ahead and switch to them anyway since even the 885s are pretty much pointless with how little light they put out.

 

I have the BeamTechs in my fog lights and the difference is nothing short of dramatic. They can also improve a lot with a little adjustment.

 

Awesome. For that price I think it's worth trying out. Did you stick with halogens for your headlights, or did you go with LEDs for those too?

 

So I have my accordions open, but don't see the connectors. Which way should I be pulling the wires? From the car, or from the door?

Found it.

 

So the good news is that my Steering Column error went away.

The bad news is that's the only thing that was fixed.

All of the ground connectors looked good (one had a little gunk in the box, but the pins and connectors looked fine).
One pin in one of the door connections was just a little off, but straightened it out and reconnected everything.

Reconnected the battery, and the Steering Column error went away, but the windows still don't work, the oil pressure gauge is still maxed out, the washer low warning hasn't come one yet, but it's sporadic anyway. It looks like I'm gonna have to get someone to look at it and hope it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.

Thanks for the info and the help.

 

The maxed out oil pressure reading is most likely due to a failed oil pressure sender unit. A lot of information in search on replacing it. I would relocate it also. I would NOT bore a hole in the cowl to get to it.

From your first post-

"Today I had the scariest one yet. While driving to work I got the ABS light & Trac Control light both come on at the same time with the DIC error "SERVICE TRACTION SYS" and I believe "SERVICE ABS SYS" (the pic that I snapped only caught the first one). At the next red light I stopped at, I killed the car. When I started it back up the lights were out, and they didn't come back on the rest of the drive to work. I pulled the DIC codes when I got to work. The first is obviously related to it, but I haven't done a lot of research on it as I'm typing this while I'm on my lunch break.

• 28-TCS C1225 H
• B0-RFA U1096 H
• B0-RFA U1064 H
• B0RFA U1016 H"

A failing ignition switch can cause an incredible number of DIC warnings and other symptoms including all those quoted above. It is difficult to diagnose, but a clue is that a shut down, key off and then a restart produces a bunch of new symptoms and may include previous symptoms, OR all symptoms disappear for that run cycle. The ignition switch controls power to almost everything.

The contacts in the ignition switch burn over time and can cause erratic and intermittent symptoms until failure is to the point that it is obvious the switch is bad.

 

It doesn't sound like the ignition switch pertains to me then. My symptoms are all the same, and restarting doesn't clear any of them up or change them. If I do start getting random issues, I'll know what to look for now.

 

Sounds just like what mine's doing/has been doing. I'm about to dump some serious mod $$$ into w/ new clutch & A&A blower so decided its time to finally tackle this issue once & for all. I have already either myself or by a competant vette shop had all accessible ground points gone through cleaned & resoldered etc. Utters are all clear of debris - water penetrating the EBCM or BCM etc. - not an issue.

Couple relays & fuses I replaced through troubleshooting also gave me a few electrical gremlins - but they've all been addressed as well (horn went dead causing lights not to work properly too - was a relay).

Last summer after having all this done & recently installing radioflyer LED tails I had the SAME thing pop up - "service traction system, reduced engine power, gauges wonky, radio working then doesn't work" etc. etc. Xmas lights galore - I'm like WTF is it now!!!!! I would LOVE the car to death except the random frustrating electrical gremlins. Well I calmed down & thought a little about it.....was in late July bone dry & hot - hadn't gotten any car wash lately, couldn't have been water issue. What I did realize thanks yo my wife who was with me @ the time - the issues popped up almost simultaneously as I hit a decent pothole @ speed - not like damaging a tie rod pothole, but like move everything around in the trunk type lol - well that had me start looking into the door connectors after scouring this forum.

Sure enough, just pushing on the accordian tube or opening the door a certain amount would make everything go back to normal & the lighting on the door/window switches would come off & on depending on how much I manipulated the door. Didn't have time to mess w/ it then & late fall I did attempt to bend some of the female pins which may or may not have been a temp fix - I didn't use a proper tool or pick, just a small nail. I didn't want to go too crazy & damage it.

So 100000% certain its the culprit for MY vette's problems - ,most likely yours too by the sound of it. This time around I'm just having a shop swap out the connectors on both doors for the Deutsch 6 pin style mentioned in this thread. I bought off amazon, got one w/ & w/o pigtails. They're rated @ 20 gauge I'm sure plenty beefy for the door control module functions.

Lastly - one other thing to note, I believe on both the passenger & drive side doors @ those 6 pin connectors 1 wire tends to go "bare" right where it enters the male or female end of the plug. In SOME instances just wrapping that small piece of exposed wire w/ electrical tape or using liquid tape or whatever its called for electrical waterproofing may do the trick. I'm going to try this myself, but even if it fixes the issues I'm still going to replace those connectors w/ the upgraded ones & be done w/ it once & for all.

Good luck!! Let us know how it turns out.

I'll also add - my car drives completely fine when this electrical stuff starts going nuts - no stalling, not loss of power, no alternator/accessory issues.....not sure that wold be the case w/ the ignition, but who knows.

I'm banking on it being the same as me w/ the door module connector.