mannygmt2

here, i have one to add to your collection, this one is located just under the battery (i had a battery acid leak) I guess this would make it G202?

How do i clean/remove/replace this one?

jsnick

Interesting, I had "low fuel" warning and peg'd needle on gas gage to empty on my 98 yesterday (3/4 full). Shut off car and check gas cap and then it went away when restarted. Nice point on checking grounds on car, I'll check mine out...

Thanks, Jim

Bill Curlee

Here are a few more valuable bits of information that may help you solve your persistent electrical issues.

While trying to resolve my EBTCM failure, I found out that not only can the ground connections cause issues, the friggen harness female connection can too!

The female pins in many of GM's C5 wiring harness can succumb to vibration and or repeated connecting/disconnecting the plug. Here is a PRIME example of how a female pin can fail!

The connector shown is a passengers front EBTCM wiring harness female side connector. The one on the right is the old connector. The one on the left is a new connector. Examine the "LEFT" pin on the right hand connector. It is BAD!!



If you insert a MALE pin into a good female pin, there should be a tight mechanical grip. When the male pin is inserted into the bad female pin, it will virtually fall out on it's own.

This test is commonly referred to as a "PIN PULL TEST" and it should be conducted any time that you have intermittent problems or problems that appear after you hit a bump or jar the car!

Here is a picture of my bad EBTCM female plug.







I obtained a male pin from a defective emergency flasher switch that I had hanging around. GM sells individual pins. You should be able to get some the exact same size as the ones in the connectors that you need to test.

If you want to protect plugs and connections from moisture, here is a fantastic product. CorrosionX:



Bill Curlee

Twil1ght

I've been driving around with the C1214 and having to reset the Active Handling/TCS/ABS warning on the DTC and deal with the lights being lit. I've been toying with the idea of having the whole system removed and the warning programmed away. After reading this I was cleaning the grounds - no luck - but when I pulled this one the ABS warning went away and only the TCS/Active Handling warnings remained and the Active handling reported No Comm. when checking for the C1214 error. What are these two grounds here along with the battery ground strap??

lumpsdady

Hey Bill, this is very informative I am restling with some of these issues. After finding out that the battery that was in my 98 had leaked I replaced it with an optima red top. After driving today I got another P1125a,P1285c, P1286 wich is related to accelerator position sensor, I am curious if you or any one else has had to replace the acc. pedal pos. sensor?

Bill Curlee

If your battery leaked, you really need to remove the battery, the battery tray and remove the access panel in the passengers front wheel well. Your going to fine that there is a LOT of corrosion damage that your going to need to repair before you start replacing stuff!! You could have some seriously corroded plugs and connectors.

Here is an example of what battery acid can do to a connector:



Things that can be effected by a leaky battery are:
PCM, TAC Module, Vacuum lines for the HVAC system, electrical plugs and connectors and you could have some frame damage (RUST).



TAC Module is the little black plastic box:



I recommend pullings all the connectors apart one at a time in that area and making sure that they are not corroded or damaged. Your having Throttle Actuator Control problems (TAC). The TAC module is directly under the battery as is the PCM!! Before you replace anything eliminate any possibly of the problems being caused by corrosion.

There is also a ground splice pack SP in the fender well area near the back.





If you had an acid leak,,, you could be instore for a lot of clean up work!

BC

Bill C

mannygmt2

lumpsdady, my battery had leaked too, giving me a problem with the air system, p1416.. there is a vacume line within the wiring harness right under the battery, the rubber was melted...

I don't have the 1286 code, but I have 1287, steer position sensor. The splice pack next to the battery (as seen in the picture from my previous post was really badly corroded. I just finished cleaning it, i dripped some baking soda solution in the slice pack, then used some electrical spray cleaner. Here are the pics.

this is the cleaned version, notice the plastic around has been chewed up by the battery acid. I have no idea if you can remove the little black plastic box that holds the wires inside, and replace it. My car is still in storage, so i don't know if this will cure the problem yet.




here i put it back together.

Bill Curlee

Wow!! Great cleaning job!! Thats 100% better. It should work fine. The connector although slightly deteriorated from the acid, should work fine. I recommend inserting and removing the plug into the female connector 5-6 times to make sure that there making good connections.

Is that the Splice pack?? Please show a picture of the plug connected back together. If it is the splice pack, reassemble the ground buss back on the plug and you can use an OHM Meter and see if there is good connection on each wire to ground. Just insert one lead from the meter on one of the wire terminals on the back of the plug and the other one on the battery negative terminal. Do that for each wire and each one should read to ground!!
You should only see an ohm or less. One of the wires coming out of each Splice Pack goes directly to chassis ground. You can find that wire by measuring each pin on the plug with the buss bar removed. The terminal that reads zero ohms is the one that goes to chassis ground.

BC

mannygmt2

Sorry, i am a bit confused with all this terminology, splice pack, chasis ground, buss bar...

In the first picture, i show the splice with out the male plug, and in the 4th picture, i have the male plug inserted, is this what you mean by it being connected back together? The only thing that is missing is the white plastic cap, as shown from your last post.

Is the "buss bar" the male plug part? Sorry for all the questions. I went to borrow a OHM meter, i am ready for action!

Bill Curlee

Yep,, that metal thing is the buss bar!! With that in place, everything should read to ground. With it out, the wire that is ground should be the only one that reads zero!

BC

TVROguy

Bill ... GREAT post. I have gotten "Service ABS" and "Service Traction Control" when I hit bumps in the road with my '99. I found it was the wires going into the anchor connectors in the farme at the left front wheelwell. The connectors that mate the harness to the left wheel sensor cable. The sheething is pulled back about 3/4" on the harness and on the wheel sensor cables, exposing the wires into the connector body and allowing them the make/break connection. I have anchored them a little better, but my question is: should the sheathing be pulled/shrunk back that far from the connector? Should I try to stretch the shething back down and tiewrap, or tape, to hold the sheathing to the connector body.

Thanks for the post, I'm going to go clean all of mine now, even though I haven't had the other codes!

Mike

Bill Curlee

Mike

That is not the way it should be. If you could take a good detailed picture of the harness where it is split, I may be able to recommend a fix that might work. I just cant visualize the problem and come up with a good solution.

Bill

mannygmt2

Ok, so I went to the car, and with my OHM meter, i got the resistances of each circuit. I also found the ground, and by putting the male plug back in, i checked everything, and all the wires went to ground! Thank you very much for the help and tech advice.

cadillac jack

This is Cadillac Jack, brand new to the forum. I have a cd with all of the wiring diagrams, including grounds & splice packs. This is wiring only, complete for a 99 model. Email: qcdaddy@msn.com. If you want one, I'll burn it & send to you. Same goes for anybody else out there.

cadillac jack

I'm retroing a 2000 telescopic column into my 99. The wiring harness supposedly plugs into the drivers seat control module, under seat. Mine says "telescopic column N/A". Chevy dealer is no help. Anybody out there know which module I need?

Vetterable

Great Info.
I have a 98 (38k) & believe I am having the same fuel level sender issue. I just purchased the car & anticipated that I might see some minor electrical issues - simply due to age & complexity of the system. Your post has been a great help. Here is what I am seeing - intermittently:
1. The Service Vehicle Soon message appears randomly.
2. I have noticed the Cruise control works - then on the same trip it stops working for no apparent reason - then starts working again.
3. The fuel guage will go to empty & Fuel Sensor message appears - at random. Then the guage starts working again.
A dealer technician hooked up his TECH II diag, - he said the fuel guage checked good & there may be an issue with the sending unit or the "BCM" (I think he said BCM) inferring a communication issue. Anyway, the tech was doing this as a favor (as the service dept was closed - but he happend to be at the dealership washing his car on Saturday when I stopped by) so I did not press him on it.

There have been no issues with the actual performance (engine, etc.) of the car. I will check the connectors as u recommended & let u know what happens with the Fuel Sensor issue. Thanks Again.

Bill Curlee

I too had a 98 and I have the shop manual for this car. Do your self a great favor and clean EVERY ground!! That will do THREE things for you.

1- It will get you familiar with the car.

2- It may clear up a lot of your weird electrical problems. Remember,, Ground cleaning is FREE!!!!!!!

3- If you clean the ground to the circuit with the problem, that eliminates that as a problem and you can check other things working your way down to the module. Most of the time, it a bad ground or a corroded connection.

If you ever need 98 specific electrical or mechanical info, just let me know.

Bill C

Bill Curlee

Woops,, forgot to talk about the fuel guage problem. Clean chassis ground G-401 which is in the drivers side rear wheel well on the side of the frame. That is the first thing to do. Next, run a couple of bottles of Chevron Techron Fuel System cleaner (one 16 oz bottle in each tank) througn the fuel system. The most common cause of the problem that you are having is a dirty fuel level sensor. It may take two, three or four treatments but,,, thats a LOT less expensive than sensor replacement!!!

Here is a picture of G-401:



Yours will be a stud. Mine broke off during removal.

Bill

LotusFan

Bill, what a great thread! I got no joy from my request for help in a thread I started, but I bet this is my thing.

Started out in the BCM, wouldn't unlock the doors, just lit the lights.
Then, a warning I have not seen posted, "Active Handling Warming Up".

I think I have been operating on reduced engine power since I bought the car a few months ago.

Can't wait to get out there and clean those connections, especially G101 and G104!

irish56

What remarkable timing! I logged in this morning to ask if anyone else was having these problems and there was this posting with all my answers ....... except 1.

My questions is: is there any of 13 connectors that is more suspect than others or do I have to go through all 13? Understand I am not all that mechanical so searching for and fixing all 13 would test my very limited abilities. If there are 1 or 2 that are more susceptible I may be able to try fixing it myself.

I am having pretty much the same set of problems with one I didn't see, my heads up display is not showing fuel/temp/oil pressure.

Thanks for any help .... you guys are spectacular