Frank

Following the insurance company route after they purchase your wrecked car, the box is now theirs. And they compile a list of your last 2 accident vehicles , and now put you in a black box with all insurance agents aware of your speeding habits, we all do it, and now the box is no longer your friend. Remember GEICO using lobbyists to try and outlaw radar detectors. Why would an Insurance Co. compile statistics?

Corvette86

I'm sure that a kit to relocate this module for instant access is the quickest fix. I'm waiting for a new Z06 so this will be my first project. The last minutes of data captured by this device from the PCM's can be erased but the best solutions is to quickly remove it. You could also rig a switch to squirt the module with 12 volts DC through the ground to fry the internal components, thus bye-bye saved data.

Happy Hacking,
Frank

Norske

It wouldn't be a good move to try and relocate the airbag control module. It contains the accelerometer device and is precisely calibrated to sense the severity of a crash from its known mounting location, orientation & mechanical structure.

A 35mph head-on crash generates a deacceleration force of almost 70G -which is pretty serious stuff, and who drives 35?

On the legal side, what if one's passenger happens to get killed when some guy runs a red light in front of you and the airbag doesn't deploy? An aggressive prosecutor could go for manslaughter on the person who messed with the airbag module. Is it worth it?

The primary reason to try and disable the data logging feature of the module is to deny that information to authorities. However, those people are relentless in their efforts & ability to reconstruct the details of a crash. They don't need a data module to tell them how fast the cars were going, or who was doing what.

Drive fast, don't crash, and leave it at that!

clem zahrobsky

GM is covering its *** in case there is a case like the audi accelertion deal a few years back. GM can tell if you did have your foot pushing on the brakes when you said the car would not stop when you backed off of the throttle

wwashing

And. if you tampered with the box and kill yourself, you'd leave your heirs with a mess.

Donovan 572

I did a search and found lots of info on the blackbox. It looks like GM has been installing them since 1994. They were first installed in Camaros in 1996 and have been in Corvettes since 1997.

It appears that most of the boxes record the last 5 seconds of data before an air bag deployment or in some cases a near air bag deployment. After an air bag deployment the crash data is permanently recorded on a e-prom inside the blackbox.

Not only do the courts use the info against you, your insurance company will use it against you too. It shows all the things they would want to know including your speed and if you were wearing your seat belt (could they try to deny medical someday for not wearing your seatbelt?). If the insurance company gets ahold of your car you can bet they will read it. Most insurance companies have the software and all they have to do is plug the box into their laptop.

In the C5 the box is located...
"Behind accessory trim plate, under heater and AC control".

Here is a pic of it in a 2001 Cadillac...

Scissors

And for you.

At least in Virginia, you legally yield right-of-way by speeding. Just like someone who's turning is supposed to yield right-of-way to straight-through traffic. I'm willing to bet that many other states are the same way.

But there are always people who want to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions and try to shift blame onto someone who is not the one at fault. Disabling the black box is one way to do this. Just look at the parking lot accident thread to see an example of such a person.

WhiteC5Vette

Removing the black box, disables the air bags in the car; they are one in the same, and the controller is not black. Also, since it is part of the computer buss system in the vehicle, the vehicle may not run, since the BCM/PCM and other controllers are always talking to each other. Take one out, and they cannot communicate. (Not sure of this since I cannot pull up the C6 electrical information at this time.)
It is silver with a yellow sticker and officially called the sensing and diagnostic module (SDM).
It only records the last ten seconds of data if the air bags are deployed, or there is a near deployment of the air bags. Under normal use, turning the ignition off erases all data.
GM designed the system to win frivolous lawsuits such as those when the customer accelerates and hits something, and sues GM stating the brakes did not work. With this information, GM could prove in some cases that the driver did not apply the brakes, but opened the throttle.

bangbgC6

Good point, the definition of speed limit means that's the upper limit not the starting place. Here in LA I'm not joking if the freeway is not stop and go traffic everyone is doing at least 75-80 MPH. The most consistant offenders are the CHP, how do you enforce traffic laws if your passing everyone

clem zahrobsky

GM does not want to be in the position audi was several years ago

RoscoesC5

What would happen if you laid a 'cow magnet' next to the black

box???

On a PC you lose all info!!!!


??????????

clem zahrobsky

roscoe,you better explain what "cow magnet" is to these city slickers. those boxes are probably "rad hard"

RoscoesC5

Maybee you might be able to explain these a bit better ..

All I know is they are very magnetic and not friendly to the

computer industry ..

clem zahrobsky

to save this 2 fingered typest time just go to goggle and type in "cow magnets"

RoscoesC5

Thanks Clem!!!

Ls1Rat

How about a switch to short it out manually after an accident ?

Donovan 572

I don't think it would work on the black box because the info is stored in an e-prom and not on a disk. Someone else may be able to chime in that knows about e-proms.

Gearhead Jim

Any more ideas on using the magnet or other device to erase the data?
Probably would need to do it after the bags fired, doing it beforehand would possibly deactivate the bags.

phdviper

This is correct. A magnet will NOT affect EPROM. A direct high voltage electrical shock should perm damage the chip... So, a high powered taser connected directly to the EPROM module/chip should do the trick to toast the chip and prevent access to the stored data.

KB9GKC