if you read some of my other posts, I am a new C5 owner...just picked it up last thursday. its a 99 with 70k, removable roof coupe, 6 speed with every option I think. I just got a few warning messages on my car and they have me kinda worried. I turned out on to a 45mph road and gave it full throttle through 1st gear, then pulled in second and floored it until about 50mph. sometime during the 2nd gear run warning lights came on all over the instrument cluster (traction control light, and abs light) and the LCD panel displayed warnings saying service ABS system and service traction control system. I was quite concerned about this. the messages stayed there until I turned the car off and then they were gone. later I went back to the exact same place and tried it again. exact same result. beeping, warning lights and messages. I was getting even more worried that this car which I was so happy to get might have something serious wrong with it. it is a "Certified" pre-owned vehicle, they have a 110 point inspection on it and everything, and traction control was on the list...anyway. I decided to see if I could learn anything more about this, so later I Went to an empty parking lot. took it up to about 20mph and slammed on the brakes. the ABS definitely worked properly I want around again and dropped the clutch at 4000RPMs, the tires chirped and I got a message saying that traction control had activated. no errors or warnings though, it appeared to be fine. then just to make sure it was working, I turned traction control off and did it again. definintely a difference, I left a big cloud of smoke behind even with a 2 second burn. then I went down to another road, this one a 55mph, from about 10mph in 1st gear I floored it, then shifted to second and gave it full throttle again. I noticed that the traction control activated message did appear, but this time no warnings, lights, or beeping at all. I know the systems work from the individual tests. the last time I had no problems, but I got those rather scary warning messages twice by doing the same thing. I have a 7 day return policy on this car. it would break my heart to have to give it back, but it has a number of what I considered to be minor quirks or problems (telescoping wheel doesn't work, climate control LCD is dim, belt is squeaking etc) all things I felt I could fix myself very cheaply considering thta I got it for a few grand under the market value. But of course if this car has some serious problems with it I might need to seriously consider utilizing that 7 day return policy and going on the hunt for a new one. please let me know if anyone knows anything about this or anything I should do. I disconected the battery just to clear the computer just in case. sometimes it can help with strange codes poping up in cars. but I could really use some advice if anyone has any.

thanks!

 

From my CF archives,

"This is a very common problem that has 3 or 4 different answers ranging in price from free all the way upto 2000 dollars.

Bill Curlee has many good posts on this problem.

1. the first potential problem is a bad male/female connection between the main wiring harness and the wheel speed sensor.

2. the next one up is a bad sensor/hub

3. third is a bad main wiring harness

4. last and most expensive is a bad ebcm.

Any and all of these have been known to set ABS/TC codes...

you really need to know what the codes are to diagnose this better...this can be done by holding down the #4 button and hitting the #1 button 3 times within 10 sec while holding #4. it should then scroll through the codes."

Good luck.

Dave

 

okay, well that's so much for that information. I am very concerned about this problem. what is the likelyhood that this indicates there is a problem which may get worse? is this likely to progress into complete TC or ABS failure? this 99 is a "certified" used car. The dealership made almost no money on it because they paid very close to what I did for it as a trade, so they aren't very willing to help me fix things. however if I bought a certified pre-owned and its got serious problems with its traction control and anti-lock brakes...these are two of the most important safety devices on the car. I really think they should fix it, even if they loose money on the sale! I mean if they sold a car and the owner discovers the next day that the airbags are disabled or malfunctioning for some reason, you would think the dealer would have to do something about that. I mean it was supposed to get a 110 point inspection, and abs and traction control are on the list of points.

is there anything else I can do to try to diagnose this problem? I suppose I could go out and try to get it to fail again and write down the DTC's. would that be the next step? for the next couple of days I have some leverage with the dealer, they have a 7 day return policy, I could tell them that I just can't keep this car with these problems and tell them they have to fix it...

 

I would make a list of any codes and ask the dealership to find out why the codes are being thrown. Believe me, you could be spending thousands of dollars if any of the computer pc boards is bad. The part itself may be $700, but with installation, $1500-$2000 is not uncommon. If the dealership will not fix the problems, then get your money back.

Dave

 

I would just say, don't let the dealer off that easily. Keep after them. The sale of the vehicle was one thing, that was negotiiated, and I'm sure you didn't hold a gun to their heads to get it.
The SAFETY of it, is also a concern, not only for you but for them also. They did the GM certification, they should stand behind it. Plain and simple.
Whether they made money on the sale or not, that has nothing to do with these problems.
Unless they made this sale giving you such a great deal, at their cost, knowing of the problems you were going to encounter.
IMO, still no excuse.

 

I received another warning message today which seemed out of place and may shed some light on the earlier warnings I received. while stopped at a light I got a low tire pressure warning on the Front Left tire. I discovered that the reset button can acknowledge the warning messages and it went directly to the front tire pressure display. it read 18psi on the left and 30 on the right. I rolled the car forwards slowly as traffic was moving and within several seconds it changed to 30L 30R. looks like this was also a false warning, but this time specific to a wheel. what are the chances that I'm looking at a malfunctioning connector or wheel speed sensor on the front left wheel as the culprit for the TC ABS and Pressure warnings?

 

It just seems to me that you have way too many things going on here, and looks like it is all generating from the same area.
Will the dealer work with you at all on this? I would keep taking it back and insist that this is troubleshooted, and repaired. Atleast you will know what is wrong, and one way or the other how much this is going to cost.

 

I agree, and I haven't even posted all of the problems I've observed with the car. almost all of them are electrical. It scares me very much. its a 99 with 70k on it, I know its not going to be perfect, but I wasn't expecting all of this. I bought it knowing full well that it had a few problems, they were problems I felt I could fix pretty easily. Some I've already taken care of. but in the first few days I've found numerous other problems with various electronic systems. The dealer seems like they will work with me on some of it at least. actually I need to call them shortly, they were supposed to call me today after they had a chance to try to decide what to do after I gave them a list of everything that's wrong with the car. I'm really surprised to see so many things having gotten through the 110 point GM certified inspection. in their defense though, many of these things could only be discovered by driving the car around for a while and trying things out, which would have been out of the scope of the inspection. But I certainly wasn't prepared for all this. I hope they will come through for me.

 

Well I talked to the dealer and they are going to repair this problem at no cost to me. we also have an arrangement to take care of one of the other problems by splitting the cost. there are a few other problems with this car which I am not too happy about. but I think I can fix them myself before too long. I may need some help from people here when I get into them. I wish I could figure out what the cause of my leak is...that is probably the next most critical problem

 

Out of Curiosity, did you ever do a Carfax on the car? Do you know any of the car's history?