Updating the Wheels & Tires, 2003 Chevrolet with 2014 Silverado LTZ Take Offs

It was time for me to replace worn out tires on my 2003 Chevrolet Silverado and I wanted to also update the look with new wheels. I wanted to stick with factory wheels, just newer. I located a company, Alan’s Wheels  near Greenville, SC that handles a lot of late model take-offs on many makes and models.  Their shop is only open during the week so I could not justify the expense of leaving my shop and riding up there on a six hour round trip.

I did have concerns about having the wheels shipped to me because I was afraid that they might be damaged in transit. After speaking with Alan about how they protected the rims before shipping, I felt much better about it. I ordered the wheels early in the day and they were shipped out the same day. They were at my shop by noon the next day. Keep in mind that we are in the same state and only three hours apart.

Below is a picture of how the wheels and tires arrived at my shop.

I was concerned about the damage done to the packaging on this particular wheel and tire.

The point of concern was actually on the tire sidewall area and there was no issue with the finish on the rim itself. The sidewall of the tire sticks out beyond the edge of the rim so the tire itself acts as a protector. Alan’s Wheels does a good job of supplementing this by covering the face of the wheel with plastic, cardboard and then more plastic.

My truck with the original sixteen inch wheels and nearly worn out set of tires. Those tires are the second set for the truck. The tires are 255/70/R16’s.

You can see the wheels still look pretty good.

The original rims have a center cap that is held on with plastic trim nuts. I always take them loose by hand or with a 1/4″ cordless driver.

The new 2014 factory Chevrolet Silverado LTZ wheels with Goodyear Wrangler SR-A  OWL tires.

Pretty big difference in the look of the truck.

I have had a suspicion that the shocks on my truck needed to be replaced but the larger wheels and tires made that very clear. The next day I put on a new set of shocks.

I used a tire size calculator to insure that the outside diameter of the new wheel and tire fit within the specs that GM uses for tire size calibrations within the ABS system.

The torque specifications for both sets of wheels and the original vehicles were the same,  140 ft lbs.

2005 Mazda Tribute, Fuse #3 Blows, No Tail Lights

This 2005 Mazda Tribute came in with the complaint that the tail lights would not work.This same general information would apply to the Ford Escape and the Mercury Mariner of the same era.  A quick check revealed that fuse #3 in the interior fuse box was blown.

One of the more common places for a short to occur is at this connector inside the tailgate assembly. It is on the passenger side. There are four phillips headed screws that have to be removed from the lower edge of the inside cover then the panel unsnaps and comes off.

There are four phillips headed screws that have to be removed from the lower edge of the inside cover then the panel unsnaps and comes off.

It is also common for the wires to break and short out in the pass through harness for the tailgate.

Pulling the headliner down reveals another in line harness connector. Disconnecting this harness eliminates a short from that harness connector and throughout the entire tailgate. Guess what? This vehicle still had a short present.

I had to disassemble a good bit of the interior to find the actual short. It turned out to be above the passenger rear wheel well. Rust had gotten to it creating a sharp edge.

There is a speaker assembly that mounts above the harness so that kept the harness pressed down against the sharp metal edge that eventually cut through the harness.

My advice to anyone looking for a short on fuse number 3 is to start with a quick inspection of the passenger rear wheel well and see if there is rust damage. If so pull the metal towards the tire a little and see if the short goes away. If it does you can avoid the many hours it took to find the short on this vehicle.

1998 Cadillac Deville, Passenger Side Vents Hot with A/C On

This 1998 Cadillac Deville came in with the complaint that with the a/c on there was heat coming out of the passenger side vents. Codes B1340 and B1341 were present in the HVAC system. Both codes are for faults with the air mix door actuators. The B1340 is for air mix door #1 (driver’s side) and B1341 is for the air mix door #2 (passenger’s side).

The passenger side air mix door actuator is located behind the glove box. There are four screws around the face of the glove box opening that have to be removed. A torx bit is needed to remove these screws.

There are two on the bottom surface of the glove box. I had to use a ratcheting wrench with the appropriate bit to remove the two screws on the bottom.

Once all six screws are removed the glove box insert will pull free of the dash. There may be several wiring connectors that have to be disconnected on the left side of the box. Sometimes there will be foam stuck to the right side of the box that may make it difficult to pull from the dash.

With the glove box fully removed I could see the link arm (horizontal rod) and the actuator. The rod position in the picture below is for full cold.

The rod position in the next picture is for the full hot position. It was easy enough to diagnose the actuator as being the actual problem because the actuator would try to move when commanded but I could visibly see and hear the gear teeth stripped out as the mechanism jumped and chattered. A slight helping hand in the correct direction and the actuator would move correctly.

The harness connector for the actuator is located at the edge of the actuator closest to to firewall. There is a thumb latch that has to be depressed and then the connector will lift straight up and out.

There are two screws that hold the actuator to the HVAC case. They both have 5.5 mm heads. The next picture shows the location of the left screw as indicated by the socket that I placed on it.

The screw on the right side of the actuator.

The threaded rod will lift out of the white clip with just a little bit of help.  Sometime the clip may be a different color. Pay attention to the position of the rod in the clip.

Once the rod is removed from the clip it can be squeezed together  and pulled out of the actuator arm.

The new actuator is on the left and the old one is on the right. The number on the old one is 16180230. The new one has the same number computer-etched into the plastic along with “Made in China”. Both are ACDelco parts. I know that there are both good and bad parts made in China but ACDelco partners with quality manufacturers and has the parts made to their specifications. I trust this process a lot more than just buying brand X, manufactured to unknown specifications.

The genuine ACDelco part can be purchased here 16180230 . You may want to buy two though because the driver’s side will be failing soon.

To access the driver’s side actuator, remove the three 7 mm headed screws that hold the hush panel in place under the passenger side of the dash

With the hush panel removed the driver’s side actuator can be changed in the same manner as the passenger side.

To adjust the door link rods GM states to adjust the temperature to full hot. Once the actuator stops moving move the rod to the position that allows full heat to come from the vents for the appropriate side. Then snap the link rod into the plastic clip. Quite frankly, if I am relatively sure that no one has adjusted the link before I will just put it back into the same position I found it in. After all it worked fine for sixteen years.

2006 Suzuki Aerio, Stoplights Do Not Work

This 2006 Suzuki Aerio came in with the complaint that the two lower stoplights did not work. The center high mounted stoplight worked fine. I Installed my pedal holding tool and went to the rear to inspect.

The center high mounted stoplight worked and the two lower ones did not. Just as the customer described. I removed the two 10mm headed screws along the inner edge of the light assembly.

Then pulled on and wiggled the light assembly to free the two outside detent retaining pins.

After twisting and pulling the light socket free from the lamp assembly, I could see that the upper park light element was glowing. This indicates a faulty ground for the light bulb. The glowing of the wrong element is caused by the stoplight element needing for a ground and trying to pick it up from the park lights.

A simple ground jumper wire installed between a good chassis ground and the bulb base proved the poor ground condition.

I looked down the slot next to the metal socket and could see evidence of heat on the ground wire. After a little studying, I realised that the metal base was just pushed into the plastic. A little leverage with a small screwdriver and I was able to lift the metal socket from the base.

If you look closely you should be able to see the evidence of a poor ground connection.

The wire had been heated up enough that the insulation would not pull free properly. I decided to use a new piece of wire for the repair. I also increased the size to a 16 gauge wire. the original was 18 gauge at best.

In the next picture you can see the new wire stripped and rolled into position. Then I just aligned the metal socket and pushed it firmly into the plastic base until it stopped.

The backside of the socket assembly where I spliced the new and the old wires together.

Now the light works as designed.

After installing the sockets into the lamp assembly I made sure to tuck the harness into the retaining slot in the back of the housing.

2005 Nissan Altima, Turn Signal Indicators Do Not Work

This 2005 Nissan Altima came in with the complaint that the turn signal indicators in the instrument cluster did not illuminate and there was no noise/clicking. The turn signals on the outside of the vehicle worked properly. I also noted that the trip odometer would cycle through it’s readings when the turn signals or the high beams were activated.

I checked all of the fuses and found one blown for the power outlet. I replaced that fuse and the condition persisted. I compared the fuse box legend to the fuse box and noticed a problem.

There were fuses installed where there were supposed to be empty slots and there was one fuse missing. The missing fuse was labeled “Electronic Parts”.

I installed a new 10 amp fuse into the empty slot.

The turns signal indicators now worked properly.

They illuminated and the clicking noise was there also. The trip odometer stayed steady when the turn signals or the high beams were activated.

The missing fuse appeared to be a result of someone switching fuses around whenever the power outlet fuse would blow. A new charging adapter for the cell phone was all that was needed.

1999 Pontiac Firebird, Power Windows and Radio Do Not Work

This 1999 Pontiac Firebird came in with the complaint that the power windows and the radio did not work. Observation showed that the radio/clock display worked but when the power windows were activated they went off. Of course the windows did not work either. The customer had stated that some times they worked and sometimes they did not. Not working at all was becoming more frequent.

A quick study of the vehicle wiring diagrams showed that both systems were controlled by the RAP (Retained Accessory Power) relay which is internal to the BCM (Body Control Module). The BCM is located under the passenger side of the dash. There may be a hush panel under the dash that is held in place by a couple of push pin retainers. It was not present on this car. I found it easier to access the BCM by also removing the interior trim panel shown below.

There were four phillips headed screws located along the length of the panel. Two could be removed with ba screw driver and two needed to be removed with a bit and wrench as shown below.

There are three harness connectors attached to the BCM.

It is also easier to disconnect the harness connector to the blower motor at the same time.

With all of the wiring out of the way the BCM can be wiggled and pulled down.

The BCM out of the vehicle.

There are a couple of latches that have to be released to access the circuit board.

Then the circuit board needs to be carefully lifted out of the BCM housing.

There is a larger solder joint in the center of the picture that has a crack ring in the solder. Click on the picture a couple of times to enlarge it for a better view.

It took just a quick resoldering of the joint and this BCM was back in business. A lot quicker and less expensive than replacing the BCM and the required programming to do so.

2005 Buick Lacrosse, Repeated ECM Failures

In two previous articles I outlined the problems and solutions on a 2005 Buick Lacrosse.  Symptom  and Solution. Now for the root cause of this failure. In every case that I found, similar to the vehicle I was working on was that the condition was preceded by a battery event. Most notably loose and corroded battery terminals. The positive battery cable terminal had been recently replaced, the negative battery post was undersized and the negative battery cable terminal was loose as a result. The thinking is that these ECMs are very susceptible to battery voltage spikes.

I found one reference to a poor body ground located just behind the battery tray as shown in the following picture.  The article only referenced a problem with two of the gauges not working. This one had already been cleaned and tightened before arriving at my shop.  I did reseal the connection by spraying it with paint. I did this while I already had the battery out of the car.

I crimped soldered and sealed new ring terminals onto the existing cables.

I then attached them to a marine style battery terminal for a positive connection. No pun intended but it fits.

To replace the battery, the engine compartment cross brace had to be removed. It is installed back into position in the next picture.

I also find it easier to remove the hold down nuts for the under hood fuse box and position the box slightly out of the way.

When completely reassembled the harness attaches to the under side of the brace.

One key note about the negative battery terminal. The nut that tightens the terminal clamp onto the battery post is beveled on the underside. I fully removed the nut. Cleaned both surfaces and added a little bit of grease to allow the beveled lip to work properly as the lever it was designed to be. When I have more time I intend to do an article on just how these terminals work. I also have to look for a supplier of replacement nuts as they do seem to wear out.

2005 Buick Lacrosse, U1300 Follow Up Testing

This repair information is an addition to a previously published article. To see that article please click here. The code U1300 turned out to be the most relevant code but SI was severely lacking in background information. SI states that the code U1300 can only be seen as a history code. The U1300 was stored in the ECM and since I was seeing it, it had to be a history code, at least according to SI. Again according to SI when the code U1300 was active I should not have been able to communicate with the ECM. At no time was communication with the ECM lost.

In the next picture is a fault tester for the class 2 data bus. Although it makes testing easier it is not absolutely necessary.

At least if you are not afraid to cut and splice a wire or two. Note the dark green wire that has been cut and spliced back together. This connector is located under the dash on the driver’s side of the car. The lower hush panel needs to be removed to access it.

With the tool connected to the class 2 data splice pack a switch can be depressed to break the circuit. It is switch “B” which I am pointing to in the next picture. The “B” designation can also be found on the splice pack body and it corresponds to the dark green wire.

Note that the lighter green wire had already been cut and spliced back together. The light green wire is positioned at terminal “J” and is the connection to the Vehicle Communication Interface module (VIM). By either switching off terminal “B” on the tester or cutting the wire a voltage test can be performed. Voltage on the class 2 network cycles between 0 and 7 volts. The extremes of this voltage range can only be seen with an oscilloscope. With most digital voltmeters you would see a range of slightly above 0 volts and just below 4 volts. The value should also be constantly changing. At bare minimum each module on the network will send out a state of health message every two seconds.  On the terminal “B” data line there was constant movement with the circuit in tact. With the circuit separated the main bus connection was still cycling but the wire that was still attached to the ECM  was stuck and a -.67 volts. There was no cycling of the state of health signal.

Now that I knew what the problem was, I needed  to confirm where it was located. Was the ECM itself faulty or was there a problem with the wire in between. The ECM is located on the passenger side front of the engine.

The wire that I needed to find is in the outer harness connector. The one on the left in the following picture.

The metal lever on the connector has to be slid backwards slightly before it will rotate forward and release. Look closely at the slot near the pivot point of the lever.

The rubber cover has to be slid back and a wire tie will have to be cut and removed. Then the outer cover can be removed with some gentle prying. Now that the cover was removed I could read the numbers on the back of the connector body. The dark green wire at terminal 48 can be located as shown below. I did test the wire terminal on the other side of the connector body  for continuity to ground (none present, good) and continuity to terminal B of the splice pack (less than 5 ohms, good). It takes a very gentle touch and the right kind of probe to prevent terminal damage. Again, there was no continuity to ground and there was continuity to terminal “B”  in the under dash splice pack.

The option is to cut the wire in such a way that it is easily repairable. As I did in the next picture.  As it turned out severing the wire allows for a very definitive test. It is important to cut the wire and then temporarily connect the two halves back together. The ECM cannot receive the anti theft password from the BCM if the wire is cut and the engine will not start.

So strip the two wires and twist them back together, then start the engine. Check the voltage where the wires are twisted together. It should be varying as mentioned earlier. Now separate the twisted wires while the engine is still  running. Both halves should maintain a variable voltage. On this car the wire that was connected to the ECM harness connector body flat lined at 0 volts. The wire that runs back into the harness continued to fluctuate. Keep in mind that all harness connectors have to be attached to do this test. I had them removed from the ECM so that I could locate the proper wire and remove the covers.

This test proved that the ECM could receive data on the dark green wire at terminal 48 but it was incapable of sending data on this wire circuit. Very much like a phone that will allow you to listen but not allow you to talk.

Replacing the ECM and performing all of the programming corrected all of the issues with this 2005 Buick Lacrosse.

Now to provide some clarity on this vehicle’s problem and what exactly was going on in testing.

The ECM can communicate in two different methods. It communicates with the TCM and the Tech 2 scan tool on the CAN communication wires. It communicates with all other modules on the Class 2 data lines. So when it was unable to communicate on the Class 2 network the code U1300 was set inside the ECM. The code was reported to the scan tool on the CAN circuit which was still active.

Now to make this more interesting, what caused this problem in the first place? The ECM that I installed was the fourth one in the life of this Lacrosse. There is a cause and that will be in another post coming soon.

2005 Buick Lacrosse, Gauges Do Not Work

This 2005 Buick Lacrosse came in with the complaint that the instrument cluster gauges would  not work and the T/C , traction control light stayed on. . The customer stated that the air conditioner would have to be turned off and then back on before it would get cold. Through a little bit of research and hands on testing I found that the back up or reverse lights did not work. The trunk release switch did not work and most of the data in the driver’s information center read dashes instead of numbers. Information such as average economy and other fuel data. When I checked codes there were 27 codes stored through various modules. I recorded all of the codes and then cleared them all. There were three that would not clear U1000  in the EBCM, U1300 and P1629 in the ECM. This Lacrosse has the 3.6 liter, LY7 engine.

Since I have already fixed this vehicle I will let you know that researching GM Service Information (SI) will not provide anything but minimal tidbits of information that are useful in diagnosing this problem. Aftermarket information is no better.

In reading service information a code U1000 is for a class 2 data link malfunction. Code U1300 is a generic code for any class 2 module on the car. The description of the code is for low voltage on the class 2 serial data line. Code P1629 is for the theft deterrent fuel enable password signal has not been received from the BCM by the PCM within one second.

Code U1000 should be associated with lack of class 2 communication for one or more modules.

U1300 cannot be retrieved as a current code. If this code is current you are directed to follow the symptom chart for “scan tool does not communicate with a class 2 device”.

Code P1629 should be associated with a no crank/run condition as the theft system will be activated. This car started and ran fine.

When this car showed up at my shop the ECM had been replaced. The BCM had also been replaced but the original had been re installed due to a no crank condition. The work had been done a a GM dealership.

I had installed my tool shown below into the class 2 gang connector under the dash and could see that communication was present  in all modules by the flashing LED’s and I also backed that up with a voltage test.

To further confuse the issue SI also stated that the condition had to be present for three seconds. In theory there should have been at least a three second window when class 2 communication was not working with the scan tool. I never experienced that problem.

Below is a picture of the class 2 gang connector located under the driver’s side of the dash.

At this point I am trying to determine if I am going to make the full diagnostic information available for free or if I need to charge for it.

I have a great deal of time and effort invested in this repair and know that with a clear understanding of how these systems work, the use of a good voltmeter, a few common hand tools and my direction, this problem can be accurately diagnosed in five to fifteen minutes. This diagnosis and repair applies to the 2005, 2006 and 2007 year models.

To see the follow up diagnostic information please click here.

2007 Honda Accord, Burnt Wiring Harnesses

This 2007 Honda Accord is a perfect example of why one should read and understand the owner’s manual. Never put anything in place of a blown fuse except the factory rated fuse for that circuit. The complaint was that that stoplights and shifter interlock would not work sometimes. Other times the stoplights stayed on all of the time.

One of the first things that I noticed about this car was fresh paint, and secondly sloppy workmanship. My suspicion was that this vehicle had been repaired by a non professional body man. Boy oh boy was I right about that.

The main problem was quickly found in a melted trunk lid wiring harness. It is generally pretty bad when the outside loom has heat distortion.

Opening the loom found melted wiring. You may want to click on the next pictures to enlarge them.

I went towards the front of the car and found the same melted loom in the harness under the carpet at the driver’s door.

Opening the loom found a wire with the insulation burnt off of it.

The actual work of repairing this car was way too involved to document but I wanted to give you an idea of what had to be done to replace the burnt harnesses.

All of this and nearly $1700 to replace burnt harnesses and a fuse box. The original short was located in the trunk lid and would have only cost about $150 to locate and repair. The underhood fuse box where the stoplight fuse is located was not damaged. The wiring between that fuse box and the stoplight switch looked to be about 16 gauge and survived the overheating condition relatively well. I did note that someone before me had replaced the stoplight switch and about 18 inches of its harness. The wire where it left the interior fuse box was very small and on the outside of the harness bundle and therefore could not handle the heat from the short and a non factory rated fuse in the system.