2001-2004 CORVETTE OWNERS....EBCM
FAULT CODE C1214 System Relay Contact Coil or Coil Circuit
Open
You won't hear this from MOST repair shops, but
then again...WE are not the typical shop!
Back in the day, it was typical to replace the
EBCM to cure a C1214 fault code. If you are not familiar with the ABS EBCM, it
is a has a LIST price of $925 from most GM dealers (list prices are what shops
MUST charge to meet overhead). The BAD NEWS is that most likely when the EBCM is
replaced it will only need replacement again, often within a years time!
There IS a better and CHEAPER solution to this
problem!!!!!!
What we are doing at this time is recommending
you to either purchase a unit, or send in your unit for repair to www.absfixer.com.
The EBCM you will receive from absfixer will no longer have the infamous
relay problem you have been experiencing with the GM units. As a matter of fact
if I remember correctly, the units are warranted for as long as you own the car.
Our labor charges to replace the EBCM are $157.80
plus tax. We will also perform a resistance check on your BPMV (pump motor) to
make sure it is within spec. If the BPMV motor is shorted to ground it will only
result in damage to the new EBCM. The good news is that BPMV failure is VERY
RARE. Should the EBCM and the BPMV both need replacement
the cost will be the same.
Here are some shots of the EBCM/BPMV assembly. The EBCM is the
section that the wire harness connector plugs into. The BPMV is the section that
contains the motor.
Here are a few of the EBCM separated from the BPMV.
This is a shot of the BPMV. Those twelve posts sticking up are
the pieces that insert into the coils of the EBCM. When the ABS is active, the
EBCM will energize the coils creating a magnetic field. This magnetic field
pulls an actuator in the posts sticking up on the BPMV...this is how the valves
are opened and closed.
THESE are the valves that will stick on Vettes that are seldom driven. THESE
types of faults can USUALLY be corrected by clearing the codes and driving the
car and hammering the brakes to activae ABS....this will often free the stuck
valves. In some cases where the code keeps reoccurring after repeated clearing
and ABS activation, the BPMV will need replacement.
Here are the twelve coils in the EBCM that the posts insert into,
when these coils energize, that is how the valves are opened and closed in the
BPMV.
Here are a few shots of the EBCM disassembled.
To check the BPMV motor, you check resistance between the pump
motor case and each of these three pins.
The resistance SHOULD read O.L. like this...O.L. meaning over
limit....which means a resistance of infinity....in other words NO CONNECTION
whatsoever.
The resistance of this unit on one of the pins was 24.9 MEGA
OHMS....This is a VERY high resistance of little significance, but the prudent
thing to do would be to replace the BPMV. If this resistance gets LOWER than
this, say in the K-OHM range or in the OHM range, EBCM damage will result.
This meter reading is .07 OHMS....this would be a dead short.
Here James is changing the engine oil cooler on a 6.0 Powerstroke
diesel....the cooler is under the intake manifold sitting in the valley. We had
to remove the upper half of the engine. This is a VERY common problem with the
6.0's so if you ever find engine oil in your cooling system tank give us a call,
we can fix you up!
Here the turbo has been removed....
Just a shot of the turbo if you've never seen a 6.0 turbo up
close......
We are one of the few independent shops in the
area that fool with diesels, we specialize in the 7.3, the 6.0 Powerstrokes and
the Cummins engines....
These are of James changing a heater core on a
2002 Chevy Cavalier...This job cost the customer about $200 more than it should
have...The first shop she took it to evidently tried to change the heater core but
couldn't figure out how and broke the housing the core is in...This other shop finally gave up and told the customer they did not have
the "special tool" needed to do the job! There is no "special
tool" for this job, that was just a cop out they used because they had
absolutely NO CLUE as to what they were doing....but not until they had
already torn the lady's car up. Click to see full size.
These last 3 pics to the left show just how
incompetent they were, these are shots of the plastic housing that the heater
core is in. They evidently tried to remove the core without removing the
instrument panel (dash board). The instrument panel did not have to be removed
to do the heater core on older models, but must be removed on the newer models
like this 2002. Click to see full
size.
The customer, armed with all these broken parts went back to the other shop to
try to get them to pay for the parts that they damaged, but they simply denied
breaking them and said they noticed they were already broken! The customer knows
this is a lie because the car has never been worked on before, and also if they
noticed they were broken why did they not call her to let her know they were
broken AS SOON as the job was started like WE did?
Word to the wise: The shop that
did this is no hole in the wall dump....It is a nice, spacious and clean place that is
busy and in a good location, but as is a typical scenario these days, the owner
of the place has done only MINOR work on cars and the manager has NEVER worked
on cars to my knowledge....YOU CANNOT JUDGE A SHOP'S COMPETENCY BY THE LOOKS OF
THE PLACE....IF YOU TRY TO DO THAT THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL GET MUCH OF THE TIME!
These are of a 98 LS-1 engine in a
Firebird that is full of sludge due to not changing the oil often enough...This
came in on a wrecker with zero oil pressure and engine noise. The 1998 models
had oil pump issues so this started out as a routine oil pump job...till I got
the timing cover off! There is absolutely, positively nothing that can be done
with this engine but to overhaul it!
I
used to see this happen a lot in the days of carbureted engines, BUT fuel injected engines
burn so much cleaner and hotter that you have to REALLY neglect an engine to see this
amount of crud these days...This has NOTHING to do with the brand of oil used
either...this
is plain old NEGLECT! Any oil brand does this if not changed at the proper
interval. This was a synthetic oil that was used in this
engine.....Do NOT look at only the mileage when changing your oil.....TIME is
more harmful to oil than miles. You MUST change your oil every 3 months OR 3,000
miles, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. Simply changing oil every 3,000 miles does NO GOOD
if it takes you 6 months to go that 3,000 miles!
If you drive less than 800
-1,000 miles per month and you change your oil only by the mileage, then you are
most likely changing
your oil only HALF as often as you should be!
These are some shots of the same LS-1 from above...these were
when I removed the engine to overhaul it...That was the only way to get rid of
all the sludge. I could not get over HOW MANY people were just AMAZED at
the fact this engine is removed from the bottom instead of pulled out the top
like the old days....I guess we think nothing of this since we see it every day,
but most folks were just baffled that cars are made this way.....this is old
news folks, MANY vehicles on the road now are built this way...the
entire powertrain drops out the bottom of the vehicle. Here you can see that we
have supported the front subframe and lifted the body off of it....the front
frame sits on the jack stands as the body is slowly lifted off. Click
to see full size.
That's James standing by the car above as it comes up, and also
behind the engine. That's me sitting on the stool under the car shifting gears
and pretending to drive the engine... Click
to see full size.
There is a shot of the bare engine block to give you an idea of
how cruddy this thing was. Click to see
full size.
Here are a couple of the subframe and body with the powertrain
gone...Click to see full size.
Another thing that amazed me is how many people asked if this was a NEW block as
I was putting it back together.....This is NOT a new block....I just
painstakingly CLEANED the old block! Again, we do this type of work every day so
it is second nature to us, but I guess MOST folks have absolutely NO CLUE how
clean an engine has to be to be assembled the RIGHT WAY.
Here the bottom end is all together. This is a bulletproof bottom end, but if
you are looking to build 700 or more horsepower, I'd seriously consider the 6.0L
iron block.
Most engines have these cylinder head alignment dowels...these must be here!
These are bad about falling out at the machine shop...Like these did when I was
cleaning the block...
Speaking of machine shops, I've been at a car show or drag race somewhere and
overhear some guy blaming the machine shop for his engine failure...so I listen
in...then he mentions that HE put the engine together...HE'S YAPPING ABOUT HOW
THE MACHINE SHOP MUST HAVE GOTTEN THE CLEARANCES WRONG, but Here is the deal...IT AIN'T THE MACHINE SHOP'S FAULT.....EVER. It is the
responsibility of the guy putting the engine together to check, double and TRIPLE check every
aspect of engine assembly!
No matter WHO does your machine work you are supposed to
check all clearances upon assembly! If you find a clearance that is incorrect
bring it back to the machine shop for them to get it RIGHT. If you do not agree with this, you have NO BUSINESS attempting engine work! In
many of the shots on this page you can see some of these checking
procedures being done....And that is only a FEW of them!
Some of you LS1 guys may know you have to remove the heads to access the
lifters....You may also have heard that you can do a cam swap without pulling
the heads due to lifter retainers...Well here they are.
You may ALSO have heard that you should go ahead and pull the heads because the
retainers won't hold and halfway through the job a lifter will fall and you will
only have to pull the heads anyway....Well, I put the lifters in each of these
and held them upright and TRIED to make a lifter fall out and they stayed in!
Keep in mind all the crud and 120,000 miles on this engine....If you have a
clean low wear engine, I would be really confident that the retainers would
indeed hold the lifters up....Just keep the jolts and vibration to a minimum
while the cam is out and you should be okay (don't slam the hood or
doors!).
In this first shot I caught Randy by surprise...He is getting this reman engine
ready to re-install into a 94 Chevy pickup truck. Click
to see full size.
On this job as well it AMAZED ME how many folks commented on how clean and shiny
this engine was...Here again it is just second nature to US to do QUALITY engine
installs...I guess most folks are so used to seeing them thrown in by some
quickie cheapo shop that they are amazed when they see it done RIGHT.
In the following shots this truck came in
for a coolant leak, while we were working on it James noticed a few things.
Evidently some other shop had changed the intake manifold gasket....
This
shot is of a bracket laying under the hood that was not put back on!
Here is the bracket....
The red arrow shows where it is SUPPOSED to be......
This red arrow points to the accelerator and cruise control cables....They are
SUPPOSED to be UNDER this ac line, not on top....If left HERE they will
eventually rub a hole in an expensive ac line!
These arrows show the breather line from the valve cover left off...
This is where it goes.....THIS was causing dirty UNFILTERED air to be drawn into
the engine through the air intake AND into the crankcase! Take your air filter
out and THROW IT AWAY and you would STILL be only drawing dirty air into the
intake, not into the oil too like this was....There is no telling HOW MANY miles
were taken OFF this engine's life due to this other shop's sloppy work!
This is a bracket left off that holds a wire harness in place.....
HERE is where it SHOULD be!
This is of a hose clamp left loose...Not only left loose but backwards...The
arrow points to a slot that lines up with a tab on the air duct...This would let
in UNFILTERED air too!
HERE is how it's SUPPOSED to be...
It is shops like the one that did this stuff that
gives the auto repair industry a bad name!
NOT ALL shops do sloppy work like
this folks!
If you've heard that we sometimes
take longer than
other places, or are slightly higher priced than some other places, THIS IS
WHY.....It takes MUCH MORE EFFORT and TIME to do the job RIGHT....MANY times we
have to spend EXTRA TIME straightening out some other shop's screw up's just so
WE don't get the blame for it!
The shop that did this is not a hole in the wall either!
DO NOT judge a shop by their size, cleanliness and location alone!
This above sloppy work was done at a large, nice, clean, well known shop! _______________________________________________________________
Here is another job that is insignificant to us, but it really amazed
many customers, especially the ones that drive Cadillacs...Here we had to replace head gaskets on a 4.6 Cadillac Northstar V-8
engine in this Sedan Deville. In this shot James has lifted the body off of the
subframe and is about to begin disassembling the engine. I've heard tales of
guys doing this job without removing the engine, but you are looking at the
same amount of labor charges, if not MORE to do it that way...It will take
LONGER to do it without removing the engine...I cannot fathom how any REAL shop
could justify NOT simply removing the engine, it is better for the customer
because he will get his car back quicker and MUCH easier on the
technician....If a shop doesn't have the room, equipment or skill to drop the
engine, they are in over their head already and this job will surely go sour in
a hurry....
Although jobs like this are a pain because they keep a bay tied up for at least a few
days...But a full service shop is willing to take these types of jobs as well as
the gravy jobs...
Randy waiting on parts on his job checks it out...
Tearing into it.....
Shot from the back side.....
This is another one of those things that is old news to
us, but VERY FEW folks that drive these Cadillacs know......The starter is UNDER
the intake manifold...You have to disassemble the top of the engine to replace
the starter!
On these Northstar Cadillac engines it is standard fare for the
threads to pull out of the
block for the cylinder head bolts...This tool is used to re-thread the bolt
holes for the heads and can be used for the main bearing bolts as well. These
are called Time-Serts
First you loosely bolt this plate to the block with the largest hole over the
bolt you are going
to re-thread...
Then you place this bushing in the large hole...
Like so...
Then you insert this alignment pilot...
Like so...Then tighten the plate bolts...
Then use this reamer to enlarge the hole...notice the stop on the
reamer...
Like so...
Then use this tap to thread the newly enlarged hole...
Like so...
This is the STEEL insert that will be the new threads...
This is the tool used to install the insert...
First a little oil on the tool...
Then a little thread locker on the insert and screw it into the hole....Then
poof, you have a head bolt hole with brand new STEEL threads. We re-thread ALL
20 bolt holes when we do these...This procedure is the only RIGHT WAY to repair
these engines!
It has come to our attention that
there are places that are "repairing" (ruining is more like it) these
Northstar Cadillac engines with damaged threads by simply drilling the threads
out to a larger size and using a socket headed bolt of a larger size and calling
it fixed...This is a BS patch job of a repair folks...It is NOT the right way to
do this...DO NOT LET ANYONE DO THIS TO YOURS!
The above procedure is the ONLY procedure that is approved by GM for
these engines!
The biggest of MANY problems with simply drilling to a larger size is the fact
that this is an aluminum block with aluminum heads and TORQUE-TO-YIELD bolts are
used, as is the case with almost all newer engines...The bolts MUST be replaced
any time they are removed...The reason is that these are special bolts that are
torqued to the very limit of their stretch capabilities...The bolts being stretched
to their limit like this generates a TREMENDOUS amount of clamping force...An
extreme amount MORE than a standard bolt torqued the standard way can deliver...TESTS
HAVE PROVEN THIS...The ONLY way to get these
heads torqued correctly to insure proper and LASTING results is to use the above
procedure! Do NOT let some uninformed source tell you any differently! These
Time-Serts are the ONLY WAY to do this job RIGHT...
According to the customer this Ford truck with the 5.4 Liter engine made the rounds at many
shops in town and even a dealership for a noise in the front of the engine...This
shot is the source of the noise...The timing chain was rubbing on the oil pump! Now
this truck only has 68,000 miles on it!
And HERE we discovered the problem!!! The timing chain tensioners are oil
pressure fed on these engines....BUT there is a plug installed in the hole that
is SUPPOSED to feed oil to the left tensioner!
This shot shows the oil feed hole in the head behind the other tensioner...It is
open like it SHOULD be....The other side had a plug installed in the oil feed
FROM THE FACTORY!!!! The customer said this truck had NEVER been in the shop,
even under warranty. Evidently the chain was tight enough when new to not make
noise, but after 68,000 miles it stretched enough to begin making noise! This
was a strange and unusual problem, but it still gives us a great feeling of satisfaction
to solve a problem that no one else could!
This is another thing to be aware of when going
to a quicky lube store for oil changes.
This customer took her Mitsubishi in for an oil change and asked them to top off
her fluids while there were at it.
Keep in mind these guys only know how to do oil changes. They have NO OTHER
training whatsoever. This
vehicle makes the third one in less than a year that has had some inexperienced
person at a quick lube place
mistake the brake master cylinder for the power steering reservoir....Yup, they
put power steering fluid in the brake system costing the customer over $1,000 in
brake repairs!!!!! The power steering fluid attacks any and all rubber parts in
the brake system, rendering them useless......Be VERY CAREFUL who you let
service your automobile folks.....one of these days someone is going to be
killed or maimed....
See how swollen the rubber seal is on the master cylinder cap....it is almost
twice it's normal size
This Ford Explorer went to several shops for an
engine missfire with no satisfaction. We found the trouble with an injector
balance test. As you can see there was a fuel quality problem here. Notice the
trash and water in the fuel sample.
How the other shops this truck was at could not find THIS is beyond me. It only
took us about 30 minutes to find the trouble!
I cut the fuel filter open...sure enough it was evident there too.
You can't see it here, but the injectors were really plugged.
We had to drop the tank and clean it and replaced the pump as well.
Here Matt is replacing the injector pressure
regulator valve on a Powerstroke diesel. We are one of the few shops Lake
Charles that can handle diesel repairs.
No we don't usually climb all in there like that....This one was
extremely tight...Waaaaay tighter than it needed to be!
Just in case you've never seen any...Here are eight Powerstroke
diesel fuel injectors....We frequently have to replace these as well....This
particular truck had gasoline put in the tank....All eight injectors had to be
replaced.....
If you are looking for more power from your
Stroke, we can modify your 94-97 90cc injectors to 140cc....140cc's is the same
flow rate as the 99-03 Superdutys....The difference being the 99-03's use a
split-shot injector and the 94-early 97's use a single shot injector...If you
have ever wondered why the 94-early 97 trucks are so much LOUDER than the newer
Strokes, that is why...the split shot injectors make for quieter
operation...However from what I've come up with through research, more power can
be had from the older AA single shot injectors with the right programming...It
just makes for a louder diesel.
Here is a shot of the internals of a Powerstroke injector. We can
upgrade them to many different power levels, from mild to WILD, HOWEVER if you
do any TOWING with your truck, I don't recommend anything over the 140cc on the
94-97's and I would not recommend modded injectors at ALL on the 99-03's......If
you do even just moderate towing too much injector will cause excessive exhaust
temps when towing.
A great mod for the 94-97's running chips or
larger injectors is to have us replace the HPOP (high pressure oil pump) with a
17* pump like what is used on the 99-03's.....Timing cover mods are required
with this swap as well or it will cause hard starting if your truck goes two
days or more between starts.
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Here is a shot of the internals of a Powerstroke injector. We can
upgrade them to many different power levels, from mild to WILD, HOWEVER if you
do any TOWING with your truck, I don't recommend anything over the 140cc on the
94-97's and I would not recommend modded injectors at ALL on the 99-03's......If
you do even just moderate towing too much injector will cause excessive exhaust
temps when towing.