ClassicCar

SamJ

I picked up a copy of Vette magazine in a waiting room last week. Here is part (about 1/3) of the answer to a 2010 Corvette tech question about how to deal with an idiot light that comes on even when there's nothing wrong:

The "diagnostic display" mode may be entered with the following procedure:

1. Turn the ignition on, but don't start the engine.
2. Press the "RESET but¬ton on the DIC to turn off any warning messages.
3. Press and hold the "OPTIONS" button.
4. While holding the "OPTIONS" button, press the "FUEL" button four times
within a 10-second period.

The onboard diagnostics will go into the "automatic" mode, which shows each module's DTCs in a preset sequence

1.10 - PCM Powertrain Control Module
2.28 - TCS Traction Control System
3.38- RTD Real Time Damping (some models do not have this option)
4.40- BCM Body Control Module
5.60 - IPC Instrument Panel Cluster
6.80- Radio
7.99 - HVAC Heater Vent-Air Conditioning
8. AO - LDCM Left Door Control module
9. Al - RDCM Right Door Control Module
10. AC - SCM Seat Control module
11. BO - RFA Remote Function Actuation

For each module, all DTCs will be displayed. If no faults are present in a particular module, you will see "no more codes" on the ICP display.
There are two kinds of diagnostic codes. The first is a current code, which is designated with a letter suffix "C." A current code indicates a malfunction is present currently. The second is a history code, which is designated with a letter suffix "H." A history code indicates a malfunction was present at some time in the past 40 to 50 ignition cycles. A history code could represent an intermittent fault.
Once the system has displayed all of the modules, it will go into the manual mode, which allows the selection of each module using combinations of DIC buttons. Manual mode can also be entered during the automatic sequence by pressing any button except "E/M." Pressing "E/M" will cause you to exit the diagnostic mode. Once the display shows "Manual Diagnostics," select a module by pressing the "OPTIONS" button to scroll forward or the "TRIP" button to scroll back. Once a module is selected, a code is displayed. If more than one code is present, press "GAUGES" to scroll forward or "FUEL" to go scroll back. To exit the diagnostic mode at any time, press "E/M."
If you want to erase the trouble codes in a given module, press and hold the "RESET" button until the displays reads "NO CODES." Remember, clearing a trouble code does not repair a problem. You're simply erasing the evidence of a fault in that specific module's memory.
Now that we can retrieve fault codes, remember that they're only guides. For example, if you have a fault code C1221 (Left Front Wheel Speed Sensor Input Signal), it does not necessarily mean you have a faulty sensor. It does mean you have a problem in that subsystem. It's best to start at the item indicated in the fault and work back to the module or computer, eliminating everything else along the way.
In our example of the left front wheel-speed sensor, start at the wheel hub and work your way back to the EBTCM (Electronic Brake Traction Control Module). The wheel-hub bearing has a wheel-speed sensor built into it, with two wires
coming from the rear of the sensor. If you want to check the speed sensor, you can do so using a voltmeter in the AC setting. Unplug the sensor, connect the voltmeter leads to each side of the sensor connector, and spin the wheel. You should see a small amount of AC voltage that increases with wheel speed.

And you thought synchronizing Twin-H carbs was a pain! :woohoo:

hornet53

Or, you can go buy an OBDII reader for a hundred bucks and use it on all your friends cars 96 and newer.

Browniepetersen

I am with you Sam. I spend a good deal of time in the shop tinkering with my cars keeping them fit and in top shape. It is not that difficult and it does not create a bunch of stress and detailed instructions to keep them running, I watched Dr. Doug (Warrick) tune an engine at the national with feel and sound. The car now runs great. He did not need some fancy code bood and computer to hook up to make it happen. I love the Corvette's but with the fiberglass, computers and other modern and elusive parts I would much rather stay with the classic lines and looks of a Hudson.

hudsontech

Just think about all the fun restorers in about 30 or 40 years are going to have trying to restore some of the current cars. Not that there are that many that would be worth restoring - tho I suppose there will be those who would like to restore something like my 1996 Olds.

On the other hand there is a meet at the Petit Mountain Auto Museum over in Arkansas in September for Econoline vans. Each to his own.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Geoff C., N.Z.

My main sensors that I use in diagnostics and tuning are the ear-o-meter and eye-o-ometer! Apart from that, a volt meter and a vacuum gauge, and I'm pretty well set up to fix any Hudson product. However, I lift up the bonnet of my '97 Holden and there's no distributor and no carburettor. It was running rough, according to my wife, so I checked the plugs, and found one cracked insulator. I wonder how long it would have taken the electronic diagnostics to find that? Replaced the plug, and it runs fine now.

middletom

Alex,
I recall reading, in one of Ralph Stein's books as I remember, of him talking to Henry Austin Clark and Henry saying that he could not imagine ever trying to restore the Lincoln Continental Mark-something-or-other that he was driving at that time. Where will anyone find the plastic parts in the future, he wondered? Of course, we now know that so many of those parts are recreated and widely available.
Thus, thirty or forty years from now, some of todays cars may have enough replacement parts reproduced to do a restoration. The only question is, what car of today would anyone want to restore?

Geoff Blake

hudsontech

middletom wrote:

Alex,
Thus, thirty or forty years from now, some of todays cars may have enough replacement parts reproduced to do a restoration. The only question is, what car of today would anyone want to restore?Geoff Blake

There are a few that will be worth restoring - among American brands I can think of Corvette or Dodge Viper. Sad to say there are probably more European brands that will be worth restoring 30, 40 years down the line than American cars.

That said, however, who knows what we'll be driving in 2040 or 2050 - about the only way we'll see cars like our Hudsons will be in museums, most likely.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

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