First drive + alignment fight
The last week has been frustrating. I went out to test drive the car to make sure nothing was wrong on Wednesday. The battery was dead, so I throw it on the charger overnight and in the morning it’s still at 3.5v, so ex-battery. NBD, this is why I tested. So get a cheapie Walmart one since the long term plan is a etx18l agm powersport battery. Put it in, go drive on Thursday night and have an ABS error. I just had all my suspension apart including the ABS sensors, so I figure I missed one. Friday morning I pop the RR wheel off and find an unplugged sensor, but drive to get the alignment. I fixed one of the ABS errors, but I’m still getting C1255.
Friday night I come out to pack my car for the test and tune on Saturday and there is a puddle coming out from under the car. Uh oh. The brand new battery is leaking acid everywhere. I quickly pull the battery and then make a baking powder soup to pour over the area. Eventually all the foaming stops and I wash it out with water to dilute anything that might still be down there. Battery goes back to Walmart, but they are my only option for another as all stores are closed at this point.
So the c1255 code on a Corvette means an internal unit error. Three common issues that I hear about. 1) It’s a grounding issue. c5’s have terrible grounds 2) it’s a power board issue which is potentially repairable. There are some other compatible boards and you might get lucky with a broken solder joint or a blown cap. 3) is the logic board itself. Apparently they covered it in goop and it has these hairline wires on it that like to break. It’s effectively non-repairable. So far I’ve cleaned two of the grounds to no effect at this point. I’ve had an intermittent ABS error show up, but it always went away just restarting.
So now I’m at the point of maybe having to do some serious work on my ABS. Do I swap to a mk60 system? It seems the most well trod path for c5 abs. Do I swap in a c5 2001+ abs. There are detailed instructions for this, but I’d just be getting another ABS with potential ice mode. Do I see if I can find a used 98-00 abs? They are expensive and no guarantee that they won’t explode in a few months. Do I try and put in a s197 abs? I hear they are good, but I haven’t seen anyone do it on a corvette year. Do I get something like the delta motorsport ABS?
Interested to hear if anyone has suggestions on troubleshooting or path forward for ABS. I’m a little worried about doing track days and flat spotting a tire.
cyow5 said:
In reply to theruleslawyer :
Maybe I missed it by reading too quickly, but have you cleared the error and driven now with the new new battery? Given the spontaneous leak from the old new battery, I could believe that it would potentially give electrical faults just on its own malfunction. Maybe it is blind optimism, but maybe that was the culprit?
Yah, I cleared it. c1255 is a current code, even with some driving. Right now I have a couple next steps
- C5’s have these multi pin harnesses at the grounds that I can disassemble and clean individually. They are sometimes corroded.
- Check the wiring near the ECU. It’s directly under the battery. Even though it was giving me codes prior to the acid, it’s possible there is harness damage down there. Its fairly common on c5’s to have a lead acid battery damage the wiring.
I have until the 30th to cancel a 2 day track weekend I have set up on the 17-18th and get the majority of my money back. Unfortunately that’s not a lot of time. 2 weekends to work on it.
