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261K views 169 replies 89 participants last post by  Submariner409 
#1 ·
Need some expert advice here. Purchased a '94 DeVille (with the SSS system) from the son of the original owner (38k miles). "SERVICE RIDE CONTROL" message is on the dash. Took car to the local Cadillac dealer and was told it would be one hour labor to diagnose; figured it was one of the struts and at least one pair of struts would need replacing. After one hour, I was told that none of the struts was receiving a signal and they would need more shop time (1 or 2 more hours) to examine the wiring to determine the cause, as there seemed to be a dead short. They said they would start at the fuses and relays and work from there. I went ahead and approved the additional time. After two more hours, I was told that the wiring was fine and now they were looking at two control modules and the wiring between them (I'll get to another point later, but I am after-the-fact guessing they were referring to the SSS module and the PCM). After another 1.5 hours I was told the car needed a new "Body Control Module", which they would have to order. I asked what the bill was so far and was presented with 4.5 hours that was $20 per hour HIGHER than the shop rate I had been quoted when I made the service appointment two weeks earlier. Oops, someone must have given me an incorrect rate...I told them to close out my bill and give me a detailed estimate on their recommended repairs with a list of needed parts, part numbers and prices. Kind of felt like I was financing the education on the Cadillac SSS for his service technician and I still did not have a great deal of confidence in his diagnosis. I was told by the guy in the parts department a price for the "needed parts", but "I didn't need the part numbers because they knew which ones to order and would get them when I made another appointment to have the rest of the work done".

Long story short, I referred back to the factory shop manual and could find no "Body Control Module" for a '94 DeVille with SSS. Called back the service writer at my local Cadillac dealer and, after consultation with the service tech, now decided it was the PCM that my car needed. OK, now that's at least a part this car has!

Fast forward to yesterday. Had a reason to call the owner's son and he said the car was taken to their dealer for diagnosis of the same thing before I bought it. He said his dealer had told him whatever was defective was no longer available from GM and the cure was this bypass harness that GM sells. Called that dealer this morning, but no notation was made on the work order except "Check and Advise", but no mention was made as to what the advisement was. This was only about six weeks ago, so I asked to have the tech or writer who handled the car to give me a call back; I'm hoping maybe they remember what they found out when they inspected the car in late October.

Does any of this sound plausible? HELP!!!!!

sdhow
sdhoward@parker.com
 
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#77 ·
Thanks a lot, May Dog. I ordered the resistors yesterday, so I'm going to give it a shot. From there, I guess I'll find out if: the position sensors will cause the system to look for different resistance values based on movement, the rear seeks the same resistance value at the same height, etc. Basically, I want the car to think it's always on a perfectly flat surface and remains happy with that. I'm no hotrodder but "Speed Limited To 90 MPH" just doesn't work for me. :eek:)



maydog said:
Hello,

I am not sure how much the CVRSS system changed between 2000 and 1997. I would suspect that the resistor trick should work. To be sure, try to locate a copy of the service manual and go to the troubleshoot section for the CVRSS struts. An acceptable range of resistance values should be in the table. Alternately, you could disconnect one of the struts and use a multimeter to measure the resistance directly.

If the resistance is ~12 ohms, chances are it will work. At least it shouldn't do any damage. If the number is significantly different - all bets are off.
 
#78 ·
Just a sec, are you having a problem with the strut "sensors" or the ride height sensors? I had assumed that you were asking about the strut sensors. The ride height sensors are a different animal. You can fool it by feeding a 2.5volt signal info the sense line. Just divide the 8v regulated supply or use a zener as some other folks have.
 
#79 ·
T-Double said:
Yea i was wondering how much the air pump for the air ride would cost on a 92 cadillac seville because mine makes funny noises and i was wondering how i can get that fixed cuz it's really loud and yea idk what to do. So if you could send me a message back i would appreciate it.
What do you mean under "funny noises"? It’s possible all right. Every time in ~ 20 sec after you turn on the key, RSS make self diagnostic and you SHOULD hear air compressor running for about a sec, and then you SHOULD hear air exhaust when it opens valve. No point to change air compressor if you hear all that.
 
#81 ·
Thanks, again, Maydog. I was talking about the strut sensors but I'll keep the ride height work-around in mind also. I got the resistors for the struts a few weeks ago, just haven't had time to try it out. When I finally get my procrastinating ass around to doing it, I'll post the results.



maydog said:
Just a sec, are you having a problem with the strut "sensors" or the ride height sensors? I had assumed that you were asking about the strut sensors. The ride height sensors are a different animal. You can fool it by feeding a 2.5volt signal info the sense line. Just divide the 8v regulated supply or use a zener as some other folks have.
 
#84 ·
A year ago I had bought all four shocks and struts for my 95 sedan deville. four months after installing the front struts, they were very harsh, it caused the radiator and other parts to break. I call Denis of Boston, he advised me to buy new softer springs for my front struts, the ride got better for the first three months, now, it's harsh again, but not as before.

Cadillac dealers sell shocks and struts that are not expensive and for the same price as what Boston is selling, you might want to check with them first. do not rush and get boston, I have no problem with the air shocks.
 
#86 ·
this link doesnt work! Is there one that does?
kdybread said:
custom-uniforms said:
Hello everybody,


Check out and print the by-pass solution found at http://caddyinfo.netgetgoing.com/disable.htm

It says only to do this when switching to non electric struts but if you feel your original struts are OK it still works and you can keep your original ones.


do you have a link that talks about a 1995 SLS?
 
#88 ·
I have a 91 Coup Deville with 21300 miles. I have not liked the ride since day one. So while at the dealer about 3 yrs ago I mentioned this during a routine checkup. The service manger (Kuni Cadillac Portland ,OR) said we can re-program that for you!!! Best thing I ever did. Now I on the high setting all the time,,,yet it still keeps all height adjustments etc. I told the service manger that I had no idea why anyone would want those two other settings. He agreed,,,but said women love it.:thepan:
 
#89 ·
My 1992 El Dorado (not Northstar) is also displaying this message. If the ride, which absolutely wallows, is any indication it may be that the struts are worn out. The car has a little over 100K mile on crummy roads. Does the solution of replacing the struts with static ones apply to this car? If so, could someone make a recommendation on the best ones that won't land me in bankruptcy court?
Thanks!
 
#90 ·
On my 02 Escalde, I had the rear dropped 3 inches and the front 2. I did this a few years ago and was told that there was a work around for the service ride control light. After about 8 months, of hearing about this fix, and this new product, I said screw it and went back to the stock ride height with stock suspension :( because nothing worked. Now this is a bit different than your situation, but it was a process that I wish upon NO ONE!

I know GM did not have a buypass, I know no one locally could beat the system, and I know we tried a few different products with no luck. I do not know how much things have changed since this was back in 03, but it sucked. Every so often the light comes back on, but after I shut the car off, it resets itself.
 
#91 ·
Does anyone know how to by-pass the sss system on a 93 deville?
My check sss light is on.
I try the access the system and after the 888 segment all I get is 7.0 on the fuel data center. I read how you can by-pass the check sss light. but the link shown in the fourm is gone non-existed.

dave
 
#93 ·
I NEED HELP FROM ANYONE. I HAVE A 95 CADILLAC DEVILLE AND i AM GETTING TWO MESSAGES ON MY DASH "SERVICE RIDE CONTROL" AND "TRACTION DISABLED". MY "SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT" ALSO COMES ON WHEN I MAKE LONG ROAD TRIPS. SPECIFICALLY WHEN I GET UP TO 65 MPH BUT GOES OFF WHEN I DECREASE MY SPEED. I DID THE ON BOARD DIAGONOSTICS AND I AM GETTING THE FOLLOWING CODES: P027 HISTORY, I027 HISTORY, I039 CURRENT, AND TO67 HISTORY. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SOLUTIONS AS TO WHAT IS WRONG?
 
#96 ·
ok , first clear the codes you have that should shut off the TCS warning , as for IO39 , its pretty common , it could mean problems with the struts , the controller or the data lines...In my case , it was all of the above and i ended up changeing a option setting in my IPC ....most folks can sure the io39 by doing the relay bypass which i belive has been covered in this thread ...

Any idea on if your struts are any good ? does the car bottom out on speedbumps ? like after the front wheels pass the speed bump it bounces down onto the bump with the middle of the car ? how many miles are on it ?
 
#97 · (Edited)
how do i clear the codes?

my car has 86,000 miles. As far as my struts are, i don't think my car bottoms out. My rear seems to be lower than usual. i took my car to Gateway(friend manages the place) and he told me that my struts are fine. He said something about the motor to the rear leveling system isn't coming on. The mechanic told me that he thinks i have a bad motor or something is wrong with my wiring. what do you think?

i've been searching the internet and i found what those codes mean but i still have no idea what they mean. It's like another language to me.

I027- PRND321 switch failure
I039- Loss of Road Sensing Suspension Data
T067- Brake Light Switch Failure(TCS Equipped Vehicles Only)
P027- Open throttle signal switch
 
#98 ·
well after you get your codes by pushing "off and warmer" at the same time you press fan "hi" when it says "PCM?" then push fan "lo" till you see "CLEAR PCM CODES?" push fan "hi" , then itll say "PCM CODES CLEAR" then it should say "PCM?" push fan "lo" till you see "IPC?" then fan "hi" then push fan "lo" till you see "CLEAR IPC CODES?" push fan "HI" ...after that one is done you keep going thru each prompt youll have to do it for "PCM", "IPC" , "TCS"...

Or.....Pull boath batery cables off the battery and hold them together for 15 seconds , this will discharge the capacitors in the system and also clear the codes ....

either way

As for you codes and what they mean .....

I027 is the car is basicly telling you it has no exact idea what gear you are in , the swtich is down on the tranny. grab a flashlight and a helper , have the helper with the engine off run the shifter thru the gears while you watch under the hood int he area of the tranny for something moveing , youll see a cable moving a lever back and forth on a little balck plastic item with several wires coming out of it , this is the swtich the car is talking about .... If you decide to replace this yourself let us know

I039 is basicly that the car is saying "i have no idea what the suspension is doing" , it also can mean its haveing trouble communictaeing or getting results out of the suspension system , this is a very tricky code to deal with ....

T067 , do you have brakelights ? might wanna check ....swtich is located just above the brake pedal under the dash , the vertical portion of the brake pedal rests against it , should have a few wires connected to it (2 i think)

PO27 can mean a few things , most of the time this is in referance to a swtich that among other things cuts off the A/C compressor at full throttle ....

but if i remeber right you said all but "IO39" was a history code
 
#100 ·
depends on your budget , say you bring it to me at the dealership , im gonna charge you about 96 bucks to have my guys figure out whats wrong with it , if you decide to have us fix it , its about the same ammount per hour , with the initial 96 bucks removed ...

really if t rides fine , doesnt bottom out and everything seems fine just let it go ...
 
#101 ·
Terry,

Got the same "Ride control" problems as everyone else with this model DeVille. Tried to visit the web site you suggested http://caddyinfo.netgetgoing.com/disable.htm to Check out and print the by-pass solution but I can't connect to the server. Any chance you have a different web site to pull the information from. Appreciate any help you can muster.

SupraDad

custom-uniforms said:
Hello everybody,

This is a very common problem with these cars.
I got a service manual on ebay and have read up on this.
It can be a loose wire, dirt in the system, the SSS module the IPC, the struts, the sensors, the lift/dive sensors, the accelometers, the level ride system and other things.

There is a way to have the SSS module blink out the problem codes but the info it reports may not be reliable
I am told.

To make a long story short the most economical way to sove this problem is to by-pass the whole system.
I found a webpage that explains how to do it.

You need a couple inexpensive parts the can be found on http://www.gmpartsdirect.com for less money than the dealer.

Check out and print the by-pass solution found at http://caddyinfo.netgetgoing.com/disable.htm

It says only to do this when switching to non electric struts but if you feel your original struts are OK it still works and you can keep your original ones.

The bottom line is when the vehicle is going over 15 miles per hour, or quick starting, or quick stopping, or fast cornering the struts will go from soft mode to firm mode.

Cadillac should have avoided all this technolgy and always
had the struts stay in firm mode in my opinion.

My advise would be keeping your old struts and bypassing the system with the disable information link above.

In the short term you can press the information buttton on the dash to make the service ride control message go away until you start up the car again.

I'm still waiting to here back from the guy who found the IPC is loose under the dash, this would cause a bad wire connection and could be the casue. I'll have my mechanic check it out because both the bulbs that light up PRND are out and the dash has to come off to replace them.

Maybe this is a defect that should be part of a GM recall.
Everyone I know who has a 94 Deville has this problem.
Some spend thousands trying to have ot fixed and it comes back, I say bypass the electronic struts and save your money.

Please advise, Terry
 
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