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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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#52 ·
Stoneage_Caddy said:
most of us deville guys have our modules in the trunk , there mounted to the back of the rear seat behind a carpet panel witht he suspesnion being almost all the way to the passenger side , we take the panel out to gain acess to the modules (theres a pass key and a couple other modules in adittion to the suspseion module) our suspension modules are held in by two 7mm screws , window can be seen clearly once the module is unbolted

First do the rear seats fold down in a STS ? if so im clueless on where it would be

im pretty sure the systems are similar as im told devilles of the same time were basicly streched Sevilles . But then again i wonder as you have a 94 STS which if memory serves has a northstar . Northstar devilles (concourse) had a diffrent suspesion system than a standard 4.9 litre deville , either because of the concourse package and being the top of the line model in the deville lineup , your sts is the top of the line in the seville lineup so maybe it got the other suspension

probably gave you more questions than awsners , ive never sat in or looked at a STS , hopefully logan or a seville/sts expert can help
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I am out of town right now and dont have access to the Caddy. I do not have the fold down rear seat, but can remove the back pretty easily to look for the module you have indicated.
It does have the northstar, and I will look when I get home on Thursday. I am hoping someone has an idea on how to disable this message. Maybe I have a module that is bad as well and it has nothing to do with the new passive system. I must say these shocks and struts are a great ride, now if I can just get rid of the idiot message!
 
#56 ·
just bought a 96 deville, great car very clean one owner, elderly man passed away only 59,000 mi, everything works except occasionally the "service ride control" lights up on the dash. it rides fine, takes the bumps good. doesn't dip in turns or sudden stops. i read someone on here said they held in the climate control red button in to get code readings? is that true? i tried it and didn't get anything. how serious is this problem? i called a local caddy dealer and they told me it was not a safety issue and to bring it in when i could. thanks for any help art from jackson
 
#59 ·
Stoneage_Caddy said:
hold "off" and "warmer" (that red button)

see what codes you get , i belive the 96 got a diffrent setup than the 94-95 units , might be a cheaper or easier fix

when you get the codes post up here . well figure her out for you
OK I GOT THE CODES, 1. PC 1406 HISTORY 2. RS0012 HISTORY 3. PCM?
DO THESE MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? A DEALER TOLD ME TODAY (JUST CONVERSATION DID NOT TAKE IT IN) THAT IT MIGHT BE REAR SHOCKS, THEY DO SEEM PRETTY BOUCEY. 1996 DEVILLE THANKS, ART
 
#60 ·
P1406 - EGR Valve Pintle Position Circuit (do a search on this , this is a hot topic with the northstar folks)


your RS0012 code being history isnt something to worry about , probabaly a loose/dirty connection but where i cant say as i dont have any "RS" codes to look at , all i know is the "RS" perfix is the suspension system , id start by checking each connector at each strut and shock , i belive 0012 has to do with one of the front struts but im not sure without my code definitions with me
 
#61 ·
There is a procedure to disable the sss module, but only in non-northstar applications.
I'm sure one of these more studied members have a link to the process, which involves wiring a relay in to trick the computer. If you can't find it, I will try to locate the exact procedure and put it here! Good Luck!
 
#62 · (Edited)
I have a 93 Seville STS with the 4.6 Northstar engine. Am converting to passive struts.

How do I disable the SERVICE RIDE CONTROL message?

The links in this and other threads don't address the 93 STS with the 4.6L Northstar. They seem to be for other models, only 4.9L engines, or different years.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
#63 ·
Hi everyone, I have a 92 Eldorado and I'm getting a code 84 message concerning the suspension. Does any of this info here apply for my car?? I'm also hearing a clunking under the hood when I start the car and I think it's the suspension air pump. Are these rebuildable or does anyone have any suggestions. I'm very mechanically inclined and can tacle most tasks but I wanted to get some direction and perspectives first.

Thanks in advance
 
#64 ·
Hi Gang

I just bought a 1993 STS with the Northstar engine. It has the "Service Ride Control" message on the electronic dash. After having read through all the posts on this topic, I am now thoroughly confused! I am an electronics tech and am un-afraid of working on the car......but now I'm not sure which....if any of the posts I've read actually refer to my type of vehicle. Can anyone clarify the situation for me??

Fred_N9TA
 
#65 ·
Fred_N9TA said:
Hi Gang

I just bought a 1993 STS with the Northstar engine. It has the "Service Ride Control" message on the electronic dash. After having read through all the posts on this topic, I am now thoroughly confused! I am an electronics tech and am un-afraid of working on the car......but now I'm not sure which....if any of the posts I've read actually refer to my type of vehicle. Can anyone clarify the situation for me??

Fred_N9TA
At first you gotta check the history codes and then you can try to find a cause of "Service Ride Control" message. I posted some links to diagnostic tree above related to that problem. I guess it was about code P061 (RF wheel related) or something like that.
 
#66 ·
Lets all assume the old SS struts were replaced. How do you disable the message on the 93 STS with Northstar engine? Any suggestions?

Also, my mechanic tells me this model does NOT use the type of struts that have three positions and two wires going to a solenoid to control the orifice. It has a continuously adjustable motor with three wires going to it. I tell you this because the method of placing a resistor where the old strut was will not work on this three wire motor driven version.
 
#68 ·
Hi:

I beg to differ with you on the the "currently is no way to disable the service ride message on the northstar engines", I have a 1996 Seville and a 99 Deville both with northstar engines both with a Boston kit and both have bypasses that work perfectly. By the way I do not work for Boston Susp.TOM
 
#69 ·
I had this same problem with my escalde it basically means for ur air suspension the air compresor which pumps the air in the suspension ir broken. the car u have is a little older so they might not have the part in stock but what u need is a new air compressor and then when they install that u need to ask them to reprogram ur computer or whatever u wanna call the little screen which shows u everthin. i think that should work
 
#70 ·
for most 92 thru 96 models you can find out if your air pump still works by going to the dash board and pressing and holding the fan power up button and the off button untill the instrument cluster lights up and starts doing its code thing... finally when it reaches PCM? you go down the menu by pressing the fan power down button untill you reach RSS?, press the fan power up button to select it and the fan power down button again untill you reach RSS OUTPUTS?, press the fan power up button to select that, then press the fan power down button untill you reach PO08 and dont press anything when it says this... you should hear the air pump alternate on and off, you can do this with any of the codes in that menu to see if the valves work also.... Well thats how it is on my 94 eldo with 4.6 liter northstar anyway... this also helps a lot when you want to find leaks in the system.
 
#71 ·
My seville has the same problem, and diagnosing the ESSC module revealed that the left rear shock isn't working right. but it works fine otherwise just not the hard/soft switch so i'd lke to just shut the error msg up:)

i read on some post that you cut the pink wire and put a relay on it. But i forget what exactly was involved... Is the idea here to put a +12v on the pink wire once the ign is hot?

as i remember you'd hook up constant + to pink through relay, and ign+ to the coil powerup right?

thanks guys, this msg is so annoying:)
Gene
 
#73 ·
Can't get this link above to work...I read the one above that and it does not apply to my year vechicle. I am trying to disable the service suspension light on my 98 seville because I installed passive struts on the front...is there somewhere I can find this information?
Thanks
 
#74 ·
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.
 
#75 ·
Hello, all. I've searched all over this site and I still don't see any definitive answer to my particular question. I have replaced the active struts on my 2000 DTS. I don't have a module to trick the computer so I receive the "Speed Limited To 90 MPH" message. Is there a way to build a module (resistors, relays, whatever) to be rid of this message? I've seen d.i.y. bypasses for the front of '97 Sevilles, etc, but never anything 2000 and beyond. If something is available, I was wondering if it would also work in the rear, or would the rear use a different resistor value? Thanks.
 
#76 ·
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.
 
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