# Major electrical issue on the GTO. **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Automotive\ **Created:** [September 8, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192 "2009-09-08T09:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dtown611](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/dtown611/32/5340_2.png) [@Dtown611](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Dtown611)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/21 "2009-09-08T20:30:27Z")
no when u replace a bcm, u have to reprogram it using either a tech 2 or a mdi and gm’s Service information. maybe there are ways around it but i probably wouldn’t recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/22 "2009-09-09T10:28:00Z")
I hope you guys are giving GTO specific information about BCM’s. I didn’t have to do any reprogramming on the tib BCM I replaced. ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/23 "2009-09-09T11:26:36Z")
Yeah, swapping the BCM isn’t really an option. Not only is it programmed to the radio but it’s also programmed to the fancy little chipped keys. Not to mention I wouldn’t want to just borrow someone’s $1500+ BCM when a short in my car might be frying it. There are all kinds of nightmare stories on [LS1gto.com](http://LS1gto.com) about Pontiac dealers not even being able to figure out how to link a new BCM to the old keys. However, a little update. Last night I swapped in the new ignition cylinder since GM finally got some of the redesigned parts in stock. While I was at it I crawled under the passengers side dash and checked out the BCM and it’s wiring harness. The connections were tight, no sign of water leaking anywhere, and doing a “push/pull/squeeze” test on the harness I was unable to recreate any of the glitches I saw when I was having problems. That leads me to believe the problem isn’t in that area of the car at least. What I did find was the voltage at warm idle with the lights off and minimal draw was only 13.66 volts. That seems a little low since it should be 14.2-14.5 so now I’m going to be hunting grounds. Someone on [LS1gto.com](http://LS1gto.com) suggesting a ground near the passengers fender that serves at the main ground for the BCM so that sounds like a real good place to start. That plus the two major engine block grounds. After a 50+ mile joyride last night I wasn’t able to recreate a single glitch. Autozone couldn’t read the codes either so before I blow money at the dealer getting a tech II reading I’ll be chasing these grounds. ---
**Author:** ![travisn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/travisn/32/5046_2.png) [@travisn](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/travisn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 11:37am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/24 "2009-09-09T11:37:42Z")
I would get the wiring diagram for the ECM. I couldn’t believe where gm put some grounds in the s10 ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/25 "2009-09-09T11:49:34Z")
I’ve got the full GM service database for Pontiac’s through 2005 installed on my server at home so getting the wiring diagram shouldn’t be a problem. I love ebay and dealers willing to make a quick buck by selling the GM DVD’s and the login. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drvnkd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/drvnkd/32/109615_2.png) [@drvnkd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/drvnkd)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/26 "2009-09-09T11:51:55Z")
Believe it or not, I did not see a BCM on [car-part.com](http://car-part.com) Thats a 1st for me. On the topic of BCM’s, My moms old camaro had issues with it. Her car was DOA whenever the temp dropped below 32 deg. 5 or 6 “Try’s” at the dealer to “reproduce” the problem failed. until, they parked it out side that is… Then they were clueless, but did get to replace the battery that was perfectly fine in the process. She ended up trading it in because they refused to do anything other than reprogram it. When the car was flaky, what was the air temp? ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/27 "2009-09-09T12:12:26Z")
Both times it had been sitting in my attached garage. It wasn’t even one of the colder nights we’ve had. ---
**Author:** ![Storamin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Storamin](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Storamin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/28 "2009-09-09T13:52:23Z")
I had an electrical gremlin that would leave the car dead occasionally, happened 5 times over an 8 month period. Then one time driving it died and restarted itself immediately. Electrical stuff blows brother. I’d say just keep driving it as usual until the problem starts surfacing more often. At some point it will either get worse or better and produce more symptoms. It doesn’t sound like there’s much you can specifically do to figure it out at the moment. It’s at the point where it’s WTF, i’ll try to fix this and maybe that. ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/29 "2010-01-19T16:20:32Z")
Bump ![http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/jsears77/photo-39.jpg](http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/jsears77/photo-39.jpg) Off to Don Davis on a flatbad this morning. Same problems as I was originally having. Good news is they found a short in the ignition and should have the part tomorrow. Great way to start the week (I was off yesterday). ---
**Author:** ![Jam](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jam/32/7235_2.png) [@Jam](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/30 "2010-01-19T17:02:11Z")
Electrical problems are always the worst to try and diagnose, I’d always rather pay someone experenced to fix it than spend hours on it troubleshooting good luck dude ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/31 "2010-01-19T17:08:27Z")
Really have my fingers crossed that the short they found was it. If it is this was money well spent (1 hour diag, $80 part + install + tow). I spent hours checking grounds, harnesses etc etc and there are just far too many miles of wire in a modern car to want to mess with this anymore. I was honestly hoping it wouldn’t fix itself this time so that the dealer could actually troubleshoot it. When the tow truck showed up he wanted to try a few things to get it started and was like, fuck no, drag it up on the trailer and drop it off with the dealer. ---
**Author:** ![nitroinsane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@nitroinsane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/nitroinsane)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/32 "2010-01-19T17:19:18Z")
Don’t you know all tow truck drivers are master techs. ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/33 "2010-01-19T17:26:27Z")
> [@nitroinsane](#): > > Don’t you know all tow truck drivers are master techs. Most of the time I’d let them take a shot. Maybe I’ve been lucky buy my experience so far with tow truck drivers has always been positive. The guy who came to tow my Expedition when it died spent about 15 minutes and got it started. Turned out the main lead on the starter was just corroded. Saved me pulling the starter off and lots of troubleshooting. This though, I knew it wasn’t something simple and I wanted it delivered to the dealer still acting up so they could actually troubleshoot it beyond what I had done. The reason I didn’t take it in last time this happened was I knew once it magically started working again the dealer would never be able to find it. ---
**Author:** ![traumadog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@traumadog](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/traumadog)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/34 "2010-01-19T17:26:50Z")
> [@JayS](#): > > ![http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/jsears77/photo-39.jpg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/3X/a/2/a21bc9aa2f9b26bf11e42487521d4fb04f9b8a12.jpeg) Wow - those wheels look awful familiar… Hope it works out for you. ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/35 "2010-01-19T17:34:16Z")
> [@traumadog](#): > > Wow - those wheels look awful familiar… > > Hope it works out for you. Thanks, and thanks for buying those wheels, selling them for a pretty good deal to the guy who then sold them for half what he paid to you making them a super deal for me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spam16v](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/spam16v/32/5287_2.png) [@Spam16v](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Spam16v)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/36 "2010-01-19T18:08:30Z")
> [@nitroinsane](#): > > Don’t you know all tow truck drivers are master techs. they usually carry a fuel pump wrench and know a couple quick fixes for the typical user error problem. ![http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=tbn&q=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31CJXW64CTL._SL500_AA280_.jpg&usg=AFQjCNExcj6iKNLP-KFLH0hfvx_zL6tzcg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/3X/c/d/cdae7907378f699e05692fa9b216dd2ee1b8cf96.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/37 "2010-01-19T18:55:16Z")
> [@JayS](#): > > I spent hours checking grounds, harnesses etc etc and there are just far too many miles of wire in a modern car to want to mess with this anymore. The miles of wires are easy. It’s all the magical black boxes they end at that you can’t trouble shoot with a multimeter that makes it impossible. :jays: ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/38 "2010-01-20T13:36:41Z")
$270 later the car is home with a new ignition switch and airbag fuse. The switch was shorting causing all the problems. Once the switch was replaced it fired right up other the the airbag light being on. Since it wasn’t on when this started I was worried something else had shorted but the fuse did it’s job. :tup: to Don Davis. ---
**Author:** ![drvnkd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/drvnkd/32/109615_2.png) [@drvnkd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/drvnkd)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/39 "2010-01-20T13:46:53Z")
Didn’t you say that you fixed the ignition and it was not the problem? ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192/40 "2010-01-20T13:58:39Z")
I fixed the ignition cylinder. The metal part the key turns inside. This was a short inside the switch which is a separate piece. [Previous page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/major-electrical-issue-on-the-gto/73192.md?page=3)