Gm Sevice Ride Control Solution

[chanty]

Here we go, the full details and i will e-mail you the pictures with comments on them which went very far beyond the details posted in the below link:

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadil...ir-ride-10.html

 

Important Note :

there are 4 different faults in the compressor which one of them will trigger "service ride control message" .

These 4 faults my occur together or sometimes seperatly.

It is a matter of how the self destruction method has started (bad design indeed)

 

Faults:

1- Open solenoid (External - you can resolder the lead as explained in the above link) picture -1

2- Open solenoid (Internal - you can not see the cut copper wire because it is open internally and you need to rewind the coil again)

3- Jammed rotor (The piston crank is rusted jammed due to the rust) pic-3

4- scratched metal layers of the rotor core due to the friction with the stator magnets : the rust particules are like powder and when the rotor is rotating these particules are

coming between the core and the magnets and cause a strong etching of the stator) pic-4 and pic-5 / this case is "not repairable"

 

1 or all of the above fault can occur together .

 

 

In general ,we are talking about very poor design of compressor ,made without paying attention to minimal details with a self distruction mechanism !!!!

 

read and you will understand more.

 

 

Here we go

I have a 2005 cadillac escalade and on the 70000 km i noticed "service ride control message" on the dashboard.

i have pulled the compressor assy and applied 12v dc to the exhaust solenoid but it did not click.

I have tested the coil by the multitester (it should read 21 or 22 Ohms) and found it open.

Unscrewed the 2 screws of the coil housing ,the canister was plenty of corrosion and salt residus .

the full solenoid assy was jammed and strongly corroded pic-6

 

I have dimenteled it and soak it in WD-40 for 1 day .

 

in parallel i ahve removed the tape which is surrounding the coil and found that both leads are well soldered and intact although there is plenty of rust.

 

i have desoldered the 2 leads of the coil and start unrolling out the copper wire to find the internal cut.(the coil length is 77.5 Meters - the copper wire gauge is : 28 .

 

after unrolling half of the bobbin i have found the "cut" pic-7 - i have encountered many cases like that .

 

i have decided to rewind it manually with a lot of patience by making a home made coil rewinder ,using a battery operated screw driver and a stand for a drill (pic-9)

 

i bought a 100 meters of 28 gauge copper wire and a bottle of varnish ,measured a 77.5 meters of copper wire and started winding the coil and applying varnish between layers

till it is done (it took 2 hours to finish it)

 

i kept the assy under the bulb to let the varnish harden under heat so the coil will dissipate easily the heat whenever it is triggered by the car system.

pull out the tiny white cloth filter and clean it -pic-9

 

have resoldered the blue and white wires and assembled the housing and shaft and sealed the canister with silicone sealant.

 

now the solenoid is ready to work.

 

My opinion regarding 3 self destruction methods created by the designer to make the coil life short:

 

1- It is very weird to see a non varnished coil (poor manufacturing quality ,even the coil of any household mixer is soaked with varnish to dissipate heat i think that the manufacturer

made it purposly to shorten the life of the coil)

2- why the internal cut is always on the half way of the coil : it seems that while winding the coil at the factory they scratch the copper wire a little so the coil will get overheated

and cut (pic-7) (i have noticed more than 4 cases) or maybe the copper wire quality that they are using is not 1st grade and similar to the one used in toys or cheap door lock plungers.

 

first self destruction system:

when the exhaust coil is triggered ,the shock absorbers expell the air which is trapped in them and this air contain condensed humidity which turn to water.

the air saturated with water gets into the coil canister during the exhaust cycle (when solenoid is triggered by system) and contaminate gradually the plunger shaft

which will make it jammed .(specially if you do not use the car for a period)

when you start the car with a jammed coils shaft ,the coil get overheated then will cut due to the exessive heat caused by high current being passing thru the coil.

meaning :the magnet field is trying to pull the shaft but it is stuck and overheating the coil.(basic physics)

 

second self destruction system :

u can notice a bleeding hole in this canister connected to the piston crank housing with a hose. where the piston will suck the water from the coil canister and seize it in the crank

case pic-3 .

The seized water in the crank case is causing the crank to get jammed especially if you keep the car without usage for a period of time where the water will start creating rust

and cause the crank to get jammed.(soak it in WD-40 for 1 day and clean it thoroughly alongwith the rotor housing - pic-5)

 

In my opinion ,the manufacturer could have design the compressor in a better way .

 

maintenance tip: from time to time spray a generous amount of WD-40 in the bleeding hose )hose between coil canister and crank housing ,this will displace the water)

 

Important note and you should analyse its purpose:

the piston has 2 functions at the same time.:

during pumping the air to shocks it is sucking condensed air from the coil canister thru the connecting hose. pic-3

 

 

It was a challenge and a lot of patience was needed to do it especially winding the coil but i am happy for the results.

u can make business with your local GM service center and refurbish the compressor for USD. 200 and you can also

buy from scrapp and refurbish them and keep them as a buffer with you for immediate exchange .

 

Remmember it is a common problem for ALL general motors SUVs 2003 to 2010. they use the same air ride system by Delphi.

 

 

If you want simply to get rid of the error message without doing the above work ,simply connect a 22 ohms bulb or cement resistor /low wattage to the white and blue wires to simulate the coil impedance but your air ride will not work (it is only to fool the car computer that the coil exists)

 

i hope that you will get benefit from the above

 

I request everybody to pls. communicate with me whenever you want

 

and on msn : [email protected]

 

best regards

M.Chanty

 

Doha - Qatar

[fyrffytr1]

M,

I appreciate the help however, I sold the vehicle in question and bought an 06 GMC crew cab.

[jeffkey]

Thanks for the tips.......will try again...lol...

[SouthCo]

Didnt read the whole post... Lots of info and mine isn't broke. On my wifes 05 Yukon Denali, hers had that message and it was the the front plastic arm that determines the position of the wheel (in regards to height). Looks like a little metal bar with a plastic piece at both ends. It broke. Cheap part and took my mechanic 10 minutes to replace. I had him do all four corners (1 per wheel).