lightning Damage
06-16-2017, 05:20 PM
#1
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lightning Damage
I bought my 06 Cobalt LS with an electrical issue. You turn the key and there is no crank no start. Checked all the fuses including the cigarette lighter one. There is power at the OBD2 plug in for the code reader. it has a new ECU and a new BCM but the problem is there is no communication with anything anywhere in the car. When I took to the dealer to have the BCM programmed I found out that the car was struck by lightning in 2014 and it had been sitting that whole time. Dealer says it will get very expensive for me if they would continue diagnosing it and replacing modules. it was recommended that I junk the car. I refuse to buy into that and was wondering what my option are beside parting it out and where do I start? I am about to get the wiring diagram from the dealer for the bus line. Is running new bus line an option or would that be an impossible task?I am sure I can get all my other modules from a junk yard to keep the cost down. Any suggestions and feed back would be greatly appreciated. I have heard of cars getting zapped by lightning without effecting them, I guess this car wasn't one of the lucky ones.
06-16-2017, 09:22 PM
#2
Insurance company would total that car in a second, and you should too.
BUT, if you wanna fix it: Get a complete harness from another car. We've had cars with wiring melted and such, it's nearly impossible to track down all of the damage in one shot, and unless you value your time at absolute zero, it would be much more efficient to swap the whole wiring system in the car with one that hasn't been zapped by lightning. Try to get a full matched set of modules, as if you replace them one at a time from different cars, it will require reprogramming of the system at each step and makes diagnosis difficult. Ideally you could get a complete crashed car as a donor and swap over everything you need.
BUT, if you wanna fix it: Get a complete harness from another car. We've had cars with wiring melted and such, it's nearly impossible to track down all of the damage in one shot, and unless you value your time at absolute zero, it would be much more efficient to swap the whole wiring system in the car with one that hasn't been zapped by lightning. Try to get a full matched set of modules, as if you replace them one at a time from different cars, it will require reprogramming of the system at each step and makes diagnosis difficult. Ideally you could get a complete crashed car as a donor and swap over everything you need.
