Astra H VXR Sprint

This year’s first trackday is booked for Friday 20th February at Snetterton, another MSV Trackdays organised event on the 300 circuit.

Photos will follow.

In time for next week’s first trackday of the year the new CIM (Column Integrated Module) arrived today. The temporary ‘slave’ CIM used for diagnosing the fault was removed having first been reset on Tech2 so it can be used again and the new CIM fitted. It was then programmed to the other modules in the car and the keys were reprogrammed to the immobiliser. Programming using Tech2 is pretty straight forward, you programme the High, Mid and Low Speed CAN configurations, enter the VIN, programme the keys (both of them – the spare is often forgotten about!) and enter the key number.

Torque figure for the steering wheel to steering column is 30Nm, using blue threadlock.

Astra H CIM

When the replacement engine bed was fitted and the power steering rack was swapped over from the original engine bed to the new engine bed, I decided to replace the power steering fluid as well. The ZF steering rack takes a special hydraulic fluid which is Pentosin CHF202. This is OE to many manufacturers including GM/Opel/Vauxhall, BMW, Audi, Porsche, VW, Volvo and Ford.

Pentosin CHF 202

I had to remove the rear light clusters recently, not for the first time however, but that gave me another opportunity to make sure even the unseen areas are kept clean and tidy. A quick wipe clean, touch in the areas where the lights had rubbed through the paint and a coat of sealant for good measure. Some might say this is a little excessive, but you would be surprised how much dirt and grime can gather behind the rear light clusters.

Left Rear Light Housing

Right Rear Light Housing

Towards the end of last year, occasionally at start up the dials would drop out and then do their ‘VXR’ reset sweep and various dash lights would come on. Then once it had ‘reset’ itself everything was fine. Also from time to time the car would not turnover, not recognising the key, and so would not start. It didn’t cause any issues but was something that would need further investigation at some point.

That point has arrived with the instrument panel now resembling Blackpool Illuminations almost all of the time…..

Various dash lights illuminating either at random or all at once, rev counter dropping out and then carrying out the ‘VXR’ reset sweep and returning to normal opration, fuel gauge dropping to empty, headlights coming on with the headlight switch in the ‘off’ position, headlights coming on as expected when switch on but then failing to go off when the switch was turned off, rear lights coming on at random, indicators sometimes refusing to work……. Additionally sometimes the car would fail to start and the management light would flash, indicating an immobiliser problem which is part of the CIM module.

A quick check on Tech 2 listed many communication errors between all of the modules on the car (see post below for DTC’s) – CIM (Column Integrated Module), REC (Rear Electrical Centre), UEC (Underhood Electrical Centre), ABS/ESP (Anti-Lock Brake and Electronic Stability Module), and ISP (Instruments) which meant tracing the problem would be down to systematically checking the common error codes on TIS and working through and checking each module to eliminate them one by one.

Where to start?

Initial thoughts…. It was the CIM playing up, not uncommon on Astra H. While swapping one isn’t that difficult to do, it is quite involved so due to all the trouble codes it was worth checking the other modules first.

UEC: Water Ingress in the UEC can cause issues, but after unplugging and checking this was all ok, so the contacts were given a clean and grease to prevent any future problems.

REC: There were few DTC’s relating to lack of communication between the REC and UEC, REC and CIM and REC and ABS/ESP. The REC is easy to change as there are only 6 electrical plugs to remove and a single bolt holding it into the car. I had a spare REC to hand so it was worth trying it to eliminate it. The original REC was reset on Tech 2, battery disconnected and then removed and the replacement REC fitted. The replacement REC I had was from a later 2008 car but compatible as it was in the same ident range. The new REC was programmed on Tech 2, VIN entered and coded and all worked fine, however after some testing the same DTCs were present suggesting that the problem lay elsewhere.

CIM: As stated earlier the CIM units are known to cause issues, so having looked at the UEC and REC the next option was to try a replacement CIM module. The occasional loss of communication between key and CIM suggesting an immobiliser issue pointed strongly towards the CIM unit as well. Slightly more involved to replace unlike the REC and UEC as the airbag and steering wheel have to be removed to access the CIM and it needs resetting prior to removal and reprogramming again (using Tech2 or similar), but I had a spare second hand CIM to try so it was swapped onto the car, and after reprogramming all the troublesome DTCs had gone and the instruments appeared to be functioning normally.

A brand new CIM unit has been ordered (thankfully they are not too expensive at trade price!) and will be swapped over before the first track day.

With the instruments doing really weird things (see post above) these were the trouble codes read by Tech2:

Stored in DIS – Info Display:
U2141 Can Bus No Communication with REC
U2140 Can Bus No Communication with UEC
U2100 No Communication with Can Bus Low Speed

Stored in REC – Rear Electrical Center:
U2140 Can Bus No Communication with UEC
U2116 Can Bus No Communication with IPC
U2113 Can Bus No Communication with SDM
U2100 No Communication with Can Bus Low Speed
B3089 Pane Breakage Sensor Rear Window Heater Circuit Open or High Voltage
B1375 Switched System Voltage (Ignition On) Not Plausible With CAN Signal
B0655 Brake Light Switch Circuit Incorrect Signal
B3916 Alarm Siren Battery Voltage Low

Stored in UEC – Underhood Electrical Center:
U2141 Can Bus No Communication with REC
U2139 Can Bus No Communication with CIM
U2116 Can Bus No Communication with IPC
U2100 No Communication with Can Bus Low Speed
B1375 Switched System Voltage (Ignition On) Not Plausible With CAN Signal

Stored in IPC – Instrument Panel:
U2139 Can Bus No Communication with CIM
U2140 Can Bus No Communication with UEC
U2141 Can Bus No Communication with REC
U2100 No Communication with Can Bus Low Speed
P0460 Fuel Level Sensor Circuit Range/Performance
P0115 Engine Coolant Temperature Signal Range/Performance
P0654 Engine Speed Signal Range/Performance
P0500 Vehicle Speed Signal Range/Performance
P0550 Mileage Circuit Range Performance

Stored in CIM – Column Integrated Module:
U2141 Can Bus No Communication with REC
U2140 Can Bus No Communication with UEC
U2116 Can Bus No Communication with IPC
U2100 No Communication with Can Bus Low Speed
B3977 Wrong Environment Identifier Received UEC
B3929 Wrong Environment Identifier Received REC
B3925 Wrong Environment Identifier Received IPC

Stored in Engine ECU:
P1616 CIM Wrong Environment Identifier
P1614 Wrong Transponder Key
P0136 No Plausibility between O2 Sensor Bank 1 Sensor 1 and O2 Sensor Bank 1 Sensor 2

Stored in CDC (Computer Damping Control) which has been disabled:
C0000 Damper Mode Switch Info Via CAN BUS Incorrect Signal