Welding DISASTER... (Part 2 - Parasitic Drain, No Throttle?)

Now the Crazy Cobalt starts and runs, but still has NO THROTTLE response, power steering, and DRAINS THE BATTERY flat overnight.
Let's finish up the diagnostics and see how many used modules we have to buy on eBay!
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Enjoy the diagnostics marathon!
Ivan

[@calholli]

Finding the bent pin was a god send. lol.. Bent pins, burnt wires, fried modules, parasitic draws, leaking radiator, feathers in the tailpipe. lol.. This car has a story to tell.

[@throttlebottle5906]

it's almost too good to be true, either a crazy setup or they really should be banned from ever touching/repairing or owning any vehicles in the future. 🤪🤪

[@petepeabody8905]

I believe you are quite an awesome man. Just from the start in my opinion 98+ of all techs would have backed away and told the owner I'm not taking this nightmare on. However Ivan with you it was so cool that you were up front with the customer and let him make the judgement call, even after you knew you've opened a can of worms, and the worms were half dead.You my good man are so very deserving of all the great comments that are given to you. Thank you and GOD bless you.......Pete

[@GarnConstructionInc]

This owner came to the right place. Over 30 years ago I started out as an electronics tech fresh out of school with a control panel mfg for water control systems. A few years later as a field tech I was measuring a ground switched 12 volt DC relay contact having a 120 VAC feed. The relays back then had a the protection diode mounted across the coil terminals on the plug in base. Long story short my dvm probe popped off the screw and slid over on the contact pad shorting 120 vac to the 12 vdc power on the diode. It was an immediate fireworks show complete with transistor and ic chip shrapnel after letting the smoke out. (Solid State devices were coined as a pre smoke condition.) This series reminded me of about a day and a half I spent repairing half a dozen custom circuit boards that made up the control panel. Salvaging modules has become a lost art but not here!

[@edwinlomonaco6754]

This customer is lucky that you exist. This type of job IF taken on by almost any other shop would cost far more.

[@KaldekBoch]

This needs to be a case study/example shown to everybody considering welding on their car. I knew it was risky but holy crap.

[@calholli]

Yeah.. It seems like that's not the whole story here though. Remember, another shop had it before this.

[@SuperBuzzbomb]

The bigger question is did the owner disconnect the battery before welding on the car? I ALWAYS disconnect the battery before doing so.

[@StagArmslower]

@@SuperBuzzbomb It's possible he used negative battery terminal as welding ground listening to the radio

[@Bobbywolf64]

@@SuperBuzzbomb That isn't what is happened here. If you go back you will see that the welding actually caused a fire in the insulation/carpet, which melted together the harness under the seat. That's not to say that disconnecting the battery isn't a good idea, but if you have good grounds you can get away with it most of the time. Here, he had data wires exposed to 12v, and/or welding voltage, which is why a bunch of them bit the dust in this case.

[@paulmoir4452]

@@SuperBuzzbomb As an electronics guy, I've never really understood why this would help. I can imagine why it would harm. To be specific, there are diodes on inputs (generally the more sensitive parts) that direct any induced energy to the power rails. If they're not connected to a big sink like a battery, the charge can build up to a destructive voltage. There ought be other things to protect but these would be expected in any circumstance. In this case Boobywolf64 explains this wasn't the cause, and I strongly suspect it was welding voltage since you normally design these things to get shorted to 0 or 12v without harm in cars.

[@AppalachianRancher]

Watching Ivan plug the fuses back in was like playing the game operation just waiting for the buzzer to sound.

[@hightttech]

I have credited that game many times in my career for helping me navigate tight spots with te

[@lynskyrd]

Ivan, your persistence, organization and diligence is unsurpassed. I'd go into battle with you.

[@rancelynch6514]

Ivan you are the circuit surgeon---now you have learned to visually inspect the pins because its not always electronic failure, Good thinking and thankful for your calmness and patience in diagnosing this automobile problems, Another good learning video!

[@gerrymoeller]

It's always a good idea. I had one Friday that wouldn't crank after the engine was changed. The old engine had a new window in the block right behind the starter. So you would think it must have started and drove before. Appon checking it, we noticed it doesn't know what gear it is in. Well diagram says ECM and IPC gets its signal thru a separate communication line. Now 15-30 mins in checked TCM connection no bent or broken pins but the pin for that wire was missing... MIA. All on a car that ran to throw a rod.. 🤷‍♂️

[@kennethnichols7263]

Great Ivan! People talk about the environment and being green. This is truly being green. You turned a large hunk of metal and plastic into a functioning car. I love it!

[@paulmoir4452]

The triangle should have been a square. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle should have been Reduce-Repair-Reuse-Recycle.

[@m2autoworks]

this is going to be a 10 part series. I love it

[@arcademania7544]

The labor time alone, is more than what the car is worth. I mean it's a rusty Chevy Cobalt. 😏

[@baxrok2.]

Finding and saving that ECM pin was sweet. This is a real basket case study. Thanks Ivan!

[@barry009]

Ivan, you have so much patience working through these problems. Peel back another layer of the onion! Great video, thanks for showing us the process.

[@cwstout1]

This is like watching a movie of hero vs villian, you know the hero is going to win. Just a lot of drama between the beginning and end, but you know who the winner is going to be.

[@johnclamshellsp1969]

Good morning Ivan. Always great work you do. You take the jobs no dealer or most mechanics would touch, but get them fixed every time. Also wanted to thank you on a past Chevy silverado chaffed trans harness video you had. My friends Suburban had same issue. All fixed easy because of you.

[@embreesmith7613]

Thanks Ivan Hope You, the Wife, and Horse are well. 🙂 Day hello to your Dad, I worked once in his lab at Cornell

[@randy1ization]

for someone to spend that much money to fix a turd, throw away car like that is really a sign of how bad things are with used cars right now. good job Ivan your amazing!

[@dtandfam8100]

Impressive how you can stay so organized and focused throughout your diagnosis. My ADHD would have kicked in and left me tangled up in test leads! 😅 Awesome case study Ivan. Thanks for sharing!

[@msilver9157]

Ivan I’m from back in the day. I loved it when when car manufacturers started going to feedback systems. My dad and I worked together for many years and he was slow coming onboard. The one thing I see and don’t see lol is hrs of work you spent on this study. It’s a great study for many of your KZbin fans. Ty so much for what you do. When you are older you will look back and know you taught so many younger guys and girls in this field. Lol getting them ready for the EV world

[@boilertech44]

Ivan, your patience is truly a gift.. I would have kicked a few things around the shop. Or maybe you cut that part out? Lol Thanks for the great videos!

[@additudeobx]

Hats off Ivan.... I have repaired dozens of bent connector pins, that is one delicate process that takes a surgeon's hands and eyes. First the pick lift, then the needle nose... you're awesome to watch.

[@phillully4472]

WOW, Ivan, this car system really got fried from poor thought prior to welding. It's good that you were able to figure out what was working and what was not.

[@billziegmond4943]

Awesome NPR on ECU. Most shops would have thrown another ECU at it. Nice work my friend.

[@suryaprihadi2258]

Its never purely about money for you Ivan. You love the challenge and you have a soft kind heart.😇👍

[@cullenmiller8170]

Great detective work and finding that bend pin on the ECM will save some money. Maybe you can get a radio with the money saved. This Cobalt is the gift that keeps on giving.

[@konstantintomilin1826]

That's why you disconnect the battery when doing any job on a car, even unrelated to any electrical systems like welding a rust hole.

[@davidgreening173]

I work in IT, and have learnt that bent pins trick on many a vga card, and the more you keep trying cables the more you bend it. Only takes a few seconds to check the pins before plugging in. A good catch here!

[@markb3129]

Patience is a virtue and you have plenty of it Ivan. Wonder if the owner learned a lesson on welding on a vehicle! Bet this one is for sale as soon as all the repairs are done.✌🏻

[@_RiseAgainst]

Ivan the fat cables prefer to be called portly cables.

[@markujcich4245]

I wish I had the time, I could watch your channel all day. Nice job!

[@calholli]

I've gone back and watched nearly ALL his videos. lol.. It takes a while.

[@TheRealJerseyJoe]

Incredible. Well done Ivan.

[@tommiller4490]

I'm getting ready to weld a patch under my son's car for inspection. After watching part one I checked above the area under the seat and saw a harness almost directly above. I'll now shield it before the work! Thanks for helping me save a headache! Let the customer know his frustration does have a positive karma attached!

[@throttlebottle5906]

pull the seat, carpet/padding(fire hazard), remove any modules/electronics within three foot radius(yeah a pain!) and move/raise the harness/wiring way up away from the welding work area, ideally you want one foot or more separation, due to power induction from the huge magnetic fields. welding discharge causes a giant uneven/pulsing magnetic fields to occur and that will induce unknown voltage levels with unknown current amounts(possibly very high power) into the wiring and all metals around it, it also tends to magnetize everything.

[@10100rsn]

If you're going to weld on a modern car you need to, 1) disconnect and remove the battery. 2) electrically connect the main positive and negative lead of the car inside the battery bay. 3) make sure there is nothing to melt or destroy near where you're welding especially wiring. Connecting the main positive and negative leads will put everything at ground potential. Everything at the same potential should reduce the chance that you fry a module while welding. If you melt wires you're still in trouble but you might be in less trouble with fewer dead modules... But just don't melt wires and you should be fine.

[@MrJoey1570]

Always glued to my seat watching these big jobs😅

[@donb1661]

Owner should reconsider and have you do the radiator too. He's too far into it to try to save a little money.

[@adriancremen3537]

Thanks Ivan Really enjoy these long form videos

[@Kntryhart]

Classic parasitic drain on the wallet! Remove car, parasitic drain gone!

[@williamhanna5224]

Nice work !

[@jaystierheim1390]

Ivan - when you are straightening a bent pin use heat to reduce the probability it will break. A heat gun on low will help. I did a 28 year career in the Navy working on submarines and we always used heat on bent pins.

[@timd1833]

Nice find on the bent pin!!!

[@pauljennings4248]

Job well done.

[@everythingbutkoi6898]

Amazing as usual!

[@RichardWright-ty8gr]

Ivan, The man of great patience and perseverance!

[@robbflynn4325]

Top top work!

[@dh-_1011]

Ivan, just watching this makes my head spin! I don’t know how you do it. You are a wizard on this stuff!

[@glenharper3136]

Great video as always Ivan.

[@DaveSender66]

Nice work here Ivan. Lots to learn from this case study for sure!!!

[@jimforsyth2.]

I thought you used the throttle to blow more birds out the exhaust .

[@rick5515]

Thank You, off to part 3

[@bellasvistas3463]

What a great diagnosis. Trenendous attention to detail bothe in the parisitic draw and notably straightening that bent pin. I had something similar on a PC Cpu. Thanks again Ivan for some greaat entertainment and some transferable knowlege. Mike.

[@ricfair9919]

A mini series. These are great videos. You are teaching so much just from this one car!

[@soundman6241]

Intense troubleshooting is a very frustrating process but once completed, it is a very satisfying experience.

[@AP9311]

Well, i was half right, you did couple of russian repairs lol. You fixed the ecm and other things, haha. Awesome video! Let's see part 3. This it's the part I'm excited about is the installation of all the modules and programming!!! Great job Ivan!

[@porky7753]

Great content Ivan, it's always harder when the other shop hacks work on a car first.

[@bluejayoutpost9170]

Ok say the negative cable was disconnected. But when welding occurred the coating on the wires were melted hence copper wires now touching together. When negative cable connected after weld job completed to me is when shorts were made and burnt modules-Right Ivan..

[@hpelisr]

Nice work Ivan, you can save this one.

[@willefixit]

back in the 90s had a honda accord was hit by lighting only clue was blue burn mark on the roof. and customer saw it get hit . i had to change out all modules. and relays .absolutly every thing was fried .was a dealer tech at the time .was coverd by insurance. /good job ivan.

[@konstantinusstoyanov9749]

It's such a personal fulfillment be able to handle all that, thanks

[@brianw8963]

This one is going pretty much as I thought it would. Now I’ve got this older Cadillac Escalade coming with the dash looking like Clark Griswald’s house at Christmas. Thinking My PHAD training is going to get a workout. Kinda looking forward to it actually. Nice work Ivan, and Thank You. 👍👍🇺🇸

[@blueskiesmobileauto4253]

Well done man! A lot of great learning as always!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Man this one was a grind lol... Kind of time consuming when ALL the modules are fried 🤣

[@BoweryPenguin8]

Had a 2004 gm product with a locked radio. Found a forum where you could break off this part on the circuit board and the radio was unlocked. I think the radio still throws like a cal error on the screen but all the radio functions worked. It’s been forever since I did that I was surprised it worked!

[@windward2818]

Ivan, you should learn how to repair electronic modules, you have good hand dexterity, and this particular vehicle is a very good example of how repairing modules can be very lucrative. Meaning, all that really need to be replaced, based on my experience, is the CAN physical layer transceiver IC (usually an 8 pin surface mount part), which are readily available. But, beyond just this particular repair, for many module repairs, it is actually a lot faster and more reliable to just repair the module that you have. Why, you know the history or the module, you know the failure mode, it is already programmed, and if you understand the circuitry you can actually replace parts that are high known failure rate to extend the life of the module. Let me know if you are interested in learning how to repair modules, I can give you some advice. The 50 Amp fuse close to the battery is a MAXI type blade slow blow fuse. There are MEGA fuses but they usually have a screw type hold-down / attachment and in general are rated for higher current than the MAXI type fuse. Modules may not go to sleep if they cannot communicate over CAN to receive a sleep message. You should tackle the parasitic draw after the car is running. The software state machine for a network to go to sleep may be very complex and also need all of the factory modules present, and as you know may take up to a half hour to complete. So you should address the ON-STAR failure as part of the repair, it may have to be present on a system level to permit deep sleep. Reprogramming the radio will require a functioning network interface and bus. Unless it has a dedicated port like ISO9141 which I very much doubt. Good job straightening the ECU connector pin. If you spray the pins with Deoxit D5 it will clean and lubricate the pins making mating with the harness connector much less force.

[@Stoney3K]

Yikes! With the amount of carnage on the airbag module the owner is probably lucky that the airbags didn't blow in his face.

[@johnpappas2060]

Bless Ivan, this is one of your best series videos ever. Your patience will be rewarded. Thanks 🙏 Fr. John

[@johndurcan8833]

Cool work Ivan. Impressed with your diagnosis & your tenacity! That Cobalt is really making you earn your fee! Love it when you get things back up without replacing stuff - that bent pin was a great catch. Enjoying this immensely 🙂 Can't wait to see the next one...!

[@markt5426]

Hi Ivan, Very Impressive... 👍👍👍

[@Corey497]

Noting but diagnostics... Love it.

[@hometownautorepair3121]

Great work ! I can’t believe you brung her back from the dead, most shops would’ve been sending it down the road, truly amazing 🤩

[@TheOnespeedbiker]

I really appreciate you giving up your ballpark estimate. I agree with the owner's thought process; with the outrageous used car prices these days, paying $1000 to keep a beater running makes a lot of sense. With the average 10 year old car going for $10,000 to $15,000 (5 YO cars $20,000- $30,000), I think there is going to be a lot more people putting money into older cars.

[@shanestrains2849]

Can't wait for part 3...

[@throttlebottle5906]

for bent pins, a pick to gain a tiny bit space is a good start, then use a small brass tube that just fits over the pin diameter to straighten it out carefully. I guess most hobby shops(car/plane/heli?) would still have various sizes of small brass tubing. then again, not many nitromethane/gasoline powered models anymore, with most everything being electric now.(showing age clearly)

[@jalopy2472]

This is why I will stock up on 90s Cars. CAN networks are a nightmare.

[@claytoncoolidge992]

Glad you are getting a liability waiver Ivan I always get one from any customer that is not really interested in anything more than make it drive. Curious though this is acting like blown capacitors in the modules did you pop any open to see if you could find any caps blown and replace them if so?

[@badgerdave22]

Wow, what a freaking mess... Looking forward to part 3, Professor Ivan! 😁

[@jeffland197]

VeryGood Thank You

[@danman9017]

i must say your good tech and good guy

[@SiR2Dean]

It's generally "better the devil you know," I've found with cars...

[@sohailrabani]

Great effort 👌 to save a customer to get his 🍋 lemon.i wonder how these complicated faulty cars finds there way to you😮.cheers and waiting for conclusion 👍🏿

[@Sandmansa]

The shear amount of electrical damage is shocking. No pun intended. lol. To think, most of this could have been prevented by disconnecting the ground lead from the battery before and during any welding process. And good prep of the weld area is essential to help prevent potential fires. Lessons learned, I guess. I know first hand just how frustrating jobs like this can get. But I just love watching you work Ivan.

[@theGADGETSplaylist]

the heat from that botched welding job is nothing compared to the heat that poor bugger must be getting from his wife🤣

[@gonzgarr1592]

love your vidios they are great thank you

[@SAMSAM-zr3hs]

Ivan the great, very big well done again

[@mikechiodetti4482]

You are amazing! On to part 3. I know personally some ebay parts are good, having had that experience. Fingers crossed on the 3 modules your ordering. There was the radio and one other item that need replacement. What happens to those? I may have missed that part.

[@arlo4051]

It's getting to the point it's like having an F-35 as a daily driver without a team of technicians on call. One broken wire , a little corrosion , a voltage spike and your walking.

[@tam1381]

Take your bets for Ivan buying an air bag module !!!!!

[@larrybe2900]

It's a wonder none of the airbags deployed outright.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Wow! Great job finding rationality in such a caos, Ivan! What a collection of owner mistakes - this could be called "What not to do to your car". Part 3 should be less troublesome, I guess :-)

[@zx8401ztv]

Smashing, its a step forward :-D Bent flat pin, Oow i really expected it to snap, thankfully it didn't. Fingers crossed that you don't/didn't have any more problems. Get the man a horse and cart, less stressful :-D.

[@dasouth1978]

Thanks for saying the amperage each time.

[@eddiereichel9354]

Few years back I did a drain test on a cobalt. I tracked it down to a bcm fuse. Ended up finding a door lock fuse missing. It was a feed for bcm also. Called customer he said yea locks were going nuts and I e ended up pulling that fuse. Installed it and draw went away but locks were cycling due to stuck switch.

[@happy543210]

Wow! Ivan, you are the patron saint of lost causes.

[@michaeljohnson1006]

Ok always keep a big co2 fire extinguisher next to the welder and use it to cool the job down as well.

[@mikecalvin1402]

Hell of a job 🎉😂😅

[@andyvitz]

Here's a really neat invention if you had like a set of needle nose pliers with a two-pin connector just two pins you could go through and any bent pin you see with the two pin connector see what I'm thinking here you'd automatically be able to fix and straighten any pen I just don't think there's an item out there like that

[@andrewcanavan7031]

im sorry for the poor welder that didnt pull the battery out 1st before starting the job

[@pmkstudios]

Not the best car but it is hard to find anything decent under $5k so they definitely have the best diagnostician on the job!

[@dustcommander100]

Amazing recovery from what seemed like a hopeless situation! I'm curious as to whether the eBay ECM has the car's serial number programmed in (or did the original one get reinstalled?), because my understanding (quite limited and possibly incorrect) was that the radio had to see that its programmed data matched the ECM's serial number data to unlock. I read that if a radio is removed, it will be locked until the original vehicle's serial number is read off the network. I wonder if the other modules are that way. Can't wait for Part 3. Super interesting!

[@anthonysova7117]

IVAN NICE DIAGNOSIS I have a request in bonus footage included and explain all the research time and the needed information that takes your time. Unbelievable how much time and work u put in to make this video to ur viewers CHEERS By the way how’s the heat pump doing?

[@advancedleveldiagnostics]

Wow, great job! All I can say it's good thing this is not a global A vehicle or it would have been a lot more expensive!

[@ScottPuopolo]

Ivan, what kind of welding! That is some psychotic damage!

[@mechtechtools838]

We played the say Parasitic Draw Drinking Game. I couldn't even get up by the end of the video 😜

[@54tony379]

there was a recall on the power steering i had one