struck by lightning need advice

[black_demon69]

04 chevy silverado
was struck by lightning and won't start also has alot of electrical gremlins...

won't communicate with scanner (i'm thinking ecu)
question is how to proceed with diagnosis?

 

[ratdude747]

04 chevy silverado
was struck by lightning and won't start also has alot of electrical gremlins...

won't communicate with scanner (i'm thinking ecu)
question is how to proceed with diagnosis?

Yeah the ECU is likely messed up. There are places that will re-flash them for less than a new ECU.

You might be able to find an ECU at a pull-it yard for cheap. Any sort of EMF discharge (arc welding, lightning strike, etc.) will often cook electronics especially if the battery was connected at the time (hence why one should disconnect the battery when doing body welding).

I hate giving "part-changing" answers like this but when the ECU is suspect and the scanner won't connect, unless you have a bad scanner (or scanner settings), the ECU is pretty much always the issue.

 

[black_demon69]

scanner is a modis and customer was struck at 65 mph

just have never seen a vehicle get struck before

 

[adsm08]

scanner is a modis and customer was struck at 65 mph

just have never seen a vehicle get struck before

It happens. There has to be a wire hanging down to complete a ground path, or the driver has to be unlucky enough to drive into an active bolt. The vehicle itself is very unlikely to attract a bolt by itself, tires and electrical insulation and all.

It is probably going to need a PCM and the least, and a more likely scenario is that every electronic module on the vehicle will need replaced. This is the part where I start recommending a new vehicle.

If you (or the customer) are dead set on fixing this thing though, start with diagnosing the no communication issue as if it was any other vehicle, ignore the fact that it got struck by lightning. Pretend the customer walked out to go to work in the morning and it wouldn't start, and when you got it it wouldn't talk. Given what happened there is a very good chance whatever is causing the no communication issue is also causing the no start issue.

 

[Curious Hound]

You don't have to have wires hanging down to provide an electrical path. Some tires are engineered to conduct enough electricity to prevent static build-up while driving. Just something I learned while working at a Michelin manufacturing plant years ago. If the vehicle was close enough to the lightning, all bets are off. That's some wicked stuff.

 

[black_demon69]

It happens. There has to be a wire hanging down to complete a ground path, or the driver has to be unlucky enough to drive into an active bolt. The vehicle itself is very unlikely to attract a bolt by itself, tires and electrical insulation and all.

It is probably going to need a PCM and the least, and a more likely scenario is that every electronic module on the vehicle will need replaced. This is the part where I start recommending a new vehicle.

If you (or the customer) are dead set on fixing this thing though, start with diagnosing the no communication issue as if it was any other vehicle, ignore the fact that it got struck by lightning. Pretend the customer walked out to go to work in the morning and it wouldn't start, and when you got it it wouldn't talk. Given what happened there is a very good chance whatever is causing the no communication issue is also causing the no start issue.

it is an insurance claim so decision to fix is not mine but if it was i would just walk away and recommend a new car especially since it is 12 years old.

for all i know the wiring got cooked as well.. i can tell you that ecu, and cluster for sure are done for sure and if i had to guess i would say that all modules in the vehicle would need to be replaced. but after all that then wiring and sensors could be an issue..

i doubt that they listen to me though.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Sounds like a parts truck to me...

I have heard tires are not enough to insulate you from lightning.

 

[BLOODBANE]

See if there is a way to "jump" the data port to count the flashes of the CEL (I have to do this with my Explorer). I have a bad wire somewhere that will not let the scanner connect with the vehicle. Its a PITA, but works (somewhat). If still no signal, ECU....

 

[ratdude747]

See if there is a way to "jump" the data port to count the flashes of the CEL (I have to do this with my Explorer). I have a bad wire somewhere that will not let the scanner connect with the vehicle. Its a PITA, but works (somewhat). If still no signal, ECU....

GM OBDII doesn't let you do that. Not like early OBDII Hondas which strangly did keep a jumper-flash method for pulling codes.