The fifth generation Corvette changed a lot of things for GM and Chevy alike, propelling the first GEN III engine in Chevy’s flagship sportscar. While many enthusiasts may decry the same motor being shared by the Camaro and Firebird, the C5 Corvette still holds up very well compared to today’s muscle cars.
Today we’ll be looking at the IPC display, or the 20 character fluorescent readout located above your steering column, and showing you how to retrieve your OBDII Check Engine codes.
For those looking to do-it-yourself at home, pulling your OBDII codes is very simple and straightforward in your 5th generation Corvette.
To enter the “diagnostic display” mode and learn How To Read C5 Corvette Trouble Codes, you’ll need to follow these four steps.
- Turn the key to the “ON” position but without your engine started
- Press “RESET” to clear any warning messages
- Press and hold “OPTIONS”
- While depressing “OPTIONS” press “FUEL” four times within 10 seconds
The first stage of knowing How To Read C5 Corvette Trouble Codes, is to bypass the automatic stage of your on-board diagnostics. This power on self test runs through each module’s DTC in sequence and lights off the codes that are outstanding.
- 10 PCNI Powertrain Control Module
- 28 TCS Traction Control system ABS
- 31 RTD Real Time damping
- 40 BCM Body Control Module
- 60 PC instrument Panel Cluster
- 80 Stereo
- 99 FIVAC Heater Vent-Air Conditioning
- A0 LDCM Left door control module
- Al RDCM Right Door Control Module
- AC SCM Seat Control module
- B0 RFA Remote Function Actuation
What does C and H mean in my IPC?
Now that you’ve got a grasp on how to retrieve your OBDII codes from your PCM, you may be wondering what the letters C and H stand for in the code.
There’s two types of OBDII DTC trouble code, “Current” and “History,” designated with a letter suffix, “C” or “H”. A current code indicates that the malfunction is present in the system whose module is displaying data.
A history code is a code for a condition or error that was present before but has not existed for over 50 ignition cycles. An ignition cycle counts as one event of the engine being fired, and then shut down. This code may mean that your problem is intermittent or perhaps related to voltage, because it’s not a current code.
The majority of these “History” codes relate to the Body Control Module, as most of these errors occur when the IPC is not displaying trouble codes. Because the Corvette does not activate the Body Control Module until engine spark is detected, the “History” codes can often relate to the body control units.
IPC Manual Mode
There are 11 modules for the LS1 in your Corvette as well as all the body functions from door control to rear defroster. Once the IPC has run through all the modules during the startup tests, it will switch to manual mode. You can also enter manual mode at any time by pressing any button during the IPC startup tests.
You can page through the available menu to select the module in question you want to check. Select a system to check for any stored DTC trouble codes. If there are multiple codes you can use the “Gauges” selector to flip through them and “Fuel” button to page back.
To exit the manual diagnostic system, press “E/M” to return to the top level display. If you want to clear or erase codes, press “Reset” to see if your code or problem returns to illuminate your Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL)
You now know How To Read C5 Corvette Trouble Codes as well as clear them, please use the rest of this article to reference OBDII DTC Trouble codes.
Click on the arrow below to check all the Chevrolet Corvette LS1 OBDII DTC Trouble Codes archive.
