Hey guys, I have a 2002 SS, and I'm having problems with the battery rundown relay. It randomly clicks on and off when I drive, and makes the headlights and interior lights flash. I replaced the relay, but the problem didn't go away. I took it to the dealership, and they think I have a bad BCM. I suspect that they're right, but I don't feel like dropping $500 on a new one.

As a temporary fix, I have removed the battery rundown relay, and the problems appear to have stopped. Do I absolutely need that relay? I'm thinking I might just leave it out permanently, and I was wondering if there would be any negative effects from doing this.

 

that relay feeds some things in the car like the interior lights. You don't absolutely need that relay to operate the vehicle but you're just masking the symptom. You can get a remanufacturered (for around $98 after core) BCM from Oriely's auto parts and put it in but it would need to be dealer programmed. You could ask the dealer how much it is for them to program and weigh out the repair options.

If you had a friend that was semi-decent at soldering they could also try touching up the solder joints on the wiring harness plugs for the BCM to see if it's just a bad joint.