What "skills"? You purchase a solder iron for $9 on Amazon. Open the BCM case and remove the circuit board. Plug in the soldering iron. Wait a few minutes. Hold the soldering iron like a pencil and touch the hot tip to each of the 5 points in the photo at the top of the topic until the solder melts on each one. Put the circuit board back in the case. Done.
$9m versus $212, your choice.

 

So I was taking out some old stereo wiring and a lot of what was connected around the bcm wiring i tore out... Little did i know i took apart some wires that allowed me to lock and unlock my car with my key fob. Well i was able to get the fob to lock the car but not unlock so i crossed two wires and pop.... There goes my bcm.... How can i fix this issue? Will post pic

 

If you can use a soldering iron, this is easy to fix. Two ways to do it:

Method 1 uses one long bare single strand wire to join all 3 component leads together. I would loop the wire around at least the two end ones. Then apply solder to the end ones and the lead in the middle of the trace so the solder flows joining the leads and the wire.

Method 2 uses two short bare single strand wires to bridge just the damaged areas.

A small 30 watt iron should work fine and be cheap to buy. Buy a small amount of solder also if none comes with the iron. You can practice a bit first before doing the repair. For each method, use one hand to hold the heated pointed end to the circuit trace and the other hand to feed the solder. Don't hold the iron to the circuit board for more than a few seconds at a time. The solder only needs to be in 3 places for method 1 , or 4 places for method 2.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this, find a friend or neighbor who does.

By component leads, I mean the silver colored areas. By trace, I mean the bare copper areas.

Don't allow the solder to "bridge" to adjacent circuits

 

thanks Gary! I can do rhis no problem as ive already fixed the radio, window components last week. Now i just need to find the correct wires that will allow me to lock and unlock my doors using the after market alarm that was put in. Ive got power to lock but i cannot unlock using key fob... All was fine before ripping out old stereo wiring and what not..
But again, thanks! Ill try this right now

 

It works great! Not so pretty but it saved me from a trip to the junkyard or buying one from ebay. Check the pic! Heres my bridge work lol. It works though! This connects the power door locks

 

For everyone that has the radio/power window problem I too thought my BCM was failing however I might have found a less expensive and easier fix! Now I can't be sure but time will tell. I replaced the window and door switches on the driver side last Wednesday and drove around all day Thursday and Friday with my radio on and it did not cut off at all. Not once! The Temperature was in the high 70's and 80's both days and in the past would not have been able to play my radio. My window flies up and down better than before and I did not think it was slow before. I only replaced the switches because they were looking worn but worked fine. Now like I said I can't be sure and time will tell as we get into the summer heat which is typically when I would have the problem but 2 days is more than I have gotten in the past 3 years so I am hopeful that this fixed the problem. I am not a mechanic so I don't have any idea why this would help and have not read anywhere that even suggested this as a fix. Coincidence? I will post if anything changes.

 

Glad that the switch replacement worked out for you, for now. I'm still not understanding how your power window switch could have any impact on your radio, but, if it works, it works. The soldering on the back of the BCM PC board took me about two hours out in the driveway about four years ago and most of that time was getting the PC board out of the car and getting it back into the car. I sold the car a couple of years ago and the radio and power windows were working just like new the last time I saw it. The solder job just isn't that much work. I'm not talking about looping any wires, I'm talking about dealing with the lousy GM wave soldering job on the PC board that causes the problem with the radio and windows. That can be done with a soldering iron or gun in about 20 seconds.

 

If you know what you are doing. I don't and I assume I could really mess up my circuit board. Not willing to mess with it. And it does not sound like I could get it out from under the dash anyway. I do not have any idea why replacing my switches would effect my radio working. Could be a coincidence but it has not worked 2 consecutive days without cutting off in the last 3 years. I will just wait and see what happens. I will probably have to have the BCM replaced at some point anyway. White Bird says it needs replaced. (He's such a dream killer)! LOL

 

Really glad I found this thread. I had the radio/power window dropout issue for years and reflowing the relay pins on the BCM worked great for me. It really is a simple repair and I would encourage anybody who is on the fence and thinking about trying it to give it a shot. I forgot how annoying the problem was until it was finally resolved, I had just gotten used to it over the years!

 

Just finished doing my 2000 convertible's BCM repair for radio & windows. Success!

Observations & comments:

Go ahead and remove the passenger side kick panel (4 phillips screws). While it is possible to remove the BCM without this step, it will be a LOT easier to maneuver if you do.

Had a ***** of a time removing the BCM from its cradle. It turns out, at least on mine, they put some double sided tape on the inboard side of the BCM's enclosure that kept it from sliding out.

I flipped the glove compartment down and used a flat bladed screwdriver to pry the inboard side of the cradle away from the BCM and it finally moved down.

Raspberries to GM for not knowing how to solder. One of the 5 relay terminals was not even "wetted" by the solder. It was just touching the solder pad (most of the time) for 18 years. They obviously had lightweight inspection procedures on this module.