I have a Vauxhall-Opel shitbox with error code U0009 that means CANbus short circuit An auto electrician said it could take up to 5 days to find the fault!
40 hours labour would be more than the car is worth. Is this realistic, or is he conning me????????????????????
Perhaps he means it could take 5 days to find and fix (which is what most people would want). It's probably not a literal calculation, rather an indication that locating and fixing a problem in a very inaccessible location could take a long time.
Why not say "See how far you can get in an hour".
It's probably the worst case scenario, a short on the loom or a related control unit has failed.
I would say 5 days of labour is excessive, or it could mean 5 days of time.
Given the nature of the fault in an ideal world I would disconnect everything first, but given some units may be inaccessible it's not a quick and easy job.
You haven't said what car, or how extensive the CANbus communication is on your car.
Recent fitted car radio?
Can you leave the car in a warm dry garage for a few days and see if the fault disappears on its own ?. If it does, there is damp getting into a connector somewhere.
Maybe try disconnecting every cable socket in turn and cleaning, and reconnecting with a smear of vaseline around the hermatic seal (if there is one). Your time is free.
Do the multiway cables going to each door carry CANbus data ?. These are flexing regularly so could be the first places to peruse.
Internal shorts can develop in bulbs as a mode of failure.
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