Post-rebuild Electronic Issues

[Horde]

I went off significantly in April and have had to do some major work that included subframe, all the front suspension, steering rack and a number of other things. I took the opportunity to switch over to coilovers and used the Xineering magneride bypass kit. I had my first shakedown on Friday and there were no warnings related to the coilovers but I can't select any of the driving modes at all. I normally would use track mode. I was also unable to manually select steering or exhaust modes either using the console switches or through the steering wheel controls. I tried to get into sport, track, weather and drag, none of that would work. There were a number of codes that presented after my runoff and after rebuild we cleared them. I was able to shut off advance trac completely using the 7 second method and the car performed well but with normal steering, exhaust modes and throttle response settings. I've been researching the last couple of days and my eyes feel like they are going to pop out of my head. I'm wondering if folks have any thoughts on what might be causing this of for any of our brothers who have done rebuilds if they experienced this.

I use the car 99% on track but I want the modes to work until I decide they don't need to work anymore if you know what I mean. Was super stoked to get back at it, it's been a grueling summer not driving (pick below shows the new stance and a bit of a lighter front hood ). TIA for any ideas/suggestions.

Cheers - Karl

 

[JAJ]

I went off significantly in April and have had to do some major work that included subframe, all the front suspension, steering rack and a number of other things. I took the opportunity to switch over to coilovers and used the Xineering magneride bypass kit. I had my first shakedown on Friday and there were no warnings related to the coilovers but I can't select any of the driving modes at all. I normally would use track mode. I was also unable to manually select steering or exhaust modes either using the console switches or through the steering wheel controls. I tried to get into sport, track, weather and drag, none of that would work. There were a number of codes that presented after my runoff and after rebuild we cleared them. I was able to shut off advance trac completely using the 7 second method and the car performed well but with normal steering, exhaust modes and throttle response settings. I've been researching the last couple of days and my eyes feel like they are going to pop out of my head. I'm wondering if folks have any thoughts on what might be causing this of for any of our brothers who have done rebuilds if they experienced this.

I use the car 99% on track but I want the modes to work until I decide they don't need to work anymore if you know what I mean. Was super stoked to get back at it, it's been a grueling summer not driving (pick below shows the new stance and a bit of a lighter front hood ). TIA for any ideas/suggestions.

Cheers - Karl

View attachment 89637

You didn't specify which year your car was, and it looks like a GT350R, correct?

So, the problem you're having is typical of what happens if the Vehicle Dynamics Module (VDM) that controls the suspension isn't happy. You won't get any lights on the dash, but none of the modes will switch.

Now, I'm going to speculate on this, but I watched the video on the Xineering website and something occurred to me about the install. They specifically say that you have to run a VDM calibration to manage the current flow to the shock simulators. Well, I've done VDM calibrations on my 2016 GT350, and I did it with Ford's IDS system, the one the dealer techs use. What I learned from the exercise is that the calibration process is different for the R and the non-R suspensions. R is calibrated with the car in the air and the suspension at full droop, while non-R is calibrated sitting on the ground at static ride height. If your R was calibrated sitting on the ground, or if the calibration process for the non-R was used by the tool, it's entirely possible that your VDM is pretty unhappy right now.

Now, the way IDS decides on the calibration workflow is that it checks a database at Ford of the factory-installed software and firmware for your specific VIN and then it picks the correct workflow and provides the attending tech vehicle-specific instructions on how to do the VDM (and any other module) calibration. Most aftermarket, non-Ford, scan tools wouldn't have a clue about any of this. So, that ends my speculation. Also, I know that this applies to cars built before 2018, but from that point on, it may still be true, or it might have changed.

There is one more thing, although it's extremely unlikely. There's an error condition in the VDM that comes up (and stops mode switching) if the VDM detects the vehicle moving without any motion in the suspension height sensors. Now, I say it's unlikely because you couldn't produce and sell a "fix" kit that allowed that code to set. Nobody'd be happy.

 

[Horde]

You didn't specify which year your car was, and it looks like a GT350R, correct?

So, the problem you're having is typical of what happens if the Vehicle Dynamics Module (VDM) that controls the suspension isn't happy. You won't get any lights on the dash, but none of the modes will switch.

Now, I'm going to speculate on this, but I watched the video on the Xineering website and something occurred to me about the install. They specifically say that you have to run a VDM calibration to manage the current flow to the shock simulators. Well, I've done VDM calibrations on my 2016 GT350, and I did it with Ford's IDS system, the one the dealer techs use. What I learned from the exercise is that the calibration process is different for the R and the non-R suspensions. R is calibrated with the car in the air and the suspension at full droop, while non-R is calibrated sitting on the ground at static ride height. If your R was calibrated sitting on the ground, or if the calibration process for the non-R was used by the tool, it's entirely possible that your VDM is pretty unhappy right now.

Now, the way IDS decides on the calibration workflow is that it checks a database at Ford of the factory-installed software and firmware for your specific VIN and then it picks the correct workflow and provides the attending tech vehicle-specific instructions on how to do the VDM (and any other module) calibration. Most aftermarket, non-Ford, scan tools wouldn't have a clue about any of this. So, that ends my speculation. Also, I know that this applies to cars built before 2018, but from that point on, it may still be true, or it might have changed.

There is one more thing, although it's extremely unlikely. There's an error condition in the VDM that comes up (and stops mode switching) if the VDM detects the vehicle moving without any motion in the suspension height sensors. Now, I say it's unlikely because you couldn't produce and sell a "fix" kit that allowed that code to set. Nobody'd be happy.

Thanks - yeah it’s a 2019 R. I appreciate your thoughts on this and will look into this.

 

[JAJ]

Thanks - yeah it’s a 2019 R. I appreciate your thoughts on this and will look into this.

Since our conversation above, I had a PM conversation on another forum with another 2019 GT350R owner who asked me about the VDM calibration procedure for the R vs the non-R. I explained about the 2015-16-17 R's needing to be calibrated on a lift with the wheels hanging at full droop. Well, he decided to try doing his own calibration with Forscan on his 2019. I just had a PM from him saying his drive modes are working fine after calibrating with the the car in the air and the suspension at full droop.

Of course, there's no guarantee that doing that calibration that way will fix your problem, but it's probably worth a try.

 

[JAJ]

Since our conversation above, I had a PM conversation on another forum with another 2019 GT350R owner who asked me about the VDM calibration procedure for the R vs the non-R. I explained about the 2015-16-17 R's needing to be calibrated on a lift with the wheels hanging at full droop. Well, he decided to try doing his own calibration with Forscan on his 2019. I just had a PM from him saying his drive modes are working fine after calibrating with the the car in the air and the suspension at full droop.

Of course, there's no guarantee that doing that calibration that way will fix your problem, but it's probably worth a try.

Another update: Since that post, the gentleman on the other forum complained about poor body control on his 2019 R, so we discussed doing the calibration on the ground. He gave it a try, and as with doing it in the air, everything worked fine - modes changed and so on. However, body control improved a lot. So, in the end, it looks like calibrating late-model R vehicles on the ground works best.

The key point here is that, regardless of how the VDM is calibrated, it won't interfere with mode selection. That's a different problem and my suggestion that it might be related to calibration was wrong.