school me on Forscan

[blacksheep-1]

I've heard of this, seen it work, but am totally not familiar with it, I understand it can interrogate the Ford ECM.

 

[Stangra]

Your not alone, I'd like to understand it better too.

 

[Stan Whitney]

I've used it on my cars and trucks, but mainly for modifying small parameters in the BCM and other modules - like turning off the double honk, changing tire sizes for speedo adjustment. It can read all the modules in the car, and show the hex values for all the parameters. You can edit them, but it often takes changing 2-3 parameters in different modules. It cannot change the firmware in the modules.

The cheat sheets on the web are mostly for the more recent models, say 2010+. Mostly focus on changing body control stuff, not engine tuning. Software starts free but the licensed version can do more.

 

[noldevin]

It's useful for things like disabling TPMS, adjusting speedo (works best on s550+), changing auto door lock behavior, ABS bleed procedure...
You can also check codes from different modules that a regular cheap scanner might not be able to read.
Generic dongles don't work well, often missing whole modules. Best to use the one forscan recommends.

 

[EF1]

Didn’t know you can turn off tpms with it. I may need look into it myself.

 

[RodS197]

I use it on my mustang for crank relearn, abs bleed (as mentioned) and Speedo adjustments. Came in handy on my F-150 for speedo change as well to connect the trailer brake do-hicky in the cab as the truck had the wiring, but not the brake actuator (do-hicky).

 

[noldevin]

Yes, I used it to turn mine off when a sensor went bad well before it was new tire time.

 

[EF1]

If you use it to turn off TPMS or a crank relearn will it affect tuning with something like HP Tuners? I used my old SCT tuner just for a crank relearn once after tuning and it locked the ecm so we could not access with HP tuners anymore. Finally figured out we had to use the SCT and return to stock tune and then reload everything with HP tuners.

 

[OX1]

If you use it to turn off TPMS or a crank relearn will it affect tuning with something like HP Tuners? I used my old SCT tuner just for a crank relearn once after tuning and it locked the ecm so we could not access with HP tuners anymore. Finally figured out we had to use the SCT and return to stock tune and then reload everything with HP tuners.

Not sure this helps, but I had used FORSCAN for a couple things on my Fusion Sport (bambi mode, seatbelt reminder thing). I then loaded an Unleashed 93 tune for it
(using SCT scanner). I did not want to change anything in that tune, but I was able to read that tune with HP tuners, just for kicks.

I'd guess if you are especially using FORSCAN to change things in modules outside the main ECM, would have no issue with HP tuners.

 

[RodS197]

If you use it to turn off TPMS or a crank relearn will it affect tuning with something like HP Tuners? I used my old SCT tuner just for a crank relearn once after tuning and it locked the ecm so we could not access with HP tuners anymore. Finally figured out we had to use the SCT and return to stock tune and then reload everything with HP tuners.

My car has a Lund tune, but the car did not come with a tuner. I used Forscan to do the crank relearn, and I haven’t noticed any effect on the performance of the car. So I don’t think it changed the tune or reflashed the car since it is a maintenance type function.

 

[EF1]

Got my OBDII cable today and downloaded Forscan. I played a little on my 2017 Fusion. I was able to turn of the annoying auto stop/start and disable the manual switch so it doesn't display messages on the dash if you accidentally hit it. There is still a symbol with a line through it that lights up on the instrument cluster when the auto stop/start should activate. I will spend a little more time exploring to see if I can turn this off. Next will be the TPMS system on the Mustang.

 

[EF1]

Played with it a little bit more today. It appears you can disable the TPMS system on the S197, so no more light on the dash when running track wheels without sensors. The light is not coming up on start up. I still need to drive it some to see if it comes on after driving for awhile.