Join Our Ford Truck Forum Today

Document your Ford truck project here and inspire others! Login/Register to view the site with fewer ads.

The Random Ranger EATC build thread

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
Figured for now I'd start a non-inclusive, as it moves along thread of the project (instead of posting in the PWM thread). Subject build vehicle is an 04 Ranger FX4 Level II. Chime in at will, say anything, for better or worse. Suggestions and ideas are always appreciated. :)

InVehicleJigTesting_SCP-CAN_11.jpg


^^^^ OBDII connector with pins #6 and #14 extracted.



InVehicleJigTesting_SCP-CAN_12.jpg


^^^^ OBDII connector mounted back to lower dash, pins above are removed, ELM 327 adapter installed and Torque PRO app on my Samsung Galaxy runnint ANDROID will be fired up to evaluate if vehicle speed and coolant temp are parameters passed around on the SCP bus.

It is now... time... to drive. If this test fails, then life may get sucky. :(
 
Last edited:

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
Hmmm, all data from SCP Bus, CAN bus pins depopulated from OBDII port (above). Go figure. :headbang:

SCP_Data_2015-08-11-15-34-13.png
 
Last edited:

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
Yesterdays project, testing and experimenting with thermal response and behavior of PWM blower motor speed control under various loading conditions. Info to be used to determine location of PWM unit and/or if a unit identical to the one shown (Ford Expedition) but with a different cooling fin profile should be used (Lincoln Continental).


100_0809.JPG


^^^^^PWM view 1.



100_0810.JPG


^^^^^PWM view 2.



Thermal_Testing_of_PWM_P3.JPG


^^^^^ PWM internals.



Thermal_Testing_of_PWM_P2.JPG


^^^^^PWM unit tapped into existing blower motor wiring



Thermal_Testing_of_PWM_P1.JPG


^^^^^Overall view of testing setup.
 

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
One of todays projects was to look inside of an EATC head unit. On the outside there is little visible difference other than some have an outside temp button, and others have a rear fan off button instead. It has been proven that the air diversion doors in the HVAC unit on the firewall are different for Ford cars VS ford trucks/suv.

100_0833.JPG


^^^^^This pic shows five units that came from four different models of Ford vehicles.



97L_Coon_TC_HU1.JPG


^^^^^ And this particular unit from a Lincoln was bought for parts, although other than a damaged case it may work just fine. Let's have a look inside, as there are a few particulars that drove me to get into it:



97L_Coon_TC_HU2.JPG




97L_Coon_TC_HU3.JPG




97L_Coon_TC_HU4.JPG


Unfortunately, nothing that was on the "wish list" was noticed inside and if I had to place a bet it's probably safe to say that this applies to the other three models of Ford vehicle head units as well. Live and learn, and to learn is what this episode was all about. time to move forward. :)


*** A little heads up. In the bottom two pics you will note the valve body in the upper left corner, it has vac hoses attached. When a Ford EATC head unit of this vintage fails (one very common failure is default to defrost and the vac hose IS connected to the head unit), nearly always it is because of this valve body. What's inside that is the problem? A few o-rings that you can buy at about any hardware store. R&R those o-rings and reassemble with a thin layer of silicon grease and you just saved $100 - $200 on a rebuild or a new one. Enjoy. :D
 
Last edited:

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
A little here, a little there in the progress dept. Most recent activity surrounds attempting to answer why there appears to be partial communication between the PCM and EATC modules, specifically why coolant temp data is communicated but vehicle speed is not. FORScan, because it's about as close to having a NGS tester as possible when it comes to pulling the enhanced DTC's (Ford specific), was used as an attempt to pull up any U series DTC's (or other module communication specific ones, if such exist). Results were negative, and the EATC module was not detected. It turns out that versions 2.X.X of FORscan are in fact, more model specific, in the name of establishing faster communication between the vehicle and FORscan. More here:

http://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1690

OK, so FORScan v1.X.X, when establishing communication with a Ford vehicle, does a "who is here", looking for modules on the SCP and the ISO bus without regard to the model and trim level. However, and on the other hand, it's noted that in light of applying from the above thread (I'm not alone on this one) it's noted that the EATC module which should be found, is not. :-/

So this generated questions on my end, as can be seen in my thread over on the FORScan forums:

http://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1694&sid=c471bd79fc543bd10e8d167e27664b44

So that's where she's at, ball is in my court, need to gather info and PM the FORScan team. Yes, my ELM adapter connects, but that info will be passed on when the info they requested is PM'ed to them. I'm hoping that they may have overlooked the EATC module from being included in the ones that FORScan V1.X.X is "looking for", but at the same time, I haven't forgotten what Vince said in an earlier Ford Tech Thread (ie, module communication between modules is "pre-ordained" and modules can't be added). Which goes back to the confusion at hand, which is noted earlier in this post.

More to follow, and if anyone is interested in an explanation on module communication on the Ford CAN bus, this thread http://themustangsource.com/forums/f726/can-bus-how-our-cars-modules-communicate-529879/ is pretty good. It probably best understood by people with a bit of basic understanding of what is a network and what is a bus in the PC world (need not be auto); I like hearing other Engineers talk and I might, if they're still around, try to touch bases. More to follow in the days (or, daze, ie, struggling to learn, understand and apply at an accelerated rate) to follow.
 
Last edited:

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
It's an awkward moment when you realize and confirm that........the module you are wanting to add to your vehicle shows up on the correct network.




Rev_1_00_Forscan_V1_XX.jpg





But that, more work is required for a perfectly performing final result :)
 
Last edited:

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
Thanks. But at this point I believe I need help from someone with knowledge I don't have, as noted in the other thread. :-/
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
Thanks. But at this point I believe I need help from someone with knowledge I don't have, as noted in the other thread. :-/

I read that....I have no suggestions, wish i did.
 

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
NP. SCP comes to mind nas a thought, but I'd really love to hear a referral to a biz/person that likes taking on challenges and unique projects. A biz/person with a passion for what they do and who likes new stuff.
 

Ford Truck Articles

Top