L322 Fixed (Sort of) - Every single module in fault. Where to start?

marjon said:

Yes that 1 is listed as there too.

Have a read as it mentions 2 modules in there.

Oh and should mention that you said "low on the A post" my docs show high on the A post.

J

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It feels a bit contradictory as you say it is mentioned but not its location. The document seems to suggest that the ADM does everything in one paragraph and in another that it uses the RLM. If I disconnect the ADM I can still interrogate the RLM using GapIID.

I've had all the trims out around the A pillars and there is nothing there but as I keep saying the only detail I can find is the 2002-2009 cars.

This is disheartening now. It is fixable and I will find it, just have to keep plugging away.

I might check out the DDM and PDM in the mean time as they are easy to get to and test I suppose.

You previously asked about Rave, it doesn't exist past 2002? i think.
The 2007-2010 manual I sourced on tinternet (free) somewhere.
My 2011 files are from Topix, which I paid for and downloaded the whole thing, still sorting and naming files (took ages, wasn't a £20 haynes though), It can be worth it cos you register and put in the VIN so its specific to your car. If you plan on keeping the car it may be worth it. But the info never seems to be where you expect .

J

Just seen this thread, it looks to me like the CCF is missing / corrupted, if you have IID, have you edited it or saved it locally so that you could reload it?
Very unlikely to be a network fault as the modules are reporting DTC's, the DTC's are generated by the modules 'seeing' their connected sensors & actuators. With a corrupt or missing CCF, none of the modules will be configured correctly, hence lots of spurious DTC's.
The vehicle 'should' use the backup CCF if the master is corrupted, in practice, this process isn't as seamless as it could be. The CCF is stored in the BCM/GEM & the IPK or LCM dependent upon model.

just been flitting over all afore mentioned and have to ask this...C0063-28 (40) what do the numbers in the brackets refer to?
Are they in a similar vein to gm codes where 40 is for ecu programme failure? sorry...just asking...

I have decided to "park" this issue for a few days on the grounds that I am a bit fed up with it and that a really good diagnostic guy not far from me has come out of retirement and he's going to look at it on the 4th Jan for me so I'll now leave it well alone until then.

One final piece of amusement for the car is that it has (as it sometimes does since this all started) again detected an obstacle on my very flat driveway and raised itself to clear it. The car is no longer familiar with the 'down' direction on the EAS and as such would go only upwards. It has been like this for 3 days now stubbornly refusing to lower. I guess the good news is that I have no air leaks but the bad news is that it will be quite the climb with my short legs when I go to drop it off for repair!

can you lower it with diagnostics?

Unlikely with all the height sensor DTC's set - possibly its also got an invalid calibration table. Personally I'd pull the relay for the compressor so the system cannot over-pressurise and blow a pipe, union or airbag.

backinblack said:

can you lower it with diagnostics?

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Nope, can't do anything with any of the tools I have now. Totally goosed until we find the root cause.

Pretty sure it's over its full height and if you attempt to deflate, it just sits there doing nothing. I've tried it all, clear the faults, etc. and as soon as you try anything with height either from the button or GapIID, it just goes PING - Suspension Fault. That includes attempting to re-enable EAS. It will tell me "Suspension not in customer mode" I can reinitialise that and then it says "confirm required ride height by pressing button". Ping! "Suspension fault!"

Don't care, it's not going anywhere until the 4th and I will drop it off to be diagnosed

Hi mate

so pleased u have someone coming out to u

plse let us know how ur get on and if u don’t get anywhere still more than happy to have a look at it FOC for u

fingers crossed it’s a simple fix, hopefully he will perform a hard reset to see if that will then reset all the models back to factory state

Hope you get it sorted, I'm sure you will eventually. I spent 2 years chasing a suspension fault which turned out to be a damaged loom under the front wing and some twonk had just twisted the wires together.

A little update on this lot. It's not fixed, sadly.

I haven't managed to get anyone to look at it, the guy that was coming out is possibly the most arrogant person I've ever encountered and long story short, I called him out on his attitude before he even saw the car and he told me so take it elsewhere because I simply said "Easy, all I meant was..." I've given him a week to cool off and apologise so I'll give him a google review later. To be fair, he was a d*ck years ago and had a reputation for being really hard to deal with, clearly hasn't got any better.

Other auto electricians are politely declining or telling me that they'll call me back which translates to "You will never hear from me again". Fine, I'm on my own with this issue.

Well, for one thing; the car being sat up that high for a while seems to have been the straw that broke the camel's back for the OSR airbag. It has a hole in it and that's why it's sitting so low at the back. I need to say this part because I am so ashamed to have done this but I feel this is a fairly safe environment... I've bought a used, old, secondhand air bag for £18 including delivery. Hear me out. I would NEVER do this ordinarily but having spent £800 on tyres and alignment, bought a new battery, headlight lenses etc. etc. I simply will not fork out for a pair of air bags until I know I can actually sort this massive electrical problem out so for less than £20 I'll be able to move it around and perhaps test drive it. As soon as the electrics are fixed it will get a pair of new rear bags and we'll put this sorry status behind us. Yeah, I'm really embarrassed that I did this!

So, my understanding is that I should have 5v on the CANBUS circuits (around 2.7v and 2.3v across the two wires). Can anyone confirm this please? I actually have 3v on each of the wires at any modules that I've metered. Also, I have zero message frequency on the CANBUS network according to GapIID as shown here:

I did a separate thread on this to ask for a comparison.

Something has to be stopping the comms around the network as everything pretty much works on my car albeit discreetly of other modules. The only exception to this is the air suspension which is in perpetual fault but I can't diagnose it as it is every single thing as I've highlighted before. I had hoped it was the Air Suspension module but having sourced another one it presents the exact same faults so I don't think there is any issue.

I found 4 corroded pins in the rear fusebox but two were unused and one was for the Telestart (not connected currently) and the other for the lower glovebox which now operates every time I press the switch rather than when it felt up to it. Not the main problem but still something fixed; every cloud and all that.

The BCM looks to be in perfect order with no corrosion and I have also disconnected these modules and rescanned to find no difference:
Air Suspension
All Audio components
Adaptive Dynamics
Drivers Door Module
Passenger Door Module
Transfer Case Module
Body Control Module - Can't scan it without that present
Keyless Module - As BCM

I've cleaned up earths and tested them under the bonnet as well as removed the battery earth cable as it can be problematic I'm told with that weird fuseable link for disconnecting it in the event of a crash.

I think that's it for now, I'll keep plugging away at it. I'm hopeful that with the new air bag. I'll be able to level the car out a bit and maybe even use it if the weather really turns bad as I'm currently in my 90's C43 which will probably have rusty glass if it lives outside all winter, you know what these 90's Mercs are like!.

Blob said:

I've bought a used, old, secondhand air bag for £18 including delivery. Hear me out. I would NEVER do this ordinarily but having spent £800 on tyres and alignment, bought a new battery, headlight lenses etc. etc. I simply will not fork out for a pair of air bags until I know I can actually sort this massive electrical problem out so for less than £20 I'll be able to move it around and perhaps test drive it. As soon as the electrics are fixed it will get a pair of new rear bags and we'll put this sorry status behind us. Yeah, I'm really embarrassed that I did this!

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Now't to be embarrassed about, it's temporary to help move forward and I certainly wouldn't spend a lot until I knew it wasn't gonna get scrapped.

Small update from yesterday lunchtime investigation.

Every single thing is still showing as broken BUT, if I change GapIID to Pending codes it reduces the scope a great deal and I managed to narrow the air suspension fault down to this:

C1A36-01 (6C) Exhaust valve - General failure information - general electrical failure
C1A13-64 (6C) Pressure does not decrease when venting gallery - Algorithm based failure - signal plausibility failure

Well, that will easily explain why it won't lower itself and having had a look around the internet I found that the wiring can get damaged under the spare wheel over time which would further explain why my fault started and became progressively worse on the suspension until it failed totally a couple of days later.

I emptied the boot, removed the spare wheel (gave myself a hernia) and opened the compressor to get to the end of the wire braiding so that I could remove the tape and inspect it. This is what I found:



In my initial checking of the wiring a few weeks back I removed and inspected all of the connectors, clearly I didn't push this one fully home for it to lock in so over the next 1000 miles or so it shook itself apart with the vibration of the compressor which is why it would work sometimes and not others.

I then fully emptied the Tourettes drawer at myself for my stupidity, stomped around angrily and sulked a bit. Then I re-enabled EAS and now my car raises and lowers as expected with no EAS faults (save for the wind gushing out of the OSR airbag that has yet to arrive).

The good news is that I can soon return it to service although I still need to get to the bottom of my comms faults. The bad news is that I need to still repair the fuel burning heater which some of you may recall is how this whole mess started and finally I need to take it back to the shop that did the tyres and tracking as they asked me about a suspension fault and I brushed it off with "Nah mate, it just thinks it's broken, it's fine" so there's every chance they did the full alignment without it sitting properly and it could be miles out. That's on me, not them so I will have to pay them to sort it out and then give myself another stern talking to.

Whilst it's not an ideal situation, it could be far worse and in a day or two aI will be able to put the C43 back indoors and use the RR for the remainder of the winter. I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of it again.

As always, thanks for your support as I work through this lot.

You need to get a set of those straps to get the spare out. They work great no grunting needed .

J

marjon said:

You need to get a set of those straps to get the spare out. They work great no grunting needed .

J

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My friend had an old TD6 that had them and I am now SOOO jealous! I might treat it (or me to a set). I am shocked that they were removed or an optional extra.

Blob said:

My friend had an old TD6 that had them and I am now SOOO jealous! I might treat it (or me to a set). I am shocked that they were removed or an optional extra.

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I wasnt sure they were ever an option.
But of course when you buy a car you dont try to get the spare out so its not the sort of thing you would think about .
M can do it with the straps its that easy.

I did reply in your other thread.

J

I didn't know mine had them until I saw a post on here about them and found them under the spare
Every days a school day.

backinblack said:

I didn't know mine had them until I saw a post on here about them and found them under the spare

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Show off!

Blob said:

Show off!

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His back said thanks .

J

Oh boy, this is going to be a long one, sorry. I feel that I've had so much help and advice here that I need to explain in detail the outcome of this weekend's efforts, so if you're sitting comfortably I'll begin.

[Deep breath]



First off, the C43 is back in the garage and not a moment too soon with this weather, meaning the RR is out on my driveway and back in service.

The replacement (new) Bilstein airbag arrived on Friday, on Saturday morning I skipped all the way to mummy's house where I had abandoned the RR for a couple of weeks to replace the leaking airbag. I started the car to be greeted with the usual "Suspension Fault" message and brushed it off as the fact that the rear one was leaking it was right down and the car was simply warning me there was an issue. Replaced the unit quickly and easily, inflated it a bit with GapIID, fitted the wheel dropped it down, tightened everything once on the floor and proceeded to play with the suspension. A couple of code clears and a reset and it was working as expected up and down. Then I tried "Rock Crawl" mode. It DID NOT like that and had real hissy fit about the transfer case communication etc. Yeah well, every comms is in fault so it's no surprise, a couple of resets and it's all good again. I headed off to test and put a splash of fuel in to get rid of the other warning and chime. 300 yards later I am reminded that I have a suspension fault.. Bugger! What now? Would you believe it? The flippin' compressor exhaust valve again, open circuit and signal implausibility as well as the other fault for gallery pressure not decreasing which is no surprise if the exhaust valve won't open. As I'd said last time, not ideal but useable for now. I found that the car sits level, nobody flashed their lights angrily at me and as long as I don't try and select Access mode or Off-road height it's all good. Went home and celebrated with a beer.

I'd decided that I should inspect the exhaust valve and that there's every chance that the drier is clogged given its age and mileage so I'll investigate and order whatever I need. This morning I lifted the lid of the compressor and WHAT THE HELL?



How is the connector not connected again? It snapped in and I couldn't separate it the other day, surely I couldn't have made this mistake twice, could I? It snapped together again and again, today I can't get it apart unless I take a very small screwdriver to push the detent down and then it will release.


Huzzah, cable tie for the win; I'm not taking any chances now, get out of this!

Drove to my friend's place, no issues. It was getting dark so I daren't try to change the height for fear of dazzling anyone coming the other way so I'll leave it until tomorrow when I don't need to go anywhere. Stopped at Tesco for a loaf of bread, came out started it and swore, A LOT!



Here's where it gets interesting and where the (sort of) fix becomes relevant. I have been chasing communications faults for a few weeks now with everything reporting as broken but also everything working. I had:
- A failing alternator which I replaced
- Possibly dodgy battery, also replaced.
- I've found a small amount of corrosion in the rear fusebox, resolved.
- A failed airspring - replaced
- A compressor connector that keeps undoing itself but can't be undone by hand - fixed.

But most alarmingly of all, every single thing is in fault according to GapIID. I also have a really good iCarsoft diagnostic that refuses to talk to my car due to so many CANBUS issues (perceived but we'll come on to that) and I also used a friend's £2k Launch diagnostic, all pointed to massive problems and lets not even start on the number of auto electricians who either politely declined to get involved or said they'd call back and then disappeared

In frustration, I messaged Gap to be told that I had my tool configured incorrectly and that I should be looking at only the Pending codes to narrow the field. Well, Ok but I never changed the settings on it and why does it always take an age to scan everything and tell me it's broken? I'll discuss with them this week. It did narrow the field when I selected only pending codes and that's how I got to the compressor exhaust valve so it definitely helped.

Moving to iCarsoft, I haven't used it on the RR as I've had Gap for over a year. I contacted their support and they asked me to send them the log file which I have done today. The Launch one belonging to my friend found masses of faults but at the time we knew of that so we cleared them and only the suspension ones kept returning. I didn't investigate it too far as it confirmed what I already (thought) I knew.

After doing the log file for the RR on iCarsoft, I looked at Claire's Discovery 4 and thought "I wonder if it works on that?" yeah, it doesn't but it does work on other marques. Log file created and sent to them for investigation. THEN IT HIT ME! If that doesn't work, what does Gap make of the Disco? I connected it and read the faults... Even more than the L322, way more faults!

What have we learned here then children? The diagnostic tools are an aide not a given. I have two tools that don't work for different reasons and one I didn't check myself meaning that I wrongly assumed that I have a very sick car which in reality has a small fault with the air suspension that needs to be resolved. I've wasted hours troubleshooting almost nothing and you lot have been assisting me.

I'll contact Gap again this week and when the iCarsoft is resolved I will use that too to confirm the issue with compressor/exhaust valve/drier/valve block or whatever is actually wrong.

Sorry it's been a long post and a long way to a sort of resolution but honestly, thank you so much for your support and I will do a final update when I've fixed it for good. To think that I was flipping between "I'm going to fix this" and "I might have scrap this as I can't see a start point let alone a resolution" on a daily basis has me thankful that I managed to get to where I am now.

I maintain that there is a lot of truth in the phrase: You can't buy experience but it is very expensive to obtain!

And at the end of that nausea, it's time for bed.