C-Max Hybrid/Energi software modifications/tweaks

[cr08]

I know a few member here have been jonesing for this. I started putting together a spreadsheet specifically tailored towards the C-Max.

 

Short version: This will cover potential tweaks or modifications that can be done entirely in software through the use of ForScan (primarily, other tools like UCDS optional). These will either add new functionality or change existing functionality.

 

All information is posted for use at your own risk. The linked spreadsheet has plenty of warnings and links to information on learning how to use ForScan. If you aren't familiar with using it, please read everything thoroughlly. I will not be responsible for any damage caused trying to implement these. While basic AsBuilt modifications are USUALLY harmless and can easily be reversed, it's not a guarantee.

 

Another note that is in the document but I will also reiterate here: BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP! ForScan provides the option to save your existing module configurations/AsBuilt's that you can revert to or reference later. Ford does provide a page to pull your factory AsBuilt but it only has information for a handful of modules, not all!

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tir9hvuLDii0yonGJR3FoyfKzNODT_PZCPZH6Ph9dz8/edit?usp=sharing

 

I'm leaving the document read only. If anyone has any additions to suggest, feel free to post here or PM me. More documentation the better.

 

Document has been switched to comments allowed. I am unable to actively put work/research into this but will happily take suggestions to add. If anyone wishes to take over the document, let me know.

Edited December 16, 2022 by cr08

[MrDoom]

Ah fabulous, I've been keeping notes for my own 2013 Energi SEL as I've tweaked and added things and am happy to share some notes and observations. I was strongly considering slapping together a GitHub repo with notes and documentation for what I've learned with my vehicle.

[Cellivar]

I've been working on this too and building a comprehensive spreadsheet, just in case any of the web resources disappear like web resources are prone to do.

 

Based on ~15 different VINs I've been able to figure out several of the Central Configuration values that might be different for different model years.

 

Let's see how well the forum will handle me pasting in my spreadsheet as raw text. The description is lifted off the FoCCCus website config decoder here: http://ford.xtlt.ru/ab/, major props to them!

 

Let me know if I've missed anything that you might think is important, I found it hard to find VINs for earlier model packages that had just the Sony equipment package but not the autopark, so there's a few equipment package combinations that aren't in my table. I don't like spreading around raw VINs so I don't want to post my spreadsheet as-is in the public.

 

Observed Differences
Description	Byte	Values	Notes
Fuel Type	6	08, 03	03 = FHEV 08 = PHEV (Energi)
Fuel tank volume	11	0D, 0B	Same tank volume across all model years (53L), unclear differences. 0D = 2013 Energi, 2016+ All 0B = 2013-2015 FHEV (non-Energi)
Headlights, type	14	02, 18	02 = Halogen 2013-15 18 = LED post-facelift
DRL	16	03, 02, 0A, 05	Behavior for daytime running lights. 02 = Always dipped lights (standard) 03 = Always dipped except in position P 0A = Default for 2015 05 = Default for 2017
BLIS	37	01, 03	Post-facelift had BLIS as an option in the mirrors 01 = No BLIS 03 = With BLIS
Unknown!	46	01, 0C	Unknown setting, unrelated to equipment packages? 0C for 2015+ 01 for 2013 and 2014 models
Unknown!	50	05, 01	Unknown setting, values clearly correspond as 05 = PHEV 01 = FHEV
Tire circumference	51	04, 09	Should be 17" for all model years, unclear what the difference is. 04 on 2013 05 on 2014+
Parking assistance	59	02, 05	02 for rear only 05 for full auto park
Frequency - Remote controls	63	01, 24	Not related to 3 vs 5 button remotes. Maybe rolling key? Maybe key vs keyless? 01 for 2013-2014 All 24 for 2015 non-IAK (not 5-button remote)?
Roof type	66	01, 02	01 = less panoramic roof 02 = with panoramic roof
Final drive ratio	71	66, 0D	Should be same for all model years. 66 for 2013 0D for 2014+
Loudspeaker quantities	73	02, 09	02 for standard audio 09 for Sony package
Suspension	74	01, 19	In theory nothing changed with 2015 01 for 2013, 2014 19 for 2015+
Integrated vehicle dynamic control	75	09, 06	Unknown effect 09 = 2013-2015 06 = 2016+ ?
Park assist camera	99	01, 02	01 = less camera 02 = with camera
Roof hatch	108	02, 01	01 = With panoramic roof 02 = Less panoramic roof
In car entertainment	112	17, 18	Unclear how this affects things. 17 = Less Nav? Less Sony? 18 = With Nav? With Sony?
Center speaker, dashboard	120	01, 02, 00	00 = 2016+ ? 01 = less Sony 02 = with Sony
Bluetooth handsfree	157	08, 09	Unclear how this affects things. 08 = Less Nav? Less Sony? 09 = With Nav? With Sony?
Self opening boot /tailgate	177	01, 03	01 = less powered liftgate, 03 = with powered liftgate
Door remote control channel type	186	04, 02	02 = less Intelligent Access Key (3 button remote, key), 04 = with Intelligent Acess Key (IAK, 5 button remote)
Wheel Speed Sensor Type	203	02, 01	Will throw DTC if set wrong for installed rear ABS sensors 02 = less autopark 01 = with autopark
Battery	210	09, 00	Unclear how this affects things 09 for 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 00 for 2015
Integrated Control Panel	214	09, 08	Unclear how this affects things. 09 = Less Nav? Less Sony? 08 = With Nav? With Sony?
Aesthetic Lighting	216	03, 05, 01	03 = 2013-2015 (Hardware ambient lighting) 01 = 2017+ Less ambient lighting? 05 = 2017+ CAN ambient lighting?
Remote Start	242	02, 01	01 less Intelligent Access Key (3 button remote) 02 with Intelligent Access Key (IAK, 5 button remote)

Edited May 1, 2022 by Cellivar
typoooooos

[cr08]

A bit late, but definitely appreciative of the extra info and investigation @Cellivar. I'm currently still in the busy season at work so haven't had much time to follow through on much of this. That said, I'm going to be heading on a road trip here in a couple weeks and plan to work on this and a few other resources while I'm not driving. I know I've neglected the TCU upgrade thread and need to overhaul the initial post.

 

One quick addition I did find after reviewing the service manual: One/Two Stage Unlocking (fob unlock button on first press unlocks just the drivers door, second press unlocks all doors), which has an IPC configuration bit but doesn't seem to do anything at least on my '13, is able to be toggled in a more 'user friendly' manner without any AsBuilt or changes in ForScan. Simply press and hold the lock and unlock buttons on your fob for a few seconds. The park lamps will eventually flash to signal the feature has been toggled.

 

I know there are some other features like this one that are modified through more user accessible means and not ForScan/AsBuilt changes. Currently debating how to document and list all of these, but that'll be another list that I'll be trying to put together.

[mmmc]

I have this https://www.motorcraftservice.com/AsBuilt/ but I need to know what is what. Anyone help

[cr08]

Jumping back in on this here. I know I haven't worked on or updated this much. Unfortunately I lack the energy or extra time these days to really put any focus on it. I'm going to open up the spreadsheet to comments rather than being view only. I'd open it completely but don't want to deal with the potential headache of randos coming in and wrecking it. If anyone else feels like they'd want to take it over completely, let me know and I'd be happy to 'pass the torch'.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tir9hvuLDii0yonGJR3FoyfKzNODT_PZCPZH6Ph9dz8/edit?usp=sharing

 

I'm going to add an extra modification to the list now regarding the 'Next Charge' screen which is VERY handy. I'm also going to try and add some photos in too of some of these changes when I get a free moment.

[cr08]

I'm gonna add one more entry to my list here shortly but would like some confirmation from 2016+ owners with Sync 3 factory: Do you guys have the climate tab in Sync with the 'popups' when you adjust the temp/fan speed/vent options?

 

My 2013 is a retrofit so I'm not 100% sure what the factory equipped 2016+ models are configured for by default (now that I think about it, I can probably pull AsBuilts myself with whatever VINs are openly posted online). If the climate options are not enabled from the factory, they can be added and I'll dig through my AsBuilt files and post the relevant changes in the spreadsheet.

[bookemdano]

On 12/21/2022 at 1:29 PM, cr08 said:

I'm gonna add one more entry to my list here shortly but would like some confirmation from 2016+ owners with Sync 3 factory: Do you guys have the climate tab in Sync with the 'popups' when you adjust the temp/fan speed/vent options?

 

My 2013 is a retrofit so I'm not 100% sure what the factory equipped 2016+ models are configured for by default (now that I think about it, I can probably pull AsBuilts myself with whatever VINs are openly posted online). If the climate options are not enabled from the factory, they can be added and I'll dig through my AsBuilt files and post the relevant changes in the spreadsheet.

 

Sorry for the late reply--haven't been in the habit of checking this forum since all the frenzy around the 3G shutdown and TCU swaps subsided.

 

My 2017 Titanium (with Sync 3 stock) did *not* have the climate domain and temp/fan repeaters enabled by default. I enabled them via Forscan after updating to Sync 3.4 and both work. I vaguely remember there being a small issue with the on-screen AC button indicating the reverse of what the physical button does. Can't remember if that is still the case but will try to remember to test it next time I'm in the car. To be honest I almost never use the climate screen on Sync3 because I have CarPlay active 99% of the time I'm in the car. I do really like the repeater though as it's much easier to see the temp and fan setting on the bigger screen than on the small LED readout by the physical climate controls.

[cr08]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:18 PM, bookemdano said:

 

Sorry for the late reply--haven't been in the habit of checking this forum since all the frenzy around the 3G shutdown and TCU swaps subsided.

 

My 2017 Titanium (with Sync 3 stock) did *not* have the climate domain and temp/fan repeaters enabled by default. I enabled them via Forscan after updating to Sync 3.4 and both work. I vaguely remember there being a small issue with the on-screen AC button indicating the reverse of what the physical button does. Can't remember if that is still the case but will try to remember to test it next time I'm in the car. To be honest I almost never use the climate screen on Sync3 because I have CarPlay active 99% of the time I'm in the car. I do really like the repeater though as it's much easier to see the temp and fan setting on the bigger screen than on the small LED readout by the physical climate controls.

No worries on the late reply. I've been a bit MIA here and other boards as well the past couple months dealing with other life matters.

 

Appreciate the info though! I'll then see if I can get that sheet updated with this extra info.

 

As far as the AC light, that's still an 'issue' if you can call it that. There's a jailbreak mod available to fix it though if one was inclined to go that route. For anyone else reading, I absolutely will not discuss JB stuff further than this for reasons. It's up to you to go track down on your own.

[mmmc]

any updates?

[cr08]

I wanted to post here mainly to ping @Cellivar and to make an observation I just had while doing further research on trying to add adaptive cruise that I've started a thread for elsewhere in this forum.

 

The 'Cruise Control Menu' setting which we've both looked at and commented on in the past I have come to find that on vehicles with more than just 'basic' cruise control like adaptive or intelligent adaptive (this mode apparently can either use the speed limits provided by the nav system, the lane keeping/forward collision camera in countries where the system is capable of reading speed limit signs, or a combination of both in conjunction with adaptive cruise, to automatically adjust the set speed as the speed limit changes) have this particular menu so you can switch modes in case you want just normal cruise control without adaptive and whatnot.

 

This does make things very intriguing seeing that on our IPC especially considering the available config options seem to be very spartan and largely limited to options these vehicles actually have (with a few surprises of course). The menu didn't appear when I turned on adaptive cruise in the BCM/Central Config on a whim but I also don't have the CCM module and the BCM rightfully tossed a DTC when I did that and made cruise control completely inop. I'm curious if once I can get the necessary modules and install them that this menu will show. I'm kinda half optimistic that the IPC will surprise me and it will just miraculously show all the necessary displays, but not getting my hopes up.

[Cellivar]

Consider me extremely curious of what you learn! Sometime next week I'm going to start a GitHub repository to just record everything I've learned so far and would welcome this sort of exploration. Please take notes as you go, especially if you can get part numbers.

[mmmc]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:52 AM, Cellivar said:

Consider me extremely curious of what you learn! Sometime next week I'm going to start a GitHub repository to just record everything I've learned so far and would welcome this sort of exploration. Please take notes as you go, especially if you can get part numbers.

Yo yo, I've been trying to contact you regarding your configurations excel file..

[Cellivar]

On 5/28/2023 at 5:01 PM, mmmc said:

Yo yo, I've been trying to contact you regarding your configurations excel file..

I'll do you one way better. I've been writing up notes here. https://github.com/Cellivar/ford-c-max If you have any questions not answered in the docs already there, please open an issue and ask it. I'll do my best to add to the docs there with whatever you need.

 

For any future travellers to this thread, the information from cr08's spreadsheet has been copied to my repository. Much more information has been copied there too.

 

@bookemdano FYI as well, that might be relevant to your interests and you might have things to contribute ?

 

@cr08 already found my shenanigans and added some details. I'm very open to adding as much as we can scrape together there in one spot so it's easier to find than digging through a bunch of slowly dying forums...

Edited June 11, 2023 by Cellivar

[mmmc]

On 6/2/2023 at 1:03 PM, Cellivar said:

I'll do you one way better. I've been writing up notes here. https://github.com/Cellivar/ford-c-max If you have any questions not answered in the docs already there, please open an issue and ask it. I'll do my best to add to the docs there with whatever you need.

 

@bookemdano FYI as well, that might be relevant to your interests and you might have things to contribute ?

 

@cr08 already found my shenanigans and added some details. I'm very open to adding as much as we can scrape together there in one spot so it's easier to find than digging through a bunch of slowly dying forums...

Oh man finally, that's great ?
Been trying to contact you since December too

[mmmc]

@Cellivar I have some stuff that could be added but I don't know how to use github, where can I contact you? tried discord but nope

[theasset]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:03 AM, Cellivar said:

I'll do you one way better. I've been writing up notes here. https://github.com/Cellivar/ford-c-max If you have any questions not answered in the docs already there, please open an issue and ask it. I'll do my best to add to the docs there with whatever you need.

 

For any future travellers to this thread, the information from cr08's spreadsheet has been copied to my repository. Much more information has been copied there too.

 

@bookemdano FYI as well, that might be relevant to your interests and you might have things to contribute ?

 

@cr08 already found my shenanigans and added some details. I'm very open to adding as much as we can scrape together there in one spot so it's easier to find than digging through a bunch of slowly dying forums...

 

Ah, love this geekery! Just picked up a 2017 Energi Titanium here in Canada, and so pleased to see a community that is so passionate about these weird cars.

Is there a specific device that's recommended for use with FORScan? I see from their site there's two for Windows machines, The VGate and the OBDLINK EX. The latter is about 2x the price of the former, any experience with these?

[jzchen]

I bought my dongle/USB to OBDII from a company in Russia.  Not sure if it’d make it through the mail right now, nor the tariff rate.  ?

[cr08]

I've got the OBDLink EX myself and it has been solid. In fact it is on Forscan's recommended list for everything including firmware updates. It's gotten me through a few 2h30m TCU updates with no fuss.

[Cellivar]

On 7/27/2023 at 11:06 AM, theasset said:

 

Ah, love this geekery! Just picked up a 2017 Energi Titanium here in Canada, and so pleased to see a community that is so passionate about these weird cars.

Is there a specific device that's recommended for use with FORScan? I see from their site there's two for Windows machines, The VGate and the OBDLINK EX. The latter is about 2x the price of the former, any experience with these?

 

In keeping with the theme of "one stop shop of information" I in fact have a document for that: https://github.com/Cellivar/ford-c-max/tree/main/tools/forscan

[theasset]

On 7/30/2023 at 1:10 AM, Cellivar said:

 

In keeping with the theme of "one stop shop of information" I in fact have a document for that: https://github.com/Cellivar/ford-c-max/tree/main/tools/forscan

 

Awesome - Thanks for confirming your preferred adapter! 

 

What's the risk level for flashing custom scripts? If things fail for whatever reason is there an elevated potentiality to "brick" the electronics/vehicle?

[Cellivar]

On 8/2/2023 at 8:24 AM, theasset said:

 

Awesome - Thanks for confirming your preferred adapter! 

 

What's the risk level for flashing custom scripts? If things fail for whatever reason is there an elevated potentiality to "brick" the electronics/vehicle?

Yes, you absolutely can brick modules in ways that are not possible to recover, requiring installation of a new part instead. I don't want to mince words here, we are dealing with parts of the vehicle Ford never intended to be modified in the way we are modifying them. It is possible to permanently damage modules and your car. The safeties are off. It is dangerous to your wallet to do this. I had to buy three Parking Aid Modules because I screwed up one, got the wrong part for the second one, and the third finally worked to add automatic parallel park assist. The original one off my car and the other two are sitting in a box in the back of my garage reminding me to read part numbers correctly the first time before searching on fleabay.

 

There are generally two types of 'programming' you can do with Forscan: AsBuilt config changes and module firmware updates. 

 

Modifying "AsBuilt" configuration flags is _usually_ safe. Save a backup of the original, make sure it's easy to find, then follow guide on the settings you can flip. I've written about those config settings here: https://github.com/Cellivar/ford-c-max/tree/main/systems/modules I've got links to sources where I get my information on those pages, and some of those have been myself , CR08, bookemdano, and others changing flags and seeing what happened.

 

I say _usually_ safe here because some of those AsBuilt settings are actually one-time-change permanent flags. If you change some of them you can't put them back. If this happens to your Body Control Module or Powertrain Control Module those are expensive and complex to replace. And again, since Ford never intended anyone outside of Ford to touch these, those settings that can't be changed back are completely undocumented and have to be discovered by trial and error. The F150 folks doing this sort of thing have found a number of them in their Transmission Control Modules and, well, that's pretty annoying and expensive to replace.

 

Module reprogramming is an entirely different beast. Ford provides very little external information about the different versions of firmware for modules, this is again pieced together through trial and error. We know things like "don't update the firmware of the IPC while it's in the car" because people have bricked their IPCs doing this. We know "don't update the BECM firmware on its own" because it turns out the BECM, DCDC module, and a few other things all need to be on a compatible-with-each-other firmware version. Which version is that for each module? That's right, trial and error. "Your car doesn't run until you try every combination" sorts of trial and error. And firmware module updates can take hours.

 

All this to say:

• Nothing we're doing is 'safe to do', it's about making it 'safe-er to do'. 
• Learn as much as you can ahead of time BEFORE you start messing around. There's a reason I started writing things down into my GitHub space.
• Have a backup plan in case everything goes horribly wrong. Backup config files. Backup module firmware versions. Backup your odometer reading. Backup everything so you can put it back in a hurry if you need to.
• If you can't live without your car working for a while wait for a better time to mess with things. 
• Read all instructions and guides carefully before you do anything in them, making sure you understand them before you try them.
• Don't expect your dealer to bail you out, they don't know what we're doing and they often know less than you do.

So long as you keep your head on straight, understand what you're doing before you do it, and have a backup plan in case what you're trying to do doesn't work, you will usually be okay.

 

Usually. Good luck.

[theasset]

On 8/5/2023 at 12:29 AM, Cellivar said:

So long as you keep your head on straight, understand what you're doing before you do it, and have a backup plan in case what you're trying to do doesn't work, you will usually be okay.

 

Usually. Good luck.

 

Thanks. I read this reply promptly and decided to back off a little until I'm comfier with what limitations I'd be willing to risk in order to change.