Onboard Scales Wrong - Affects Headlights

[Thetoad30]

My latest development. Found the springs calibration in Forscan and it seems to have fixed the scales issue. Did not help the headlights tho.

And I drove a headlights on required section of hwy yesterday during the day towing travel trailer. STILL! had one person flash me, thats how bad it is.

I did all calibrations in the VDM, and even did the headlight calibration in the HCM.

Some posts use FDRS to recalibrate, others use Forscan.
Do we know if the approach and results are comparable?

I am wondering the same thing.

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[vidwiz]

I'm going by memory but did ride height and scales in vdm to no avail. but spring worked, also in vdm. headlight calibration didn't work either.

 

[BAP84]

Still no conclusion on the headlight issue part of this thread? I’ve got a 21 Raptor (no scales, but does have the 4 corner suspension height sensors) and my auto-leveling headlights function backwards of how they should with respect to the pitch axis. Put weight in the bed and you get the rise from just the pitch change then it adjusts even higher as the computer adjusts the headlights for level. Tested using sandbags in the bed and a floor jack under the hitch to be able to go both directions from neutral while watching the live sensor data from the height sensors and headlight pitch commanded and actual values. Also the lights never reach a limit stop during my tests so they’re not out of travel. Had a tape line on a wall while doing everything on level ground to watch exactly what the lights were doing when adjusting as I thought initially they just weren’t “leveling”. Come to find out that would actually be better because they are “leveling” but in the wrong direction…

 

[Thetoad30]

Nope, I haven’t figured it out, either. Same issue you have - seems to go opposite to the direction it should go. Someone must have messed up their direction of travel or missed a minus sign in code.

 

[vidwiz]

Still no conclusion on the headlight issue part of this thread? I’ve got a 21 Raptor (no scales, but does have the 4 corner suspension height sensors) and my auto-leveling headlights function backwards of how they should with respect to the pitch axis. Put weight in the bed and you get the rise from just the pitch change then it adjusts even higher as the computer adjusts the headlights for level. Tested using sandbags in the bed and a floor jack under the hitch to be able to go both directions from neutral while watching the live sensor data from the height sensors and headlight pitch commanded and actual values. Also the lights never reach a limit stop during my tests so they’re not out of travel. Had a tape line on a wall while doing everything on level ground to watch exactly what the lights were doing when adjusting as I thought initially they just weren’t “leveling”. Come to find out that would actually be better because they are “leveling” but in the wrong direction…

Nice observation. Rewatched the video I have and mine may do the same, not sure. Stinks of course, dealer here totally sucks and so I basically cant really tow at night.

 

[BAP84]

Nice observation. Rewatched the video I have and mine may do the same, not sure. Stinks of course, dealer here totally sucks and so I basically cant really tow at night.

Yeah as much as I hate taking my truck to the dealer I’m going to take a stab at it I guess. I’ve got a recall that needs to be done anyways…

 

[vidwiz]

Yeah as much as I hate taking my truck to the dealer I’m going to take a stab at it I guess. I’ve got a recall that needs to be done anyways…

went in here for the parking lights recall. was the one thing they supposedly did out of the 6 i went in for. Almost 3 mos now and ford still says my truck needs it. dont know what to think...

 

[BAP84]

went in here for the parking lights recall. was the one thing they supposedly did out of the 6 i went in for. Almost 3 mos now and ford still says my truck needs it. dont know what to think...

Yeah one of my recalls (think it was for the trailer brake module) I got a notice for a while back completed via OTA update but the dealer keeps sending me notices saying I have 2 open recalls (trailer brake module & wiper motor) and to call to make an appointment…makes me wonder if it really did perform the recall fix via OTA for the module as it said in the OTA update notes post download/install or if the dealer service center doesn’t get the info that it’s been done when. Confidence booster for sure ?

 

[BAP84]

Nope, I haven’t figured it out, either. Same issue you have - seems to go opposite to the direction it should go. Someone must have messed up their direction of travel or missed a minus sign in code.

I keep thinking either there are a ton of trucks out there with this issue and people just don’t notice it or only a select few of us have some combination of components/modules/programming that are causing this issue. For what it’s worth, when I took delivery of my truck (ordered June of 21, delivered February 22) it came with two different tail lights (one chrome and one black ?), my rain sensing wipers didn’t work, my speedometer was 3mph off at 60, and I was having issues with parking proximity sensors as well which the proxy sensors fixed themselves by the time they got the right taillight assembly a month or two after delivery and I took it back to the dealer to have that installed. When I asked them to look into the rain sensor because the wipers were only working like a standard intermittent wiper they tried to convince me that the feature was garbage anyways and I should just leave it how it was. Long story short I decided to dig into the code in FORScan and wouldn’t you know it they just weren’t programmed so I changed the code and they work like a champ ever since. Wish I could find some piece of code that could invert the Y axis as I think we’d be set. My faith in these service centers is pretty lacking unfortunately. To those of you who have a great relationship with a top notch service center who actually strive to help you out…I’m quite envious.

 

[J17GT]

Still no conclusion on the headlight issue part of this thread? I’ve got a 21 Raptor (no scales, but does have the 4 corner suspension height sensors) and my auto-leveling headlights function backwards of how they should with respect to the pitch axis. Put weight in the bed and you get the rise from just the pitch change then it adjusts even higher as the computer adjusts the headlights for level. Tested using sandbags in the bed and a floor jack under the hitch to be able to go both directions from neutral while watching the live sensor data from the height sensors and headlight pitch commanded and actual values. Also the lights never reach a limit stop during my tests so they’re not out of travel. Had a tape line on a wall while doing everything on level ground to watch exactly what the lights were doing when adjusting as I thought initially they just weren’t “leveling”. Come to find out that would actually be better because they are “leveling” but in the wrong direction…

What do these height sensors look like? Do the same sensors exists on F150s and are used to trigger the headlight leveling? Per the other thread with similar discussion (HERE), I would really like to confirm my truck is equipped with whatever is needed to trigger the auto-leveling prior to engaging with the dealer. The reason I ask is due to that document you shared where it says some high end LED headlamps may be equipped with auto leveling.

I will say, manually adjusting the lights is really easy. So those stuck with the issue and need some adjustment, get a 6" long #2 Phillips and the adjustment screws are very accessible. I too was lighting up overpasses and signs like you were on the surface of the sun while towing.

 

[BAP84]

What do these height sensors look like? Do the same sensors exists on F150s and are used to trigger the headlight leveling? Per the other thread with similar discussion (HERE), I would really like to confirm my truck is equipped with whatever is needed to trigger the auto-leveling prior to engaging with the dealer. The reason I ask is due to that document you shared where it says some high end LED headlamps may be equipped with auto leveling.

I will say, manually adjusting the lights is really easy. So those stuck with the issue and need some adjustment, get a 6" long #2 Phillips and the adjustment screws are very accessible. I too was lighting up overpasses and signs like you were on the surface of the sun while towing.

The front sensors look be mounted slightly different because of the difference in suspension components used (Raptor vs Non Raptor) and the mounting location/brackets used but the sensors appear to be the same. The rear has several a few different types based on suspension options Raptor/CCD/Non-CCD suspension. Attached are from the service manual for the 2021.

 

[J17GT]

The front sensors look be mounted slightly different because of the difference in suspension components used (Raptor vs Non Raptor) and the mounting location/brackets used but the sensors appear to be the same. The rear has several a few different types based on suspension options Raptor/CCD/Non-CCD suspension. Attached are from the service manual for the 2021.

Appears I have the front sensors! My truck has CCD and no scales. I have nothing attached to the rear leaf springs. Only connections to the rear CCD shocks are in the pic below. Maybe none of this is turned on in programming? Would be nice if it was that easy."

**EDIT** Read the service manual pics again. When they reference the term "rear dynamic shock absorber", I assume that means CCD? If so, it's integrated into the shock then. I guess that would make sense.

 

[vidwiz]

Thanks for that info Bap. I have ccd fwiw. Hoping someone w a better dealer gets this fixed and can provide their writeup. Wonder if somehow something in the mechanism got mounted in reverse.

 

[BAP84]

Appears I have the front sensors! My truck has CCD and no scales. I have nothing attached to the rear leaf springs. Only connections to the rear CCD shocks are in the pic below. Maybe none of this is turned on in programming? Would be nice if it was that easy."

**EDIT** Read the service manual pics again. When they reference the term "rear dynamic shock absorber", I assume that means CCD? If so, it's integrated into the shock then. I guess that would make sense.

Yes you have the sensors and correct on the CCD. If you have CCD which you do then your height sensor is built into the rear shock assemblies according to the service manual. From my experience (rain sensing wipers for example which weren’t turned on in the coding when I received my truck) I wouldn’t doubt there are people out there, and you may be one of them, who have equipment which isn’t turned on in the programming. Intentional? Who knows…my guess would be unintentional oversight of what options these trucks were actually ordered with and the program they wrote to the modules in some cases.

 

[BAP84]

Thanks for that info Bap. I have ccd fwiw. Hoping someone w a better dealer gets this fixed and can provide their writeup. Wonder if somehow something in the mechanism got mounted in reverse.

I’ll keep working at it. I’m going to go into the dealer sometime soon to get on the schedule and try to explain what’s going on and see what I get for a response. I’m not holding my breath but trying to collect as much hard evidence of the issue as possible to make it as cut and dry for them as I can. I too wondered if a sensor was mounted wrong, wires in the harness got mis-pinned, etc. I’ve checked my sensor mounting to the factory service manual and can confirm they are mounted per the book. Wiring…well I’m researching that today and getting wire colors, pin locations etc for the connections at play in this system. If it’s something like that and not a module with bad programming I question if the suspension reacts as it should too as the Raptor has live valve shocks that are adjusting to the driving conditions. I won’t lie though, for what I do with my truck I’d probably never notice the suspension side of it as I’m not out rallying the crap out of it and taking it off jumps etc…I do notice the headlights though. Literally if I put my dirt bike in the back I’m blinding everyone oncoming. Ridiculous considering how this should work in my opinion. And no they aren’t hard to adjust but when they should do the job automatically I shouldn’t be popping the hood and screwing with them every time I put a few lbs in the bed of the thing lol

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