Auto-level headlamps with CCD

[frossty_vibes]

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I have a '21 Limited sitting at my local dealer because the auto-levelling headlamps have never worked since we recieved the truck in December of '21. We brought up this issue in January, since then we have brought it in a few times for the same issue. We tow a smaller utility trailer at least once per week and we are getting flashed constantly. As the days are getting shorter, we are pushing more for this to be fixed.

This truck is fully loaded with CCD and the onboard scales. This is important.

I dropped the truck off yesterday morning and was told that they had a field engineer with some updates that could resolve the issue. Sounds great. But today I received a call stating that the levelling is not a feature on this truck because of the truck having CCD. Going to pick the truck up tomorrow morning. The loaner truck we had without CCD or scales worked perfectly.

Anyone have a truck with CCD with this issue? Would like some thoughts. I do have a OBD tool with FORScan so if anyone wants me to try anything I'm open.

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[NotMyName]

2022 Platinum CCD/Scales WITH auto leveling headlights. See video

 

[NotMyName]

The lights also turn with steering as well as corner lights illuminating when turning left or right

 

[Snakebitten]

What?
Ford, dealership and field engineer, concluded that your Limited F150 with CCD and scales, does NOT have auto leveling headlights? ?

When you start your truck up at night time, do they not perform the magic sweep?

 

[frossty_vibes]

What?
Ford, dealership and field engineer, concluded that your Limited F150 with CCD and scales, does NOT have auto leveling headlights? ?

When you start your truck up at night time, do they not perform the magic sweep?

I am just as mind-boggled as you are man. They do the full range of motion on startup, and they do bend when going around corners, but as far as the levelling goes, they do not do anything. When I tow my trailer that puts 200lbs max on the tounge, the lights shoot to the stars.

 

[frossty_vibes]

I was told when I picked up the truck that a report from the field tech would be emailed to me sometime soon. I will post it here once I recieve it (hopefully).

 

[Snakebitten]

I have CCD and Scales and supposedly auto-leveling headlights.

I will test them in the barn tomorrow against a wall mark and let you know. (jack the bed up and down and see if they autolevel)

I know they certainly do the startup dance.

 

[frossty_vibes]

I have CCD and Scales and supposedly auto-leveling headlights.

I will test them in the barn tomorrow against a wall mark and let you know. (jack the bed up and down and see if they autolevel)

I know they certainly do the startup dance.

Just for the record, I do believe the headlights base themselves off of how much weight is on the truck, not via the pitch sensor.

 

[Snakebitten]

Just for the record, I do believe the headlights base themselves off of how much weight is on the truck, not via the pitch sensor.

If that's true, then Ford is treating the auto-leveling in a CCD truck differently than they do for the Raptor and what I thought I have read with some non-Raptors.

I remember seeing where @antho assisted some fellas who were experiencing their auto leveling working in reverse of what they should. Literally raising the lights when the truck was squatting, and lowering them when the rear end was raised. They discovered the HCM was programmed wrong and @antho guided/provided them with the correct files and flashing the module with Forscan, since Ford/FDRS was the culprit.

I guess it's possible that Ford would control the HCM via scales data instead of the geometry data from the height sensors, but I would argue scales is actually driven by the height sensors. Scales aren't anything but software calculating weight based on the height sensors.

 

[NotMyName]

If that's true, then Ford is treating the auto-leveling in a CCD truck differently than they do for the Raptor and what I thought I have read with some non-Raptors.

I remember seeing where @antho assisted some fellas who were experiencing their auto leveling working in reverse of what they should. Literally raising the lights when the truck was squatting, and lowering them when the rear end was raised. They discovered the HCM was programmed wrong and @antho guided/provided them with the correct files and flashing the module with Forscan, since Ford/FDRS was the culprit.

I guess it's possible that Ford would control the HCM via scales data instead of the geometry data from the height sensors, but I would argue scales is actually driven by the height sensors. Scales aren't anything but software calculating weight based on the height sensors.

Btw, got an oil change and tire rotation. No max tow rear axle on my powerboost.

 

[antho]

If that's true, then Ford is treating the auto-leveling in a CCD truck differently than they do for the Raptor and what I thought I have read with some non-Raptors.

I remember seeing where @antho assisted some fellas who were experiencing their auto leveling working in reverse of what they should. Literally raising the lights when the truck was squatting, and lowering them when the rear end was raised. They discovered the HCM was programmed wrong and @antho guided/provided them with the correct files and flashing the module with Forscan, since Ford/FDRS was the culprit.

I guess it's possible that Ford would control the HCM via scales data instead of the geometry data from the height sensors, but I would argue scales is actually driven by the height sensors. Scales aren't anything but software calculating weight based on the height sensors.

I thought the guy was crazy when he mentioned his issue. After seeing the results he posted it was clear it did not work properly. I went and tested my lights to see that they infact operated backwards too. Lifting the bed of the truck made the headlights postion down lower and raising the front made the lights adjust higher. I put a line on the wall and watched the lights adjust the wrong way after making the height changes. Maybe you have the same issue?

 

[Snakebitten]

I thought the guy was crazy when he mentioned his issue. After seeing the results he posted it was clear it did not work properly. I went and tested my lights to see that they infact operated backwards too. Lifting the bed of the truck made the headlights postion down lower and raising the front made the lights adjust higher. I put a line on the wall and watched the lights adjust the wrong way after making the height changes. Maybe you have the same issue?

Thanks for replying good sir.

It's actually not my truck being discussed. It's the OP. And his dealership and a Ford field engineer told him that the reason his F150 Limited was getting flashed by oncoming drivers, when he has 200lbs of tongue weight, is because he has scales. And trucks that have scales do not have auto-leveling projectors.

I find that an amazing thing to say to the customer, but I guess I shouldn't really be surprised.

But yea, I wonder if his auto-leveling is working in reverse, or not at all? I am convinced his truck has auto-leveling.

 

[frossty_vibes]

I thought the guy was crazy when he mentioned his issue. After seeing the results he posted it was clear it did not work properly. I went and tested my lights to see that they infact operated backwards too. Lifting the bed of the truck made the headlights postion down lower and raising the front made the lights adjust higher. I put a line on the wall and watched the lights adjust the wrong way after making the height changes. Maybe you have the same issue?

But yea, I wonder if his auto-leveling is working in reverse, or not at all? I am convinced his truck has auto-leveling.

I'm pretty sure that it could be working in reverse. I'll try it out tonight and report what I see. I remember service telling me a few weeks back that I should consult with sales over this issue for some reason ?. Thanks guys!

 

[frossty_vibes]

I was going to write a massive reply with many images but there really is no point. I pointed my camera at the headlights and tested 3 different scenarios. (TLDR: The lights do not move at all.)

Normal - no load, no lift
Weighted - empty trailer attached, so ~100lbs
Lifted - raised rear-end of truck with jack via hitch receiver

Here is a video of startup, it shows the up-down movement.

Took pictures of the headlights in each scenario and this is what I see.

Those aren't the same image. There is no change in level at all between the 3 scenarios. Image order from top down: Normal, Weighted, Lifted. The level on the wall changed by a lot.

Not too sure where to go from here.

 

[frossty_vibes]

Okay, finally an update. Made a stop at the dealership while I was in town yesterday.

I have a part of the field service report. It was given to me on a piece of paper that was torn in half, so I don't think I have the full report. Only thing that catches my eye is the use of "may be equipped".

The service manager told me that he would get another truck in to experiment with some 3rd party software modifications. He was just as confused as to why this would be only working on non-CCD trucks.

Interesting part that I was told about is that it's able to pull ride height data from the front shocks but not the rears, meaning that if I jacked up the front of the truck, the headlights probably would react. Pretty useless if your truck is squatting.

So in conclusion, nothing really new here. Kinda stinks.


A sort of unrelated issue from this situation, but I'll jot it down here. Ever since the dealership did all of the updates, my trailer doesn't play nice with the truck anymore. One side marker and one taillamp will not longer function at seemingly random times and it kicks out these messages:

This trailer doesn't have brakes, so I'm not too sure why it's now throwing a fuss about it now. I have plugged this trailer into another truck and it worked great with no issues. Just curious to see if anyone else has experienced this issue.

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