I had posted about this in the Discord hoping to be an easy solution that I may have overlooked but so far have been unsuccessful including with my own research on the matter.
Having gotten the parking sensor display working on my C-Max, it appears I am now stuck having both the display that shows over the rear view camera in the corner in addition to the full screen ‘Flank Guard’ display that pops up in Drive at slow speeds. It’s this latter bit that I’m trying to disable (it’s starting to feel more annoying than useful) but still keep the RVC sensor display.
Attached is my most recent APIM AsBuilt. I’ve modified what seem to be the most relevant bits as follows:
But even after multiple master resets for other reasons, the flank guard display still appears. I’m unsure of where to go from here or if I truly have missed something obvious.
You have a PAM with no asbuilt adjustments. There is no 736-xx-xx data in the asbuilt.
736
F110 DS-BM5T-15K866-AH
F111 CJ5T-14F159-BB
F113 CJ5T-15K866-BE
F188 CJ5T-14C090-BE
7D0-02-02: x2xx-xxxx-xxxx would be the setting that would allow FG to appear in the APIM, and you have it disabled. The 7D0-01-01: xB xx-xxxx-xxxx is only for the camera HMI.
I don’t see anything else in the asbuilt that is an issue.
Yep. I had fully assumed disabling the FG bit in the APIM itself would have been sufficient to suppress that display but unfortunately it hasn’t even after a few master resets.
Regarding the PAM, I was fully aware of not having the AsBuilt config prior when I had messed with the park assist/calibration update steps (As an FYI, the PAM is fully up to date at least per what ForScan is aware of. I don’t have the current calibration level on hand though).
Now this is making me curious how simple it would be to swap for a different part that does have an AsBuilt config and potentially newer. Especially given how I -thought- I had read somewhere that a portion of the park assist/aid functionality was managed by the BCM (something like the front sensors are done through the BCM and rear sensors through the PAM? I can’t find that reference now so take this with a HUGE grain of salt at this point). The BCM’s the one thing I’m concerned about given so much is tied into it and this older part with an earlier calibration that is preventing a lot of ‘niceties’ from being available (re: the C-Max IPC discussion thread here). With it being an integral part of vehicle operation (ignition and lighting for starters), I’ve been avoiding doing anything more than simple Central Config changes.
That said, if the PAM could be replaced/upgraded, it would potentially knock a few issues out though:
From what I’ve been reading up further on the FG function, it should normally only come up when something is actually triggering one of the sensors? Right now it comes up ALL the time when under 5mph or so. Supposedly this is all related to being an older/unsupported/misconfigured PAM and should potentially be resolved with the proper combination of hardware/calibration/AsBuilt so I wouldn’t necessarily have to disable FG if it operates properly.
The well noted park assist issue on Sync 3 retrofits with the displays not matching up to the steps of the process. It’s my understanding that the PAM AsBuilt is the last and final key to sort this out.
The PAM’s aren’t that expensive on eBay and the one on mine is pretty easy to access. It would definitely be a fun summer project to tackle (among a number of others I have in mind).
I agree with both points above.
It is a mystery why the FG continues to display despite being disabled in the APIM.
I have no idea if you could swap the PAM modules or what will be involved, but if you try it I’d like to see the info you uncover.
Just one question I do have at this point then: Above you mentioned the CJ5T-* models have the AsBuilt parameters. However if ForScan is to be believed (from an old log from April '21, I’ll gather updated part and calibration/strategy info later this afternoon), mine already is a CJ5T model:
PAM - Parking Aid Module
Part number: CJ5T-15K866-BE (latest known: CJ5T-15K866-BH)
I’ll definitely be going through with this at some point this summer and will report back my findings. Just need to make sure I’m looking for the right part #'s.
That is interesting that your vehicle shows this PAM installed but there is no asbuilt data in the OEM factory asbuilt, nor do you see any with FORScan. I would think that you would have asbuilt data. Is there an updated calibration level past -BH?
The only other thing I posted was a screenshot of the firmware update page in ForScan. Hopefully it comes through now:
Very curious though with that 2017. I also noticed the same when I tried a couple 2017 and 2018 Titanium trims I found on the Motocraft AsBuilt page. No 736 block to be seen.
Thanks for the PM and the extra investigative work. This is getting really interesting now. So no PAM AsBuilt across model years even in 2017 and 2018 models with Sync 3 equipped from the factory. Nothing in the BCM for PAM functionality other than the Park Assist configuration either.
I may have to see if any other C-Max owners who have 2016+ models can report how their Park Assist or FG functions (if turned on) behave, including if they’re either on 3.0-3.3 or 3.4.
Something else that had crossed my mind and this is just a wild ass guess: I wonder if it is possible that communication with the rest of the vehicle, given it is a Central Config vehicle, could cause the PAM to suppress any AsBuilt configurations.
If I happened to get a bench setup going to power the PAM on its own, I wonder if it would give up anything useful? Then that leaves the question of how much would need to be set up on the bench since that process is foreign to me at this point. Stuff like can it work with just the PAM with 12v power applied and feeding the CAN lines directly to my OBDLink EX? Other modules needed? Do I need to to fake out some communication such as ignition status? Will ForScan behave with just the PAM? Stuff like that… Given how cheap the PAM’s are I may still get another one as a spare and try this for the hell of it.
The only other potential thing at this point is updating the BCM calibration, but as noted above I’m kinda wary of messing with this.
PAMs in NA C-Maxes pull their entire config from Central Config, from what I can tell. I actually have a PAM out of a 2016 Escape in my C-Max, it also used Central Config and doesn’t have any internal AsBuilt. C-Maxes all the way up to the last year all appear to have no AsBuilt fields for a PAM, and they all contain Central Config. This appears to be consistent for any C1MCA vehicle, it’s only CGEA vehicles that had internal AsBuilt on the PAM.
So I don’t think there’s any way to get a functional autopark vehicle with PAM AsBuilt on a C1MCA platform. It’s quite likely the firmware just won’t be communicating the right information. I have a -BH PAM and it showed the flank guard popup as well when I had the sensors taped to my front bumper and was driving it around.
You said you’ve already tried messing with 7D0-02-02, that would be my guess as well. Central Config doesn’t have anything related to flank guard.
I’m going to be calling around to local body shops to get the holes punched for sensors next week to complete my installation. I’d be happy to test any config changes or other things @vchat20, I have a lab setup for electronics work that makes it easier for me to do things like flash modules outside the vehicle.
Sidenote on part numbers, there are two versions of the CJ5T-15K866 PAM. The -A_ series is the non-autopark version, this PAM is physically missing the circuitry to control front park sensors and can only accept -A_ series calibrations. If you enable the Central Config flag for any type of autopark other than disabled or rear PDC only you will get a bunch of DTCs in several modules and PDC will entirely stop working.
Ask me how I know
The -B_ series of CJ5T-15K866 is the full autopark revision, which again has different physical circuitry inside of it. The moment I dropped a -BH module out of the Escape into my vehicle the FDIM buttons for autopark lit up and started working as expected, something I couldn’t get the -AJ one I was using to work.
Relatedly @F150Chief I’m strongly suspecting this is why some folks with F150s were unable to enable autopark on their vehicles. More analysis of part numbers and physical hardware might be prudent for PAMs in general.
2015 and newer F-150’s are CGEA 1.3 and have the PAM integrated in the BCM and is fully programmable. The restrictions are due to wiring and missing features due to trim levels.
I would personally be fine with the lack of the auto park/park assist function as I rarely use that and isn’t intrusive otherwise like FG. It’s unfortunate that so far it appears the FG toggle in the APIM seems to seemingly be ignored. However I have not tried also disabling the Parking Sensor Display under 7D0-01-01: x*xx-xxxx-xxxx while keeping the PDC Architecture set for C1MCA. Basic timeline of related modifications I’ve made: Started with turning on the Parking Sensor Display and FG but the PDC Architecture was still set for CGEA 1.3 erroneously (APIM was preprogrammed this way). Then switch to C1MCA and that’s where things are now. So I may try disabling that parking sensor display option just for the heck of it and see what happens.
Regarding the bench testing stuff, it was merely a wild ass theory on my part that maybe the PAM would surface AsBuilt options if it was no longer in communication with a Central Config equipped vehicle. And maybe a long shot and lost cause would be if this could be changed accordingly and still hold at least some parameters once it was placed back in the vehicle and CC took back over. Not sure if these particular part numbers have been in use in other non-CC vehicles where it could indicate that an AsBuilt config -is- possible on those?
Semi-related note: Very poor timing on my part now that getting access to UCDS is basically impossible with the Russia shenanigans. More and more it looks like it’s going to be a useful investment above what ForScan can do.
Posting here before the thread closes out. But I think I’m going to push up my timetable upgrading to a newer APIM sometime this summer for the express purpose of digging into the modding side of things. Haven’t looked too deeply into all the QML stuff (I’ve got a VM set up and a recent build all extracted and glanced st some files, but that’s it) but in theory maybe a ‘workaround’ mod could be developed to make these features function with the older PAM functionality? That’s all I’ll say here for obvious reasons and when I start putting more progress into it, I’ll post over on FMods.
