Rough ride & constant ride height recalibration woes

[tm965]

So for the last couple of months i've noticed that after i go offroad my ride is immediately stiffer on the way home and around town. Ride height recals in forscan take care of this immediately, but a short time later I'm back to a rough ride. I've noticed that every time I check the ride height sensors before doing the recal that my passenger rear shock reads way out of whack as compared to the others, leading to the rough ride and odd body movement over bumps on the street.

This morning i was forced to do the recal again, but before doing so i also reset the VDM this time. That said, there was a new fault recorded (see pic) that I havent encountered before: Code B162F - VDM Circuit Output, Circuit Open, Body Control Module C.

Not sure what to make of it, but this issue is getting annoying esp considering all of the shocks were replaced under warranty due to the clunk issue that many of us face(d). Interestingly enough, the passenger right shock was the first to arrive at the dealer around march of '22--the others took months to get. I probably have 4-5k miles on the shocks currently. I'm hoping the VDM reset will fix things here, but I know that is unlikely. @FordTechOne any thoughts here? My next course of action is trying to explain this all to the dealer which i'd like to avoid bc I'm expecting it to involve multiple trips and lots of frustration to make any progress.

 

[Space Ghost]

Ran into a similar issue with my gen 2, turned out to be from two rear solenoids failing, which was a costly $500 replacement for both, and that was with a wholesale discount.
First id try checking the wire connections for each solenoid, clean and check them out and put some dielectric grease around them and see if that helps.

Hard as hell to diagnose which one is faulty since if one shock kinda goes derp, the rest try to compensate or think the terrain is rough and stiffen up along with it. I dont wanna make you drop over 1k on solenoids, but the way i got my theory confirmed was goin to the dealer and they told me the solenoids in the rear were "potentially" faulty and replacing them may fix it, which is what i thought was the issue and luckily it did fix it for me.

Hope this helps

 

[tm965]

Ran into a similar issue with my gen 2, turned out to be from two rear solenoids failing, which was a costly $500 replacement for both, and that was with a wholesale discount.
First id try checking the wire connections for each solenoid, clean and check them out and put some dielectric grease around them and see if that helps.

Hard as hell to diagnose which one is faulty since if one shock kinda goes derp, the rest try to compensate or think the terrain is rough and stiffen up along with it. I dont wanna make you drop over 1k on solenoids, but the way i got my theory confirmed was goin to the dealer and they told me the solenoids in the rear were "potentially" faulty and replacing them may fix it, which is what i thought was the issue and luckily it did fix it for me.

Hope this helps

thanks ill check this out

 

[FordTechOne]

Is the truck stock? It sounds like a ride height sensor may be exceeding its range of travel and causing it to default into full stiff mode (Solenoids off).

The DTC B162F I’m the BCM-C is likely erroneous; it’s not in the Workshop Manual. When the issues occurs, there should be DTCs stored in the VDM.

 

[tm965]

Is the truck stock? It sounds like a ride height sensor may be exceeding its range of travel and causing it to default into full stiff mode (Solenoids off).

The DTC B162F I’m the BCM-C is likely erroneous; it’s not in the Workshop Manual. When the issues occurs, there should be DTCs stored in the VDM.

the truck is stock and ive never seen any DTCs from the VDM, but i tend to agree with your hypothesis bc this for sure happens everytime i use the truck as intended off pavement. Oddly enough, its happened on pavement too a day or two after doing the ride height recal without hitting any rough pavement. im at a bit of a loss

 

[Wichadicha]

Are you doing the ride height with the transmission in N and putting the shocks in engineering mode?

 

[tm965]

Are you doing the ride height with the transmission in N and putting the shocks in engineering mode?

unless i'm mistaken, i dont think theres an engineering mode option for the gen 3 (at least i havent found it). No on neutral.

 

[FordTechOne]

unless i'm mistaken, i dont think theres an engineering mode option for the gen 3 (at least i havent found it). No on neutral.

@tm965 I believe I may have found the root cause of your issue. This is symptom coded under “Harsh ride” on PTS:

SSM 51160 2021-2022 F-150 - DTC B162F:13 Stored In The BCMC

Some 2021-2022 F-150 vehicles may experience diagnostic trouble code (DTC) B162F:13 being stored in the body control module C (BCMC). This may be due to the configuration of the BCMC. To correct the condition, download and run the BCMC - Body Control Module C Configuration app using the latest level of the Ford Diagnosis and Repair System (FDRS).

 

[Space Ghost]

Are you doing the ride height with the transmission in N and putting the shocks in engineering mode?

thats a thing? Never knew that, the guide i followed didnt mention it and the reset worked for me, what do the other two help with?

 

[Wichadicha]

I have a 23 and both exist. Engineering mode releases any preset in the shocks and Neutral is required for accurate setting. If you are using Forscan, there is a menu that pops up during the service procedure that indicated both of these as well. Also, you do not need to pop the lower dash panel and pull the lever to put the truck into N. Before you shut the truck off put the trans in M (manual mode). Then shift to N and then shut the truck off. It will stay in N for you for 30 min. More than enough time. Note: cannot remember if you need to put it in Eng Mode before or after putting in N. The you have it in EM, you will a dash light in the lower right corner saying "ET" engineering test. All that said, FordTechOne has a million time my experience so if you have the Mongoose cable, and are cool paying the $50 bucks for FDRS for 2 days (I highly recommend this as you can update all your modules and such at the same time), go for it.