Ruiner46
Well-Known Member
Cruise control not working is a dead giveaway that the transmission gear ratios are not set correctly in the tune. The Bowler harness can correct the OSS gear ratio, but it can't change the allowed range of gear ratios in the tune that tell the ECU which gear you are in. For some reason, cruise control needs this information. If it detects a gear ratio out of range of its limits, it won't allow cruise to work. Also, the speedometer is not affected by anything in the Bowler harness, so you can't rely on that as a check that everything is working or wired correctly.Sorry for the delay, I haven't been checking this.
Waited for a month, dealer took one look at it and "due to the mods" they would need me to commit to 5hrs of diag at $225/hr! Insane... so I'm calling around to everyone again and trying to find a solution.
More info:
Car is turbo swapped, assuming it has aftermarket tune, runs good but currently on very low boost due to leak (will fix later after I get the trans sorted). Probably was tuned for the MT82. I do not have rev matching, I think this was a March of 2018 build. I used the Modern Driveline swap kit with the Bowler all in one harness. All wiring is double checked, checked all fuses and grounds I touched. Confirmed with Bowler that I wired up correctly for 2018, so unless me and my buddy are color blind, its not a wiring issue. The speedo runs correct after messing with settings in the Bowler app, but cruise does not work.
Modern Driveline told me that I "may" need a fix via HPTuners, but I'd be surprised since it doesn't even start without arcing the starter. Bowler said "maybe" as well, and to try a GT500 base tune file. Will create a thread with HPTuners to see if anyone has that issue, and maybe spend the $200 or whatever on credits to load that on the car, but I feel like its a long shot.
Ford said it sounds like a BCM issue, but I don't have any clue how this all could have magically gone wrong when all I did was swap the trans. Tried resetting battery, charging battery, changing battery with my Vette, no changes. No changes with clutch/hood sensor swap either so something is very upset with canbus/BCM/wiring in the car. All these systems talk to each other unfortunately.
So essentially, no update. No way am I giving the car to Ford for nearly $1200 to diagnose.
The only thing the Bowler harness is really good for is controlling the reverse lockout solenoid. Everything else can and should be corrected in the tune. If you ever want cruise to work, you will need tune changes period. The ECU needs the correct OSS ratio for torque calculation checks and probably other complicated things, but the speedo is from a wheel sensor. The only way to check the Bowler harness and gear ratios in the tune is by datalogging the output of the OSS and engine RPM and doing some math with transmission gear ratios to make sure the numbers work out.
If you have clutch switch problems, then that could cause the starter button not to work. Those other issues will not be fixed by a tune and need some electrical diagnosis to figure out. Is it possible a wiring harness got damaged? No backup cam/reverse lights sounds like the wiring to the reverse switch or Bowler harness. Many of the things you have trouble with all come from the same bundle of wires that runs to the trans and starter motor. You could pretty easily bypass the Bowler harness for the reverse switch connection and at least figure out if that makes your reverse cam work.
Modern Driveline and Bowler are great, but they don't know these cars and the complexity of the tunes they use. Switching to a GT500 base tune is a terrible suggestion so don't pay attention to that. Somewhere in this thread, I think I mentioned all of the tune changes I made to get my setup working perfectly. It really is pretty simple stuff compared to all the changes needed to add forced induction.
Sponsored