2015 Convertible Ecoboost Low Beam DRL Forscan

[agonelpagliaio]

Hey Guys,
Anyone could set the low beam as DRL on a Mustang like mine?
I followed the following steps but I got a flashing dome lights (misconfiguration):

Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC):
720-02-01 xxCx xxxx xxxx
Body Control Module (BCM):
Find 726-45-01: xxxx 7Fxx xxxx
726-16-02 x1x1 x1x1 x1xx
726-21-01 xxxx xxxx x1xx
726-50-01 02xx

According to the following table, 02 should be the low beam (726-50-01 02xx), but it's not on my car, at least I suspect that is the issue:

01 = Disabled / Parking Lights Only
02 = Low Beams
04 = Front Fog Lamps
08 = Front Turn Lamps
10 = Dedicated DRL Lights
20 = High Beams
40 = Low Beams and Dedicated DRL Lights

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Marco

 

[JAJ]

Hey Guys,
Anyone could set the low beam as DRL on a Mustang like mine?
I followed the following steps but I got a flashing dome lights (misconfiguration):

Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC):
720-02-01 xxCx xxxx xxxx
Body Control Module (BCM):
Find 726-45-01: xxxx 7Fxx xxxx
726-16-02 x1x1 x1x1 x1xx
726-21-01 xxxx xxxx x1xx
726-50-01 02xx

According to the following table, 02 should be the low beam (726-50-01 02xx), but it's not on my car, at least I suspect that is the issue:

01 = Disabled / Parking Lights Only
02 = Low Beams
04 = Front Fog Lamps
08 = Front Turn Lamps
10 = Dedicated DRL Lights
20 = High Beams
40 = Low Beams and Dedicated DRL Lights

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Marco

I've looked at my reference materials on this topic and I can't see an obvious problem at this point, but there are some important questions:

1. What is a "Mustang like mine"? What trim level is it and does it have Sync or Sync3 or what?
2. What is the lighting setup? Do you have halogen headlights or HID?
3. What problem are you trying to solve - you have no DRL's and you want them, or you had DRL's of one type and now you want a different type? What's the story?
4. Did you make a copy of the factory settings? If so, could you post them the same way as above, please. If not, you always can get them from Motorcraft Service website. Knowing what you're starting with makes it easier for the community to help you.

One problem with all the stuff online about Forscan is that the settings are all numbers and letters, as above, but the computer you're configuring doesn't look at the letters, it looks at the individual bits (four per letter) that make up the letter/number. For instance, the series of 01, 02, 04, 08, 10, 20 and 40 is actually a row of seven individual on-off switches, and each number pair turns one on and the other six off. Knowing which switch(es), if any, were flipped when the car was built is really helpful. Ditto the IPC setting - the letter "C" flips four switches in an attempt to get one of the four in the right place. Your misconfig problem could be because one of the other three switches is set wrong. Again, knowing what you had from the factory is important - "C" could be the right letter for a lot of cars but not for yours.

Also, did you cycle through all seven of the 726-50-01 options listed, one at a time, to see if any of them worked?

 

[agonelpagliaio]

Hey Jaj, thanks a lot for your prompt and exhaustive reply.
My Mustang is a 2015 Convertible Premium Ecoboost with Nav, I don't know about the lights: how can I check it?
Unfortunately I didn't do a backup but I attached the .ab file (renamed to .txt) downloaded for my VIN.
What I'm trying to do is to have the low beam on all the time.
I'm gonna try all of the all seven 726-50-01 options, as suggested.

 

[JAJ]

Hey Jaj, thanks a lot for your prompt and exhaustive reply.
My Mustang is a 2015 Convertible Premium Ecoboost with Nav, I don't know about the lights: how can I check it?
Unfortunately I didn't do a backup but I attached the .ab file (renamed to .txt) downloaded for my VIN.
What I'm trying to do is to have the low beam on all the time.
I'm gonna try all of the all seven 726-50-01 options, as suggested.

OK, so here's what I see:

720-02-01 xxCx xxxx xxxx - original is 8 - this looks ok - only one bit gets flipped when 8 becomes a C (1000 => 1100) - it's hard to tell what this actually does - it may only affect the options selection display, so it might be fine to go back to 8 - DRL's should still work, just not be selectable.

726-45-01: xxxx 7Fxx xxxx - original is 05 - this looks ok - there are five extra bits flipped here (0000 0101 => 0111 1111). The notes I have say this setting enables different DRL modes but doesn't turn them on - I suspect this is a seven bit mask for the settings in 726-50-01. Two modes were on from the factory, so one of them might work - for the rest, there might not be infrastructure to make them work - the wiring might be missing, etc.

726-16-02 x1x1 x1x1 x1xx - original is 2's in the locations where the 1's are. Notes say this enables the connection between automatic headlight control and DRL's. It might be worth trying it with 2's instead of 1's. Notes say that 2 means "INOP", which could mean that the BCM shouldn't look for a an auto headlight signal to control the DRL's - hard to know when it's someone else's notes and car. In any case, 1 means enabled, but if the auto headlight system is missing or not signaling, then the BCM will wait forever and nothing will happen. Transition from 2's to 1's looks like this in binary: 0010 repeated 5 times => 0001 repeated 5 times - one bit goes off and the adjacent one goes on.

726-21-01 xxxx xxxx x1xx - Original is 2. This appears to be another switch that tells the BCM to look for signals from the auto headlight system. Once again, 2 is INOP and 1 is enabled. If you try 2's in 726-16-02, you should probably change this to 2 as well.

726-50-01 02xx - Original is 1 - 1 is disabled, and there are only 6 other choices, so try them one by one and see how it goes.

One thing to consider is if you have auto headlights or not - if you don't, then the original settings in 726-16 and 21 should probably go back to "2" from "1".

Update: I did a little more digging:

726-26-01 you have xxxx xxxx 00 and you might try 01 instead. This is supposed to control whether the headlights have to be in auto mode for drl to work. 1 means work in any mode, 0 means only in auto mode.

 

[agonelpagliaio]

726-16-02 x1x1 x1x1 x1xx - original is 2's in the locations where the 1's are. Notes say this enables the connection between automatic headlight control and DRL's. It might be worth trying it with 2's instead of 1's.

726-21-01 xxxx xxxx x1xx - Original is 2. This appears to be another switch that tells the BCM to look for signals from the auto headlight system. Once again, 2 is INOP and 1 is enabled. If you try 2's in 726-16-02, you should probably change this to 2 as well.

726-50-01 02xx - Original is 1 - 1 is disabled, and there are only 6 other choices, so try them one by one and see how it goes.

One thing to consider is if you have auto headlights or not - if you don't, then the original settings in 726-16 and 21 should probably go back to "2" from "1".

WOW, that was a complete analysis!
Yes, I do have the auto headlights, but now I'm a bit confused: do you think 726-21-01 and 726-21-02 should stay with the original "2" or with the new "1"? Or you think I should try with both settings?

726-26-01 you have xxxx xxxx 00 and you might try 01 instead. This is supposed to control whether the headlights have to be in auto mode for drl to work. 1 means work in any mode, 0 means only in auto mode.

You are suggesting to try with both 00 and 01?

 

[carver]

Wow...I got lost at " Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC): "

 

[agonelpagliaio]

726-16-02 x1x1 x1x1 x1xx - original is 2's in the locations where the 1's are.

726-21-01 xxxx xxxx x1xx - Original is 2.

I had to leave the 2s because with the 1s I cannot manage the DRL from the IPC.

726-50-01 02xx - Original is 1 - 1 is disabled, and there are only 6 other choices, so try them one by one and see how it goes.

I tried all of the options and the only working are 04 (fog) and 08 (parking)... no way to enable the low beam, maybe because of missing wiring, as you suggested?
Anyway it's fair enough, I enabled both of them by setting 726-26-02 to x1xx xxxx xxxx
This way I think the car is visible enough daytime.

I also tried:
BCM 726-26-02: xxx0 xxxx xxxx (Disables DRL switching while using Turn Signals)
But I noticed no differences: any clues about what it should do?

One thing to consider is if you have auto headlights or not - if you don't, then the original settings in 726-16 and 21 should probably go back to "2" from "1".

As stated previously, I'd loose the DRL on IPC.

Update: I did a little more digging:
726-26-01 you have xxxx xxxx 00 and you might try 01 instead. This is supposed to control whether the headlights have to be in auto mode for drl to work. 1 means work in any mode, 0 means only in auto mode.

With 01, the DRL is active even with the shift in P, while with 00 only when in D (my favorite).

Thanks a lot for your great support, please let me know if you come across a way to set the low beam as DRL.

 

[JAJ]

I had to leave the 2s because with the 1s I cannot manage the DRL from the IPC.


I tried all of the options and the only working are 04 (fog) and 08 (parking)... no way to enable the low beam, maybe because of missing wiring, as you suggested?
Anyway it's fair enough, I enabled both of them by setting 726-26-02 to x1xx xxxx xxxx
This way I think the car is visible enough daytime.

I also tried:
BCM 726-26-02: xxx0 xxxx xxxx (Disables DRL switching while using Turn Signals)
But I noticed no differences: any clues about what it should do?


As stated previously, I'd loose the DRL on IPC.


With 01, the DRL is active even with the shift in P, while with 00 only when in D (my favorite).

Thanks a lot for your great support, please let me know if you come across a way to set the low beam as DRL.

No problem - this car is quite complex and sometimes it starts out as a mystery and stays that way. Here's what the Service Manual says about how the DRL's work:

"DRL

The DRL feature is not a programmable parameter for this vehicle.

The DRL system utilizes the fog lamp assemblies.

The BCM monitors the ignition status, the headlamp switch and autolamp status.

When the transmission is in not in PARK, the PCM sends a message over the HS-CAN1 to the BCM indicating the transmission is not in PARK.

Based on the input, the BCM activates the DRL .

The BCM supplies a high current switched voltage to the fog lamp assemblies to supply the necessary current to operate the lamps.

The BCM also provides an Field Effect Transistor (FET) protection of the exterior lamps switched voltage and DRL output circuits. When an excessive current draw is detected, the BCM disables the affected circuit driver."

So, what this quote says is that the DRL's work the way they work and you can't get them to work any other way. I suspect the reason that the low beams aren't used as DRL's is because the HID headlamp bulbs are quite expensive, so Ford doesn't want them on when they're not needed. So they run the fog lights instead.