If you enjoyed your Incontrol Remote and Protect for your 2016/2017 (and older) F, it is dead, done, DOA. My info is just US, but I have to think that it's anywhere where 2/3G services are no longer available. This is from my JLR tech who got it from JLR management.

This is the safety and security services that I had come to rely on... car locked? windows up? safely in my garage? etc.

Please review the attached form and decide if it applies to you. The form mentions a 'repair process'. I'm not sure if you would have to take the car to a JLR dealer so that your Start and Drive functionality is maintained. My car is currently at the dealer, so I guess that is what I will be doing.

My hope is that there is some entreprising tech person who will see this as an opportunity to create and implement a workaround that will get the job done as well as be affordable. How many Fs are out there that will now be out of this?

 

So the only reason they disable the module is if it fails, as the car won't start and cannot be replaced as no new ones exist. If yours is currently still working, there's no reason to remove it and have it turned off in the software, but as you have found out the telematics side of it and the services are no longer going to be operational due to the aging out of the system.

There are some outside sources of 'rebuilt' TCUs, normally out of Asia or other markets. One of those could be programmed to a car to retain it's functions, but again without the network, your remote apps will still be dead.

There are not really many people who actually use the incontrol system, if it was profitable they would keep it online. It's so rarely used, even in new cars, it's just not worth it to maintain the legacy systems.

 

So yes, I believe my TCU is still 'working', and yes, I understand none of the remote apps will work anymore.

My questions are:

1. If I leave the TCU in and part of the car's system, if the TCU DOES fail at some point... it's probably 10 years old (MY2017) will that cause the car not to start? The failure of the TCU generates a signal? But there is no connectivity.... ???????????

2, Will disconnecting the TCU, coding it out, cause my currently operational, but not updated NAV to cease as well?

I did read the thread you participated in about this on another forum, very helpful, but still some holes in my comprehension.

 

TCU functionality in regards to the starting of the car is basically just start authorization. When you push the start button, the modules all check if it's ok to start.
-is there a valid key in the car
-transmission in park/neutral
-clutch pressed
-no active theft block

That last one is just the TCU on the network saying "i'm ok, go ahead and start the engine". If you lose the TCU to a failure, it loses power, network is cut, etc, that 'go' signal never happens, and the BCM/PCM will not allow an engine start. So, if the module is dead and we don't have a replacement, we just tell the car to ignore that module, don't wait for that start request, and all goes back to normal.
As for your 2nd question, no the navigation is handled via the IMC and the sat antennas. The TCU also uses antennas for things, but they split the signal from the antenna to the different modules, the TCU does not block or interrupt Navigation. That's handled completely within your infotainment module.

 

Joe, in regards to this disabling that is supposed to happen, once the TCU is coded out, would it be okay to just remove the hardware entirely from the car, or are there other functions that would rely on even a broken unit being present?

 

Theoretically, it's just taking up space once it's coded out. The changes are to the configuration file of the car and tell it that it no longer has a TCU so it's not looking for it for start authorization. This is a valid repair if the module is completely dead/unresponsive, so I don't think there would be any issues with physically removing it from the car if you got to that point.

Again, the only reason we would want to code it out would be in that event of a complete failure. You would have lost all telematics functions at that point anyway, the CCF changes allow the rest of the car to still work normally despite that.

 

Thanks Joe, I appreciate it.

Can I assume that a dealer wouldn't be doing this as a form of preventative maintenance, I'd have to wait for the unit to die in order for this be coded out?

 

My 2017 no longer has any of the Telematics Remote and Protect abilities. The unit is essentially dead because it is/was on the 2G communications network. The Remote & Protect app that I had been using indicates that the car is asleep, in use and driving. as well as still being parked where I went last December. (go figure) I am not going to wait until my car won't start to have it coded out. I liken it to a neutering procedure... everything else works, but the car's ECU knows not to go look for it any longer.

 

Yes, this applies to thousands of cars, and requires an engineering remote access session to code it out, the dealer does not have that direct capacity to modify the CCF files, and each one is documented. So it's only done if there's a failure that requires it, no reason to do it otherwise.

 

Do I understand you correctly, that the TCU MUST fail before the coding can be done and the coding has to be done by an entity OTHER than a dealer??

A scenario: theTCU fails at my home, or elsewhere. Dead TCU will not allow car to start.
I will have to have car transported to dealer for coding process.

:-Q

 

Yes. The dealership cannot modify CCF files for obvious reasons, mainly that it would give them the ability to make the car operate away from design spec and could be non-compliant with the law. If the car arrives with a failed TCU, they raise a technical assistance case, and one of the engineering staff will remote in and upload the modified file after changing it on the UK servers.

Towing it would be no different than any other failure that results in a non-operable car. It's not a super common failure, I wouldn't be concerned about it. Across my stores I've seen maybe 5 TCU code outs done over the last year.