I recently got an icarsoft i930 diagnostic tool, but it just errors when trying to read codes from the adaptive suspension. My question is, has anyone with one of these readers ever had any success talking to the adaptive suspension with this, or any other reader?
My car is a 2002 XKR, and has wires coming out of the top of the shocks so its definitely a CATS car. I have not yet tried tapping the wires with a voltmeter to see if they are getting any signals, I have no reason to believe anything is wrong, but the car doesn't give you any reason to think anything's right either.

 

Sorry, can't be of much help, but l also have no problem with CATS system but was curious at one stage and on checking with my IDS found that there were a couple of fault codes logged in the CATS module. It did not tell me what they were and was the only module on the car for which l could not erase the codes.
l later on tried to erase with my icarsoft with the same result but on a later entry into the system, following a firmware update of my icarsoft it allowed me to erase them.
My icarsoft is LR version1.

 

I have the icarsoft LR-V-1. As far as I know the non-professional readers will not display any information regarding the CATS suspension.


I believe the forum consensus is not to worry about the CAT system if the car handling OK. If worried just do the voltage test which just takes a few minutes.


The X-100 will surely present you with much more pressing issues in no time at all.

Z

 

You can do a basic test by unplugging one of the shocks under the bonnet - you should get the suspension fault message and the car will be in hard suspension mode - try it and see if you notice any difference in comfort/handling. The fault goes away as soon as you plug it back in.

The only error codes you will be able to read are related to wiring problems - open or short circuit on the shocks and sensors. If you don't have the Suspension Fault message on the dashboard then the computer doesn't recognise a problem. If the fuse is blown to the ADCM control unit, or it is unplugged, you don't get a fault message.

To properly test the system is functioning, wire up a test LED (6 volts) to one of the shocks and see what the light does when driving. At rest the light should be off, coming on over 5 kmh. Over bumps at motorway speeds the light should go off briefly, likewise when cornering hard the light should go off.

You can test the three accelerometers with a multimeter -- the voltage output is proportional to the acceleration (0v to 5v with 0g in the middle) - the computer has no way of knowing if the accelerometers are outputting good data, only if they are short or open circuit (or fitted upside down).

Really though you should be able to feel the difference when driving with the system switched off.

 

Hi Throwback, I recently had a similar problem trying to read the Air Conditioning Control Module with my Foxwell scanner. As I could get nothing out of it, I made the assumption that it was faulty and managed to get a new old stock module at a reasonable price. After swapping them over, I still had no communication. Further investigation and lots of forum searches revealed that on early OBD2 systems, there are issues reading the Serial Data Link Network modules, of which the Adaptive Damping Control Module is just one.
The solution is to short K (Pin 15 on the OBD2 connector) with O (pin7 on the same connector) while conducting the scan. As it's really difficult to do that on the data link connector with the scanner plugged in I invested in a cheap OBD2 breakout box (picture below).

It allows you to use a jump lead to connect those pins and conduct the serial data link scan of all the modules including the adaptive suspension module.
Hope that helps?
Phil

 

@Redjags - it may well - thanks a lot! Oh, another tool to buy...

 

@Redjags Sadly, this did not fix the issue with being unable to read codes from the adaptive damping control module (ADCM) with an iCarsoft i930 with the latest firmware installed (for the benefit of anyone interested). I will have to try a more heavyweight scanner, it seems. For clarity, I shorted pins 7 and 15, ran the ADCM scan and got the same communications error I was receiving from the icarsoft i930 before without the pins shorted.

 

Sorry to hear that. I don't have adaptive suspension on my car, but I was able to read the Climate Control Module. Does your scanner and breakout box allow you to scan your CCM? If so, I would suggest that the link to your suspension module, or the module itself is faulty. You may not need a beefier scanner.

 

You have a 2002 - you don't need to short those pins together like they did on the early cars (Redjags car is a 1997). Given that you aren't actually trying to fix a fault, I think you are more likely to add a fault by shorting pins out in the data connector.

Just put a voltmeter across one of the front shocks and you will soon see if the system is working as intended.