murphy Posted February 8, 2015 at 06:56 PM Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 at 06:56 PM I have run two VHR reports today, Sunday 2/08/2015. In both cases the car said they had been submitted successfully. Neither of them have shown up on the website and I did not receive the text notification that a new VHR is available. The VHR that is available on the website is an old one from the last time I ran a VHR. I am guessing that the server that processes incoming VHR data and posts it to the Sync website is down. This is not the first time that I have had trouble with VHRs on a Sunday. Ford needs to get its act together and realize that the Sync functionality needs to be available 24/7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted February 8, 2015 at 07:26 PM Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 at 07:26 PM I'll try to run one today and see if I get the same result, but like you I've noticed that they do tend to have downtime on Sundays for server maintenance, etc... and you're right, should have a secondary suite to handle the ops while primary is down for maintenance, just doesn't seem like that always happens. Hybridbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted February 8, 2015 at 09:11 PM Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 at 09:11 PM I've personally never run one. If the car doesn't display an error, warning, etc, I don't see the need to do so. The car will tell me when an oil change is due. It will tell me if tire pressure is low. It will tell me if there's something else wrong. But things like the Check Engine light tell you, "Uh, your check engine light is on. You should go to the dealer to get that checked out..." Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 8, 2015 at 10:47 PM Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 at 10:47 PM Unfortunately that is not the case. There are no error indicators on my dash. For the second time my VHR is reporting that the "Restraints and Driver Assistance System" is unavailable. This was fixed once back on July 7, 2014. I have a feeling that it is related to the outstanding recall (14S21 Restraints Control Module Replacement) that can't be done until the third quarter of 2015 because parts are not available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted February 8, 2015 at 11:48 PM Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 at 11:48 PM You are supposed to have an airbag warning illuminate if that were indeed the case. It doesn't make sense to not have a warning light but have the VHR say something is wrong... Or maybe it says it's 'unavailable' because Ford turned off monitoring for that system? "Unavailable" is too ambiguous. It could mean anything from it isn't communicating to having it be defective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 9, 2015 at 02:04 AM Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 02:04 AM What if the Restraints Control Module has lost access to the communication buss and can't send a message to the module that turns the tell-tale on? This is not a hardwired system. Everything is done by sending communication messages across the buss. The VHR says to take the car to the dealer and have them run detailed diagnostics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybridbear Posted February 9, 2015 at 02:51 AM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 02:51 AM I was unable to run a VHR today in the Focus Electric. I have never had success in running a VHR in the Focus. I didn't experience the same issue as Murphy. For me the VHR said that it could not be transmitted. The phone connected but then errored out. I was trying this at around noon Central time today, close to the time when Murphy posted about his issue. If I remember I will try to run a VHR again tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 9, 2015 at 10:59 AM Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 10:59 AM If you have anything connected to the ODB II port it must be disconnected to run a VHR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted February 9, 2015 at 12:20 PM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 12:20 PM Unfortunately that is not the case. There are no error indicators on my dash. For the second time my VHR is reporting that the "Restraints and Driver Assistance System" is unavailable. I got that very same result on 2 successive VHRs after they performed the PCM update for 14E02, and then the VHR after that I got an 'OK' result on that but got an 'unavailable' on something else... but now the last 2 I've done have been clean throughout, running one today (since I got tied up yesterday) to see the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybridbear Posted February 9, 2015 at 01:38 PM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 01:38 PM If you have anything connected to the ODB II port it must be disconnected to run a VHR.I know. The car gives a different error if you try to run a report with something connected to the OBDII port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted February 9, 2015 at 02:16 PM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 02:16 PM What if the Restraints Control Module has lost access to the communication buss and can't send a message to the module that turns the tell-tale on? This is not a hardwired system. Everything is done by sending communication messages across the buss. The VHR says to take the car to the dealer and have them run detailed diagnostics. Let me know if you take your car in for that. I still don't buy into the VHR. If a module goes hard down, it's going to light up the dashboard like Christmas. From the others that have run VHRs with the check engine light on, it still doesn't give you any useful information... just that the wrench is on and needs to be taken in for service. So far, it has only reflected the dashboard warning indicators. In your case, I have no idea why a module doesn't respond to a request for diagnostics with the VHR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 9, 2015 at 06:09 PM Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 06:09 PM The two VHRs that I ran on Sunday were a waste of time. They never showed up. I ran another VHR this morning and it was promptly posted to my Sync account and I got a text message indicating that it was ready to view. Apparently VHRs are not supported on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordIVTteam Posted February 9, 2015 at 09:06 PM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 09:06 PM The two VHRs that I ran on Sunday were a waste of time. They never showed up. I ran another VHR this morning and it was promptly posted to my Sync account and I got a text message indicating that it was ready to view. Apparently VHRs are not supported on Sunday. Hi murphy, I received similar feedback from other owners yesterday. It sounds like you weren't alone in this. I'm glad you were able to run the report successfully. Thank you for sharing. I know. The car gives a different error if you try to run a report with something connected to the OBDII port. Have you had a chance to try again, Hybridbear? Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybridbear Posted February 10, 2015 at 12:58 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 at 12:58 PM Have you had a chance to try again, HybridbearNot yet. I forgot yesterday & I probably won't be driving the Focus again until Friday so I'll have to try to remember then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 10, 2015 at 11:06 PM Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 at 11:06 PM Let me know if you take your car in for that. I still don't buy into the VHR. If a module goes hard down, it's going to light up the dashboard like Christmas. From the others that have run VHRs with the check engine light on, it still doesn't give you any useful information... just that the wrench is on and needs to be taken in for service. So far, it has only reflected the dashboard warning indicators. In your case, I have no idea why a module doesn't respond to a request for diagnostics with the VHR.The Service Manager and I have been discussing the problem via email for several days. He took it to the Ford Hotline and the engineers recommended replacing the restraints control module. It was done today. The VHR is now clean. I think you missed my point. The restraints control module is responsible for lighting up the airbag tell-tale. If it can't talk on the buss it has no way to tell the module that controls the tell-tales to turn the airbag indicator on. I was told that they had to clear out a bunch of "U" codes. The only downside is I had to re-pair my phone and re-establish the MFM connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryh Posted February 10, 2015 at 11:53 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 at 11:53 PM (edited) If car cannot communicate with the RCM, the airbag light should come on. I see communication error DTCs ("U" codes) when I read the OBD II port. Edited February 10, 2015 at 11:55 PM by larryh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordIVTteam Posted February 11, 2015 at 01:54 AM Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 at 01:54 AM Not yet. I forgot yesterday & I probably won't be driving the Focus again until Friday so I'll have to try to remember then.There's no rush. Just let me know if you need assistance with anything. :) Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted February 11, 2015 at 03:16 AM Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 at 03:16 AM The Service Manager and I have been discussing the problem via email for several days. He took it to the Ford Hotline and the engineers recommended replacing the restraints control module. It was done today. The VHR is now clean. I think you missed my point. The restraints control module is responsible for lighting up the airbag tell-tale. If it can't talk on the buss it has no way to tell the module that controls the tell-tales to turn the airbag indicator on. I was told that they had to clear out a bunch of "U" codes. The only downside is I had to re-pair my phone and re-establish the MFM connection. I know and understand that, but the system should also have some kind of 'heartbeat' to that module. If it dies or doesn't communicate, it should cause errors that SHOULD illuminate a trouble light on the dash - maybe not the airbag warning, but some other kind of trouble indicator. It doesn't have to come from that module itself. It should go "Hey, this module isn't responding. Display warning message." Servers, routers, and a lot of devices I work on will automatically reset a module that loses this heartbeat. Considering all the systems and advancements on this car, I would've expected the same. Larryh, if you have a ton of U Codes... try running a VHR yourself and see if a module shows as unavailable. I'm going to be quite irritated if I have to run this VHR to see if something safety related is defective. Something like that BETTER light up my dashboard, and according to the recall, it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryh Posted February 11, 2015 at 09:30 AM Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 at 09:30 AM (edited) The VHR doesn't report any problems with the car. The sporadic communication failures causing the "U" codes do not cause any indicator lights to illuminate. Edited February 11, 2015 at 09:31 AM by larryh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted February 11, 2015 at 12:35 PM Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 at 12:35 PM The VHR doesn't report any problems with the car. The sporadic communication failures causing the "U" codes do not cause any indicator lights to illuminate. I can attest to the above but only with a single instance -- when I first got my car I had them apply the TSB to get the GO Times working, and when the tech came out he said the U19 code was also stored in the system so he applied a different TSB for that. At that point I'd only had the car for a week and had never seen any indicator lights, just took it in for the GO Times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meyersnole Posted February 12, 2015 at 04:16 PM Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 at 04:16 PM It will tell me if tire pressure is low. I do not know what the threshold is for tire pressure, but I recently checked my tires and found them all at 29. In my opinion that should cause the light to come on... Probably not a good idea to rely on the light to check. Not sure if the vehicle health report would help here either though. I miss the way my TL told me how much pressure was in each tire at a glance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 12, 2015 at 05:29 PM Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 at 05:29 PM I think the federal specification that mandated TPMS says when it is 25% low. That would be 26.25 or lower. It's a gross error measurement which is not useful for keeping the tires inflated. The actual pressures are available with a bluetooth OBD II interface and the Forscan Windows software. That's a major inconvenience using a laptop to check tire pressures. It could have easily been included in the user interface. meyersnole 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meyersnole Posted February 13, 2015 at 01:11 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 at 01:11 PM Yes, much easier to just eyeball it from time to time and use a gauge. Thanks for the information, I was real surprised that 28.5 and 29 was not tripping the light. Guess I will just have to get back into the habit of checking more often old school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russael Posted February 13, 2015 at 02:23 PM Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 at 02:23 PM My tires always look low to me, moreso my truck than my car, even though they always check out. I did a VHR just to see what it offered, and it matches the car. No warnings, no problems. Has 3 service bulletins under the recall section... the restraints thing, the emissions thing, and some fuel economy thing. Oil life at 17%. Car turned on OMM on me yesterday. Ugh... figures it had to do that while I'm trying to get in to the top 10 fuel sipper ranking. I wound up having to drive over 20 miles for it to come out of it. It was around 2 degrees too, which is probably why it took longer. It used about 1kwh of the battery once it engaged (which is when I was pulling out of the driveway) and then floated it (behaved like EV Later). I drove 10 miles to my cousins, shut down for a while, remote started and drove around 16 more miles to get it to complete. Got about 30MPGe on the way there and 40MPGe on the way back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 13, 2015 at 02:53 PM Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 at 02:53 PM The "fuel economy thing" is the check you should have received by now. I got the check a long time ago but it still appears in my recall list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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