Dynamic Chassis Control Retrofit

[downtime]

So, darkchina, have you returned back to your car and finished the DCC retrofit?

I still have not gotten any new ideas or help for the enablation of comfort mode. It looks like all driving profile modes have different PR code and it seems that they are behind FeCs as well My car has only Eco, Normal, Sport and individual activated.

Luckily the DCC adjustment works in individual mode but not 100% retrofit yet due to missing comfort mode.

After few thousand kilometers with DCC I really really like it. It is not silky smooth like air suspension but the control is much "tighter" in a good way than with regular suspension. And it smooths out bumps on the road much more precise. Comfort setting for the DCC on SUV is only marginally softer than normal. Funny thing is that when I had Seat X-Perience dataset in the DCC module, the comfort setting was much more softer than with Tiguan dataset.
Maybe the higher ride height is one reason that it cannot be that soft so there won't be a sea sickness effect?

 

[Ewan MacNee]

some info on the profiles here. Maybe the author might be of assistance.

https://www.drive2.com/l/525143522051883184/

 

[darkchina811]

I was never able to contact that guy on drive2, he's also on another forum and I wrote him but he never replied.

@ downtime, no man, I am still stuck on a ship, situation here in the US with Covid is ridicolous for us crew members. I hope I will be home within a week.

I think I will buying another Driving Profile license and try installing that. the Turkish guy said he's done it many times.

 

[darkchina811]

so I finally got home and started today to carry on with my DCC thing.

today I replaced the right front and rear shocks. it took over two hours for the front (plenty of parts to replace, and it was my first time) and like 15 minutes for the rear. the rear is very easy.

I got the extra DPS license and will try installing soon.

I'll let you guys know.

 

[downtime]

Waiting impatiently what the DPS re-activation brings. Fingers crossed.

And yes, rears are really easy to change. Front, well, the amount of swear words is big

Oh, and welcome home!

 

[darkchina811]

activation doesn't work. ODIS throws one error like "activations could not be executed in the FM."

we really don't know what it means.

 

[darkchina811]

I replaced the left rear shock, easy life again, then I moved to the front left and the unexpected happened:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/md4dldxh7k0a7ut/tierodhead.jpg

the steering tie rod end shaft snapped while trying to undo the nut, which was heavily stuck. it only moved a few turns before the shaft broke. I feel like it was kind of cross-threaded from the factory. doesn't sound plausible, I know, but it really felt too tight, it really felt like something was wrong.

so now I am waiting for the spare part to arrive, by wednesday hopefully.

after replacing front hub bearing carriers I also found out that I need new bolts for the brake caliper carriers, because the hub carrier is much ticker and the original bolt is now too short. those are also arriving soon.

it is not a difficult job, I was able to do by myself by watching some youtube videos. of course I needed to buy a few extra tools but those are always nice to have.

so far the most difficult thing has been undoing the big drive shaft bolt, which is factory torqued at over 200 Nm. even with a long breaking bar, it takes a decent amount of good italian cursing.

since I see no replies to my previous post I don't have much hope, but does anybody know what that ODIS error might be about?

 

[downtime]

The drive shaft bolt is tough. The torque it needs + some additional degrees after the torque is achieved.

And you need to do this with wheels touching the ground so there’s not much space to use

I did some googling around about the ODIS error and no direct answer was found but based on the huge 2 hits I managed to get, I’m thinking this error is due to conditions of your car not matching the license your activating. Could mean in your case that as the factory database already contains driving profile for your car, it is not acceping the activation

I’m still skeptical that it will work with the re-activation. The DCC has different pr code than normal suspension. Now the factory database has this pr code and the driving mode activation is done based on pr codes in factory database.
If you could somehow update the factory db for your car to have DCC, then the new modes would appear just by doing FeC restore to your gateway.

 

[darkchina811]

If you could somehow update the factory db for your car to have DCC, then the new modes would appear just by doing FeC restore to your gateway.

yeah, sure. I don't think such an update can be made at all, not even by a dealer.

I am also skeptical the activation will go through, exactly for the reasons you say, car had DPS already. but the Turkish guy apparently "did it many times".

anyways, I still have DTCs into module 14 because one shock still disconnected and no basic settings yet. so we'll try again after I clear all the errors, maybe DCC module has to be error free.

 

[downtime]

That could be the case as well but I’m doubting it.

One thing I will try at some point. There’s a tool called prcoder in VCP with what you are able to update pr code table in gateway to match what is the equipment in the car. I don’t know if it has any effect but I will try it at some point.

 

[darkchina811]

mmm, I didn't even know the PR codes list is actually stored in the gateway. I don't think it would give any benefits. if you update such list offline with VCP, then when you use online ODIS the VAG database will still have old values...

 

[darkchina811]

somebody just told me via PM that Driving Profiles cannot be "reactivated" if car had it from the factory. as expected.

anybody needs a DPS kit?

 

[downtime]

somebody just told me via PM that Driving Profiles cannot be "reactivated" if car had it from the factory. as expected.

anybody needs a DPS kit?

Verify that it is still valid. I was told for mirrorlink code that it is used even the activation fails. As soon as you enter the code and try to activate it online, the code is used no matter if it succeeds with the activation or not.
The same might apply here

 

[darkchina811]

that would be something VAG can be sued for...

also, we tried to run it twice and it always gave the same error, ACTIVATIONS CANNOT BE EXECUTED, it didn't say wrong pin code or whatever.

 

[downtime]

that would be something VAG can be sued for...

It's not even the worst they've done but they simply just don't care

 

[darkchina811]

alright, I finished installing all shocks and connected the valves to the DCC module. right after clearing the last disconnected valve DTC, the MIL ON error also disappeared.

I put the car on 4 jack stands, enough to have all four wheels hanging. basic settings were super easy, it is the first entry under the basic settings menu in module 14. it runs for a few seconds and then it says "finished correctly".

so now my autoscan is clear, zero errors.

BUT...

I do not see the DCC option under the INDIVIDUAL Driving Profile. so I read the whole discussion again and I recoded the gateway.

BYTE 09 BIT 7 to OFF, as it seems to be irrelevant, and BYTE 12 BIT 7 to ON, as it did the trick for downtime...

well, DCC does not appear for me. now I have the car locked and I am waiting for CANBUS to go idle. maybe it needs a bit.

 

[downtime]

For me the option appeared immediately after activating it. But I was also instructed on another location that bus sleep might be needed.

 

[darkchina811]

YES! it appeared after bus sleep. will go for a test drive tonight.

 

[darkchina811]

DCC works, although I honestly don't feel much of a difference between the Comfort and Normal settings of the shocks. there is definitely a difference when I select Sport, but I expected more... like softer in Comfort and harder in Sport. guess it is what it is. overall I like it better than the stock shocks, and the project was fun to bring to an end.

I suppose there is no way to get the official Comfort Driving Profile, so I ended up configuring the Individual to match the settings.

I will post updated autoscan and admaps in the non-broken section.

 

[downtime]

I have done that as well. Apparently comfort is no go officially

And I have the exact same feeling with the DCC. The differences are subtle. There is comfortness in comfort and more stiffness in sport mode but I also expected more to be honest. It is definitely better than non-adjustable shocks.

In my opinion the biggest difference is how the sensors regulate the shocks during normal driving. Less body roll and less front back movement in accelaration and braking.
And during winter it gave a lot more confidence for the car and chassis.