So, the plot thickens...

I started to swap out my parts yesterday, got the tire off and started looking, all but one ball joint seems to be in pretty good shape, the bushings on the control arms all look to be in pretty good shape, the bolts look almost brand new...

I ended up calling my cousin who is an ASE master mechanic(no LR guy by any means, but a good general tech) and was talking to him about it. So, we were talking and he kept coming back to the ride height being off causing the tire to wear on the outside.

So, I pulled out the yard stick and checked the height on each wheel. All 4 were different, 33" rear left, 32" front left, 31" front right and 32 1/2" rear right... In off-road and access mode they are all still different.

So, I decided to pony up the $80 for a few hours on SDD...

Plugged in my chinagoose and pulled the DTCs. This is where it starts to get REALLY odd, obviously I have some kind of communication problem... First run, SDD pulls back probably 40 codes over logged, the latest within the last 100 miles. There were a couple of other codes, but the vast majority were communication codes. Missing packets, invalid values, even showed one showing a software incompatibility between a couple of the modules. With the BCM and HVAC modules both showing that they are not communicating at all, several fitted modules showing as not fitted, and EVERY module reporting showing codes... No green checks at all.

So, I poked around a bit, saved the session off and closed out. Went back a few minutes later, and 3/4 of the codes were gone, a couple of modules showing green, the BCM and HVAC still offline. So, I noticed that I can sit there and hit rescan and the list of green modules will change.

So, I am now assuming that my long ongoing radio problems, and (fingers crossed) my tire wear problems are all related to some kind of computer issue.

The most telling thing in my opinion, is this, when looking at the codes in SDD it lists the mileage of each code BUT, cannot read the current mileage, current odometer is listed as unavailable.

Here's a quick run down of electrical(and what I think are related) issues:
Battery life span - have to put a new battery in pretty much once a year

Infotainment system - lately, power issues, I can be sitting there listening to the radio, and the whole system AMP, IHU, Nav all of it just powers off with a loud pop. It randomly comes back days, weeks or months later when I get in to start the car. Earlier, I had inputs disappear off the IHU, CD worked, but AM/FM and AUX were gone.

From a LONG time ago (and I have just never taken the time to check it) the sunroof will not budge, it's full closed and sealed, so never been a problem, but wont open.

Door locks from the remote are IFFY as hell, it always does something when I press the button, but when I lock it, sometimes it will lock properly, sometimes it picks up a double push with only one, sometimes I get the horn honk like something is open, and sometimes about 5 minutes after I lock it the alarm will go off.

SO, question one, where are the common points for CAN bus wiring to have issues? And what about the location of ground points for the communications stuff? I'm not really familiar with SDD yet, so are there any tests I can run ( I hear there's a CAN communication test in there somewhere, haven't found that yet) that will help pin down where to look? Is there any way in SDD/IDS to view what the height sensors are reporting? I ran the suspension self test, and that said it checked out, but I am not really confident in what is being reported right now with all the comm issues. At this point, all of the comm errors are surviving a code clear and a module reset through SDD.

What I really don't understand is that none of the shop manuals I have seen so far mention the body control module. I just took some time and read over the communication network section on TOPIx, and my cousin was looking at one of his sites last night, and we both noted that neither mention the body control module at all. What's up with that?

What else haven't I thought about yet? I'm a tech guy by trade, so I'm probably a bit more willing than most to monkey around with the computers, but my main problem is that I have no experience with how all those modules tie in together, what controls what (although that's obvious to a small extent) and most importantly, what their trouble symptoms are. Based on what I have read and heard over the years, I would think it's a somewhat safe assumption that this is some sort of wiring issue rather than a controller issue, but I have never ever managed to see a wiring for the LR3 that actually shows where in the truck the wires run, lots of good block connection diagrams, but I need a map basically of where the damn wires (and maybe controllers) are, anything like that exist?

Thanks guys!

 

Every issue I have had was from wet wires and bad splices passenger floor, that said you can also have corrosion in connectors very common

I had the radio issue, was the wires on pass floor bad splice

If you need ball joints they are super easy to change and stupid cheap on amazon for AC delco

 

I can't get too specific, but I think you're going to find you don't actually have that many problems. Many of your error codes are probably a chain result of a single code 'above' them. Example - if module in a system stops responding everything down-stream of it will also be inaccessable to the system. So one problem will result in several errors. I forget the specific code suffix that denotes this - Cxx maybe?

Your ride-height isn't so far off that it should be causing massive problems. It'll likely never be 100% accurate to the millimeter, particularly if you weren't in tight tolerance mode when you made the measurements and I'm guessing you weren't. It wouldn't hurt to re-calibrate but I don't think that's a major problem.

I suspect the root of your problems will stem from whatever is killing a battery every year. THAT is clearly wrong. And these trucks are very sensitive to adequate voltage. I'd start there. After that I'd clear out your codes and start t/s'ing again.

BTW, they aren't cheap but I can't recommend the GAP iiD tool enough. If you're doing your own work it's easily worth it. Mine stays in the truck all the time and has been invaluable in tracking down problems.

 

The extreme outside wear on the right front tire to me still seems would be a mechanical issue,
Something is bent, sagging, or has too much play in it.


The wheel would have to be rotating down the road either leaning out at the top or turned in to the left.
Does this pull to one side as you go down the road?
Do you have to constantly correct the steering as you are driving on a straight road?
Do you feel any slack or vibration in the steering wheel?

 

Yes, Yes and Yes...

It does pull to the right side while driving.
I don't really feel any slack, but it's not handling well.
And I am getting vibration, fairly low frequency so I would say wobble more than vibration.

On the electronic side, I consider myself pretty useful. On the mechanical side, I can turn a wrench, take it apart and put it back together, but I don't know what I am looking for on the mechanical side. So, not much help being able to turn the wrench not knowing what to work on...

Anyway, I am going to try and get some time this weekend to poke at the CAN networks some more. From what I can tell from SDD, I have got a CAN bus failure on the HS and MS bus.

I get the impression that IDS can do a good bit more in the way of tracking down a comm fault. Is that correct? If so, what would be a good VCM to look at for that?

 

Re the sunroof try holding the 'close' button down for 30 seconds while the ignition is on. Sometimes the switch just needs to be reset. It may run the sunroof motor through a reset if it isn't broken.

 

Will have to give that a try and see if it does anything.

On the module communication problem. I have a question, does the LR3 actually contain a dedicated body control module, or is it built into something else?

The software talks about it a lot, but the workshop and electrical manuals don't say JACK about it.

 

Thanks for the tip! Had to hold the button down for like a minute, but it finally started working!