Great reminder... I need to get that thing up and running in the van! Looking forward to using whatever you find. 😁

Once I get it up and running, perhaps I'll be helpful... 😏

 

The current plan of attack is to connect FORScan to an ELM327 and log the traffic. That should provide requisite initialization codes for the modules and the PIDs. The WiCAN emulates an ELM327, so we'll see how that goes.

Depending on what FORScan logs, it may take some time to correlate a given PID with the sensor. Then of course figuring out the expression to make it human readable. I suspect FORScan doesn't exactly fork that information up to the user on a silver platter as that's the grunt work that they have to do.

 

Are you planning on using an OBD2 splitter on the transit bus to capture the full handshake?

What I would love access to someday: climate control! As someone with the 10 inch screen, figuring out a way to add back some physical buttons for temp and fan speed would be amazing. (E.g. two momentary toggle switches)

That being said, I'm not sure what the exact situation is between all the various high and low speed buses and if there are any gateways filtering traffic.

My ideal setup is a 2 wire can interface to the van that provides a digital version of all the upfitter harness wires (door statuses, lock, unlock, ignition status, accessory status, load shed etc)

 

To your point there are different buses. Right now, I'm focusing on powertrain data. Lower speed buses can be accessed on the high spec connector. I actually have a WiCAN that has a screw terminal interface instead of OBDII for this purpose. It's low priority as I have physical buttons 😊

You can get door status, lock and unlock using a Shelly Plus RGBW PM and following my Github using the high spec connector.

I know there are other products which act as a sort of flight recorder; however, I'm looking to pull this data into Home Assistant for custom dashboarding amongst other automations. Eventually I want to build an application that takes the data from MQTT and builds a predictive fuel economy model where I can optimize my acceleration and understand the exact crusing curve of MPH vs MPG to maybe find some sweet spots in efficiency. I've been using AI to build some ideas, could be pretty cool if that comes together as I envision it.

 

I was able to pull up some interesting data and log the ELM327 traffic from the Car Scanner app. Unfortunately, I couldn't reproduce those results from the WiCAN itself. There's a specific sequence of AT initialization commands that light up the modules that provide the data. For example 0x221E1C posts back the trans temp on CarScanner. If I run those sequence of init commands and then 0x221E1C I get 'no data'.

Here's the sequence I'm running in ELM327: ATZ;ATE0;ATH1;ATSP0;ATS0;ATM0;ATAT1;

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing or am I off in the deep end?

 

I was able to pull up some interesting data and log the ELM327 traffic from the Car Scanner app. Unfortunately, I couldn't reproduce those results from the WiCAN itself. There's a specific sequence of AT initialization commands that light up the modules that provide the data. For example 0x221E1C posts back the trans temp on CarScanner. If I run those sequence of init commands and then 0x221E1C I get 'no data'.

Here's the sequence I'm running in ELM327: ATZ;ATE0;ATH1;ATSP0;ATS0;ATM0;ATAT1;

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing or am I off in the deep end?

That sequence brings back many memories of Hayes Smartmodem 1200 baud command strings from the 80s!

 

One thing that would be really boss would be the ability to send text messages to the dash display. It can do things like displaying "driver door ajar". I bet there is a CAN sequence to display arbitrary messages. Should be fairly easy to sniff, but that's easy for me to say.

 

I think this is easier said than done. Feel free to prove me wrong and share your code. 🤓

 

That would be a neat idea! e.g.: "You're still plugged into shore power!", "Water level low", "Fan/Window Open!"

Side thought on my climate control dream: A much simpler starting point would be to just be able to read the HVAC status and setpoint. Then you could have the house climate system stay in sync while driving.

 

I like the shore power status indicator. That's something relevant when shifting into drive.

I've made progress. I sniffed FORScan traffic and then used various message boards plus ChatGPT to figure out the expressions to decode the values.

Keep in mind the vehicle is off and parked in this screenshots below:

I also have some template sensors that use basic math to come up with some other information.

I haven't put together a nice dashboard yet, just testing, but here's what I have.

The public lands was a new sensor I created recently. Details here.

I think what's more interesting is seeing historical information. I can the turbo boost up to ~12psi when I really feed her the onions:

According to the computer, the engine torque hit 474 lb.-ft. That seems a little farfetched, but I won't complain. To celebrate, I used AI to create this image:

I can only initialize the PCM and I think that's a limitation of the instruction set supported on the WiCAN. Once I get my hands on a WiCAN Pro, I'll try to initialize other modules.

The code can be found on my GitHub here. It's barebones, but I'll add some description and guide at some point.

 

I like the shore power status indicator. That's something relevant when shifting into drive.

I've made progress. I sniffed FORScan traffic and then used various message boards plus ChatGPT to figure out the expressions to decode the values.

Keep in mind the vehicle is off and parked in this screenshots below:

...

Fantastic work! I'm amazed that there's data with the engine-off. I think the Meat-Pi unit I have is powered from OBD and the light stays on, so... cool that it's capable of pulling data.

Gonna test your code here in a couple days... especially if I can work on it without the engine running!

 

I used AI to create this image

That's REALLY bad.
DSD with no handle (it is RHD) and/or a single door van with sliding door track that was just randomly placed surface mounted on the drivers side. I suppose not close to level could be accurate for Ford?
How do you filler-up with gasoline. What's the big hole in the drivers door. Parallel tread lines in the marks from tires that are at 45 degress. Oh my bad, not skid marks, based on smoke it's a burnout. So then van is perfectly lined up on skid marks from side by side vehicles. Daylight throug right front wheel engulfed in smoke. Speaking of smoke, no reduction in density as it spreads away from the van, just turns from white to black. Why is there smoke in front of the drivers side wheel but not the passengers side.

The public lands was a new sensor I created recently. Details here.

Might wat to crawl the website to download the data, before it gets taken down in some kleptocratic effort. (oil, rare earth metals, resorts). Well aside from that potential issue, might actually still be good for when out of cell range. Oh wait just a guess you've bought into StarLink so ubiqutous internet access. ... not sure I'd want to count on that

Anyhow, all kidding (or not) aside. Impressive work.

 

Your public land sensor is very slick! An offline version would be amazing.

 

Technically possible if you download an offline copy. I’ll consider that in a future version.

 

Wican has a sleep function to shutdown once voltage gets to set level to not drain battery. I haven't tested it as I'm using the wican usb and it's powered by rixen system on house battery. But as soon as I get the PRO I plan to start tinkering with everyone else here

 

Progress! Got all caught up in playing with this... and didn't go for a run... and the van is sitting out front of the house idling so I can see all the stuff updating... <sigh>

For the audience at home... it took me a while to get the firmware up to 4.0.3 - had to do it via USB. Then had to do it a few times because I kept breaking things. But finally got it up and stable (so far). Then got it talking to my Mosquitto broker. Yay!

Not too long ago, that stuff alone would not have made enough sense for me to do it. Now... it seems like normal language instead of the WUT? it would have been not long ago. I know that if I can get stuff into the MQTT broker, I can do whatever is possible with it in Home Assistant.

BTW, there is a direct Home Assistant plugin in development - no MQTT required, from what I can see. But the "alpha" state isn't reassuring. And it looks like the goal is to have it fully functional with the upcoming WiCAN-Pro, so... going MQTT for now.

Using @IT Nomad (Anthony?) notes above and Github files, I've got all of the, "Standard PIDs," that were available with the engine off going into MQTT in their native IDs and names. After starting the van, I realize now there are MANY more - and some of them that showed with the van OFF go away when it's on? I dunno... so I added all of those and made sure they're ALL dumping into MQTT. I kept all the automatic names they had as the MQTT topics.

I've got the config files from Anthony and from Mike (@mikegoubeaux) in Home Assistant and still have a lot of work to do there - converting / blending / changing the MQTT sources and the device IDs/Names so that the various templates and stuff work.

@IT Nomad and @mikegoubeaux, thank you! Really, really great work here! As many hours as this has taken me so far... I can't imagine how many more hours it would have taken just to get to this point.

Anthony, I assume you're still sniffing out more stuff and will add it?

I'm attaching the WiCAN config file for anyone who wants to use it - or just pull out the PID list and dump it into your config and it should work.

 

Glad to hear that. 👍

Yup more is in the works. Been busy hiking in Death Valley this past week. I’ll make another hard push in March when my WiCAN Pro shows up and do a proper write up.

 

Sweet. Ordered the WiCAN Pro as well - mid-March deliver, they said?

 

Sweet. Ordered the WiCAN Pro as well - mid-March deliver, they said?

Match 19th - We shall see. I don't plan to do any further development until I get the new kit.

How's the hiking in Death Valley this time of year? I'd heard there is good stuff to see, and I'd also heard that it is indeed brutal most of the time.

It was lovely. Temps in the 60s and 70s. A little cool at night (30/40s) but nice and cozy in the van. Feb/Mar is the best time. Highest chance of flowers, still cool and no rain. By the time April comes around it's already hot.

 

Little update info for anyone else considering these: I got it up and running with the engine running, then shut off the engine and kept playing with things - including the "sleep" options; I can't imagine what that device is doing... but it will kill the starter battery faster than anything I've run on it, for some reason. Of course you warned me, @IT Nomad, but I have to try things.

So... I have the sleep now set up to shut off 15 minutes after the engine stops running, basically.

And everything that @IT Nomad and @mikegoubeaux documented is a really great start for these devices. I don't know exactly what-all I'll be using while driving; but it already pushed me back to wanting a dash-mounted screen for Home Assistant. Looks like this wide screen will go well on the dash, then use a RPI-Zero2W to drive it. Going to be nice to have useful vehicle information on display again; haven't had that since we had the Sprinter!

 

Woo Hoo my Wican Pro arrived this week, I'm looking forward to testing it out!

 

Nice,

Mine is expected to ship on the 25th. Really hoping we can figure out a quick/simple way to recoup the fordapp perks they took away.

Remote start with full hvac control is another thing im hopeful for.

 

Fyi ... someone posted this Vehicle Profile on the Wican GitHub but never followed up with a Pull Request.

New Vehicle Profile - Ford Transit - Tested and Ready · Issue #344 · meatpiHQ/wican-fw

Hi @meatpiHQ , I've developed a profile to pull some additional data for the Ford Transit. This has been tested on my 2021 Ford Transit Ecoboost North America. This can also serve as a template for...

github.com

I'll review that data, and @gregoryx's file and do my own test and later I'll submit a pull request to Wican fora Ford Transit Vehicl Profile.

 

Well the one in Github and Gregoryx's were identical, minus the MQTT config.

PR submitted:

[Vehicle Profile] Ford Transit by askpatrickw · Pull Request #379 · meatpiHQ/wican-fw

This is the data submittrd by @anthonysecco in #344. I compared this file with one from the Ford Transit USA community which was identical except for it also had MQTT config. The init and sll the p...

github.com

 

Yeah - that's me. Submitting a PR fell off my radar. Thanks for that 😊

 

Is killing the starter caused by powering the wican, or its impact on the Ford systems?

 

Hard to say, exactly. The WiCAN stays plugged in but goes into a, "low powered," sort of shut-off mode and the battery is fine; but when I just left it on, it was crazy how fast it drained the dual starter batteries.

 

There is a new WiCAN Firmware being discussed on their discord which uses the ESP32 deepsleep strategy to limit the power usage.
I think the one it shipped with just stays on and doesn't do any deepsleep. It can go to sleep after X amount of time, but I'm referring to deep sleep which is a microntroller feature where they can sleep, wakup, do work, sleep, etc.. on an internal timer (or an event).

Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Customize your own space to talk, play, and hang out.

discord.com

 

My WiCan came in and tested it out with some free iOS tools.

Decided to check my o2 sensors (bank 1 / bank 2) since i cant find the volt spot in forscan for them. Think it may have paid for its self already. 18 months of trying to get Ford to fix underboot/running rich.

 

Got it working with HASS, and really was able to dig into my issue. I could see bank1 (bad o2 sensor) trying to lean out, while the engine was advancing the timing at the same time.

1000ms is the lowest the WiCan will let you set the interval

 

Mine just got delivered to my house yesterday, but I'm off on a trip can't wait to get back and start tinkering

 

I'm in active development mode with the WiCAN.

I'm focused on modules on the HS-CAN that are easier targets that will be applicable to WiCAN and WiCAN Pro.

I have access to:

• PCM - Powertrain Control Module
• BCM - Body Control Module
• AWDM - All-Wheel Drive Module
• APIM - Accessory Protocol Interface Module

I'm focused on PIDs that provide information to create dashboards relevant for fuel efficiency and off-road driving. A little preview but certainly not exhaustive:

• Tire Pressures (psi)
• Battery SoC (%)
• Current gear
• AWD torque split (%)
• Torque converter lock (%)
• Trans fluid temp (F)

Once I get the base of my project working and organized, I'll share more details on my GitHub.

I'll also be open to requests and can be bribed with Coffee. 😊