FORScan forum

Hello,

Has there been any work interfacing to the power running board module for the F150? I would be interested in playing around with some of it to see if I can get the running board I purchased that came off a 2021 model to work with my 2017. At this point the module doesnt work for me so if I brick it its not really a concern.

Happy to purchase a lifetime license as well if that is any incentive

Still interested in this. I saw in the parameters you can view that "homing complete" is a field you can view. I expect this means there is a way to initiate a homing process that would be useful.

It may be a good idea to request the part numbers between model years.
In other words, will the part numbers for 2021 donor fit the 2017 recipient.
Then you're need a schematic to "test wire" and have them function with the required updates to integrate the control module into the network.

I know they are not compatible based on the outputs from forscan and the fact that they don't work. Someone on the F150 forum had the same issue. In the same post it was noted that the boards are no longer controlled by an independent module on the 21 model year and it was incorporated into I believe the seat module or something along those lines. The connector mount locations are different was well so they would not be "compatible" by OEM standards even if they were functionally the same since the connectors have to be removed from their mount to reach the cabling on the vehicle.

Based on how they operate they appear to need to complete some number of rotations of the motor (indicated by the counts output in forscan from the hall effect sensor) for it to accept that it has been extended and is not impacting something causing a bounce back. Ideally that counts value could be edited somehow to adjust what it expects is fully extended. The "homing complete" field would seem to indicate there may be a procedure available that would set the limits by running the boards in and out to determine extended and retracted states and update the module.

From a schematic standpoint there are two motor outputs for the motor control and a 3 wire signal for the hall effect sensor (power, ground and signal) that counts the motor rotations. There's not not much else too it. I went as far as to design a circuit board that went inline with the connector to artificially increase the counts as the replacement running boards did not achieve as many as the originals. This worked-ish but ultimately the boards didn't survive despite being conformal coated. The circuit is only powered when the boards are in motion so the startup time of the microprocessor caused additional issues with the counts being reported properly. I created a new board with some updates but haven't had a chance to fully test it. Ideally if the value could be changed or re-calibrated that would be the ideal way to make it work.

Looks like schematics are needed from both models and also suspect the integration of that module will make the network complain.
The software / firmware may not be recognized or create added network faults.
It is possible to connect that module as "stand alone" with no network integration and switched / fused separately.
Simply, have it operate independently.
Of course fuses on the motor and control side are necessary with the control unit not functioning with the ignition key in the OFF position.

A future problem would be the adaptation of the motor to full up and full down positions where the motor stops operating in either position.
The control module handles that task.
At times, a separate control module can be connected to a scan tool but the issue is that the scan tool looks for the PCM first.
It needs the VIN for identification before a scan takes place. That is where the network comes into play.
It depends on where it's connected to the network and how the rest of the installed controllers view the added controller that was never supposed to be attached.