VF Commodore Steering Rack

[Knackersjewels]

Has anyone tried powering it without can connected? Apparently ford racks can just have canbus disconnected, and they work fine

[Holden202T]

Yep it doesnt work sadly!

[Knackersjewels]

Damn

[Holden202T]

i've been playing for ages with sending different can signals to the rack trying to work out what it does and doesnt need.

i thought i had got it alive as when i turn my switch on to power the rack and arduino module the shifter i had on the steering shaft twitched a little bit then the movement became a little lighter, so i was hopeful that the rack was actually working but because it didnt have any load on it it was only supplying minimal assistance.

so today i finally got around to getting the rack temporarily mounted to the car and with the right tie rod ends and adaptors i had a complete setup!

so i turned the switch on and moved the shifter!!!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PkHbOmeeCeA

next setup is to start removing can Id's and see which ones i actually do and dont need, then i've also got the aldl out of the delco ecu mostly sorted too, so hopefully soon i can test with actual delco rpm signal instead of simulated data to make it work also.

there was a time where i thought this project was a lost cause, but i've certainly got alot more enthusiasm for it now

[immortality]

That's awesome!

So much potential for this conversion in many other models.

[Holden202T]

got it down to needing the following CAN ID's

0x0C9 PPEI_Engine_General_Status_1 - Engine running, RPM, brake, run/crank status
0x3E9 PPEI_Vehicle_Speed_and_Distance - Vehicle speed valid / speed value
0x1F1 PPEI_Platform_General_Status - BCM/platform power mode, run/accessory state

given two of these i need to send for rpm / road speed etc its not a bad result!

i removed 7 other ID's i was sending and it still provides assistance.

[vlad01]

Stupid question, what happens if there is some error during use like lost can connection or some other controller error for eg, do these just stop working?

[Tre-Cool]

got it down to needing the following CAN ID's

0x0C9 PPEI_Engine_General_Status_1 - Engine running, RPM, brake, run/crank status
0x3E9 PPEI_Vehicle_Speed_and_Distance - Vehicle speed valid / speed value
0x1F1 PPEI_Platform_General_Status - BCM/platform power mode, run/accessory state

given two of these i need to send for rpm / road speed etc its not a bad result!

i removed 7 other ID's i was sending and it still provides assistance.

good work, i didnt think it would use much but what was already being broadcast for other modules to listen into.

[Holden202T]

Stupid question, what happens if there is some error during use like lost can connection or some other controller error for eg, do these just stop working?

well from what i've seen of my testing, if its working and then i turn my controller off, it keeps on working!

i've actually been working on tonight sending the right bits in 0x1F1 to shut it down when ignition goes off, it looks like ive just about got it all sorted, my board is only simulating rpm (0x0C9), and theres a few things in 1F1 that seem to matter, and dictate how the rack behaves.

Byte 0 bits 1:0

00 = Off
01 = Accessory
10 = Run
11 = Crank Request

so from my testing, if you have a state of run and the rpm drops to zero (stall for example) the rack stays working which is what i would expect for safety reasons, its only when you turn the ignition off with zero rpm that it initiates shutdown.

i was probably lucky in a way too as i have a working VF Commodore for getting correct real world frames from to compare key on, start, run, key off and then with some chat gpt data analysis!

im also very pleased that it doesnt seem to need the steering angle sensor so thats a bonus and one less thing to have to worry about!

good work, i didnt think it would use much but what was already being broadcast for other modules to listen into.

100%!!

the other thing too, i havent even been looking at the DTCs or anything else that the rack is actually sending out that will be a latter thing, it may well have DTCs saying its missing some comms to something, but whatever it is, its not important enough to stop it working haha!

[antus]

Well done, that's and awesome thing!