Uh Oh, did I mess up my truck with AlfaOBD?

[atxsully]

I programmed my truck for remote start with a new programmed remote and AlfaOBD a few days ago. It worked. Great! But I am now having other issues.

A neighbor saw me come home last night in the dark and told me my tail lights were not on. I investigated early today, and yes, they were not coming on with the lights turned to low beam on.

I checked fuses and bulbs. All appeared fine. I got into AlfaOBD and ran a diagnostic on my rear tail lights, when I press start the tail light comes on, then shuts off as the diagnostic stops. So it seems power is good. Before I did this I checked my left turn signal in Alfa, and it was good.

Here, I may have messed up. I selected ECU Reset under the car configuration settings and reset it. There was no message when I did it. It seemed like nothing changed, to me.

In diagnostics of the BCM, I searched for the term “rear”. I got a long list and checked out anything that had to do with rear tail lights. I would run the diagnostic start, select yes or no, and the screen read the I did not need to change the yes or no, as what I selected was as the system was already configured.

I start the truck up and I get a message in my instrument cluster that reads I need to service my trailer brakes. Left turn signal flashes fast like the bulbs out, but visible inspection shows it blinking as usual. I go for a drive. A message pops up that my left rear blinker is not working, then followed by a message that reads both rear turn signals are out, both blinking fast on the instrument cluster. They both appear to be fine.

As for my tail lights, I still don’t know what’s up. What do y’all think? Thank 7ou.

** truck is 23’ 1500 Lonestar.

 

[1791]

i just paid 50 bucks for the app and got what i need to actually use it. i'm scared i'll mess something up. looks like a process to make changes. i just wish it was simple but i looks difficult

 

[HSKR R/T]

i just paid 50 bucks for the app and got what i need to actually use it. i'm scared i'll mess something up. looks like a process to make changes. i just wish it was simple but i looks difficult

It's not that difficult. Plenty of information and step by step instructions on how to make most changes don't let it intimidate you.

 

[ZombieSlayer]

Disconnect the battery for 30 minutes then drive it for a couple of days. In the future make a backup in Alfa before making any changes.

 

[Brutal_HO]

i just paid 50 bucks for the app and got what i need to actually use it. i'm scared i'll mess something up. looks like a process to make changes. i just wish it was simple but i looks difficult

Make sure you make a backup file before changing anything. That file can be used to restore the entire BCM.

You should also use Read System ID and backup the log file to google drive.

 

[atxsully]

I had the battery cables off for 9 hours today while I was at work in an attempt to drain & reset the BCM. I reconnect and start it up, the screen knows my profile, and ding there is the same trailer brake service message. So, fail. My blinkers were both blinking fast before I did the disconnect, then when I reconnected they worked as normal for about 5 minutes, then back to fast blinking. Tail lights are still out. Maybe I should bite the bullet and go to the dealer for reprogramming. I was told by a local dealership that if they can tell the BCM has been messed with they will charge me $225 to do the reset. If they don't its covered by my warranty. The service guy told me tampering doesn't void my warranty. I'm curious what others members have been told about that.

If I do the dealership reset, then I will want to go back in through AlfaOBD, save the system log as-is, then change the two settings that allow for remote start, but I am afraid that changing the remote start will trigger again the current problems I am having.

Part of me is regretting that I even messed with the BCM in the first place.

 

[Brutal_HO]

It's not just saving the log. You also have to run the procedure to create the backup (binary) file. That allows you to restore the BCM in one fell swoop.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I had the battery cables off for 9 hours today while I was at work in an attempt to drain & reset the BCM. I reconnect and start it up, the screen knows my profile, and ding there is the same trailer brake service message. So, fail. My blinkers were both blinking fast before I did the disconnect, then when I reconnected they worked as normal for about 5 minutes, then back to fast blinking. Tail lights are still out. Maybe I should bite the bullet and go to the dealer for reprogramming. I was told by a local dealership that if they can tell the BCM has been messed with they will charge me $225 to do the reset. If they don't its covered by my warranty. The service guy told me tampering doesn't void my warranty. I'm curious what others members have been told about that.

If I do the dealership reset, then I will want to go back in through AlfaOBD, save the system log as-is, then change the two settings that allow for remote start, but I am afraid that changing the remote start will trigger again the current problems I am having.

Part of me is regretting that I even messed with the BCM in the first place.

Disconnecting the battery would/should have no effect on any BCM changes you made. Unfortunately , that's the risk you take messing with alfaObd if you aren't comfortable doing it, and know exactly what to do.