Page 1 of 1

A case of stolen identity

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 5:07 am
by old tech
I bought a 2010 sls with 160k miles that had a no crank issue due to a failed electronic steering lock. I wanted to learn about these so I could maybe come up with a cheap fix but hadnt seen one fail myself. I was bummed when i found out the past owner threw away the original failed unit so repairing it was not an option. I could replace with a new one but that didnt help me in quest of a cheap repair. I could take it to a very good X suzuki dealer to get the used unit ( the past owner installed and then threw in the towel) to be accepted by the car but that would involve a tow on top of the dealer charge. I have a 2010 gts for parts that still had all the needed pieces so I thought that will work. I swapped in the esl , engine computer, keylesss entry computer , body module , speedometer , and key fob. After erasing codes it all worked fine. As forthe speedo and body control module I wasnt sure if they were needed in the swap but i wanted to start with all and then trade them back in to see just what parts are needed for this identity swap. The speedo is not needed to change . The body control module was too hard to redo so I didnt retry the original. When this car is on the scan tool it now reads the donor vin .This could be an issue in other places but not here.

Re: A case of stolen identity

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 3:17 pm
by Ronzuki
Interesting. It will prove to be a problem from hence forth with all of this automatic updating of vehicle firmware going on over the air waves. The auto makers may have thought about all of this before committing to the tech, who knows...I'm not holding my breath.

Same issues we've seen over the years in industry when a controller is programmed for one specific machine s/n and then the control panel is used elsewhere on a different/similar machine. It's nothing new here and it's most definitely a problem when we're given a s/n and then connect in to the panel remotely only to figure out it isn't panel machine combo it was supposed to be. People do all kinds of things in attempts to get free support for troubleshooting their problems. Panel A belongs to machine A, still under warranty. Customer is having problems w/ older machine B, out of warranty, and needs help figuring out WTF is wrong with machine B (because maint. can't troubleshoot worth a damn). Machine A's panel gets connected to machine B and we, or our OEM customer gets a warranty claim call for diag on what appears to be machine A.

When you say the BCM was 'too hard to redo', meaning it was too difficult to get to it to remove and swap out physically?

Re: A case of stolen identity

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 3:56 am
by old tech
Yes , the access of the bcm is very tight .and tricky. I really think it was needed in the swap. It would have been nice to know for sure. I can see this being the fix for lost keys also as the Suzuki service centers disappear. Id like to find a cheap fix on the ESL. I suspect it to be the motor and I found a cheap new replacement but it doesnt come with the gear and i didnt want to chance hurting the motor from the junkyard unit I got with the car. An emulator would be the nicest fix

Re: A case of stolen identity

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 12:10 pm
by Ronzuki
Agreed that it makes perfect sense the BCM is involved and is likely paired w/ the other critical modules that were swapped out. As you say, it would be nice to know for certain. An emulator would be the perfect solution along w/ an emulator for the TPMS....and as time moves on, and more of the same non-sense gets added to vehicles, emulators for everything non-essential for movin' the metal and plastic down the road. Emulators for the radar, emulators for the cameras.....

With only 6-7000 vehicles sold here, and what 20k worldwide?, no chance of aftermarket wasting time and resources on a dead vehicle from a dead (in the US) brand. You're apparently pursuing the only real solution...buying and hording the cars themselves for their critical programmed parts. Keep at it, and btw, I enjoy your contributions here.