I've just seen this interesting video, a steering lock emulator that you plug in, would this work?

 

 

It may make the system more confused. Your steering lock is being detected, but it's detecting a fault.

With that too, the BCM would see both a faulty lock and working lock on the same Bus.

1 minute ago, alexp999 said:

It may make the system more confused. Your steering lock is being detected, but it's detecting a fault.

With that too, the BCM would see both a faulty lock and working lock on the same Bus.

Would it not plug into the cable that the steering lock plugs in to though, therefore only detecting one? Or is that incorrect? 

Ah, I should have watched more of the video, I thought it was plugging in to the OBD.

It might work, but I would think it invalidates your car's insurance against theft.

16 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Ah, I should have watched more of the video, I thought it was plugging in to the OBD.

It might work, but I would think it invalidates your car's insurance against theft.

Think I'll take my chances with it and try to sell the f****** thing to webuyanycar 😂

It seems the steering lock fault is very common after a flat battery or a new battery fitted. In most cases it appears that disconnecting the battery several times eventually clears the fault. Also Ford have acknowledged there is an issue with the Mustang.

 

32 minutes ago, unofix said:

It seems the steering lock fault is very common after a flat battery or a new battery fitted. In most cases it appears that disconnecting the battery several times eventually clears the fault. Also Ford have acknowledged there is an issue with the Mustang.

 

I've read all of the above previously, thanks for sending over.

Will try and disconnect/reconnect battery a few more times when I get home tonight. Failing this, I'll unplug/replug the connector to the steering lock underneath the wheel. If this fails I will try the emulator above. 

If those all fail I'm f******

Well, tried disconnecting the battery a few more times, no luck. Unplugged and redone the cable to the actual steering lock, no luck again. Reset all codes again, nothing.

 

At a loss to be honest, the emulator arrives tomorrow so will update then.

Am I being blind or stupid?

 You cleared the codes and three came back, two regarding the circuit to the steering column lock but you’ve been checking brake switches and the BCM module?

 I’m assuming you have and I’m missing the post but have you actually inspected the steering column itself and associated wiring to make sure nothing is damaged there or done any probing on the connector to make sure it’s not actually shorted? Why does it seem that we’ve been checking everything but the steering lock?

32 minutes ago, dontpannic said:

You cleared the codes and three came back, two regarding the circuit to the steering column lock but you’ve been checking brake switches and the BCM module?

The OP's problems began when the vehicle battery went flat. Prior to that the car was fine. They 'bump' started the car which seems to have caused a software glitch (or so it seems). However bizarre that it seems, there are reports of the issue being caused by a problem with the brake pedal position switch. Personally I'm of the opinion that the issue is likely to be corrupt data in the BCM. The OP has tried disconnecting the electric steering lock which made no difference (not that I'd expect that it would).

It would seem a very unusual case if there was a physical hardware failure since all was working prior to the 'bump' start. There are countless posts all over the internet of problems with the electric steering lock caused by a flat battery, or after a new battery has been installed.

Forgot to mention, I also tried unplugging the connector to the steering lock and rerunning the test whilst it was unplugged. It gave me the exact same fault codes as when it was plugged in.

This tells me that there must be something wrong with the wiring and not the steering lock itself. If that's the case then I think it's past anything that I can do. 

7 hours ago, dontpannic said:

Am I being blind or stupid?

 You cleared the codes and three came back, two regarding the circuit to the steering column lock but you’ve been checking brake switches and the BCM module?

 I’m assuming you have and I’m missing the post but have you actually inspected the steering column itself and associated wiring to make sure nothing is damaged there or done any probing on the connector to make sure it’s not actually shorted? Why does it seem that we’ve been checking everything but the steering lock?

 

Stupidly haven't check this yet, fuse 68 is the steering column lock. Will definitely be checking this when I get home.

 

F68 15A Electric steering column lock.

 

EDIT: may be wrong about this, could be looking at the wrong manual 

Fuse 68 didn't work

 

Emulator hasn't worked

 

Got somebody coming to have a look at it early next week, so will update then if he can see what's wrong with it 

14 hours ago, unofix said:

The OP has tried disconnecting the electric steering lock which made no difference (not that I'd expect that it would).

 

7 hours ago, TheDaman said:

Forgot to mention, I also tried unplugging the connector to the steering lock and rerunning the test whilst it was unplugged. It gave me the exact same fault codes as when it was plugged in.

That's the bit I missed - it wasn't mentioned anywhere else in the rest of the thread so had to raise the point just in case.

Obviously I'm aware that control modules and electrical issues can cause all sorts of strange issues, but when you read through the thread and nobody has mentioned anything about checking the thing that's causing the issues I just had to make the point to make sure I wasn't going mad.

Does anybody know if it's possible to disable the steering column lock in the full version of Forscan for MK3 Focus? Thanks. 

I haven't read the whole thread but have you reset the BCM through Forscan or FoCCCus?  (Don't wipe the settings, just perform a hard reboot)

Can't remember which now but one of them does a full reset.  I don't think disconnecting the battery has reset it.  If still no different after a reset, I'd then leave the steering lock unplugged and reset it again.

28 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I haven't read the whole thread but have you reset the BCM through Forscan or FoCCCus?  (Don't wipe the settings, just perform a hard reboot)

Can't remember which now but one of them does a full reset.  I don't think disconnecting the battery has reset it.  If still no different after a reset, I'd then leave the steering lock unplugged and reset it again.

Yeah tried this multiple times😞

35 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I haven't read the whole thread but have you reset the BCM through Forscan or FoCCCus?  (Don't wipe the settings, just perform a hard reboot)

Can't remember which now but one of them does a full reset.  I don't think disconnecting the battery has reset it.  If still no different after a reset, I'd then leave the steering lock unplugged and reset it again.

I haven't tried it with the steering lock unplugged, however from what I can gather there is no power going to the steering lock cable. Will give that a try though.

42 minutes ago, TheDaman said:

I haven't tried it with the steering lock unplugged, however from what I can gather there is no power going to the steering lock cable. Will give that a try though.

The power comes from the BCM afaik.  So unless the BCM got spiked by bump starting, it seems more like a software issue.

I doubt you can disable the steering lock via Forscan, can't think of any reason Ford would write that into the software.  But you may be able to fool the BCM into thinking it has a manual steering lock instead of the electronic one.  You would need to see the tick boxes available for your specific car though, different models have different options available.

17 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The power comes from the BCM afaik.  So unless the BCM got spiked by bump starting, it seems more like a software issue.

I doubt you can disable the steering lock via Forscan, can't think of any reason Ford would write that into the software.  But you may be able to fool the BCM into thinking it has a manual steering lock instead of the electronic one.  You would need to see the tick boxes available for your specific car though, different models have different options available.

Yes I've read this suggestion, from my reading of wiring diagrams it looks as though the electronic steering lock is an EU only option, so should be able to tell the car it doesn't have one hopefully.

I've been testing other bits today, F68 is getting full voltage from the battery.

I've looked at the wiring diagrams for the BCM, I've tested voltage on some of the pins on the BCM. While most of them are getting 11.8 volts, pin C8-2 (which is the pin for the ESCL supply) is only getting about 4 volts of power.

I am a complete noob to all this, but looking at the wiring diagrams it looks as though it could be a faulty relay inside the BCM itself? Or the relay isn't being told to switch?

Not sure if somebody more knowledgeable will know?

35 minutes ago, TheDaman said:

I've been testing other bits today, F68 is getting full voltage from the battery.

I've looked at the wiring diagrams for the BCM, I've tested voltage on some of the pins on the BCM. While most of them are getting 11.8 volts, pin C8-2 (which is the pin for the ESCL supply) is only getting about 4 volts of power.

I am a complete noob to all this, but looking at the wiring diagrams it looks as though it could be a faulty relay inside the BCM itself? Or the relay isn't being told to switch?

Not sure if somebody more knowledgeable will know?

@unofix I can see the STOP LIGHT SWITCH mentioned here again in the CAN bus, do you think this could actually be the issue?

Hi @TheDaman, looking at that circuit firstly I think we can disregard the Stop Light Switch.

If Fuse F68 has a full 12Volts on either side of it with respect to ground then we know that the ESCL relay inside the BCM has a supply. When the relay is activated by the BCM sending a ground (negative) connection to the relay coil then the contact should close and 12V should be supplied to pin C8-2

When you say that you are measuring about 4V at C8-2 is that with the connector still fitted/connected to the BCM ? If yes then you need to establish where the 4 volt is coming from. Disconnect C8 and measure pin 2 on the BCM, is there any voltage ? Then check pin 2 on the connector lead and see if there is any voltage.

You can test the operation of the ESCL by fitting a temporary wire from fuse F68 and connecting it directly to C8-2 which will then permanently supply positive 12V direct to the steering column lock, regardless of whether the relay inside the BCM is working or not. This should cause the lock to release.

9 minutes ago, unofix said:

Hi @TheDaman, looking at that circuit firstly I think we can disregard the Stop Light Switch.

If Fuse F68 has a full 12Volts on either side of it with respect to ground then we know that the ESCL relay inside the BCM has a supply. When the relay is activated by the BCM sending a ground (negative) connection to the relay coil then the contact should close and 12V should be supplied to pin C8-2

When you say that you are measuring about 4V at C8-2 is that with the connector still fitted/connected to the BCM ? If yes then you need to establish where the 4 volt is coming from. Disconnect C8 and measure pin 2 on the BCM, is there any voltage ? Then check pin 2 on the connector lead and see if there is any voltage.

You can test the operation of the ESCL by fitting a temporary wire from fuse F68 and connecting it directly to C8-2 which will then permanently supply positive 12V direct to the steering column lock, regardless of whether the relay inside the BCM is working or not. This should cause the lock to release.

Hi mate,

I was measuring 4V at C8-2 while the connector was not fitted. Not sure how I would measure it while the connector is still on there?

How would I go about fitting a wire from fuse 68 to the pin? Thanks

2 minutes ago, TheDaman said:

I was measuring 4V at C8-2 while the connector was not fitted.

Just to confirm. You measured 4 volt on pin C8-2 of the BCM while the plug was removed ?

In order to fit a temporary wire from F68 first remove the fuse and test the fuse socket with a meter to find which side is the 12V supply and which is the output side. Then simply strip the end of a piece of wire and place it in the output side of the fuse socket. Push the F68 back in to the holder which will hold the wire in place.

Ideally you want to connect the wire to pin C8-2 the plug is fitted to the BCM. In order to do that you will need to remove the plastic back shell of the plug and then push the temporary wire in the back of C8-2