VCM II Diagnostics interface installation

[Kaaru]

My July 27th 2011 SEL Sedan built is currently in the shop for Tranny issues. The dealer offered me to have the new VCM II installed in order to collect data regarding the loss of power I get every day while commuting from home to work and vice versa.

I have accepted to have the module installed and I will work with the dealer to the best of my abilities in order to collect the requested data. Now, I am no car tech or mechanic, however, I will be happy to report back any kind of appropriate feedback in this matter.

I understand the tech will have to set some pretty large parameters as we dont exactly know what we are looking for. I would have preffered to hear the dealer say '' Oh it's a mechanical problem and we'll fix it by changing part number XYZ...'' Saddly it looks like an electronical trouble and those can be a pain to find.

While they work on my car, I am enjoying a SE 2013 loaner that behave like a charm. I wish my SEL would have behaved like this one from day one.

I'll report back when I have more information or news.

Did anyone else had those module installed ? And if so, what was the outcome ?

Thanks to Suss6052, here is a link that explain what the VCM II is.
http://www.m2kinc.com/detail-ids-vcm-ii-480-10-8-1.html

Cheers

[Sponsor]

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by Kaaru

My July 27th 2011 SEL Sedan built is currently in the shop for Tranny issues. The dealer offered me to have the new VCM II installed in order to collect data regarding the loss of power I get every day while commuting from home to work and vice versa.

I have accepted to have the module installed and I will work with the dealer to the best of my abilities in order to collect the requested data. Now, I am no car tech or mechanic, however, I will be happy to report back any kind of appropriate feedback in this matter.

I understand the tech will have to set some pretty large parameters as we dont exactly know what we are looking for. I would have preffered to hear the dealer say '' Oh it's a mechanical problem and we'll fix it by changing part number XYZ...'' Saddly it looks like an electronical trouble and those can be a pain to find.

While they work on my car, I am enjoying a SE 2013 loaner that behave like a charm. I wish my SEL would have behaved like this one from day one.

I'll report back when I have more information or news.

Did anyone else had those module installed ? And if so, what was the outcome ?

Thanks to Suss6052, here is a link that explain what the VCM II is.
http://www.m2kinc.com/detail-ids-vcm-ii-480-10-8-1.html

Cheers

Hi Kaaru,

Thanks for taking the time to describe your experience. I'll look forward to your updates moving forward, and I know there are people on this forum who are going to be very interested in what you have to say. If you ever need my assistance, feel free to reach out.

Thanks again,
Crystal

[PratoN]

I've been considering buying one of these as well as a subscription to the Motorcraft website. And if that happens... free updates for all!

[Kaaru]

Originally Posted by FordCustomerService

Hi Kaaru,

Thanks for taking the time to describe your experience. I'll look forward to your updates moving forward, and I know there are people on this forum who are going to be very interested in what you have to say. If you ever need my assistance, feel free to reach out.

Thanks again,
Crystal

Thanks for stepping in Crystal.

However, I am already in contact with a distant co-worker of yours from Ford Canada named Robert. It is my understanding that Robert is monitoring and following this closely with the Viau ford service Director.

I will report anything that can be helpfull to others as I am not the only one with this particular loss of power from the tranny phenomenon. As for the data that will be collected, I'll be only able to report what the dealer will give me once it is translated from obscure technical language to commun english/french language.

As of this morning, people at Viau's are still working hard on ''Gertrude''. I took my second commute to work this morning with the SE 2013 loaner and I can tell you that this SE 2013 loaner is light years from my 2012 SEL. I dunno what you guys did between 2012 and 2013 production, but these 2 cars are very, very different. That or Gertrude is a ''bad apple''.

[Kaaru]

Update:

Long story short, the VCM II has not been installed in my vehicle. Instead ALL of the cumputer programming was erased and re-installed as if the car was rolling out of the assembly line. Service Director insisted on the fact that everything was wipped from Gertrude: ECM, PCM, ECU, IDS... you name it. All of it, out! Gone!. Call it ''C://format'' if you wish. According to him, that was the first time they did such a thing. Once the new programming installed, the techs made sure the required updates were applied.

I picked up my car at 17h00 today and reluctantly gave back the 2013 loaner...That loaner was fantastic, anyways... So, I drove around for a good 30 minutes with my car and tried to duplicate the tranny issues I usually have, w/o success. Alright, So far, so good. The real test will be next week when I'll use it for my daily 2h30 trafic torture. And I still have the post FSA 12B37 deception pretty fresh in my memory.

Fingers are still crossed, however, I just dont trust that ''thing'' anymore...it has some real catching up to do.

I'll be back next week for a report on the total computer wipe and the tranny issues.

Cheers

[paul21]

Originally Posted by Kaaru

Fingers are still crossed, however

Not to rain on your parade here, but the whole reset-relearn thing only helped me for a week. Just DC the battery and perform the "relearn procedure" and it will behave itself for a little while.

[Kaaru]

Originally Posted by paul21

Not to rain on your parade here, but the whole reset-relearn thing only helped me for a week. Just DC the battery and perform the "relearn procedure" and it will behave itself for a little while.

It is my understanding that they did more than just a battery pull, even tho my battery control module (BCM) died somewhere along the way when they started to work on the car. I mean why go tru all the computer system one by one and have them erased/removed and re-installed when all you can do is a battery pull? No they did more than that. A battery pull does not necessitate any kind of program re-installation...A battery pull is just a reset.

So yeah, I'm right there with you on this still, as I had the FSA 12B37 done this summer and the car behaved like a charm...for some time before tranforming back into ''Christine''. I know some peeps here did the battery pull only to see their car's returning to their bad behavior weeks after. Like I said, this is the first time that they do such a thing...as if it was rolling out of the line with fresh software everywhere. Only time will tell.

[Kabigon]

Originally Posted by Kaaru

Instead ALL of the cumputer programming was erased and re-installed as if the car was rolling out of the assembly line. Service Director insisted on the fact that everything was wipped from Gertrude: ECM, PCM, ECU, IDS... you name it. All of it, out! Gone!. Call it ''C://format'' if you wish. According to him, that was the first time they did such a thing. Once the new programming installed, the techs made sure the required updates were applied.

That was a waste of time.

It is unfortunate that the "Service Director" doesn't understand how all of those newfangled electronic gadgets really work.

[jellybean]

How to fix the problem:
1. Make sure you have a warranty.
2. Drive car till warranty expires
3. Sell car.
4. NEVER BUY A FORD AGAIN.

I have the same issue as you and many others on this forum. Car went into neutral while driving for no reason, twice. The dealer wanted to charge me $1500 deposit to install the VCM. Ford Customer Service is a smoke screen to make you think they are helping. All they do is regurgitate information to the dealer and assign a number to you. This number is so they can use it against you when you lemon the car. By they way the lemon law was started by the car manufacturers to protect themselves.
Bottom line you are left running around from dealer to dealer...until you find someone that still has ethics and a will to help you out.

Good luck to you...I really do hope you find a resolution and hopefully help all of us on this forum.

[Kaaru]

Update. Following last week complete car computer system wipe, the transmission has behaved like a champ this morning. No hesitations, no jerkyness and I was even graced with a little kick down passing a car on the high way. Transmission behaved very well and was smooth in bumper to bumper trafic. Over all, the current behavior is on par with what I had post FSA 12B37 this summer.