[wertygrog]

Hi all, wanted to share this interesting tidbit.

I started getting a suspension failure warning on my 07 Auto every time I’d drive the car (it’s a daily driver). Was behaving like this for a few weeks. Error code was “front LH solenoid” but I traced the source of the error to the ECU instead of the shock by cross-wiring the front shocks and also ohming out the harness to the ECU connector. Seems simple, buy a new ECU right?

But...I was researching this issue on the forum and one member commented that this issue only occurs for him if he does not lock his car between drives. I realized I haven’t been locking my QP lately (it’s been hot so I’ve been leaving a window down at my work parking lot). So I started locking my car again and guess what, right away suspension error goes from occurring EVERY SINGLE DRIVE to COMPLETELY GONE. It’s been error-free for a week now. Weird huh?

I can leave the car unlocked while fueling up and the error does not reappear. I’m going to do some experimenting to see what patterns actually trigger the error. Will also keep an eye out for a good deal on my part number ECU as I suspect this is a sign my ECU may be failing.

Anyways, thought this was interesting. Anyone else experience this same thing, other than that blessed commenter from a years-old thread who had the same bug?

Cheers,
Brent

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

It is simply not doing it right now...The door locks have nothing to do with the suspension ECU...Start looking for an ECU...Sorry....Jason

 

[wertygrog]

Hi Jason, def not a coincidence. They share something, even if just power or ground...although I agree that this is probably indicative of a battery or ECU issue...

 

[2fromtheCouve]

Yeah have your battery load tested first. Seems like if the voltage drops slightly too much while cranking then random system errors can occur. Perhaps the alarm flashing the lights energizes the battery just enough to get a different result. Or you can do an exorcism... seems to help sometimes.

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

Even if the skyhook ECU and the body node shared a common power and ground. The state of the door locks shouldn't matter as power consumption of the body node is the same....Skyhook ECUs frequently go bad and they throw intermittent faults...I have a stack of used bad ones...Jason

 

[sc00b]

suspension ecu's and vertical acceleration sensors... a 55 gallon drum full likely.

my thought with a suspension warning light is acceleration sensor.

 

[Catmanv2]

Correlation <> Causality.

C

 

[wertygrog]

You could be right, in fact there’s a 0.5^20 chance the behavior is entirely a coincidence (.0001%) 😂

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

Another guy on here was convinced he fixed his suspension error light by letting the car sit with the key on key before he started the car...We went back and forth several times about booting up etc... He would later get a large helping of crow when the fault returned like I told him it would....Jason

 

[JEM]

For what its worth, I occasionally get that error mainly in hot weather. I haven't had it for awhile now but we are just going from winter to spring now down under.

 

[SeanFulop]

Another guy on here was convinced he fixed his suspension error light by letting the car sit with the key on key before he started the car...We went back and forth several times about booting up etc... He would later get a large helping of crow when the fault returned like I told him it would....Jason

You didn't have to rub it in so much....

But yeah the "fix" I got from waiting in "on" position does not work perfectly, but it still is giving the fault much less often than last year when I wasn't doing that. Eventually I suppose I will get a new ECU and that should solve it? My shop doesn't seem willing to make this leap, they don't want to replace parts on an "intermittent" fault.

 

[[email protected] Enzo`s Atlanta]

You didn't have to rub it in so much....

But yeah the "fix" I got from waiting in "on" position does not work perfectly, but it still is giving the fault much less often than last year when I wasn't doing that. Eventually I suppose I will get a new ECU and that should solve it? My shop doesn't seem willing to make this leap, they don't want to replace parts on an "intermittent" fault.

I didn't rub it in....I did it even mention your name.....

 

[wertygrog]

So far I haven’t seen a single suspension error since using the lock/alarm regularly again...at least this buys me time to wait for a good deal to pop up on the correct ECU. 👍

 

[wertygrog]

To update this, the error started reoccurring on every startup after a month or so. Error always "LH Front Solenoid", so I opened the suspension ECU and reflowed the solder joints associated with the LH front shock circuit. Haven't seen any errors since and it's been awhile now, so hopefully that did the trick.

 

[ApriliaNut]

To update this, the error started reoccurring on every startup after a month or so. Error always "LH Front Solenoid", so I opened the suspension ECU and reflowed the solder joints associated with the LH front shock circuit. Haven't seen any errors since and it's been awhile now, so hopefully that did the trick.

Smart!
And clever!
Keep us posted but one would think a new intact solder route would indeed cure the problem!

BTW: Where is the suspension ECU located exactly?

 

[wertygrog]

It was worth a try even though I didn't see any obvious breaks in the solder joints. I'll report back in a few months to let the forum know if it's still working.

The suspension ECU is located in the driver's side floorboard area (under the floor mat). The TPMS Module, which is another common failure item, can also be found in the same location.