Anybody here with StarScan Tool knowledge?

Hammer_Z71 · Apr 1, 2011

I have free access to a StarScan tool.

Background on what I'm trying to do:

I used to have my fogs ON with high beams via the short jumper wire from the high beam relay to the fog light relay. I've got a DIY out there on a couple of forums for this, works well BUT...

Fogs come on when you hit the high beams EVERY TIME. Used to not be an issue, I could care less if my fogs were on with them. BUT...

When I installed my 130 watt Off-Road lights, I wire the relay I installed to the fog light relay so I didn't have to mess up the dash with a switch (again not an issue unto itself because I hardly ever used the fogs and didn't care if they came on with the Off-Road lights, BUT...

I had to pull the jumper wire to the high beams, so as not to have my Off-Road lights on every time I hit the high beams.

The fix for this is to change the light settings on the PCM so fogs will stay on with the high beams. Thisaway if the fog switch is OFF, they will not come on, but if the fog switch is on, they will stay on with the high beams.

HERE IS THE PROBLEM:

I can only find the option for this on the TIPM (Totally Integrated Power Module) menu. I have an '04, therefor NO TIPM. It even comes back and says NO TIPM MODULE FOUND if I hit that menu on the StarScan Tool.

It was suggested that changing the PCM to CANADA zone operation from UNITED STATES would do the same thing but it only turns on DRL (Daytime Running Lights) feature. I've tried EVERY other country code (must be about 20 of them). Some make no difference, some turn on DRL and that's about the only difference I can find.

Am I missing something on the tool or do you HAVE to have a TIPM for this feature.

I'm about to pull the wire off the fog light relay and just run a damn switch to the dash, but figured I'd ask just in case there is a menu or option I am missing...

Redtruck-VA · Apr 1, 2011

Ed, I understand what you want and am not sure there is an StarScan answer. But I wanted control over when my fogs came on so I did the stand alone rocker switch on the dash. I wanted just my fogs on regardless of what the other lights are doing. I use my fogs as DRL's and both with my Hi/Lo beams. I still want to play with the multi function switch and believe it would be simple enough to change a resistance to have the LO beams come on with the Hi beams. After all the PCM controls what does what, you just have to send the correct signal to tell it to do what you want.

Hammer_Z71 · Apr 2, 2011

Redtruck-VA said:
Ed, I understand what you want and am not sure there is an StarScan answer. But I wanted control over when my fogs came on so I did the stand alone rocker switch on the dash. I wanted just my fogs on regardless of what the other lights are doing. I use my fogs as DRL's and both with my Hi/Lo beams. I still want to play with the multi function switch and believe it would be simple enough to change a resistance to have the LO beams come on with the Hi beams. After all the PCM controls what does what, you just have to send the correct signal to tell it to do what you want.

Yeah, I would tend to be in agreement that the StarScan ain't gonna do it. Thinking about it, with the '05< Rams being mechanical in the light (power) control it's gonna take a physical change to pull it off.

Even though it'd be a simple programming change with the '06+ Rams and their TIPM system, I think I'd rather have to come up with a relay/wiring solution or just running a plain old switch to the cab. I know more than one guy who got to pay the dealer over $900 for a new TIPM just because their brake lights stopped working.

badfish888 · Apr 2, 2011

Hammer_Z71 said:
I have an '04, therefor NO TIPM. It even comes back and says NO TIPM MODULE FOUND if I hit that menu on the StarScan Tool.

U dont have one,

I have a 2004 and i know i got one, cause it cost me $800 to replace it, when none of my lights would work right

Hammer_Z71 · Apr 2, 2011

badfish888 said:
Hammer_Z71 said:

I have an '04, therefor NO TIPM. It even comes back and says NO TIPM MODULE FOUND if I hit that menu on the StarScan Tool.

U dont have one,

I have a 2004 and i know i got one, cause it cost me $800 to replace it, when none of my lights would work right

Click to expand...

I don't know how that's possible, besides the fact that I've personally been under the hood of about forty '04 & '05 Rams and have looked right at the PDC & FCM, I read first hand on the StarScan Tool screen yesterday "TIPM - 2006> models".

What you are saying is if you pop the "fuse box" cover under your hood, you have NO relays for light functions?

'04 PDC (note there are relays for lighting that are absent in '06+ models):

badfish888 · Apr 2, 2011

, UUUHHHHH LOL not sure what you mean about the relays, but last year i plugged a grounded out boat trailer, no lights worked and all fused were good, Dealer replaced TIPM I have the $830 recipt, unless i got royaly fukked

Hammer_Z71 · Apr 2, 2011

badfish888 said:
, UUUHHHHH LOL not sure what you mean about the relays, but last year i plugged a grounded out boat trailer, no lights worked and all fused were good, Dealer replaced TIPM I have the $830 recipt, unless i got royaly fukked

The way it was explained to me, was that up through '05, it was a separate PDC (Power Distribution Center) & FCM (Front Control Module) and in '06 they combined them into a TIPM (Totally Integrated Power Module).

The lights, whether they be headlight, fogs, running or tails are physically controlled by traditional fuses and relays in the pre-'06 Rams. You can tell this by seeing them in the PDC.
With the integration of the two units in '06, they are electronically controlled by the TIPM. This is evident by the absence of relays for the lights. (You'll notice a lot of posts over the forums by '06+ owners asking where the relays are when they have a light out and they attempt to check the relay, because there are none).

The price for the PDC & FCM combo is about the same as a TIPM from the prices I'm seeing, so I don't think you got hosed. It's possible some call the older setup a TIPM as well. It is apparent that the StarScan Tool only recognizes the '06+ as a TIPM or at least a model that it can program.

Regardless of whether the pre-'06 set is called a TIPM or not, the bottom line is that the StarScan is set up to communicate with the '06+ TIPM and not the pre-'06 setup. It appears that the only way to make changes in the older setup is to PHYSICALLY do so by wiring the relays by hand. Whereas, in the absense of relays, you have a set of controls over lighting that can be programmed via the StarScan, meaning it looks like I'm going to either have to do some creative relay wiring or just run the wire and install a switch for my off-road lights.

Redtruck-VA · Apr 2, 2011

badfish888 said:
, UUUHHHHH LOL not sure what you mean about the relays, but last year i plugged a grounded out boat trailer, no lights worked and all fused were good, Dealer replaced TIPM I have the $830 recipt, unless i got royaly fukked

Anothony,
The 04 service manual I have states it uses a Integrated Power Module (IPM). Your dealer may have mis-wrote your work order, but if you have a 2004 medel you do not have a TIPM to the best I can tell from the 04 manual.

Anybody here with StarScan Tool knowledge?

Hammer_Z71

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Redtruck-VA

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Hammer_Z71

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badfish888

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Hammer_Z71

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badfish888

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Hammer_Z71

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Redtruck-VA

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