Has anyone re calibrated their suspension height sensors with PIWIS2?
Wondering what is involved and about the process in general, how long it takes, anything special that is needed. Thanks.

 

I’ve done this ciaka. I always felt my car sat too high from factory. I wanted to lower through the air suspension. Initially I was going to buy a lowering module (I was considering the Renntech) but stupid expensive. Then I was going to use lowering links (inexpensive). I then learned lowering could be done with a PIWIS. This prompted my to build a PIWIS 2 (software free on-line and VCI from China).

I posted a number of times here and on Rennlist asking for help but only got crickets. I kept digging then found a thread on MacanForum about this exact issue. I reached out to those guys and learned the process. Took me a long time but managed to figure it out.

I’ve been meaning to do a DIY for the community but time is always the issue for me (you of all people know how long it takes to do a good DIY).

You will need:

1. A PIWIS 2 (or 3).

2. A power supply unit (PSU) that provides “clean” power. The PSU needs to maintain constant voltage. This type of PSU is crazy expensive (look up Schumacher INC100) so I made my own PSU and here’s my DIY link:

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...is-coding.html

3. A way to measure from the centre of the wheel to the edge of the fender. I made my own “tool” using a wheel cap and some string.

Start by making the PSU. Hopefully by then I will have the “DIY: Lowering with PIWIS 2” done.

 

What's the general process though and where in piwis is it done? Is it just the matter of following prompts and measuring height to each wheel, then storing? Wanted to attempt today before alignment. Hope you can give pointers to do. I assume it shouldn't be hard.
With batt. Fully charged, you get about 20 to 30 minutes without any supplies, more than plenty than needed for measuring I would hope. Did something similar on my cayenne note using piwis though.
so curious about process.

Thanks.

 

Ok. It was a year ago and I’m going off of my memory...

Found in Level Control/PASM then Maintenance Repairs.

Select Height Sensor System Calibration. There is a Start Condition screen and all conditions need to be met before you can proceed. Pay close attention to your voltage. The ignition needs to be in the "ON" position, but the car can't be running.

Begin by measuring each corner as is in normal (comfort) mode. Measure from the centre of the wheel cap to the edge of the fender. Enter each of theses values in millimetres into the PIWIS. This is your baseline. Do NOT just accept what is autopopulated in the PIWIS.

Start the calibration process again. Measure again as above. This time ADD the height in millimetres that you want to lower. For example, if your measurement is 404mm then enter 414mm to affect a 10mm drop.

Hope this helps. I’ll still do up a DIY with pictures at each step for others wanting to do this as well.

Let me know how it goes.

 

Perfect, exactly what I wanted to know. Are there any security codes to enter in piwis2?

 

Nope. I found a screen shot from when I did this last year.

 

Excellent. I just did it, and screen was just like what you attached.
Do you know how the numbersnumbers From. Mycayenne I remember the larger the number, the lower the wheel will go.
But when doing it today on panamera, I think when I put in lower number, that wheel went lower.
trying to understand what I should expect for panamera.
I assume objective is to have all corners at same height (aka, measurement from center of wheel, to bottom of fender arch).
I my case, I found my front wheels numbers to be lower than my rear wheels number.
I recorded my numbers that were stored, before I started playing. So in case something goes wrong I can return to original values.

 

Glad it worked out and that my memory served me correctly! Did you get a low voltage warning at any point in time during the process?

 

No, I did not get any voltage faults during the calibration. Otherwise it would kick me out of the cal I think. Voltage must be within spec for calibrating anything.
I charged the batt. fully night before knowing I will do this. So today grabbed the car and did calibration twice actually.
First time, I did the level sensors test.
Then, observed what values were stored, recorded them them changed the numbers to measurement values in mm, according to what I measured.
Disconnected, piwis2, the rose suspension and then lowered.
The back driver wheel looked lower, so I did cal again, this time lowering the opposite side (pass side), by making its number lower to match the driver back side.
Then I noticed the back wheels look lower than the front wheels (gauging by putting my flat hand between fender and rubber, and observing which finger touches rubber and how far I have to stick it in).
So I ended up leaving settings after 2nd cal.
Went to do alignment, their initial readings were misaligned at front and back. Not by huge amount, but by a degree or so.
After alignment, they could not get couple settings within spec.

So looks to me that level sensors calibration will mean doing another alignment, from what I see.
Now, charging batt. again cause I want to raise the back wheels back up, to match the front. I think I have to raise by about 18mm. Both.

Do you remember if lowering car means bigger number? Or does lowering the car means entering smaller number?

 

Larger value leads to lowering of the car. Measure each corner then ADD millimetres in order to lower. Counterintuitive I know.

 

What I ended up doing was lower the back. So now, after a game I have to watch, I'll do again, raise back up.
After I lowered and went to alignment, they saw changes, so I think alignment is a to do item any time suspension height is changed.

 

This is a interesting tread, however I have the following issue with 2010 Pana 4s.

Its 3 cm (30mm) lower on the rear right side. The system seems to be working, and the cluster dosent throw any message when driving. The rise & sink function works, and when I park the car and close the trunk, the car sinks or rise, and levels out, but still with a different in heights. When entering the car in the morning I hear the compressor runs for a few second, so the system seems to have all functions in place.

When doing a scan i get the message 000317 / 318 / 316 / 319 with text "DTC-Valve for FR additional volum faulty, switching process implausible (can be ignored)". The samme message on all codes with refernce to each wheel / corner of the car.
When cheeking the heights calibration in the scanner, its shows the similar numbers on both left and right rear. I have visually checked the right rear sensor, and lubricate the linkage. No visible damages. Unless.... is it two sensors in the rear suspension? One for the headlights and one for the suspension? If so, I have probably just checked the sensor for the lights.

I`m not quite sure where to begin, since the system sees to be operating normal, and info sendt from the sensor to the ECU tells that car is leveled out - but it isn`t. Its quite obvious that the right rear sensor communicates with ECU within the limits since the cluster or the scanner doesent tell otherwise. Is it possible that a sensor can give incorrect height data, without being bad/broken. When I activate high level, there is only 1 cm in different of the heights right vs rear. During driving the suspension works like "normal", but still with a differnt in the heights rear.

 

Not sure what you're using for scanning, doesn't sound like piwis2 though.
My bets are your valve block valves not working right. Just a guess though now.
I haven't finished working on mine as I had FR shock refreshed (RMT honored their lifetime warranty no problems at all, sent them mine and got it back about week later total turn around time).
Shock is in, but piwis told me valve block valves do not close fast enough (message says on time exceeded).
so ordered valve block. Just got it yesterday but have tons of work. Hope to get to it next couple days..
After,, will recalibrate suspension again..
Did it few times and process is pretty simple,simple was flawed since after I set the height in piwis, valve block opened valves too long causing car to sag more. Will update later again after part change.

 

I use Foxwell 70iPro for scanner. At the last attempt I didn`t get axsess to the calibration, and readout of existing data. If the valveblock is not workin right, the ECU sholud hav dectet the difference in heights, and throw some kind of meassage - guess.......

 

OK. After super many tries, I finally have all wheels set at the same height. I actually put the back wheels 6mm higher than the front wheels (spec height calls for rear to be 2mm taller than front), so my back is now 4mm higher. Exactly what I wanted.
Took me all of one day and part of today. Dont ask how many times I recalibrated.

Taking measurements:
All my measurements were from the bottom of the center cap. Why the bottom and not the center of the center cap? Because unless you draw some marks on it, you are not accurate.
My way, I always have a known point of reference, which is the edge between wheel and the center cap. That groove is my reference.
I also know the cap is 76mm in diameter. 76/2 = 38mm. So all my measurements (as I enter into the calibration screen), are whatever the measurement is, minus 38mm. So if I measure 442mm in front, 442mm - 38mm = 404mm (the default spec height of front tires).

Process tips:
- Whatever you do, it is important to complete the calibration at the end (more on this later).
- Get your battery charged up FULLY before you start
- Every few measurements (if you need multiple), say every 3 calibrations, after you complete, start the car and let idle for 3 minutes. It will top up the battery and get it ready for the next set of attempts
- DO NOT LET THE VOLTAGE DROP TO 12V. If it happens during calibration, there is a small risk you can do something to the ECU, and could even brick it. There is a process to build a power supply that will keep the voltage at a constant 12.4V, but if you dont have one, you can still do this but dont spend much time on each attempt (HAVE ALL YOUR MEASUREMENTS WRITTEN, so when you get to the screen, you enter then, double check and save them).
- Enter diags and choose Level/PASM selection, go to next screen but then press F11 to skip diagnostics of entire car (saves batt. power)
- Height sensor calibration is done in the Maintenance Repairs section
- Height entered in mm, and I chose my reference as stated above, so I had to make sure all my measurements are with the 38mm (half of the center cap diameter) subtracted, to give exactly middle of the cap/wheel.
- After you enter all measurements (enter number, press enter key), you save by pressing WRITE (one of the F keys, stated at bottom of screen).
- Then, IMPORTANT, as requested, you must turn the ignition to OFF, then back to ON (if you dont do this, calibration save wont be completed
- After you write and turn ignition off/on, you must get the calibration successful message (check mark on bottom entry of the calibration screen), at which time YOU MUST PRESS F12 to continue. If you dont press F12, calibration will not be completed as well.
- After you press F12, you are done, what I do is exit the screen to main menu of the PIWIS2 tool. Then I turn ignition to off (at which time height will adjust). Regardless, then I turn car on and let idle for few minutes. Compressor will compress air, then suspension will readjust again.

I will be doing a DIY on this one time, process is easy, but is confusing if you have not done it. The above are just some pieces of info I gathered while trying.
I did this with PIWIS2. Easy. I am loving this tool very much. Would not want to be without it now.