Australian Converted 2500 - Making it Right!

[FantaInOz]

During the RHD conversion process that‘s done here in Australia, some features are disabled and I’d like to reinstate them. Annoyingly, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of public knowledge on the process (being shared at least!), nor does there appear to be a lot of consistency in what is disabled and how it is disabled. I’m asking this group as the expertise I’ve been reading the past 6 months has been fantastic.

Firstly, neither the high level cargo light (CHMSL) or guidance lights work:

I have the button in the centre of the headlight control


When pressed or when the doors are open, the indicator on the instrument cluster lights up


I have this option in Uconnect



The above makes me think that the truck has everything required and enabled but still not working. There is a lot of information around Aussie converted 1500’s having their DRL’s disabled during the conversion by pins being removed from connectors at various places which got me thinking that this could be my issue too. I‘ve checked the connector behind the CHMSL and there’s no obvious issues. (High level brake light and camera work perfectly)

Does anyone know or have any thoughts where there may be a disconnection point for either or both of these lights??

And, relevant or not, does anyone know what this cable does, found adrift under the LHS front seat……?



…..or this one under the rear centre console….?



Appreciate any ideas or insights out there.

 

[FantaInOz]

I've found the BCM under the glovebox.



This White / Orange(?) wire was looped and sealed but has a connecter pin on it.



Does anyone know what this wire controls or have a pinout for the BCM?

 

[Riddick]

This is way above my head in terms of technical knowledge, I am betting @Jimmy07 is up to the challenge and can assist you.

 

[Jimmy07]

I've found the BCM under the glovebox.

View attachment 48040

This White / Orange(?) wire was looped and sealed but has a connecter pin on it.

View attachment 48041

Does anyone know what this wire controls or have a pinout for the BCM?

There’s only one white/orange wire that’s supposed to be in that connector, but it’s for rear right park lamp, so that wouldn’t make sense.
I’m gonna say that wire is white/beige, and it’s for the cargo lamp driver, which does make sense for one of your issues. It would go in position 30 on that BCM connector.

 

[Jimmy07]

Also curious what these 2 wires go to.
That yellow one appears to be looped back.

 

[FantaInOz]

Thanks @Jimmy07

There was a score mark on Pin 30 of the C5 connector so was clearly removed from there; it‘s now back in place. It has made no difference to my lighting. I did notice C6 Pin 6 is labelled for the cargo light so I’m going to check that in the next day or two when I can get back under there.

I’ll also check on the 2 wires highlighted above. Not only is there a yellow one looped back but a white/green one too.

 

[jsalbre]

Are DRLs and cargo lights not allowed down under?

 

[Jimmy07]

This section of Tessa tape is not factory, and it looks like they’ve got a lot going on under there. I see at least two heat shrinks peeking out where they tapped some wires.

 

[FantaInOz]

Are DRLs and cargo lights not allowed down under?

DRL’s are allowed and mine are working. I need to get to the bottom of the front lights too as there are definitely some that are not turning on.

 

[FantaInOz]

This section of Tessa tape is not factory, and it looks like they’ve got a lot going on under there. I see at least two heat shrinks peeking out where they tapped some wires.

I’ll peel it all back and get a good look at what’s happening in there.

 

[FantaInOz]

Alright, I’ve had a win getting the cargo lights going. 1 pin pulled in each, C5 and C6 of the BCM connectors. As @Jimmy07 said, there is a lot going on under there and too tight to see enough. I can’t pull things apart too much with my wife heavily pregnant and may need a ride to the hospital at any point……! Cargo lights seem to work a treat now at least.

Next is the guidance / reverse / auxiliary lights on the mirrors. I’m looking for a start as to where they might be controlled from if anyone has an idea? They don’t seem to be referenced in the BCM schematic, although the naming conventions don’t appear to be consistent. I do have the option in the radio menu to “Enable with cargo lights” so I’m sure there’s some pins pulled elsewhere. I also had a deeper look under my dash (drivers / right hand) and found some more strange stuff, photos attached. Any insights as to what the disconnections might be would be helpful. They’re terminated with 121 ohm resistors.



And there’s more…… this one connector block has a blanking cover so assume maybe for some accessory I don’t have installed?



And then there’s these 2 that were taped up, out of the way with some foam wrapped around them which looked more in line with some of the local conversion work.



Thanks!

 

[Jimmy07]

Alright, I’ve had a win getting the cargo lights going. 1 pin pulled in each, C5 and C6 of the BCM connectors. As @Jimmy07 said, there is a lot going on under there and too tight to see enough. I can’t pull things apart too much with my wife heavily pregnant and may need a ride to the hospital at any point……! Cargo lights seem to work a treat now at least.

Next is the guidance / reverse / auxiliary lights on the mirrors. I’m looking for a start as to where they might be controlled from if anyone has an idea? They don’t seem to be referenced in the BCM schematic, although the naming conventions don’t appear to be consistent. I do have the option in the radio menu to “Enable with cargo lights” so I’m sure there’s some pins pulled elsewhere. I also had a deeper look under my dash (drivers / right hand) and found some more strange stuff, photos attached. Any insights as to what the disconnections might be would be helpful. They’re terminated with 121 ohm resistors.

View attachment 48543View attachment 48544View attachment 48545

And there’s more…… this one connector block has a blanking cover so assume maybe for some accessory I don’t have installed?

View attachment 48546View attachment 48547

And then there’s these 2 that were taped up, out of the way with some foam wrapped around them which looked more in line with some of the local conversion work.

View attachment 48548View attachment 48549

Thanks!

These two are for the VSIM upfitter module:


The connectors in the following two photos are not factory, and not sure what they would be for. It’s possible that “bmm module” box has something to do with them. Curious what the actual part details are on the manufacturer sticker under that masking tape are. It could be some type of lighting module. Are there any different exterior lighting laws down there that would require some factory light behaviors to be changed?

 

[FantaInOz]

Interesting, great knowledge @Jimmy07

I’m not aware of any unusual laws down here around lighting. That being said, I’m Irish and only been living down here 10 years. Everything else, light-wise, appears to be normal although a side-by-side with a factory truck would be useful!

The two pairs that are terminated with the resistors are Blue / White and Green / White - I wonder if they are related to the rear guidance lights? I suspect I’ll need to remove the door card to get to the bottom of that but haven’t put the work in to research the how-to yet.

I’ll try to get a better photo of the module label and make out the factory part numbers.

 

[FantaInOz]

I pulled back the tape to reveal the part number @Jimmy07

Does that look familiar?

 

[Jimmy07]

I pulled back the tape to reveal the part number @Jimmy07

Does that look familiar?

Pi Innovo comes back as Dana OpenECU. They make customizable control units. I’m guessing that one can be used to modify or spoof messages on the canbus, but I’m not sure what for in your conversion application. Do you know where it’s wires are going to?

 

[jsalbre]

Man, I really want to know what they needed another ECU for doing an RHD conversion.

 

[FantaInOz]

Pi Innovo comes back as Dana OpenECU. They make customizable control units. I’m guessing that one can be used to modify or spoof messages on the canbus, but I’m not sure what for in your conversion application. Do you know where it’s wires are going to?

I'm going to try to trace them but likely to be difficult. The gauges and colours look like they match some of the piggybacking that going on on the other side of the car, connecting to the BCM though.

Man, I really want to know what they needed another ECU for doing an RHD conversion.

You and me both! It's very frustrating with the premium price tag on these trucks down here and we don't get the full functionality.

 

[FantaInOz]

Another bit of exploration tonight.…. 1 wire from each BCM connectors C5 and C6 have been pulled and connected to a loom made during the conversion. This loom runs above the glove box into the ether and I suspect runs to the unknown wiring on the other side of the car. TBC with multimeter. The 2 disconnected wires have me puzzled as labelled as rear turn signal control, but both of mine work…..

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Man they really hack this stuff up for no reason!

 

[Jimmy07]

Another bit of exploration tonight.…. 1 wire from each BCM connectors C5 and C6 have been pulled and connected to a loom made during the conversion. This loom runs above the glove box into the ether and I suspect runs to the unknown wiring on the other side of the car. TBC with multimeter. The 2 disconnected wires have me puzzled as labelled as rear turn signal control, but both of mine work…..



View attachment 49963 View attachment 49964

Ok, so those two wires aren’t for what you’re thinking. Ram trucks don’t use the turn signal CONTROL circuits for the rear turns. They use the turn signal DRIVER circuits (C6-42, circuit L62 and C5-3, circuit L63). So, those wires would have never existed in those two positions in the C6 connector to begin with.

Does the truck have rear fog lamps? It looks like you’re holding BCM connector C5 in your hand, and the white/green wire is coming out of its wire bundle?
Then it looks like the white/orange wire is coming out of a different bundle, possibly C6? Maybe that’s one thing that module is controlling?