Hello everyone.
I am looking for some information on the communications protocol of the ECU on a 2006 4.0 engine.
i was curious if anyone knew what protocol ford used in this model year is it the SAE J1850. I know its not typical CAN.
there is a CAN connection from the OBDII port to the instrument panel, but i have not pulled any useful information off of that. i am pretty sure that is for the emissions testing.
if anyone does know the protocol ford used in these trucks, would anyone know what data is available to read off of the ECU?
i know how to read the generic OBDII parameters. but i am not interested in that. i am interested in the advanced ECM data. Fuel pressure, etc.
is there a scan tool or digital gauge setup that can read this information (again besides the generic OBDII data)
i am just curious as to what i can or would be able to monitor. perhaps building a digital gauge setup.
i just don't want to start the project too blindly. I know car manufacturers guard these secrets and didnt know if anyone knew anything. Google has not turned up much.
Mostly generic OBD scanners etc.
i have alot of experience with this on commercial diesel vehicles with J1939 also the 11 bit CAN networking on modern vehicles.
if anyone had a question about J1939 i could likely answer it. unfortunately that is not going to help many people on here unless you are trying to swap a b4.5 into your truck.
however i am stumbling a little bit with this older equipment.
any information that anyone has would be apricated.
Thank you

 

You would be out of luck with Fuel Pressure since there was never a fuel pressure sensor in Rangers thru 2011

ForScan site may be better to ask these questions

OBDII systems are restricted by the sensors connected to the computer
PIDs(parameter IDs) are requests for information from a specific sensor , as seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OBD-II_PIDs

Communications protocols matter but if you are just try to GET data and not change the way the data is used then a regular scanner with user changeable PIDs should work fine

 

Thanks for this information.
i was interested in the communication protocol because sometimes it paves the way to a lists of parameters. I know the OEMs are pretty tight lipped with this stuff
but i didn't know if anyone on here had figured out or had a list of some proprietary PIDs and the scaling for use in apps like torque etc.
i have always been interested in instrumentation/gauges, and having an electronic engine, in theory, is easier because the ECM is already reading sensors. i would not have to fit my own.
as for the fuel pressure, i am going to have to check the wiring diagrams again, but i thought i saw some pressure sensor somewhere. i could be wrong.
but having a list of PiDs that are avialble would be a helpful starting point. so i guess that is what i am after.
i will check out FORScan. it seems like it might be a helpful step in what i am trying to accomplish.
if anyone has a list of the PIDs that would be helpful if wanted to use an app like Torque or something.

so far i figured out it was J1850. i am going through the J1850 SAE documentation.
thanks for the help

 

Pressure sensor in fuel tank is for the EVAP system, that's most likely what you saw

2004 and up Rangers use a digital dash called HEC, hybrid electronic cluster
A few of the gauges are PID driven, vs analog

There are several videos and websites that deal with making your own Video Display to insert in the dash in place of instrument cluster using android and Raspberry-pi I believe
They may have some Ford PID info
Forscan will for sure