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Wanted to post a quick Thank You to Tom at TPC for not only pushing me to purchase the DSC module but suppling me with some great alignment spec (toe links etc as well) and lastly unbelievably great customer service. After too much paralysis by analysis I bit on the DSC module with my stock coilovers and was expecting an improvement but had myself convinced it was going to be 15-20% improvement in ride quality. Well, so far I'm more than impressed and would put the improvement much closer to 50% better. Impressive. I'm late to this DSC thing but I figured it was a good upgrade path for someone like me who is in the early stages of suspension tuning. Now, the rub. I guess I'm in the 5% of users that got the dreaded radio frequency issue. I couldn't spend any time today tracking down the source. Tom was extremely helpful in telling me where to start to chase it down. Any thoughts on a step by step process to locate this issue? I guess I start with a RF meter. Seems like this could be a bit of a challenge....
Do you have standard audio system or sound package plus?
Have you checked the ground wire from the head unit and if you have sound package plus the ground wire from the factory amp to make sure there is no deterioration of the wire.
If those are clear have you checked the speaker wires in the door? And where they go through the grommet from the door to the cabin to see if any wire sheathing has worn off.
In my car the sound either comes directly from the box (passenger footwell) or from the rear shocks (I have Tractive). I have had the sound with two different boxes but no sound with OEM PASM controller. Of course when driving you cannot hear it Does not help you solve it, just another reference point, but hope you find a solution I can apply as well!
Do you have standard audio system or sound package plus?
Have you checked the ground wire from the head unit and if you have sound package plus the ground wire from the factory amp to make sure there is no deterioration of the wire.
If those are clear have you checked the speaker wires in the door? And where they go through the grommet from the door to the cabin to see if any wire sheathing has worn off.
Sound package plus: Troubleshooting starts this morning. These are good suggestions. I will start there. Thanks Tye.
In my car the sound either comes directly from the box (passenger footwell) or from the rear shocks (I have Tractive). I have had the sound with two different boxes but no sound with OEM PASM controller. Of course when driving you cannot hear it Does not help you solve it, just another reference point, but hope you find a solution I can apply as well!
Thank you for the feedback. Tom notes he has only seen a few cars out of a 1000 cars. We both got it?
In my car the sound either comes directly from the box (passenger footwell) or from the rear shocks (I have Tractive). I have had the sound with two different boxes but no sound with OEM PASM controller. Of course when driving you cannot hear it Does not help you solve it, just another reference point, but hope you find a solution I can apply as well!
Adi-d, in your case its not RF noise, its the Tractive shocks' DDA valves powering up at less than 3mph. Since our cars have the upper portion of the rear shocks inside the cabin so the DDA valve powering up can be heard. In my car it is more audible since I removed the sound insulation directly over the shocks(see pic below). I listen for the DDA valves powering up as I do with the Cup electric power steering pump to know these motorsport options on my car is operating fine.
The factory PASM shocks don't have DDA valves so my car didn't have the powering up sound when I had factory PASM shocks and Bilstein B16's. Now my car has a symphony of sounds from side bypass pipes, RS flywheel, stiffer engine & trans mounts, 2-piece rotors, brake pads, electric steering pump, and shocks. These sounds aren't RF noise though.
Update, RF meter shows a huge spike directly in front of the DSC module. Nowhere else in the car. Unless it's something else right in the same area? We are going to pull the module to confirm it goes away. After that? No idea...
Adi-d, in your case its not RF noise, its the Tractive shocks' DDA valves powering up at less than 3mph. Since our cars have the upper portion of the rear shocks inside the cabin so the DDA valve powering up can be heard. In my car it is more audible since I removed the sound insulation directly over the shocks(see pic below). I listen for the DDA valves powering up as I do with the Cup electric power steering pump to know these motorsport options on my car is operating fine.
The factory PASM shocks don't have DDA valves so my car didn't have the powering up sound when I had factory PASM shocks and Bilstein B16's. Now my car has a symphony of sounds from side bypass pipes, RS flywheel, stiffer engine & trans mounts, 2-piece rotors, brake pads, electric steering pump, and shocks. These sounds aren't RF noise though.
Tom that makes sense and confirms why I hear the noise from the rear As you said there are so many other wonderful noises in the car that this has not been an issue, more of an observation.
I think that any method that can slightly altered the Radio Frequency output enough may be able to prevent RF noise. Like water leaking into a basement of a house, can fix the drain or seal the door edges...
Brilliant watch reference. Rolex Milgauss. That Uline shielding bag looks potentially like a solution. Right size to boot. I'm going to try it. Thank You.
In my car the sound either comes directly from the box (passenger footwell) or from the rear shocks (I have Tractive). I have had the sound with two different boxes but no sound with OEM PASM controller. Of course when driving you cannot hear it Does not help you solve it, just another reference point, but hope you find a solution I can apply as well!
How are you liking tractive? Any time improvements? What are the more significant differences between your last setup?
How are you liking tractive? Any time improvements? What are the more significant differences between your last setup?
Man that's a loaded question Before I had tractive my best times at Laguna were 1:42 a lap...after Tractive I am down to 1:34...of course lots of other stuff changed along the way, including my skill. Joking aside, it is rather tricky evaluating any such component in isolation, as it really depends on use case, goals, etc.. If you want to PM me I can share my more detailed experience with you.
Guys, are you talking about the "squeal" from the Tractive dampers or DSC module? It sounds like the 1kHz noise that electronics can sometimes make that the human ear is most sensitive to.
I heard a negligible amount of this noise when I first got Tractive installed, and then when I cut into the rear carpet wall and mounted the roll bar over the shocks, it got LOUD. I think the sound is just now escaping through he carpet openings and then reflecting off windows (hard to hear it with windows down).
Is this just a matter of insulating the openings in the carpet, and putting some sound deadening around the shock towers themselves? Or, is the sound coming from the DSC module?
07-27-2018, 08:25 PM
Quick DSC sport review/Radio Freq issue:
Does not help you solve it, just another reference point, but hope you find a solution I can apply as well!
