[Blobby]

Originally Posted by pzoom

when I used to work for GM years ago, I couldn't talk about it esp since I was designing safety systems.

I don't have any background on the LED issue, but I know we would send current through the "load" for measuring impedances and continuity. A bulb takes time to light as the filament heats up while an LED is near instantaneous. So a test pulse would be not be noticeable on a bulb, but could be a flicker, flash, or dimly lit on an LED.

Interesting. I wouldn’t have thought there would be a testing current. I would have thought it would only notice a bulb out once it turned on.

I had thoughts of messing with the wiring harness to convert the reverse light to an amber turn signal and have the stock tail/turn light be a tail light only. I think I can safely assume that the computer would have freaked out about that. Especially since there’s a not-light-related wire running to the tail light. Probably a diagnostic wire of sorts.

[pzoom]

Originally Posted by Blobby

Interesting. I wouldn’t have thought there would be a testing current. I would have thought it would only notice a bulb out once it turned on.

When you start your car, the SRS controller runs a small current through all the squibs (low enough to measure, but obviously not high enough to ignite).

I imagine for lighting and other loads, the system is always checking as I would like to know immediately if I have a bad bulb or short that may cause damage.

Light switches are hardly ever wired directly to the lights anymore - they send a low level signal (sometimes a CAN message) to the controller that then turn on the lights.

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by mRahmani

Because we can’t. I worked for an OEM a few years ago and one of things I worked on was an issue that would cause an engine rattle at startup. One customer was very unhappy about it and made a bunch of YouTube videos about the issue. I used those videos to convince management that we needed to solve the issue, and the fix went in for 2020, but communicating it to that customer could very likely have gotten me fired.

We’re listening, we just can’t always answer.

But that occasionally happens. The deal is as a benefactor you have to be sworn to secrecy and understand the risk created by the leak.

And at times a thread here can help make a production decision. That is a "leak" the other way.

[Blobby]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

But that occasionally happens. The deal is as a benefactor you have to be sworn to secrecy and understand the risk created by the leak.

And at times a thread here can help make a production decision. That is a "leak" the other way.

I’d hate to be they guy who drives pre-release cars in that camo stuff. I imagine “spy” photos of those are more of a advertisement thing tho. Gives the car some mystique. I’m still waiting for Dodge to do something with the “Angel” name they trademarked.

[TXCSSU]

Don't we have enough "experts" in here?

[BrandanK]

Originally Posted by mRahmani

Because we can’t. I worked for an OEM a few years ago and one of things I worked on was an issue that would cause an engine rattle at startup. One customer was very unhappy about it and made a bunch of YouTube videos about the issue. I used those videos to convince management that we needed to solve the issue, and the fix went in for 2020, but communicating it to that customer could very likely have gotten me fired.

We’re listening, we just can’t always answer.

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

This. I lurked on Camaro5, Camaro6, Mustang5, Mustang6 and several Corvette forums for years, but never registered until I retired from GM. Wasn’t worth the hassle of trying to maintain anonymity and worrying that someone would recognize me by something I said. Especially if it was something I wasn’t s’posed to say. And yes, I did occasionally take things that I picked up on in forums to Engineering to let them know what “word on the street” was.

As these two have mentioned, the engineering group is always lurking. Forums and Facebook groups are a valuable tool and make recon much easier now than it was back in the day before widespread internet access.