Here is an Update, but not the final update I anticipated.

The Suncore unit arrived earlier this week, but today was the first time I had a block of time to do the install. All went well with the installation, so I was optimistic when it came time to reconnect the battery and start the car.

Unfortunately, "CATS System Fault" hit the message center. Wasted quite a bit of time hooking up IDS/SDD looking for DTCs and searching the forum trying to find the source of the fault. I was chagrined that IDS/SDD reported no "related" DTCs. Eventually, I had the bright idea to grab the old the shock and lay it across the engine bay and simply plug it in the CATS connector as a test. No fault with the old one plugged in.

Therefore, the fault lies in the remanufactured unit itself. I'll contact Suncore on Monday, and will let everyone know how well they handle the issue. Not at all happy that I'll have to do the R&R all over again.

Until I get it resolved, is there anyway to have CATS not default to "hard"?

It's like driving a buckboard right now.

 

My C2302 has been resolved. I caught the lower part of the front bumper AGAIN and decided that I must have a front strut airbag leak. Nothing was leaking out of the top on either side, but the lower boot on the left front had a lot of oily deposit on it and the right front unit looked fine. So I got an Arnott replacement ($500) and installed it on the LF. I found some slices in the lower boot when replacing it, so I was sure I had found the problem. WRONG. There was no change. So I bought another Arnott replacement for the RF, installed it, and everything is OK now. I had already resigned myself to replacing both of them before having the scratched up front bumper refinished. All is well now.

 

Final Update:

As reported earlier, the Suncore unit sent to me produced an ECATS error because the internal valve wasn't functioning.

Since Suncore is located in Florida, and I'm on the West Coast, it takes a little more than a week for a shipment to arrive. I was concerned that if they were to require the defective unit get shipped backed before a replacement was sent, it would take several weeks to get the car working properly. I called Suncore and they handled it very well and without any hassle. They immediately shipped a replacement air strut and told me to return the original core and the defective unit "at my convenience". Prepaid UPS shipping labels were included.

To save someone else the hassle of twice doing the R&R of an air strut, I would recommend that when you get a replacement spring, but before you go about installing it, unplug the ECATS from your old unit, and situate the new strut so you can just plug in the ECATS connector to it and turn the ignition on to make sure it doesn't produce an error.

Car rides great again and I'm happy to get it sorted. If I experience any issues later on, I'll update the thread.