Battery level impact on OTA success

[Pat]

Sharing my experience with OTAs just in case it is helpful to others...

I received some OTA updates in 2021, though I don't recall exactly which ones. Earlier this year, I got stuck somewhere - definitely got past the 1.7 issues and then got stuck somewhere in the 2s. No updates at all in 2022 until I read on this forum that battery level was a factor in OTA success. I live in a relatively cold climate and most of my trips are short and I wondered whether this may have been an issue. I checked my battery level and it was 11.7V so I invested $35 in a Norco charger to see what would happen if I got the voltage back above 12v. The day after I connected the charger, I got an unlabelled update (maybe 2.1?) then two days later I got 2.3. Connected the charger today and got 2.4.1 about 30 minutes later.

Not sure exactly how to interpret this. It's possible that I'm getting updates because Ford decided to push them again and the charger was just a coincidence, or it's possible that battery level really was preventing me from getting the OTA updates. I don't think there is any way to know for sure.

I have been enrolled in early access since June, but was not selected for early access to BlueCruise (probably because I was having OTA failures). Hoping that now I have caught up to 2.4.1 I might get access, but not holding my breath.

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[Brad34]

I'm about 90% sure the low voltage was preventing you from getting OTAs. I'm in the same boat as you: cold weather, short trips. I also noticed my auto stop/start quit working. After I charged the battery it started kicking in again.

 

[daemonic3]

Great idea! I'm going to connect my trickle charger tonight so that my 1am scheduled update check sees the trick charge voltage. See if that gets me past 2.4.3.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Planning to connect a charger to my Lightning to see if bumping up the LVB static charge will improve the reliability of processing OTA's

 

[TaxmanHog]

So this morning after returning from breakfast run, I connected a light duty 12v 10 amp charger to the Lightning, at 9:15am, powered it up and proceeded to boost the AGM truck battery above its 12.4 static level to around 13.8v

I scheduled a 12:05 pm automatic install of the OTA, which failed again with report at 12:12pm.

Disconnected the charger and prepared for our afternoon trip, arrived then I requested a manual install of the OTA, which also failed with an alert in the app at 1:22pm

It would be nice if the failure report said specifically what the problem is.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

So this morning after returning from breakfast run, I connected a light duty 12v 10 amp charger to the Lightning, at 9:15am, powered it up and proceeded to boost the AGM truck battery above its 12.4 static level to around 13.8v

I scheduled a 12:05 pm automatic install of the OTA, which failed again with report at 12:12pm.

Disconnected the charger and prepared for our afternoon trip, arrived then I requested a manual install of the OTA, which also failed with an alert in the app at 1:22pm

It would be nice if the failure report said specifically what the problem is.

Is it failing at the same point (%) every time?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Is it failing at the same point (%) every time?

How would I know the percentage?
OTA installer is a totally opaque process, unless there is a progress screen that I've not discovered

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

How would I know the percentage?
OTA installer is a totally opaque process, unless there is a progress screen that I've not discovered

I could've sworn I saw someone else post data of their failures with a percentage. Sorry, I haven't had updates yet. FDRS shows I'm up to date, fresh from the factory.

I'm assuming you've already reset SYNC.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm assuming you've already reset SYNC.

Not done any resetting of Sync in quite a while, but worth a stab in the dark to see if it helps.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Sync reset, then went for a 60 minute drive through the woods to see if I could get the LVB topped, returned to the garage, tried to do an immediate update, still failed.

Scheduling a 12:05 AM automatic update to see what happens.

If this does not work, I'll just wait for the Ford Gods the look favorably upon my Lightning and that fait warrants it shall be done.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

How would I know the percentage?
OTA installer is a totally opaque process, unless there is a progress screen that I've not discovered

This was the post I was referencing. He later added that the % data was from Ford in response to his reports.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...tance-to-empty-calculation.13449/#post-282554

 

[TaxmanHog]

This was the post I was referencing. He later added that the % data was from Ford in response to his reports.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...tance-to-empty-calculation.13449/#post-282554

Thanks for the reminder, I believe he is using Forscan FDRS to trigger updates and can see more details with that tool than the casual owner [me & most of us]can see.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Thanks for the reminder, I believe he is using Forscan to trigger updates and can see more details with that tool than the casual owner [me & most of us]can see.

Forscan or FDRS?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Forscan or FDRS?

Probably FDRS, I'm not an expert on these tools.
Forscan is an advanced code and data reader, while FDRS is used for programming.
So I guess the later is what he's using.

 

[Maxx]

It is a bit disturbing to see so many low voltage batteries. Does anyone know when the pack is charging the 12V battery? If 12V is running stuff when truck is at rest, is there anything that prevent it from getting critical by charging it? in other words, is there any settings that let you charge it from the main pack while at rest?

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