BCM Updates, APIM Updates and Walk Away Lock Feature

[ChrisCon]

@ATXORIGINAL - the move is to get a refund of the $1500 and purchase a Mongoose Cable for $500 and a one year FDRS license for $800.. then do it all yourself. I have walk away and it's wonderful. I realize that it's a sad world we live in where I have to be pseudo ford tech to keep my truck updated , but it's so much easier on my blood pressure and life expectancy just DYIing my 80 grand truck. Plus at the end of the day I can "walk away" from it. Bonus points that if you get pulled over for speeding you can update the Ford Explorer Police car and they may let you off with a warning. Just a thought

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[ATXORIGINAL]

@ATXORIGINAL - the move is to get a refund of the $1500 and purchase a Mongoose Cable for $500 and a one year FDRS license for $800.. then do it all yourself. I have walk away and it's wonderful. I realize that it's a sad world we live in where I have to be pseudo ford tech to keep my truck updated , but it's so much easier on my blood pressure and life expectancy just DYIing my 80 grand truck. Plus at the end of the day I can "walk away" from it. Bonus points that if you get pulled over for speeding you can update the Ford Explorer Police car and they may let you off with a warning. Just a thought

Haven’t I read, that if you do not have a dealer passcode, there are some updates you cannot DIY even if you have a FDRS license and the cable?

 

[ChrisCon]

Haven’t I read, that if you do not have a dealer passcode, there are some updates you cannot DIY even if you have a FDRS license and the cable?

- so there is one update that 2023s were/are locked out of, but we have been advised that it is an error on Ford's end that they even thought was fixed at one point . I have a 2022 so this did not affect me .
- In response to your original post , I currently have the SSM 52679 situation where I can't update my PCM because I ran that update day 1 before it was suspended . This has caused absolutely no negative effect on my truck, just means those modules are frozen at current software level until August .
- Can these updates brick your truck ? Can the dealer brick your truck ? Yes and yes but in my experience it's extremely unlikely as long as you have a good power supply / charger going to your 12v battery as you run the updates .
- actually using FDRS is as easy as reading and clicking yes and waiting. It's incredible that dealers can charge these huge prices to update vehicles when I could teach my great aunt Susan to use this software in 2 to 3 minutes and she passed away last year.
- edited to add : -- I think the dealer might have just been trying to scare you away with the information they shared with you . Also , do some updates take hours ? They do, but this is the work flow .
First minute- turn on computer , load software, sign in , turn on truck, hook up cable , hook up battery supply.
Second Minute - Read words on screen and click yes .
Next 180 minutes. Walk away from it and wait until it's done . In extremely involved scenarios you may have to turn your truck off and on a couple times when the computer tells you to . The dealer gets to bill out all those hours , so it seems like easy money and I'm surprised they are so resistant to do it .

 

[tls]

I have a 2022; I have up to date FDRS; I still get the prompt for what is basically a login that proves one is a bonded locksmith (I am not) and blocks updates to the BCM. I have had an available BCM update in FDRS for a couple of months that I can't apply because of it. This isn't surprising to me - by tampering with the BCM firmware one could totally override the truck's anti-theft features. I think Ford did it on purpose.

 

[Jim Lewis]

Some discussion of the BCM lockdown in this thread: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...software-updates-using-fdrs.11029/post-404380 and on the f150gen14 forum, too.

 

[astrand1]

That's good to know! I thought this was just something in FDRS that you would have to do individually and wasn't an official Ford update.

Just to be clear FDRS is Ford official. You might be thinking of forscan.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I think the 107 MPH limit has more to do with the rating of the tires than ford just wanting to babysit your top speed. 107mph seems reasonable to me in a 8000 lb truck

With a suspension that’s set up to bounce around and brakes that are a tad undersized.

On the bright side at 107 mph and the efficiency of a brick, we should be out of energy in a mile or two.

 

[Mike G]

There is no prerequisite to updating the BCM if it's in your available software list in FDRS. None.

The reason no APIM update is appearing in his list of available software is that the gateway update fix (SSM 52679) that's supposed to be released sometime in August of '24 is a prerequisite not only for correcting the symptoms in that SSM but also for the new Sync 1122 that has the new UI (icons, Public Charging app, etc.) and that update also enables the menu toggles to turn off WAL if desired.

So of the three SSMs they cited as scary reasons not to do these updates, the first one involves updating the powertrain modules, that his VIN does not have as available updates anyway, and have associated GVMS blocks to keep techs from updating them if they were there. The second SSM 52574 concerning APIM symptoms that he likely doesn't have anyway has nothing to do with the fact that he can't get his APIM updated because none of us has the new gateway update that is a prerequisite for it...and he has no APIM update in his available list. Finally, there's the third red herring SSM 52039 which concerns letting the customers know that after a HV battery cell pack replacement that it might take up to 22 days for the truck to be able to charge all the way back up to 100% while the BECM learns to cell balance.

What does any of that have to do with updating the BCM so that WAL is enabled?

Even with just the BCM updated to enable WAL, you can then go into FORSCAN if you really, really, really, need to be able to enable the menu toggles in your existing version of Sync, and simply make a short change using the 'easy menu' to have those toggles show up. I've done it, but it was totally unnecessary really because I love WAL and I let it do it's thing everytime I get out of the truck. I should have just waited for the new Sync 1122 to show up and the toggles would be there.

So glad I do my own FDRS updates. So very very glad.

 

[TaxmanHog]

And ...... for the rest of us, be patient when that related update packages are ready for release the MoCo will release them, at that point it's just random roulette as to when we see the install succeed.

 

[Sneakypetie78]

It is part of a BCM update. I have confirmation from several people and the dealer that is is available.

I'd like to see one picture of this, because I've not heard of it prior. I'm thinking this is disinformation.

 

[ATXORIGINAL]

I'd like to see one picture of this, because I've not heard of it prior. I'm thinking this is disinformation.

There are people in this thread that have stated they have it. Can you read?

 

[Mike G]

I'd like to see one picture of this, because I've not heard of it prior. I'm thinking this is disinformation.

You'd like to see a picture of what? The toggles in Sync?

 

[Marcelo Zanetti]

Man, I thought I was the only one annoyed by the 106/107 cut off limit. There must be a way to bypass that... hummmmmm!

 

[Mike G]

Here's the link from when I did these updates back in May. Showing the menu toggles now in my Sync. The BCM had been updated about the same time (obviously).

 

[Wendy]

- so there is one update that 2023s were/are locked out of, but we have been advised that it is an error on Ford's end that they even thought was fixed at one point . I have a 2022 so this did not affect me .
- In response to your original post , I currently have the SSM 52679 situation where I can't update my PCM because I ran that update day 1 before it was suspended . This has caused absolutely no negative effect on my truck, just means those modules are frozen at current software level until August .
- Can these updates brick your truck ? Can the dealer brick your truck ? Yes and yes but in my experience it's extremely unlikely as long as you have a good power supply / charger going to your 12v battery as you run the updates .
- actually using FDRS is as easy as reading and clicking yes and waiting. It's incredible that dealers can charge these huge prices to update vehicles when I could teach my great aunt Susan to use this software in 2 to 3 minutes and she passed away last year.
- edited to add : -- I think the dealer might have just been trying to scare you away with the information they shared with you . Also , do some updates take hours ? They do, but this is the work flow .
First minute- turn on computer , load software, sign in , turn on truck, hook up cable , hook up battery supply.
Second Minute - Read words on screen and click yes .
Next 180 minutes. Walk away from it and wait until it's done . In extremely involved scenarios you may have to turn your truck off and on a couple times when the computer tells you to . The dealer gets to bill out all those hours , so it seems like easy money and I'm surprised they are so resistant to do it .

Hi guys, I’m only a month into this truck and want to understand. I thought updates just happened automatically (do I need to give the truck access to my Internet?). Where do you see this list of available updates? How do you monitor things like 12v battery ? Is there a list of all these acronyms?

I would love WAL, I start walking away and then have to turn back and press the buttons.

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