How do I clear DTCs? And disable updates for good?

[Protean]

I recently had this issue after getting the entire battery array replaced (two cells died):

Customer states battery is depleting at an accelerated rate, percentage is dropping and jumping back up. Please check and advise.​

​

Connected FDRS and found historical DTCs. Checked connected vehicle data and found an OTA (Over the Air update) was performed at 1:09 AM and the DTCs occurred several hours later @ 5:30 AM. All DTCs were for loss of communication. Cleared all DTCs and performed individual module self-test and passed.​

What I understood was that the battery was not actually depleting at an accelerated rate, but an update caused the battery charge display and the actual battery charge to desync, so the battery charge was simply being misreported. I'm having this issue again due to a recent OTA.

I'll have the local service center fix it again, but I'm going on a trip for Christmas and would like to know how I can do this myself.

I also want to disable OTA updates for good as they've never improved my experience and have been the source of 90% of my problems since I bought this truck.

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[bmwhitetx]

Turn off Automatic Updates in Settings. My son did it 2 years ago. No updates.

 

[Maquis]

Turn off Automatic Updates in Settings. My son did it 2 years ago. No updates.

He has a Pro, so Sync 4 with 12” screen. There’s probably an equivalent setting?

 

[Protean]

He has a Pro, so Sync 4 with 12” screen. There’s probably an equivalent setting?

It's pretty much the same, but in my experience, this setting eventually toggles back on. Now, that could be because my battery was dying and causing the settings to reset. It could also be that the service center turns the setting back on for updates. Either way, I've lost faith in its reliability.

 

[Protean]

Answering my own question: I bought and connected an OBDLink MX+ and it looks like you can clear DTCs with the press of a button.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Answering my own question: I bought and connected an OBDLink MX+ and it looks like you can clear DTCs with the press of a button.

In re-reading your posts, you should know that clearing a DTC doesn't fix the underlying cause of the DTC if that's what you were hoping to do.

If there's a problem, the DTC will come right back. It is simply a Diagnostic Trouble Code that can lead you or your mechanic to a solution.

The dealer cleared the DTC's as a matter of course. FYI they state the DTC's were all for loss of communication which is very common especially if a battery is low or disconnected. Just means one module wasn't able to talk to another module at a point in time. These DTC's usually start with "U".

 

[Protean]

The service center told me that clearing the DTCs fixed the issue - and, if that's what they did, it worked - but a recent OTA resurfaced the problem. OBDLink MX+ found the following DTCs today:

U0140-00
Lost Communication with Body Control Module

B152E-08
Rear Camera 2 (verified bed camera showing only blue screen)

C0604-00
Active Air Dam Control Circuit Performance

C0630-00
Active Air Dam Stuck

 

[bmwhitetx]

I give up. Someone else try.

 

[Firn]

The service center told me that clearing the DTCs fixed the issue - and, if that's what they did, it worked - but a recent OTA resurfaced the problem. OBDLink MX+ found the following DTCs today:

U0140-00
Lost Communication with Body Control Module

B152E-08
Rear Camera 2 (verified bed camera showing only blue screen)

C0604-00
Active Air Dam Control Circuit Performance

C0630-00
Active Air Dam Stuck

Just so this is absolutely clear.

"Clearing" a DTC does not make the issue go away.

The issues you are having have nothing to do with updates.

Also, since modules are updated in the background you won't "see" the improvements.

 

[Protean]

Hey guys, I've been in software engineering and quality assurance for 20+ years, so I've seen my share of tech problems. I'm not a fan of clearing trouble codes to fix issues, but here's what happened with my truck:

10 days ago, the battery was draining faster than normal. I watched it drop 5% just while idling, and on a drive that usually uses 5%, it took 10%. The person who picked up the truck also noticed the battery charge display was fluctuating a lot, jumping from the mid-50s to the mid-90s and back.

They found out there was an OTA followed by numerous DTCs which, if accurate, would mean nothing was working. Clearing the DTCs seemed to resolve the issue, according to the Ford tech.

I drove for 10 days without any issues after that, which reaffirmed the tech's solution. But then, after another OTA update yesterday, the problem returned. This might suggest a pattern. I can't debug the truck's systems like I would with software, so I'm going by what the Ford tech told me and what I've observed myself.

If you think clearing DTCs isn't the best solution or that all updates should work flawlessly, I agree. But there's something happening here among this complex web of interrelated systems. Unless you have any guesses, I think we're all in the same metaphorical boat (my boat is sinking).

I was just trying to figure out how to repeat what the Ford tech did to get another 10 incident-free days, especially if this happens again on the day I'm to drive to Arizona. I have my answer. I haven't cleared any DTCs and I'm still going to have the Ford tech look again harder. Thank you.

 

[potato]

DTCs are a symptom. Not a cause. Perhaps the tech did some module reset or update while in the process of clearing the DTC but clearing the code itself cannot fix anything.

You could try disconnecting your 12V battery for a few minutes. Cold start of all modules sometimes helps with random software issues

 

[bmwhitetx]

So given your software engineering background, I'll try again.

• There are numerous modules in your truck that run firmware with a host of sensors attached to them. These modules can get updated via dealer using FDRS or OTA.
• Whether due to an update, lost communications between modules, a sticky air dam (some of your DTC's) or a million other things; if the the firmware senses something wrong it will set a trouble code and store the current state of the system. A log file or debug file if you will.
• Deleting the debug/log file (i.e., DTC) does not fix the underlying issue. It will keep the system from telling you over and over that it experienced an error. That's all. So in that regard you may think the system is fixed. But it didn't fix the sticky air dam, lost communication, etc.

Yes, I have had dealer tell me that they cleared the DTC and the error didn't come back. Maybe you misunderstood that statement. It's a true statement.

The statement means the error occurred, the system logged the error as a DTC, and the error is currently not happening again since the system has not logged it again.

 

[Firn]

So, I was going to say that there is no way the DTCs cause the issue. However that may not be true.

DTCs can cause other components to stop, fault, or otherwise pause operation. An example is the dynamic bending headlights. When a DTC was present on my system the dynamic bending was disabled. Clearing the DTC, which was caused by me, then corrected operation of the system.

Point being, DTCs are not JUST messages that something happened. Other components can also read the DTCs and adjust operation based upon one being present.
It is entirely feasible that a communications error dtc caused the system to revert to a fallback method of calculating battery percentage to display to the user.

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