How do OTAs affect Forscan changes?

[scruvs]

I was thinking about the best way to organize my modded modules in case I need to load an original module or revert back to a previous modded module, and it got me thinking about OTA updates.

If I backed up my original modules today, and I received an OTA tomorrow, could the data in my original modules that I backed up be stale?

Said another way, if I restore a backup of an original module that was created before an OTA, could I be losing software changes made in the OTA?

If so, how would I get those OTA updates back after restoring the module?

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[Henry Ford]

OTAs have never screwed up any of my mods.

Don't think too hard about it. Every time you make a change back up the module settings. They are time stamped so you can go back to whatever place you want. I wouldn't suggest going back multiple changes ago but it shouldn't hurt anything. Even if it did screw something up just go back to the last one that worked. This is more of an issue for user errors than OTAs.

Edit: after rereading your post I think you may misunderstand what ForScan does vs. what an OTA does. An OTA changes the underlying software (firmware?), Forscan changes the settings. You cannot lose anything using Forscan you can only change settings. You could certainly lose functionality if you screwed up a setting but as long as you back up your changes you can always go back to what worked.

 

[Firn]

OTAs have never screwed up any of my mods.

Don't think too hard about it. Every time you make a change back up the module settings. They are time stamped so you can go back to whatever place you want. I wouldn't suggest going back multiple changes ago but it shouldn't hurt anything. Even if it did screw something up just go back to the last one that worked. This is more of an issue for user errors than OTAs.

Edit: after rereading your post I think you may misunderstand what ForScan does vs. what an OTA does. An OTA changes the underlying software (firmware?), Forscan changes the settings. You cannot lose anything using Forscan you can only change settings. You could certainly lose functionality if you screwed up a setting but as long as you back up your changes you can always go back to what worked.

Disagree. FORSCAN changes a configuration. OTAs could change the size of that configuration, location of bits in the configuration, and the bit values themselves. If an OTA updated that config and you revert to a version prior to the OTA, it is entire possible it change bits in that config to something that they were not originally.

An example is the APIM. An OTA can provide a new option/switch/etc. If that switch is displayed is controlled by an entry in the configuration. That entry did not exist before the OTA, as a result the saved config would not be applicable.

 

[Mmiketa]

My understanding is that once you have done an OTA, reloading an old backup does in-fact have a chance of messing stuff up. They make changes to configs during OTAs and if you revert to an old one you may be changing values you don't want to be.

 

[Henry Ford]

Disagree. FORSCAN changes a configuration. OTAs could change the size of that configuration, location of bits in the configuration, and the bit values themselves. If an OTA updated that config and you revert to a version prior to the OTA, it is entire possible it change bits in that config to something that they were not originally.

An example is the APIM. An OTA can provide a new option/switch/etc. If that switch is displayed is controlled by an entry in the configuration. That entry did not exist before the OTA, as a result the saved config would not be applicable.

Agreed. The point I was trying to make is don't make a change without backing it up. If you want to revert to some prior configuration just make sure you save the current configuration first. If the old configuration screws something up reload the newer configuration and figure out another way to do whatever it is you are trying to do.

 

[MountainAlive]

So what is the safe way to handle this? After you get an OTA, verify if your mods are still working and if one or more of them isn't, troubleshoot each one individually and don't do a blanket restore?

 

[scruvs]

Thanks for the input. This definitely clears up some things for me.

After I read the Forscan tutorial, I was originally thinking that if I needed to revert back, I would restore from an original backup or a previous modified module backup. I think this may have made sense years ago before OTAs.

I had this idea in my head that if I needed to take the truck to the dealership, I would load the original backups for each modified module and then take it in. But, that might not work if I received an OTA for one of those modules since I last saved the original backup.

Henry brings up a good point about creating a backup on the module immediately before making any changes so the most current backup is available if something goes wrong. I wasn't approaching it this way. I was instead backing up after I made the change, if it was successful, so that I had a backup for next time if I needed. Again, if I received an OTA since the last time I programmed that module and saved the backup, it might not work.

Backups are quick, and take little space. I will backup often, going forward.

I also decided that it might be helpful if I know my original values in case it is ever easier to revert back by reprogramming to original values instead of restoring a backup.

So, I loaded by original backups to look at the data and recorded it, but I did not write the changes. Instead, I just exited out of the module after looking at the original data. Then, I started a personal spreadsheet for my mods like the one below to track my original values alongside the modified values:

Feature	Module	Address	Original Value	Modified Value	Date
Remove "Full view not available" message on reverse camera screen while in motion	APIM	7D0-02-02	xxx4 xxxx xx--	xxx5 xxxx xx--	2/3/25
Disable Seat Belt chime on vehicle startup	IPC	720-01-02	xxxx x0--	xxxx x2--	2/3/25

Interestingly, it was the reactivation of Brake Coach that got me thinking about OTAs. After I programmed the IPC, Brake Coach was on, and I wondered if I got an OTA that night. Nope, it was just me programming the IPC.

 

[Henry Ford]

So what is the safe way to handle this? After you get an OTA, verify if your mods are still working and if one or more of them isn't, troubleshoot each one individually and don't do a blanket restore?

To date, OTAs have not screwed up Forscan mods. This makes sense because these are Ford configurations not something some internet yahoo made up.

An OTA shouldn't change a configuration. For instance, my truck has the cabin acceleration noise from the factory. Others have used Forscan to activate acceleration noise in trims that didn't get it from the factory. If Ford sent out an OTA that wiped out the noise in trucks that didn't get if from the factory they'd wipe out mine too. That's not a good outcome. OTAs have to be agnostic to configuration settings lest they remove factory options and puss off customers.

That's what should happen and what has happened so far. It's not a guarantee something won't get screwed up in the future. If something gets screwed up you wouldn't really have a choice but to troubleshoot the issue.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. I know enough to do mods others have done first and am confident any issue that arises can be crowd sourced on forums. There's some level of risk to messing with non-OEM configurations. I judge that risk to be low. Your m/kWh may vary.

 

[Henry Ford]

I had this idea in my head that if I needed to take the truck to the dealership, I would load the original backups for each modified module and then take it in. But, that might not work if I received an OTA for one of those modules since I last saved the original backup.

There's no reason to remove mods for a trip to the dealership. You aren't breaking any laws or voiding any warrantee unless you cause the issue that the dealership is working on. Even then I put the odds that a dealership detects any Forscan mods close to zero.

 

[scruvs]

If Ford sent out an OTA that wiped out the noise in trucks that didn't get if from the factory they'd wipe out mine too. That's not a good outcome. OTAs have to be agnostic to configuration settings lest they remove factory options and puss off customers.

That's a really good point. If we're only enabling features that are enabled in other trims or other countries, it's hard to see how Ford could change that with an OTA without negatively impacting a lot of unmodified vehicles.

 

[RickLightning]

So a couple of things to correct.

First, it has been confirmed that a dealership can, if they look, see that you have done a FORScan change. They cannot do anything about it, but if you broke a feature, and then brought it in for repair of that under warranty, they might see the change and deny it. Otherwise, it's a non-issue. After you make a change, it updates the ASBUILT files for your vehicle.

It's also been confirmed that an OTA change, or a module update, can in fact UNDO a FORScan change. For example, on the Mach-E, there was a change you could do to non-GTs to enable the power meter that shows on the left side (Lightnings all have a power readout standard). An OTA update came out and the meter disappeared for many. They went back in and turned it back on.

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