My lightning got BRICKED with the software update. WILL NOT START.

[ktom]

Hi Lightning owners,

I was on my way to work this past Tuesday 8/27/24 so I got to my driveway and entered my Truck. I then started it the usual way when initially I saw a "Full Accessory power active" sign on the screen. I pressed "OK" then started the truck, but it won't start. I tried about 5 times and still won't start. I googled the issue with Accessory power active and tried the tricks that people used to start their vehicle: I placed a new battery on my key fab, tried the push start only without brake then do break and start together, tested my 12 v battery (was fine), let the truck cool down for 30 mins then tried to start it again, tried to use my ford app to start it and still won't start. Needless to say, my wife had to drive me to work that day. When I came back from work around 8 pm, I tried to start it again and truck still won't start. After cooling it for another 20 minutes, I went back to try to start it again and now the main screen is showing "Update not successful. Unfortunately, a recent software update was not successful. Your vehicle cannot be driven. Please call customer support......". To make the long story short, I called Ford Roadside Assistance, and they towed the vehicle (mind you, took them over 40 minutes to figure out how to get it to neutral because even with the instruction on the screen, it would not do it) to the nearest ford dealership.
Has this happened to anyone else before? My truck is a 2023 Ford F150 Lightning Lariat with 23,000 miles on it. Today is 8/30/24 and per the dealership yesterday, the truck could be with them for another week as they have been having issues trying to update it with the new module. Per the dealership, the truck still won't start.

Thanks for any input you guys may have. I loved my truck. No other truck compares to this in my opinion, but this issue has been devastating.

Lionel

I had a similar issue, at least with the first screen, but my result was different.

I had gotten the update the previous night. It was a hot hot day, >100. I had parked and gone inside at my sons apartment, I came out to get the same message, pressed OK, nothing. Went through this multiple times, and the truck wouldn't start.

I called the ford pass people and after sweating for 15 minutes, convincing them that I was the owner. The solution was to go outside the truck, lock it with the key fob, wait until the truck had competed the lock sequence, the unlock with the key fob. It started/turned on! Yea!! Too simple, not very obvious, but a sequence I will remember. I always have the key fob with me but rarely use to lock or unlock

I too have had the truck in service for a new module that took a week to install. The first issue was the 12v battery was bad. After they figured that out it went faster.

I am sorry that yours is bricked. I hope that they get it figured out soon. The software either in the truck or in the app, seems to be the weak spot for these vehicles.

 

[ChrisCon]

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Glad you are enjoying your truck. I really appreciate your input in this matter. I though the same way as you, I didn't want to keep waiting for the perfect EV. I just thought the lightning was perfect for our time. I got a call from Ford dealership yesterday afternoon and they said they finally were able to start my vehicle. I still have to leave it there per the dealership so they can fix other issues like the ACTIVE AIR DAM SYSTEM FAULT etc. Hope you have good holiday weekend.

So what you are saying is they fixed your truck in one day and you chose to leave it there over a holiday weekend on your own volition.

You should know that going forward, the active air dam throws codes all the time. It's just very finicky. Ford sent out an update that most trucks have now where the active air dam warning no longer shows up on the instrument cluster at all

 

[jamelski]

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UPDATE



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UPDATE:

I did finally get a call back from the dealership yesterday afternoon (8/30/24) saying that they were able to now turn on the engine after doing an "inhibitor procedure". I will have to leave the truck with them because I have other thing that need work on like the ACTIVE AIR DAM SYSTEM FAULT etc. They said I could get the truck back next week possibly Tuesday.

So wait….. they got your truck driveable? they told you sorry we need to keep it to fix another code “air dam “ over a 3 day where it will not be touched till Tuesday and you left it there. You’re a better person than me. I would have went and got my truck and be like I’ll drop it back off Tuesday morning

 

[ChrisCon]

So wait….. they got your truck driveable? they told you sorry we need to keep it to fix another code “air dam “ over a 3 day where it will not be touched till Tuesday and you left it there. You’re a better person than me. I would have went and got my truck and be like I’ll drop it back off Tuesday morning

Exactly ..

I can see a world where the original poster says " I don't want the truck back until this error message is fixed" , which seems like the only logical reason for this scenario because on the dealer side , they could just unplug the laptop and hand them the keys. The truck wasn't pulled apart and the air dam is far from mission critical as its sole purpose is to improve aerodynamic efficiency by less than 1% .

Also regarding the air dam the fix is likely to pull out a small piece of road debris that made it get stuck in the first place or just update the software where it doesn't show that code anymore .


In 67,000 miles, I'll get that code once a month and the fix is to just reset the code in FDRS . I just don't see that code on the instrument cluster because of the aforementioned update . The dealer should be well aware of all of this if they've ever worked on a single Lightning.

 

[mazzmond]

This situation happened to me a bit over a month ago. Truck bricked after a failed OTA update. It was some update for the doors and the update didn't complete. Can't remember if it was the passenger front or rear module it got stuck on.

Had it towed and they had it up and running the same day after updating the firmware or whatever they do. It didn't have any other faults like yours just bad OTA update that failed.

Ford was great. Someone from reddit forum asked for VIN, I sent it to Ford that day and they called dealership, worked it out. Was an amazing customer service experience to be honest and even though it was very annoyed it bricked I'm very impressed at how quickly they fixed it and took care of all expenses, etc. I also have a dealer who has some good EV techs so they are very familiar with fixing a lot of these issues.

 

[jakes_02]

Hi Lightning owners,

I was on my way to work this past Tuesday 8/27/24 so I got to my driveway and entered my Truck. I then started it the usual way when initially I saw a "Full Accessory power active" sign on the screen. I pressed "OK" then started the truck, but it won't start. I tried about 5 times and still won't start. I googled the issue with Accessory power active and tried the tricks that people used to start their vehicle: I placed a new battery on my key fab, tried the push start only without brake then do break and start together, tested my 12 v battery (was fine), let the truck cool down for 30 mins then tried to start it again, tried to use my ford app to start it and still won't start. Needless to say, my wife had to drive me to work that day. When I came back from work around 8 pm, I tried to start it again and truck still won't start. After cooling it for another 20 minutes, I went back to try to start it again and now the main screen is showing "Update not successful. Unfortunately, a recent software update was not successful. Your vehicle cannot be driven. Please call customer support......". To make the long story short, I called Ford Roadside Assistance, and they towed the vehicle (mind you, took them over 40 minutes to figure out how to get it to neutral because even with the instruction on the screen, it would not do it) to the nearest ford dealership.
Has this happened to anyone else before? My truck is a 2023 Ford F150 Lightning Lariat with 23,000 miles on it. Today is 8/30/24 and per the dealership yesterday, the truck could be with them for another week as they have been having issues trying to update it with the new module. Per the dealership, the truck still won't start.

Thanks for any input you guys may have. I loved my truck. No other truck compares to this in my opinion, but this issue has been devastating.

Lionel

The only time my software updates have failed is when my charge is low. If I am at 70% or higher they have always succeeded. To help with this I only allow auto updates on 3 days of the week which are the days I have it plugged in.
I noticed your screenshot shows 32% battery and so it’s just a thought. Not sure if others would agree or not.

 

[lipnorth]

Hi Lightning owners,

I was on my way to work this past Tuesday 8/27/24 so I got to my driveway and entered my Truck. I then started it the usual way when initially I saw a "Full Accessory power active" sign on the screen. I pressed "OK" then started the truck, but it won't start. I tried about 5 times and still won't start. I googled the issue with Accessory power active and tried the tricks that people used to start their vehicle: I placed a new battery on my key fab, tried the push start only without brake then do break and start together, tested my 12 v battery (was fine), let the truck cool down for 30 mins then tried to start it again, tried to use my ford app to start it and still won't start. Needless to say, my wife had to drive me to work that day. When I came back from work around 8 pm, I tried to start it again and truck still won't start. After cooling it for another 20 minutes, I went back to try to start it again and now the main screen is showing "Update not successful. Unfortunately, a recent software update was not successful. Your vehicle cannot be driven. Please call customer support......". To make the long story short, I called Ford Roadside Assistance, and they towed the vehicle (mind you, took them over 40 minutes to figure out how to get it to neutral because even with the instruction on the screen, it would not do it) to the nearest ford dealership.
Has this happened to anyone else before? My truck is a 2023 Ford F150 Lightning Lariat with 23,000 miles on it. Today is 8/30/24 and per the dealership yesterday, the truck could be with them for another week as they have been having issues trying to update it with the new module. Per the dealership, the truck still won't start.

Thanks for any input you guys may have. I loved my truck. No other truck compares to this in my opinion, but this issue has been devastating.

Lionel

Yikes, that sucks. Sorry!!!! Thats one of my EV fears.

 

[FordEVr DAD]

Yikes, that sucks. Sorry!!!! Thats one of my EV fears.

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Happy to experience the fear and fulfill it on behalf of all EV owners out there . Ford did say the vehicle will start now. It is only staying with the dealership to fix other issues.

 

[FordEVr DAD]

I had a similar issue, at least with the first screen, but my result was different.

I had gotten the update the previous night. It was a hot hot day, >100. I had parked and gone inside at my sons apartment, I came out to get the same message, pressed OK, nothing. Went through this multiple times, and the truck wouldn't start.

I called the ford pass people and after sweating for 15 minutes, convincing them that I was the owner. The solution was to go outside the truck, lock it with the key fob, wait until the truck had competed the lock sequence, the unlock with the key fob. It started/turned on! Yea!! Too simple, not very obvious, but a sequence I will remember. I always have the key fob with me but rarely use to lock or unlock

I too have had the truck in service for a new module that took a week to install. The first issue was the 12v battery was bad. After they figured that out it went faster.

I am sorry that yours is bricked. I hope that they get it figured out soon. The software either in the truck or in the app, seems to be the weak spot for these vehicles.

*********************
Crazy how this can happen. It looks like a handful of us now had this issue. Mine had to be towed on 8/27/24 . By Friday8/30/27, Dealership said that the truck will start now but I had to leave it there for other issues like the Active Air Dam System Fault, the Full Accessory Power Active Issue (wonder if that is related to the 12 volt battery?) and other stuff. I now feel like I need an extended warranty on this truck as I have no confidence on ford after what happened.

 

[FordEVr DAD]

So wait….. they got your truck driveable? they told you sorry we need to keep it to fix another code “air dam “ over a 3 day where it will not be touched till Tuesday and you left it there. You’re a better person than me. I would have went and got my truck and be like I’ll drop it back off Tuesday morning

****************

Lol, they did give me a loaner for free (Ford escape) until I get it fixed so in fairness, I was able to still get around.

 

[FordEVr DAD]

So what you are saying is they fixed your truck in one day and you chose to leave it there over a holiday weekend on your own volition.

You should know that going forward, the active air dam throws codes all the time. It's just very finicky. Ford sent out an update that most trucks have now where the active air dam warning no longer shows up on the instrument cluster at all

*************************

That must be the update that bricked my Truck

 

[Rjpear]

I read this thread last night and ran out to my truck to turn off Auto Update. And today I get a notice of a pending update. Not sure for what.. but I think I'll hold off a bit. Getting paranoid..

 

[Newton]

I got the ”improving updates” update yestarday and today was the first time that I have had a charger failure on my home charger. I hope that isn’t an omen. I unplugged and plugged back in and it all worked.

The “where did my energy go” screen has come back, under a different name. That has been MIA for a few months.

 

[FordEVr DAD]

I read this thread last night and ran out to my truck to turn off Auto Update. And today I get a notice of a pending update. Not sure for what.. but I think I'll hold off a bit. Getting paranoid..

*****************

It was a really bad experience for me. I don't blame you for being paranoid at all. If it makes you feel better, there were not that many of us that got bricked. I wonder if they just reverted me to an older update. I have to check.

 

[FordEVr DAD]

This situation happened to me a bit over a month ago. Truck bricked after a failed OTA update. It was some update for the doors and the update didn't complete. Can't remember if it was the passenger front or rear module it got stuck on.

Had it towed and they had it up and running the same day after updating the firmware or whatever they do. It didn't have any other faults like yours just bad OTA update that failed.

Ford was great. Someone from reddit forum asked for VIN, I sent it to Ford that day and they called dealership, worked it out. Was an amazing customer service experience to be honest and even though it was very annoyed it bricked I'm very impressed at how quickly they fixed it and took care of all expenses, etc. I also have a dealer who has some good EV techs so they are very familiar with fixing a lot of these issues.

**********************

I pray this does not happen again. I will get paranoid when the next update comes. I have the truck back with me now with no issues so far. I just don't know if they reverted it back to the old software. I have to check. I would want an updated software to fix any bugs and improve some features.

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