No Vehicle Software Updates Received

[Adventureboy]

This has been covered.

Leaving your truck plugged in to the EVSE does not "trickle charge" your 12V battery.

Your 12V battery starts discharging the moment you stop driving the truck and by 0100 in the morning you can be assured that it will be below the 80% state-of-charge threshold needed for the update logic to process an OTA.

By 0700 in the morning it's likely more like 45-50% SOC.

Once the 12V battery drops to 40% SOC an internal timer starts and after 48Hrs the system will then charge the 12V battery back up to 80% (using either the EVSE or charge from the HV battery through the DCDC converter).

If at anytime the 12V battery drops to 30% SOC the system will immediately initiate a charge of the 12V battery back up to 80% SOC (using either the EVSE or charge from the HV battery through the DCDC converter).

Driving it for a half-hour recharges your 12V battery back up above 80% so the update logic will allow the OTA to process.

It's analogous to starting an ICE vehicle and letting the alternator recharge the 12V battery back up.

Why anybody would think that having updates process at Ford's default time of 0100 when the 12V battery is virtually never going to be at the required state of charge after all that's been written about this is a mystery.

Set your schedule to check about 15 minutes into your normal daily commute either to or from work and you'll have far more success with OTAs.

Thanks for the detail Mike G. It is very helpful to understand how this works. I am hoping Ford does keep an eye on the forums.

If the truck is discharging the 12V Advanced Glass Mat battery to 45-50% SOC overnight on a daily basis, the longevity of this battery will be severely diminished. AGM batteries are not designed for this kind of daily repeated depletion (especially down to 30% or 40% SOC), hence why so many of us are having problems with this. I see many warranty replacements of the LVB in Ford's future if this is truly the case.

It is a simple fix that Ford can apply as a software update and eliminate the dozens of low-voltage 12v battery messages we get along with the missed updates. If the truck is plugged in and charging the HVB, take the LVB up to 100% SOC - That's where our 12v AGMs will live a long and happy life. It makes no sense that the 12v AGM battery would be depleting while the HVB is being charged given the truck has a HVB to LVB charger onboard and has the smarts to charge the LVB when it gets low. Installing aftermarket battery maintainers that need to be plugged in separately on a $100,000 truck to get through a day is simply a miss by Ford given most of us charge the HVB daily. All that power - no way to use it.

I love my Lightning and there is no other truck I'd rather be driving right now. I hope T3 fixes this miss.

Sponsored

 

[Mike G]

Thanks for the detail Mike G. It is very helpful to understand how this works. I am hoping Ford does keep an eye on the forums.

If the truck is discharging the 12V Advanced Glass Mat battery to 45-50% SOC overnight on a daily basis, the longevity of this battery will be severely diminished. AGM batteries are not designed for this kind of daily repeated depletion (especially down to 30% or 40% SOC), hence why so many of us are having problems with this. I see many warranty replacements of the LVB in Ford's future if this is truly the case.

It is a simple fix that Ford can apply as a software update and eliminate the dozens of low-voltage 12v battery messages we get along with the missed updates. If the truck is plugged in and charging the HVB, take the LVB up to 100% SOC - That's where our 12v AGMs will live a long and happy life. It makes no sense that the 12v AGM battery would be depleting while the HVB is being charged given the truck has a HVB to LVB charger onboard and has the smarts to charge the LVB when it gets low. Installing aftermarket battery maintainers that need to be plugged in separately on a $100,000 truck to get through a day is simply a miss by Ford given most of us charge the HVB daily. All that power - no way to use it.

I love my Lightning and there is no other truck I'd rather be driving right now. I hope T3 fixes this miss.

There is a FORSCAN hack that I am aware of but have not applied that will change the programmed charge of the LVB to higher than the 80% (I think) it is now. I know some folks on the Mach-E forum have tried it but I've no idea what the outcome was. Obviously there's always the possibility that a future software update will reset that value back to the asbuilt value stored in the cloud anyway.

 

[jdmackes]

Did you ever get any updates OP? I got my truck around the same time as you and I've never had any updates available either (even though I'm supposed to from what I've been told)

 

[rugedraw]

Did you ever get any updates OP? I got my truck around the same time as you and I've never had any updates available either (even though I'm supposed to from what I've been told)

You haven't had any updates sent to you at all or you haven't had any updates successfully install?

 

[vvgogh]

Did you ever get any updates OP? I got my truck around the same time as you and I've never had any updates available either (even though I'm supposed to from what I've been told)

I called 1-800-392-Ford (3673). The Ford over-the-air update team said yes, you should be getting updates. There's nothing they can fix on their side remotely. I have to bring it into the dealer for diagnosis and remedy. When I asked if it was covered under warranty, he only gave me a "maybe." When I asked about vehicle loaners if it takes days to diagnose and repair, he said dealer have them for their customers.

The first, closest dealer, I called cited appointments are 30 days out; they will keep the vehicle for 5 days and a loaner will not be provided. Ouch! The next closest dealer let me do an online appointment 15 days out.

 

[rugedraw]

I called 1-800-392-Ford (3673). The Ford over-the-air update team said yes, you should be getting updates. There's nothing they can fix on their side remotely. I have to bring it into the dealer for diagnosis and remedy. When I asked if it was covered under warranty, he only gave me a "maybe." When I asked about vehicle loaners if it takes days to diagnose and repair, he said dealer have them for their customers.

The first, closest dealer, I called cited appointments are 30 days out; they will keep the vehicle for 5 days and a loaner will not be provided. Ouch! The next closest dealer let me do an online appointment 15 days out.

I don't think your trip to the dealer will yield any results. Ford does not pay dealers to perform module updates unless it can be tied to a specific FSA, SSM or TSB they can bill Ford for.

For future reference: You are better off asking for help here than the fluffers that answer the phones on Ford's OTA hotline. As a matter of fact, you are better off asking advice to the bag bog at your local Publix than those guys. Post or PM me your VIN and I'll take a look to see if I see anything out of whack.

@jdmackes Same for you.

 

[chillaban]

I don't think your trip to the dealer will yield any results. Ford does not pay dealers to perform module updates unless it can be tied to a specific FSA, SSM or TSB they can bill Ford for.

For future reference: You are better off asking for help here than the fluffers that answer the phones on Ford's OTA hotline. As a matter of fact, you are better off asking advice to the bag bog at your local Publix than those guys. Post or PM me your VIN and I'll take a look to see if I see anything out of whack.

@jdmackes Same for you.

Yeah this is pretty standard operating procedure. I will say, some of my Ford dealerships in my area don't even want to apply a TSB. I went to 3 dealerships to ask for the BlueCruise 1.0 "movement within lane" (aka drunk steering) PSCM update and they all basically ignored the TSB and said the behavior is normal.

I suspect when they think it's one of the long/finicky updates (like IPMA), they really don't want to do it.

I'd go one further than rugedraw and say you basically need to get a FDRS setup yourself, find a local friend with FDRS, or wait for a more serious TSB/recall that happens to involve programming the specific modules you're interested in.

 

[rugedraw]

@chillaban The drunken steering? You talking about the bouncing back and forth inside the lane while using BC? My truck did the same thing. IPMA calibration procedure fixed that on my truck. You can do that with FORscan. For the cost of a $35 adapter and free software, it's worth a try.

 

[chillaban]

@chillaban The drunken steering? You talking about the bouncing back and forth inside the lane while using BC? My truck did the same thing. IPMA calibration procedure fixed that on my truck. You can do that with FORscan. For the cost of a $35 adapter and free software, it's worth a try.

For me the IPMA calibration didn't make a difference. But the PSCM TSB made a night and day difference, https://www.tsbsearch.com/Ford/23-2073

The behavior I was seeing was basically the truck was 1 second too late to start correcting for small drifts, which then builds into a massive overcorrection which results in ping-ponging and never settling down especially with wider lanes and 70+ mph speeds.

I do know some folks with persistent offsets (truck driving biased left/right) have IPMA recalibration yield better results. I tried IPMA calibration first as I really didn't want to spend the money for the FDRS cables unless needed.

 

[rugedraw]

For me the IPMA calibration didn't make a difference. But the PSCM TSB made a night and day difference, https://www.tsbsearch.com/Ford/23-2073

The behavior I was seeing was basically the truck was 1 second too late to start correcting for small drifts, which then builds into a massive overcorrection which results in ping-ponging and never settling down especially with wider lanes and 70+ mph speeds.

I do know some folks with persistent offsets (truck driving biased left/right) have IPMA recalibration yield better results. I tried IPMA calibration first as I really didn't want to spend the money for the FDRS cables unless needed.

Interesting. Looking at the link you posted, it seems like this TSB is Lightning specific. I have a lot to learn about these trucks. I thought they'd be a lot more similar to the ICE trucks with these type of issues.

 

[16cards]

So let me get this the straight. he Lightning is supposed to be able to receive OTA updates.

But there is no simple, definitive way to know if my vehicle is updated with a screen that shows version number. (Or version numbers because there appear to be 3 or 4 systems with different versions.) Sync, power ups, etc.

No way to know of it is not updated It will just say there are no updates.

I have to pretend it is normal to do some incantation of steps around a 12V battery and perfect timing in order to check it even ap for updates?

Possibly purchase a Windows computer (I haven’t owned or used Windows since 2006) in order to program modules.

learn and memorize over a dozen new acronyms.

never call Ford for help because they don’t know anything.

never rely on the local dealerships because they don’t know anything.

But when I do need them, play dealership roulette and hope they can find a way to bill back to Ford, otherwise they’ll make phantom fixes and not actually resolve issues.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

 

[Pod]

If you go to Software Updates under features it will tell you last date of update. Mine is June 16th…..sadly. Gonna disconnect battery today.

 

[16cards]

If you go to Software Updates under features it will tell you last date of update.

No date for me.

 

[rugedraw]

So let me get this the straight. he Lightning is supposed to be able to receive OTA updates.

But there is no simple, definitive way to know if my vehicle is updated with a screen that shows version number. (Or version numbers because there appear to be 3 or 4 systems with different versions.) Sync, power ups, etc.

No way to know of it is not updated It will just say there are no updates.

I have to pretend it is normal to do some incantation of steps around a 12V battery and perfect timing in order to check it even ap for updates?

Possibly purchase a Windows computer (I haven’t owned or used Windows since 2006) in order to program modules.

learn and memorize over a dozen new acronyms.

never call Ford for help because they don’t know anything.

never rely on the local dealerships because they don’t know anything.

But when I do need them, play dealership roulette and hope they can find a way to bill back to Ford, otherwise they’ll make phantom fixes and not actually resolve issues.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Sounds about right. What I can tell you working for a dealer group that sells/services 9 (soon to be ten brands since we just got awarded a Lamborghini franchise), all manufactures have issues with OTA's.....some more than others. My truck is a job 1 F150......it was an absolute sh*t show. There are still 2021 F150's out there stuck on broken software from 2020 that have never and will never get any updates without intervention from a dealer. Ford has gotten A LOT better with these things and they will continue to do so.

In the meantime, enjoy your truck as it is. If you need to know where your truck stands in terms of pending module updates or OTA history/OTA's in queue, there are a few guys here including myself that have PTS/FDRS access that will gladly check your truck out for you.

 

[vvgogh]

I brought my vehicle in for:

A) 10,000 mile: tire rotation and inspection items​

B) Diagnose and remedy vehicle software not updating​

C) Address Campaign #23B57​

D) Address Campaign # 22G06​

E) Address Recall #23S30/23V418​

I emailed asking for a time estimate. No response.

I dropped it off for my 9:20a appointment. They were supposed to call me at 11a to let me know when it's be done. No call. I called at 12p, no answer. 12:30p, no answer. 2p, my third call to the dealer: "your vehicle is done"

I come back to pick it up, they said the warranty tech just left without looking at the vehicle. Only A) had been done. They said they'd "order parts" and call me to schedule the other items.

Wow, that's really bad service!

Sponsored