2021 Job 1 Trucks that aren't getting updates

[Pete6114]

I got 2 that i know of since July 2021. Had it at the Dealer for the recall Wiper motor and arms, and opened Ford Pass on the phone while i was waiting for it. Seen that the new (to me) 3.5.2 update just installed on the truck.

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[rugedraw]

Recently purchased a 2021 F150 Platinum VIN: 1FTFW1ED2MFB86637. Turns out my truck is on Sync 20301 and frozen. Tried all the unfreezing tricks, nothing worked. I've done some research thanks to this fine forum and preparing to tackle this head on with a Mongoose/FDRS setup. Question is, how do I know if my APIM is not broken? Please bear with me since this is all very new to me but I want to be sure I'm not dead in the water before I even get started.

Kudos to you for taking this head on. I recommend posting this question on the dedicated FDRS thread:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/ecu-module-programming-guide-using-fdrs.8249/page-677

It is VERY rare that these modules actually. Dealers are known to throw a new module at a truck only because it is easier to do that than to actually fix it. Once you get your Mongoose, post any issues you are having on that thread. It is followed my several knowledgeable and helpful guys that usually respond in almost real time.

 

[Liv2Ryd]

@rugedraw It's knowing that people like you are willing to lend some support that gives me faith in going down this rabbit hole. I've been a long time Ford customer and I want this new F150 to be as sweet as I was hoping it can be but I'm not off to a great start with it with my APIM stuck and faulty axle bolt issue. I've got plans to solve these issues but I'm left wondering what else is lurking in my future. Thank god for this forum.

 

[rugedraw]

@rugedraw It's knowing that people like you are willing to lend some support that gives me faith in going down this rabbit hole. I've been a long time Ford customer and I want this new F150 to be as sweet as I was hoping it can be but I'm not off to a great start with it with my APIM stuck and faulty axle bolt issue. I've got plans to solve these issues but I'm left wondering what else is lurking in my future. Thank god for this forum.

Read the first post of the thread I linked and don't let it intimidate you. As far behind as you are, make sure you have two full days to perform all the updates your truck needs. Get the Mongoose, a 10amp battery charger, and a 32GM minimum USB flash drive. Once you have everything, this community will help you get your truck right.

 

[JEB]

Kudos to you for taking this head on. I recommend posting this question on the dedicated FDRS thread:

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/ecu-module-programming-guide-using-fdrs.8249/page-677

It is VERY rare that these modules actually. Dealers are known to throw a new module at a truck only because it is easier to do that than to actually fix it. Once you get your Mongoose, post any issues you are having on that thread. It is followed my several knowledgeable and helpful guys that usually respond in almost real time.

@rugedraw . Can you run @Liv2Ryd 's VIN through PTS and see if the service history indicates whether the APIM has been worked on previously? It sounds like he's not the first owner. If the previous owner tried to update it and it failed, that would help diagnose whether the APIM's bad or just stuck. If it's never been touched, then he has a clean slate.

 

[rugedraw]

@rugedraw . Can you run @Liv2Ryd 's VIN through PTS and see if the service history indicates whether the APIM has been worked on previously? It sounds like he's not the first owner. If the previous owner tried to update it and it failed, that would help diagnose whether the APIM's bad or just stuck. If it's never been touched, then he has a clean slate.

Great idea!

Back in December, a dealer updated just about every module in the truck EXCEPT the APIM, GWM, TCU and IPC. It seems like all the module updates needed for BC to be activated were done. The APIM seems to be a virgin in terms of FDRS. Looks like @Liv2Ryd has a clean slate to work with.

 

[JEB]

Great idea!

Back in December, a dealer updated just about every module in the truck EXCEPT the APIM, GWM, TCU and IPC. It seems like all the module updates needed for BC to be activated were done. The APIM seems to be a virgin in terms of FDRS. Looks like @Liv2Ryd has a clean slate to work with.

Great. Agreed. Thanks.

Dealer updated everything except the modules requiring use of a USB drive. Possibly might have avoided these modules because of the BC hold/problems with the IPC update.

 

[Wolverine7]

Anyone else with a 2021 just get another letter about going to the dealer to perform 21G01 hands-free updates? I thought it was interesting that the dealer "is authorized to provide a rental vehicle... while your vehicle is at the dealership for this update."

 

[rugedraw]

Anyone else with a 2021 just get another letter about going to the dealer to perform 21G01 hands-free updates? I thought it was interesting that the dealer "is authorized to provide a rental vehicle... while your vehicle is at the dealership for this update."

Yes, Ford re-opened the 21G01 campaign for BC programming last month. Because there is an open campaign for it, the dealer can bill Ford for a loaner/rental vehicle. Take advantage of this while you can. Program will expire 12/31/2023 so there is still time, but to whom it may concern, make an appt with your dealer asap.

 

[Liv2Ryd]

Dealer updated everything except the modules requiring use of a USB drive. Possibly might have avoided these modules because of the BC hold/problems with the IPC update.

Man this is great to get this type of support. Nearly certain any of my local dealerships would not know how to help me like this. What is the deal with "Possibly might have avoided these modules because of the BC hold/problems with the IPC update"? Is this an ongoing issue or something that has now been resolved?

 

[rugedraw]

Man this is great to get this type of support. Nearly certain any of my local dealerships would not know how to help me like this. What is the deal with "Possibly might have avoided these modules because of the BC hold/problems with the IPC update"? Is this an ongoing issue or something that has now been resolved?

It supposedly has been solved. However, this is an issue that was only affecting dealers that only had FDRS. Thanks to a few guys on this forum, we have been able to circumnavigate the IPC update issues by others means which the dealerships are not able to do due to their limitations. The IPC issue for us was only a speed bump, where as for the dealer, it was a brock wall.

Will all due respect to @JEB, I think they avoided the USB updates because those are the ones that take the longest. The IPC update has a tendency to fail via the USB process. When that happens, it has to be written to the module directly using FDRS and that update alone takes 6 hours to do with a Mongoose. The dealers have a better tool that has a faster write speed, but even like that, it takes hours. Due to Ford's servers always having slow speed, the process of downloading the files from FDRS to the USB drive can and will also take a very long time. I think they skipped those updates due to laziness more than anything else.

 

[JEB]

It supposedly has been solved. However, this is an issue that was only affecting dealers that only had FDRS. Thanks to a few guys on this forum, we have been able to circumnavigate the IPC update issues by others means which the dealerships are not able to do due to their limitations. The IPC issue for us was only a speed bump, where as for the dealer, it was a brock wall.

Will all due respect to @JEB, I think they avoided the USB updates because those are the ones that take the longest. The IPC update has a tendency to fail via the USB process. When that happens, it has to be written to the module directly using FDRS and that update alone takes 6 hours to do with a Mongoose. The dealers have a better tool that has a faster write speed, but even like that, it takes hours. Due to Ford's servers always having slow speed, the process of downloading the files from FDRS to the USB drive can and will also take a very long time. I think they skipped those updates due to laziness more than anything else.

Well, the dealer did do the IPMA, so they had at least some level of diligence. And they did spend a long time on the truck.

 

[JEB]

Man this is great to get this type of support. Nearly certain any of my local dealerships would not know how to help me like this. What is the deal with "Possibly might have avoided these modules because of the BC hold/problems with the IPC update"? Is this an ongoing issue or something that has now been resolved?

Back in December, when the dealer did the updates, there was a hold on further BlueCruise activations because there was a problem with the IPC update. Dealers would be proceeding to update other modules that depended on the IPC being up to date and it was causing real problems. A new IPC update was released within the last couple of weeks that installs fine. So there shouldn’t be any issues with updating the remaining modules.

 

[rugedraw]

Back in December, when the dealer did the updates, there was a hold on further BlueCruise activations because there was a problem with the IPC update. Dealers would be proceeding to update other modules that depended on the IPC being up to date and it was causing real problems. A new IPC update was released within the last couple of weeks that installs fine. So there shouldn’t be any issues with updating the remaining modules.

Either that, or the IPC update wasn't showing up at all even after performing a network scan and then the same thing would end up happening where modules would be programmed out of order. Mine was one of those that the IPC update was not showing in FDRS, but thankfully popped up with a network scan, so it didn't have to be side-loaded.

Either way, with the re-release of 21G01, we're hoping these issues have been corrected. At least one member on here who's truck skipped a few updates via the OTA process had success with the dealer updating his truck with the updates it skipped and getting BC working. Hopefully, that is the case going forward.

 

[bigwyo]

Anyone else with a 2021 just get another letter about going to the dealer to perform 21G01 hands-free updates? I thought it was interesting that the dealer "is authorized to provide a rental vehicle... while your vehicle is at the dealership for this update."

I did and I now have Bluecruise. The service advisor told me that everything went smoothly, so maybe Ford got all the issues resolved!

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