ECU module programming guide using FDRS

[UNCGrad]

OK. I am going to take the plunge and try this as nothing the dealership or the regional Ford engineer has tried has done the trick and I am sick of it. I am thinking about the buyback at this point if this does not work. I am just a bit freaked out at trying it because I have zero technical skills. I have read about the first 10 pages of the thread (and will continue to plow through all 582 pages) and printed out the 19-page instruction document. I will need to order the battery tender. I know there is someone on the forum lending out the mongoose for shipping costs. I need to see if I can get my hands on a laptop with the requirements. I can't install anything on my work laptop.

I am one of those owners whose truck has had zero updates. I have lost lane centering during their attempts to get the truck to accept updates. I was told the Gateway module was replaced. This saga has been dragging on since August.

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[PadU235]

Last Sunday I asked for my OTA status and FordPhanatic kindly told me I had 5 modules to update including an APIM. I had received a sync message stating that I had 3.5.3 but it vanished before I could even read it. Fordphanatic said that the problem was one file failed to download and I would have to wait until it was resent so I decided to give it a week and buy a FDRS license this Sunday. Today (Saturday) decided to backup all my modules with forscan and download my asbuilt data from the ford site so the gurus here could maybe bail me out if it went south. Within an hour of finishing my backups, I received the 3.5.3 message in the fordpass app. I checked the sync version I had been upgraded to 22293/610 and would get Alexa in a few days. Drove about 3 miles to a fast food place, returned home and rebooted the Apim. Alex showed up. My garage door opener is Alex enabled to my first test was “Alexa Open garage door”. Worked…very cool. I use Spotify thru Android Auto and Alex will play any song you request using spotify. Saved 50 bucks and realized how great these OTA’s are when they work. Ford decided to cut me some slack today but you guys are the absolute best. The group on this forum make Ford Sync possible for non-techs like me.

 

[Spiffy]

I was thinking.. if I understand correctly that if we do changes using forscan and a couple days later we update using fdrs at the end of update the orignal (as built) is reloaded resulting in any forscan changes to be reset.
I think I remember reading something from Jessie. He said after a while the as built data on our trucks are eventually merged with ford's data?
My thoughts are if we do any changes we made using forscan we need to first backup module b4 we mess with it then make second back up with the changes.
When the updates come or we FDRS update the module might be reset to factory. We simply restore the module using the changed forscan backup?
I have a second question but I need to know if I'm understanding correctly. Do updates or the use of fdrs reload the as built Data at the end?

 

[dolsen]

I was thinking.. if I understand correctly that if we do changes using forscan and a couple days later we update using fdrs at the end of update the orignal (as built) is reloaded resulting in any forscan changes to be reset.
I think I remember reading something from Jessie. He said after a while the as built data on our trucks are eventually merged with ford's data?
My thoughts are if we do any changes we made using forscan we need to first backup module b4 we mess with it then make second back up with the changes.
When the updates come or we FDRS update the module might be reset to factory. We simply restore the module using the changed forscan backup?
I have a second question but I need to know if I'm understanding correctly. Do updates or the use of fdrs reload the as built Data at the end?

I believe the as-built are only rewritten when updating the module, the act of connecting the vehicle to FDRS doesn’t necessarily cause changes to as-builts.

One thing you may have missed is that sometimes when updating modules, new lines of as-builts are also written into the modules, which could possible displace the line to which changes are made. It is not a good practice to simply reload backed-up as-builts. You’re better off manually typing them all back in

 

[jflottawa]

I believe the as-built are only rewritten when updating the module, the act of connecting the vehicle to FDRS doesn’t necessarily cause changes to as-builts.

One thing you may have missed is that sometimes when updating modules, new lines of as-builts are also written into the modules, which could possible displace the line to which changes are made. It is not a good practice to simply reload backed-up as-builts. You’re better off manually typing them all back in

Wholeheartedly agree and not only new lines but perhaps even other hex values on the same lines could have been updated during an FDRS module update. You could/would inadvertently be overwriting other values on the same module lines by blindly reloading your modded lines.

 

[Spiffy]

I was thinking that exactly but didn't know how to discribe.
Taking that into consideration using fdrs. What happens when a Ota comes in? Our mods get overwritten?
Again quoting something jessi may have said about our changes using forscan. I believe he mentioned that the manual changes we make within time make it to the overall asbuilt factory base file. So the only thing we can do when there is a factory update is go back and review.
There is alot I'm planing to do.
Remove fake sound
Active park assist
Anti glare
Hill decent
Bluecruze 1.2
Digital Temps and stuff
Plus a few more.
My idea is to force as many fdrs updates I can THEN start my mods. If in fact the forscan mods make there way to the motherships base I will be ok. I just don't know how long it takes to merge.
Is there a way to postpone future updates?

 

[Tank]

Good morning Gentlemen,
I'm new, and need some help.
A friend is letting me borrow his Mongoose cable/wire etc..first time to use it.
I have 2021 F150 XLT Powerboost(Hybrid)and I'm still on the 2.7.4 update.
1. Can someone run my VIN and tell me when the last update for my truck was?
1FTFW1CD5MFA89158
2. Do I need to run multi module repair or just go straight to single updates.

I'm not even sure Im asking you guys the right questions...Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

 

[Jesse-Infotainment]

I was thinking that exactly but didn't know how to discribe.
Taking that into consideration using fdrs. What happens when a Ota comes in? Our mods get overwritten?
Again quoting something jessi may have said about our changes using forscan. I believe he mentioned that the manual changes we make within time make it to the overall asbuilt factory base file. So the only thing we can do when there is a factory update is go back and review.
There is alot I'm planing to do.
Remove fake sound
Active park assist
Anti glare
Hill decent
Bluecruze 1.2
Digital Temps and stuff
Plus a few more.
My idea is to force as many fdrs updates I can THEN start my mods. If in fact the forscan mods make there way to the motherships base I will be ok. I just don't know how long it takes to merge.
Is there a way to postpone future updates?

I swear we had a 30 min conversation on the phone about this.

 

[JScaro]

Good morning Gentlemen,
I'm new, and need some help.
A friend is letting me borrow his Mongoose cable/wire etc..first time to use it.
I have 2021 F150 XLT Powerboost(Hybrid)and I'm still on the 2.7.4 update.
1. Can someone run my VIN and tell me when the last update for my truck was?
1FTFW1CD5MFA89158
2. Do I need to run multi module repair or just go straight to single updates.

I'm not even sure Im asking you guys the right questions...Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

@Tank
I would start on PAGE 1 - lots of good info here.
Also, I would strongly suggest to follow @Bob_Mac document, outlining the latest updates and shared knowledge related to this process. You can access his guide here.

 

[JScaro]

I was thinking that exactly but didn't know how to discribe.
Taking that into consideration using fdrs. What happens when a Ota comes in? Our mods get overwritten?
Again quoting something jessi may have said about our changes using forscan. I believe he mentioned that the manual changes we make within time make it to the overall asbuilt factory base file. So the only thing we can do when there is a factory update is go back and review.
There is alot I'm planing to do.
Remove fake sound
Active park assist
Anti glare
Hill decent
Bluecruze 1.2
Digital Temps and stuff
Plus a few more.
My idea is to force as many fdrs updates I can THEN start my mods. If in fact the forscan mods make there way to the motherships base I will be ok. I just don't know how long it takes to merge.
Is there a way to postpone future updates?

@Spiffy
From my experience and I'm OCD and used to worry about this stuff to but learning to just roll with the punches.

Do your FDRS updates - I think it does screw with OTA's but I personal know I'm updated to my liking and don't lose sleep over the OTA's.
Do your ForScan changes - yes they may get changed by Ford with an OTA but the likelihood of that happing will be small. I made a ForScan sheet of my current changes, notes, and any others I might think of doing. I also put the As-Built on some of them.
I'll attach it to give you an idea.

When do thing get uploaded to the Mothership - good question. I've seen as little as a week and the last changes I made are going on 2 months - do I care, not really as long as the truck is still working like it should.

Postponing future updates - good luck with that. If Ford wants to send it your getting it unless you unplug you TCU (think that's the right one)

Have fun and if you screw something up - great people on here to help out.

 

[Snakebitten]

Joined. ?

 

[Spiffy]

I swear we had a 30 min conversation on the phone about this.

It's been a barage of new things to learn in such a short amount of time. I picked up about what happens during a Ota with 2023 software loaded on modules just fine. It's the chicken and egg thing with ota's and forscan that had me a bit confused. Plan is to do the updates first.
Then finish the mods you are helping with. Then do any forscan work later. I need to slow down and finish one thing first.

 

[windowsmedia10]

Can someone check what is pending for my truck? I'm borrowing a Mongoose off a forum member this weekend and want to see what I'll have to do.

1FTEW1EP4MKD51911

 

[StangTech]

I've been stuck on 3.5.2 since September on my 2021, ran FDRS in early January and did all my updates and everything has been great. Out of the blue today I see the 3.5.4...no complaints i was just surprised!

 

[Zemonsty]

Just wanted to give a huge shoutout to @iceman77 for this guide, @Bob_Mac for his Word guide, @Jesse-Infotainment for answering my questions. I finished all my updates yesterday after 12 hours of updates. I followed the guides very closely and was able to get all the updates done without any issues! My Sync was on version 2.6.0 when I started, now is all up to day with Alexa and CarPlay full screen. My local dealer did not want to help with these and claimed that it was impossible to update it. I get the point that they take a while to do, but Ford should really learn to fix their updates process.

Thank you very much!

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