UPDATES NOT COMPLETING DUE TO BATTERY LEVEL

[Marc]

My 2023 Lariat is not completing any over the air updates due to the 12 volt battery state of charge. The car runs fine otherwise. Do I need to replace the battery or is there a way to increase the state of charge? I mostly do short trips of under 20 minutes at most.

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[TaxmanHog]

My 2023 Lariat is not completing any over the air updates due to the 12 volt battery state of charge. The car runs fine otherwise. Do I need to replace the battery or is there a way to increase the state of charge? I mostly do short trips of under 20 minutes at most.

Leave your truck "running" for a couple/few hours with the HVAC fan set on ~5+ This will cause the DC/DC inverter to top up the 12v battery.

Once it's topped up, retry the update.

 

[RocketGhost]

Put a battery charger on it to top it off. Note: do not attach it to the negative post on the battery, put it on the sensor terminal attached to the battery or another ground location.

 

[G-Zeus]

Same issue. Sometimes I can override and try to redo the installation. Sometimes I cannot force it to update now and it only tries in the evening per the schedule.

I have tried to force it after a long drive, no success. I have had very little luck with OTA updates, most of them I’ve had to do myself with FDRS, I usually pay the $60 every 5-6 months. I have a partial Bluecruise 1.4 but none of the new features. So yeah maybe I need to do the FDRS way, but I also need a new battery charger because my original one kicked the bucket.

Ford software and update process is unfortunately really bad. A sour note on an otherwise great vehicle (minus the mushy suspension)

 

[chl]

My 2023 Lariat is not completing any over the air updates due to the 12 volt battery state of charge. The car runs fine otherwise. Do I need to replace the battery or is there a way to increase the state of charge? I mostly do short trips of under 20 minutes at most.

Put it on the charger outside overnight and that usually gets the 12v battery up to the 85% required for some updates, but if that doesn't solve the problem, take the battery to be checked because you might need a warranty replacement like so many others on the forum have had...

 

[chl]

Put a battery charger on it to top it off. Note: do not attach it to the negative post on the battery, put it on the sensor terminal attached to the battery or another ground location.

Yes use the jump posts or the blue circles in the picture below.

 

[Adventureboy]

Another option is to schedule your update for an hour or two after your nightly HVB charge cycle starts. This gives your truck time to top up the 12v while charging the HVB and gives it a full charge for the update. Note your HVB charge cycle must be about an hour long to top up the 12v. If needed, and your EVSE allows, you can extend the charge duration by reducing the power on the EVSE so it takes longer to get to the target SOC and give the 12v the charge time it needs. eg. Schedule your charge to start at 11pm and your update to start at 12pm.
Note there is a small risk that your charge cycle won't restart after the updates without an unplug/replug cycle. While rare, it has been known to happen and leave folks with a lower SOC than they'd wished for the next day.

 

[Marc]

I tried leaving my truck running for 7 hours with the fan cranked to 7 with no luck. I then had my truck charging on my home Tesla wall connector for two hours before the update with no luck. I threw in the towel and scheduled a battery replacement at the dealer for Monday morning.

 

[G-Zeus]

I tried leaving my truck running for 7 hours with the fan cranked to 7 with no luck. I then had my truck charging on my home Tesla wall connector for two hours before the update with no luck. I threw in the towel and scheduled a battery replacement at the dealer for Monday morning.

Will they replace the battery for free under any warranty? Or will you just eat the cost?

If they cover it, any tips to get other dealers to do that?

 

[Marc]

I’m hoping they eat it since my truck is two years old with 28k miles. I’m thinking they are also going to load the failed updates since they said they may need it overnight.

 

[Adventureboy]

Hopefully, a new battery will do it. Make sure it has time to fully charge after the replacement. You may also have to reset the BMS after it is fully charged so it can recalibrate to the new battery.
My 2023 Lariat is on its 2nd battery, and I think it is getting weak now too. I have a 30-amp charger that's gotten me through a few of the bigger updates after numerous failures.

 

[GrokTime]

How do you reset the BMS?

 

[Adventureboy]

How do you reset the BMS?

LVB BMS reset:

• Make sure 12v battery is fully charged (drive an hour, or after an hour actively charging the HVB)
• Start Accessory mode
• flash high beams 5 times
• step on brake pedal 3 times
• red battery icon on dash should flash 3 times

If the dealer changes the 12v battery, they should do this, but they don't always. If they plan on keeping it overnight, there is a good chance they will - Just ask when you pick it up.

 

[NCevGuyF150]

My 2023 Lariat is not completing any over the air updates due to the 12 volt battery state of charge. The car runs fine otherwise. Do I need to replace the battery or is there a way to increase the state of charge? I mostly do short trips of under 20 minutes at most.

I believe I’m having the same problem, and most of my trips are approximately 18 miles in about 40 minutes

 

[Adventureboy]

@Ford Motor Company, there is a fairly obvious solution here. Leverage the DC-DC converter while applying updates instead of relying on the tiny 12v battery. In the case where the DC-DC converter itself needs an update, simply run it first for a while if the 12V battery SOC needs it before applying the update - It can be turned on an hour in advance of the scheduled update.
I get that retrofitting an update procedure is more complicated than the idea, but going forward, please consider a procedure change to eliminate frustration from update failures and related 12v issues.
Recent changes in MME leave the DC-DC converter live for a period of time to reduce the possibility of lockouts due to a dead 12V battery. Apply a similar procedure for updates and solve update failures across the Ford lineup.

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