ZSC100
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Success, Finally! I've been working on this hard for well over 2 weeks and have had dozens of people ask me how it's going at various times. I know a lot of people want this so I'll make this DIY as comprehensive and logical as possible because not everyone's vehicle is the same as mine. I've learned a lot and I'm an electrical engineer, but I'm still far from an expert on automotive electrical engineering and still absolutely dumbfounded as to why Ford did some of the things that they did; I'll try to explain what I do know and assume throughout this DIY, so if someone encounters differences they can try to understand them.ZSC100 said:
Special thanks to Jesse @ Infotainment, he helped me a lot with firmware (yes this requires flashing firmware, sorry). I think he is going to offer this as an upgrade from Infotainment in the near future depending on the interest and demand for those people out there who aren't comfortable with FORScan.
My truck is a 2022 XLT EG-311A and I got it back in Sept 2022. I still love it as much as the day I got it and I now have over 25kmi and haven't had one single issue (that I didn't cause
.
So, let's begin by Ford's description:
Passive Entry:
The passive entry feature unlocks or locks the doors or releases the tailgate latch without having to use a mechanical key blade or the RKE transmitter feature. When the BCM detects a lock or unlock sensor is touched on an exterior door handle, or the tailgate release button is pressed, it activates the low frequency antenna in the corresponding exterior door handle or inside the tailgate. The low frequency antenna sends out a signal to activate the passive key. The passive key then responds by sending a high frequency signal back to the RTM. The RTM interprets the high frequency signal from the passive key and sends the information to the BCM. If the BCM detects a valid programmed passive key, the BCM either unlocks the driver door, unlocks or locks all doors, or releases the tailgate latch.
Phew, let that sink in. Yea, the door handles are actually RF transmitters and capacitive touch sensors, WTF Ford. Here is a diagram of the system:
Why they choose this cluster fu*k of a design is beyond me. The truck has approach detection for the keys and it doesn't respond to unprogrammed keys, so it already knows if you're within 1M of the truck, why does it need to do anything but simply unlock the doors when it senses a hand in the door (if the key is within range). Maybe there is some security vulnerability I'm not aware of here with how the approach detection validates a key?
Anyway, let's get to it. A looooooong time ago I made friends with the owner of a XLT EG-312A online and verified that he had passive entry, so I used his VIN to order parts. His VIN is: 1FTVW1EL2NWG06496
Do yourself a huge favor and find a local dealer with a good attitude and a good understanding of the Ford parts system that dealers have. I had to go to 2 dealers before I found one really willing to help. What I mean by help is someone who will flip the monitor around and let you look at every detail of every part. Someone who will be patient with you and let you look up parts of VINs other than yours, and not only be ok with knowing you're trying to add features, but actually be excited to help you. Mine even exchanged a door harness after I ordered the wrong one and apologized for not knowing the part #'s better himself. It's confusing to say the least. Just like the above doesn't totally make sense, why would Ford trouble themselves with over 30 different door harnesses (granted this is for all F150s even ICEs). Yea, you read that right in my search for the correct door harness I sat with my parts guy and tried to decipher the "application" field of the parts list in his system of over 30 door harnesses, this is how I ordered the wrong one first which he graciously returned. It wasn't until I was an hour into replacing it on my truck when I discovered some plugs were missing, although it had the passive entry handle plug I was after, it was missing other plugs,, WTF Ford. In fairness this was before I knew how to verify parts fit vehicles of certain VIN #'s. So, if you want a headache just ask your parts guy to show you every harness made for 2021 F150s and on by navigating to:
Light Truck(L) > 2022 > F150 2021-(FD) > 4 - Electrical > 1801 - Wiring System & Related Parts > 13B - Wiring - Body Closures, Crew Cab
Or just save yourself the trouble and order the harness for a 2022 XLT EG-312A which is: NL3Z 14631 H
If you're upgrading a Pro and don't want the extra plugs like for the # keypad and mirrors then you can try to decipher the above list of door harnesses, but IMO it's not worth it to save 20 bucks.
Now for the handle, you must order a handle from an XLT EG-312A because again Ford did this bizarre thing where if your truck has an RFA module the handle and wiring are COMPLETELY different. These handles have 5 pins and wire directly to both the BCM and RFA, makes no sense at all why Ford did this, but diagrams clearly show it.
Lariat and Platinum Door Handle Wiring Diagram:
Pro and XLT w/EG-312A:
Oh and while were at it, the textured black ABS door handle doesn't come with ANY trucks with passive entry, so if you want matching handles you have to do it yourself. In my opinion the black textured handles are the best anyway, so I made it work, thankfully ABS machines very nicely.
The door handle I bought was the one a body shop would buy if they were going to paint match it to a vehicle: ML3Z 1522405 DCPTM
To get your door panel off:
To get your inside door handle cable off there is a little tab you just push kind of like a wire connector, it's super easy, I wish he would've shown this in the video but he doesn't.
To get your door handle off:
You've got to take the cover off like he shows in the video, this is a real bitch I'm not going to lie, watch the above video very carefully and practice first on your new/spare handle, b/c you are very likely to break one of those tabs. Maybe this video will help: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kniLgKMMHC3YQs6VA
Now to the machining:
Just take your time or find a friend who's good with a dremel
It's not perfect, but I'm super happy with the way it turned out. I was only interested in doing the driver's door and to be honest I can't understand why anyone would go through the expense or trouble of changing all 4 handles when the black ABS ones look so much better anyway IMO. So, you're not done yet unfortunately, there is a stupid plastic piece inside the door that has to be removed to allow room for the electrical connector:
Don't you dare try to buy this part and change this out internally. Just take your deburring tool and grind the hell out of the little plastic tab in the center while you give Ford engineers a good cussing
Changing the door harness if you've made it this far is honestly a breeze. The only difficult part is getting the door jamb connector popped out. I used some special mechanic pics and my new harness to learn how it worked; if you peel back the edge of the rubber seal and pick at it just right you can pop all the tabs loose and it comes right out.
The back tab is a real PITA, but if you have a few good mechanic picks and 3 hands you can get it. You only have to do it once, Don't pop that thing back in place until you are completely done with the upgrade and it's working. It can stay popped out a quarter inch, while you're waiting on parts or programming.
You can see the right tab here with an orange paint mark on it, The left(back)tab is symmetrically on the other side, and can only be pushed with a good right angle mechanics pick.
Then, to release the connectors use an appropriately sized flat head screwdriver and push/twist with finesse:
I won't bore you with all the electrical tests I did to make sure the wiring was in place, but in my truck the wiring from the door jamb to the BCM was already in place and ready to go, thank you JESUS. The colors weirdly don't match Ford's wiring diagram which is VERY, VERY concerning, and they use 3 of the EXACT same wire colors, idiots, it's a wonder they got it right, but they did. Here are some pics showing this in detail:
So, I just wanted to put those diagrams here so you can visually compare and check that your wiring is in place and correct if you want.
Now on to the FORScan work. Best Jesse and I can tell: ALL Lightnings use the same BCM hardware part. But unfortunately the code to drive that low frequency antenna from the BCM doesn't exist in the firmware of a truck without passive entry. So you have to flash the BCM with an EG-312A firmware. This is critical because Lariat and Platinum trucks don't generate the low frequency signals from the BCM. To my knowledge only the EG-312A package trucks do it this way, so I'm working with FORScan to add this firmware to their firmware server and by the time anyone tries this they should have it available in the MFU section of FORScan. If you're not comfortable with FORScan and don't have an extended license, you'll need to research it a bit, this DIY is getting long already and I don't want to teach anyone how to use FORScan here. But you can start by reading this:
https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=23971
The XML straight from the AB file of the 2022 XLT EG-312A is:
<NODEID> 726
<F10A>NL3T-14C636-LAG</F10A>
<F10E>NL3T-14G570-GAC</F10E>
<F110>DS-NU5T-14B476-AAE</F110>
<F111>NU5T-14F141-NAA</F111>
<F113>NU5T-14B476-NAJ</F113>
<F16B>NU5T-14F391-BAA</F16B>
<F16C>NL3T-14F390-AAE</F16C>
<F16D>NL3T-14F389-CAA</F16D>
<F16E>NL3T-14G163-AAA</F16E>
<F17D>NU5T-14G162-NAB</F17D>
<F17F>1BR1PE5Y</F17F>
<F188>NU5T-14C184-AAJ</F188> (Strategy)
<F18C>22200194529</F18C>
<F190>1FTVW1EL2NWG06496</F190>
</NODEID>
This defines the firmware and all files you need to use the MFU function of FORScan to update the module. Like I said above by the time you read this FORScan will have these files in their firmware server for you to use once you purchase the extended license. I'm not going to lie, the first time you flash firmware to a module it's scary AF, you'll want to hold your tongue at a 45deg angle and keep your left eye shut; but don't let this step discourage you, I flashed multiple wrong firmware to my BCM and was able to revert to my factory firmware each time I failed.
Aaaaaand, you're almost done. Since this upgrade is only the drivers door you can't just take an AB from the EG-312A truck and go with it b/c it has a tailgate module and other tailgate stuff. So, through a long and pain full process I was able to put together this spreadsheet of changes you need to make:
FORScan BCM Config Changes
Note: you will get approach lighting (welcome lighting) with this config which is really awesome. Nothing about the passive entry mod hardware is necessary for that, but since the config was right there I decided to enable it and it all works wonderfully.
Also Note: if you think you're going to add PAAK after this, think again. As you see in the Lariat and Platinum diagrams the handle is completely different and Pros and XLTs don't have an RFA module
. I've not investigated what it would take to add the RFA or if you did add an RFA if passive entry wired like this would still work. I'm guessing it would work for key fobs still, but not for phones, but that would suck if you weren't carrying a keyfob. If someone wants to do this mod the Lariat way and attempt to add an RFA I'll be glad to help and advise, but I'm just not really that interested in PAAK, I actually love carrying the fob and being able to open the frunk from about 40ft away b/c the stupid thing is so slow I don't like waiting on it. Also, opening the frunk near innocent bystanders is my number one parlor trick That's it, Enjoy: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zbT97W7QNWKANvvy9
~Zach
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