Truck sent but won't download OTA PowerUp 3.5.3

[rugedraw]

Okay, I'm curious at this point:

1FTFW1E57NKD85037

Currently says I'm on 3.5.2

Truck connects to wi-fi whenever it's home, good AT&T reception.

No OTA's in the past 60 days and nothing in your queue at this time.

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[JohnMcClane]

No OTA's in the past 60 days and nothing in your queue at this time.

Thank you, I imagine the OTA will get que or completed a day or two after I get fed up and order a Mongoose, *looks at durametric in garage, no we don't need another stupid expensive cable John*.

 

[pavementends]

Does anyone know if it's possible to reset/reboot the OTA process from the vehicle side? I'm thinking about unplugging the negative battery terminal for a couple of hours or days, unless anyone has a better idea in Forscan or something? Maybe by powering everything down and resetting everything it'll clear the OTA progress it's done (if any) and has been stuck at since Tuesday and try to download and install PowerUp 3.5.3 all over again. I'd like to at least try something before my OTA campaign window expires, which according to the PTS screenshots from @rugedraw is Feb 7th or sooner? Thanks in advance for any ideas...

My truck successfully received several other OTA updates in the last year.

 

[mastacon]

Still in the 3.5.3 limbo.

Just did a restart (holding audio power button and the fast forward button) and then when it reset i went to the software update icon and clicked check for updates.... it showed "3.5.3 is pending.. with all the new stuff and info for the update". and then it went away and said "you are up to date."

trying to get this thing to install but can't figure it out!

 

[pavementends]

Still in the 3.5.3 limbo.

Just did a restart (holding audio power button and the fast forward button) and then when it reset i went to the software update icon and clicked check for updates.... it showed "3.5.3 is pending.. with all the new stuff and info for the update". and then it went away and said "you are up to date."

trying to get this thing to install but can't figure it out!

Same. And nothing I've tried has even initiated file download at all. Got a VIN check update from PTS an hour ago and nothing has changed since Tuesday, six days ago. Truck was connected to wifi for first few days, then I've tried forgetting all wifi connections, disabling wifi completely, driven the truck for an hour every day in areas with excellent cell coverage, had the truck on a battery charger nonstop day and night, disconnected battery from truck for about 4 hours, reset the APIM just like you did. I've reached the point of acceptance that there is nothing I can do to break my truck out of it's refusal to download OTA files. Frustrating because my truck has received several OTAs in the last year just fine. I cannot think of anything at all that has changed. The only variable I can think of is my OEM battery is slowly failing, but wouldn't the battery charger at least temporarily compensate for that? If you figure anything out let us know!

 

[pavementends]

As posted above I've tried just about everything, nothing has worked to induce downloading/installation of 3.5.3 (my truck was sent 3.5.3 one week ago on 1/24). I spent some time yesterday investigating the battery in my '21 truck. Several have reported defective batteries from the factory, especially in '21 trucks. Please help me confirm if my battery is failing...

I used a NOCO Genius 10 to top off the OEM AGM battery over the weekend. I checked it last night and it was at 90% SOC at 12.3 volts. It was 13 degrees F overnight. I check this morning at 0700 before starting the engine and this is what I got...

Truck started fine, I drove to work - a 16 minute drive. This is what I got at work parking lot...

QUESTIONS

1. Is the overnight drop (in below freezing temps) from 12.3 to 11.5 volts normal for a healthy AGM battery?
2. I was advised that if the Auto Start Stop (ASS) feature doesn't work, then it will also prohibit an OTA from installing. My truck is a Job #2 so ASS was deleted, but the first pic shows that ASS is disabled. Could this be confirmation that my battery is or could be stopping 3.5.3 from downloading and installing?
3. During the 16 min drive to work the voltage topped out at 15.1 volts. Is this normal?

Please help me diagnose whether my battery is bad. I did stop at an O'Reily's over the weekend and their battery tester indicated "GOOD BATTERY".

@Snakebitten @Bob_Mac @Big Dog Daddy

 

[trojandawg3]

After I charged mine to 100% this weekend it fell to around 30 percent by the next day with some local drives. My start stop does not work....says engine running due to charging. I'm working on a dealer visit. I feel certain there is either a battery/charge issue or something staying on draining the battery. Also have not received any updates since September 22.

 

[Ford4Ever]

This is something more than a "won't download" condition. I just went through the list of files and it seems like they have all downloaded but won't install.

 

[pavementends]

This is something more than a "won't download" condition. I just went through the list of files and it seems like they have all downloaded but won't install.

I think you're right, I just left a Ford dealer and she checked PTS and several (maybe all) files have in fact downloaded successfully but it's stuck at the next step. It's a slight relief to know the truck is actually downloading files. While checking PTS she said I have a DTC for Low Battery Voltage (even though I've had it on a charger for 5-6 days now) so I have an appointment for them to do a 2 hour battery test a week from Thursday. She said that if the battery tests bad Ford will replace AND she said if the bad battery kept me from getting 3.5.3 then the warranty WILL COVER the costs of them manually updating my truck in FDRS. We shall see...

EDIT: I also asked her about paying for the difference to upgrade the battery to size H8, but she said not possible - has to be replaced with spec'ed size. Like others debating whether my time is more valuable than dropping off truck for a full day and dealing with shuttle rides to/from the dealer vs just going to Costco for a new H8 for $200. Still considering that...

 

[HammaMan]

Have you tried rebooting sync? W/ the key on hold vol down and track forward on the steering wheel. Try rebooting it w/ full battery and see if anything changes.

 

[rugedraw]

I think you're right, I just left a Ford dealer and she checked PTS and several (maybe all) files have in fact downloaded successfully but it's stuck at the next step. It's a slight relief to know the truck is actually downloading files. While checking PTS she said I have a DTC for Low Battery Voltage (even though I've had it on a charger for 5-6 days now) so I have an appointment for them to do a 2 hour battery test a week from Thursday. She said that if the battery tests bad Ford will replace AND she said if the bad battery kept me from getting 3.5.3 then the warranty WILL COVER the costs of them manually updating my truck in FDRS. We shall see...

EDIT: I also asked her about paying for the difference to upgrade the battery to size H8, but she said not possible - has to be replaced with spec'ed size. Like others debating whether my time is more valuable than dropping off truck for a full day and dealing with shuttle rides to/from the dealer vs just going to Costco for a new H8 for $200. Still considering that...

As per a private convo I had with Jesse earlier today:

"A lot of the issue is the way ford designed the updates to require the signature. So for any update to proceed the gateway has to sign the file. That is why the delay when you insert the USB is there. It is negotiating with the Gateway and waiting for the go ahead. Once its given then it proceeds."

So yes, your truck can download all the files and if your gateway module does not "approve" the updates for whatever reason, it will time out and the update will fail. It does not matter if you drive the car or not, if your SOC is at 100%, if you lock it or put on the parking brake, etc. None of that means anything. Ford's OTA process is a hot steaming pile of sick elephant sh*t.

I work for Jaguar/Land Rover, and their Pivi Pro infotainment system leaves a lot to be desired, but their OTA process is stellar. From day one that they came out, as soon as you turn on mobile data, it will DL any pending updates. When I am selling a car to a client, I always turn on mobile data in front of them because I know it is going to prompt for an update right away and that way I can show them how it works and how to schedule it if it is an OTA that requires the vehicle to be inhibited. They download and install 100% of the time on 100% of vehicles.

So all you guys asking for the status checked, I will gladly do it. However, there is nothing you can do to ensure the update will go through. Nothing.

 

[pavementends]

As per a private convo I had with Jesse earlier today:

"A lot of the issue is the way ford designed the updates to require the signature. So for any update to proceed the gateway has to sign the file. That is why the delay when you insert the USB is there. It is negotiating with the Gateway and waiting for the go ahead. Once its given then it proceeds."

So yes, your truck can download all the files and if your gateway module does not "approve" the updates for whatever reason, it will time out and the update will fail. It does not matter if you drive the car or not, if your SOC is at 100%, if you lock it or put on the parking brake, etc. None of that means anything. Ford's OTA process is a hot steaming pile of sick elephant sh*t.

I work for Jaguar/Land Rover, and their Pivi Pro infotainment system leaves a lot to be desired, but their OTA process is stellar. From day one that they came out, as soon as you turn on mobile data, it will DL any pending updates. When I am selling a car to a client, I always turn on mobile data in front of them because I know it is going to prompt for an update right away and that way I can show them how it works and how to schedule it if it is an OTA that requires the vehicle to be inhibited. They download and install 100% of the time on 100% of vehicles.

So all you guys asking for the status checked, I will gladly do it. However, there is nothing you can do to ensure the update will go through. Nothing.

Thanks for this info and I hear you. I think my obsession with this is 1) I'm an engineer and my life/career revolves around process improvement, quality control, and ensuring things work as designed 2) my truck successfully received several OTAs in the last year without issue, so I'm a little obsessed with figuring out what's different or what broke 3) this is my first ever brand new vehicle with crazy spaceship tech features like OTA updates and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $1,000/mo for 60 months if I'm not getting all the advertised features - I want what I paid for and 4) I've been in the Android Auto beta program for a couple of months so I'll have full screen AA + maps as soon as 3.5.3 lands

I do think it's worthwhile for folks like me to tinker and troubleshoot to see if there are patterns and rationale why some things don't work. If we did, would they ever make it back to Ford developers? Probably not. But it might help others here. Because nothing with my truck has changed yet OTAs are suddenly not working I'm inclined to agree with you that Ford's (current) OTA process is and I'd definitely rather be researching and learning about something else but until now I"ve never owned a vehicle with a warranty so old habits (of fixing things myself) die hard!

 

[trojandawg3]

Thanks for this info and I hear you. I think my obsession with this is 1) I'm an engineer and my life/career revolves around process improvement, quality control, and ensuring things work as designed 2) my truck successfully received several OTAs in the last year without issue, so I'm a little obsessed with figuring out what's different or what broke and 3) this is my first ever brand new vehicle with crazy spaceship tech features like OTA updates and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $1,000/mo for 60 months if I'm not getting all the advertised features - I want what I paid for

I do think it's worthwhile for folks like me to tinker and troubleshoot to see if there are patterns and rationale why some things don't work. If we did, would they ever make it back to Ford developers? Probably not. But it might help others here. Because nothing with my truck has changed yet OTAs are suddenly not working I'm inclined to agree with you that Ford's (current) OTA process is and I'd definitely rather be researching and learning about something else but until now I"ve never owned a vehicle with a warranty so old habits (of fixing things myself) die hard!

What he said lol - industrial automation guy here...can't stand when things don't work!

 

[pavementends]

Have you tried rebooting sync? W/ the key on hold vol down and track forward on the steering wheel. Try rebooting it w/ full battery and see if anything changes.

Is resetting Sync using that method the same as resetting the APIM module in Forscan? If so, then YES I have done the power + track forward reset method. But admittedly not right after a full top off with the charger... thanks

 

[pavementends]

As per a private convo I had with Jesse earlier today:

"A lot of the issue is the way ford designed the updates to require the signature. So for any update to proceed the gateway has to sign the file. That is why the delay when you insert the USB is there. It is negotiating with the Gateway and waiting for the go ahead. Once its given then it proceeds."

So yes, your truck can download all the files and if your gateway module does not "approve" the updates for whatever reason, it will time out and the update will fail. It does not matter if you drive the car or not, if your SOC is at 100%, if you lock it or put on the parking brake, etc. None of that means anything. Ford's OTA process is a hot steaming pile of sick elephant sh*t.

Don't you think inadequate battery SOC (which could be off by just 1% or a fraction of a volt) would cause the GWM to reject the update? What I want to know is if you correct a condition, like the battery SOC for example, will the GWM recognize the correction and recheck and then "sign" the files for update? How many times through until it formally fails the update and the vehicle must be updated manually via FDRS?

I'm scrambling to address all conditions within my control before the truck modules or the Ford servers determine "nope, not gunna work" then I'm stuck doing it all manually.

What if the vehicle is in the middle of the mountains without any type of internet connection for a whole month? I doubt Ford engineers would just consider this scenario "well sorry no internet, no update for you period". I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt that the system will keep trying. Really hoping to avoid update purgatory like 2.7.x for many people. Maybe Ford has moved past that?

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