4G Modem replacement details

[mdntblu]

I was one of the people who got the invitation from Ford to get the upgrade which I ordered the modem first at the parts dept, then made an appointment to have it installed. Ford installed it free of charge and programmed it. They took more than 1 day to get it working as the first day they told me they couldn't get it to connect to the network but then on the second day I picked up the car. I tried to add it to FordPass app and it said it was invalid. I sat in the parking lot for about 5 mins trying. I then went back to the service department and showed them and they said try resetting your Sync, and then resetting the app and deleting and re-adding the car. I did this and nothing worked. I was driving home thinking maybe it will just work later (as the service department was closed now after sitting there for a while and all the techs were gone). 

On my way home nearing my house I just decided to hit refresh and all the sudden it worked. It showed my car now with the Lock/Unlock/Start buttons. It showed my location, odometer and gas level. After I got home I tested the lock/unlock features and they worked and was really fast responding. Went inside the house and started looking around the app. Because I had not charged my car yet there was no charging details. I plugged in my car and the next day saw in the charging activity the charge of my car start and stop time. But no other details. Showed 98% charged but no kWh or anything else.

Over the next week it kept track of all charging but never showed kHw. It showed percentage and miles. (which a whole other topic is why do I only get 8-9 mi per charge now with only 41k miles). 

But I just noticed now after not looking at the app for a little while that all my charging details is gone. 

 

I reading this entire thread but it was a lot of details for people trying to upgrade the modem by themselves which wasn't anything I needed to do. 

So the question I have is all this data gone because Ford took it away from the app for now? Like are even new Escape PHEV's not showing it right now or Mustang Mach-E's? 

 

Thanks

[Cactusmatt]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:51 PM, mdntblu said:

Over the next week it kept track of all charging but never showed kHw. It showed percentage and miles. (which a whole other topic is why do I only get 8-9 mi per charge now with only 41k miles). 

But I just noticed now after not looking at the app for a little while that all my charging details is gone.

 

That's one thing that still hasn't populated for me is the Time on Charger / Distance Added stuff.. All I get is the current % of the charge and estimated finish time.   I'm happy to have this info, but would like to get what you are getting.   Granted I'm one of the DIY group so I may just be stuck for awhile.   Can you set a Charge Level Notification that works?   I still don't get anything pushed from the app.

 

-Matt

[jtex]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:51 AM, mdntblu said:

I was one of the people who got the invitation from Ford to get the upgrade which I ordered the modem first at the parts dept, then made an appointment to have it installed. Ford installed it free of charge and programmed it. They took more than 1 day to get it working as the first day they told me they couldn't get it to connect to the network but then on the second day I picked up the car. I tried to add it to FordPass app and it said it was invalid. I sat in the parking lot for about 5 mins trying. I then went back to the service department and showed them and they said try resetting your Sync, and then resetting the app and deleting and re-adding the car. I did this and nothing worked. I was driving home thinking maybe it will just work later (as the service department was closed now after sitting there for a while and all the techs were gone). 

On my way home nearing my house I just decided to hit refresh and all the sudden it worked. It showed my car now with the Lock/Unlock/Start buttons. It showed my location, odometer and gas level. After I got home I tested the lock/unlock features and they worked and was really fast responding. Went inside the house and started looking around the app. Because I had not charged my car yet there was no charging details. I plugged in my car and the next day saw in the charging activity the charge of my car start and stop time. But no other details. Showed 98% charged but no kWh or anything else.

Over the next week it kept track of all charging but never showed kHw. It showed percentage and miles. (which a whole other topic is why do I only get 8-9 mi per charge now with only 41k miles). 

But I just noticed now after not looking at the app for a little while that all my charging details is gone. 

 

I reading this entire thread but it was a lot of details for people trying to upgrade the modem by themselves which wasn't anything I needed to do. 

So the question I have is all this data gone because Ford took it away from the app for now? Like are even new Escape PHEV's not showing it right now or Mustang Mach-E's? 

 

Thanks

Also do you now have functional:

- charge alert?

- ability to change charge times (what used to be called value charge . . . And is likely called that on your SYNC screen)?

 

I am FFE DIY “success” on the 4G upgrade, but are yet to have the above 2 functions.

 

Info on trips is a bit wonky too with MPG numbers that make no sense at all.

[mdntblu]

On 3/31/2022 at 10:47 AM, Cactusmatt said:

 

That's one thing that still hasn't populated for me is the Time on Charger / Distance Added stuff.. All I get is the current % of the charge and estimated finish time.   I'm happy to have this info, but would like to get what you are getting.   Granted I'm one of the DIY group so I may just be stuck for awhile.   Can you set a Charge Level Notification that works?   I still don't get anything pushed from the app.

 

-Matt

I am able to do Departure Times

[mdntblu]

This is really all I see in my app.

[Locutus]

On 3/31/2022 at 6:58 PM, mdntblu said:

This is really all I see in my app.

Thats all I'm seeing on mine as well.  However, for the first two weeks I had battery level and EV driving data.  These are now gone.  I also lost charge level settings and the ability to set a one time battery level alert.  I do have Departure Times (what used to be Go Times in MFM).  I also get charge complete notifications.

[mdntblu]

I also get this screen if I tap the box near the bottom when charging. 

[mdntblu]

I also get this notification. 

[jtex]

On 3/31/2022 at 8:51 PM, mdntblu said:

I also get this notification. 

My Fordpass app screens are identical and I get a screen notification within the Fordpass app that is a banner within the app that appears on the bottom.   This morning for example it reads: “ Reached 100% charge” then shows the approximate time it was finished.  To the right in that banner it has a “Details” button.  When I click on Details the next screen usually has a “Fordpass timed out” at the top in red, shows the charge range, and then a bunch of empty rows for other aspects.

 

I am hoping that when the “Charge Level Notification” button starts working (versus “Loading” circle running for many minutes without success” that it will give us an app push notification & an email (like MFM did) when charge is completed, but at least now know charge level via the app is progress.

 

Tops on my list of function fixes will be the arrival of charge parameters/timing control via the app (what was called “Value Charge” in MFM).   Once that arrives and given the other progress my needs will be met.

 

Some concerns:

- ANNOYING -the current Fordpass app (or the backend) is very buggy (so hard to believe it passed thorough sufficient testing).   The best example is when you start the app in the morning on your phone after a charge was likely completed and click on “vehicle” then the screen (nor lower banner) will not show the car is charged.  Then you do the classic “update” pull down move at the top and the app will charge from “updated 7 hours ago” to “updated just now”, but will still not show the battery has been charged.  Then you pull down yet again for another update and it will show the actual fully charged info.   Yes, I do have background app refresh on in iOS for Fordpass and I am on a fast low latency network.   This is purely a buggy app thing or very sluggish backend at Ford.

- VERY WORRIED ABOUT- Systems wise the app/Ford backend/car integration is likely very similar to typical IOT devices wherein the Fordpass app is never talking directly to the car, but rather the app is only talking with backend servers at Ford and those servers’ APIs  in turn talk to the car.   So the 4G modem TCU at steady state when nothing is happening should be just basically listening in a very low power mode and only pulling more power to transmit when either the backend tells it “hey wake up and send us the following data . . .. or do the following (as in unlock the door because the servers have picked up the app asking for such)“ or something happens with the car (as in battery fully charged event) so the car then proactively calls on the TCU to transmit to send data to the Ford servers.  For both cell data traffic management and power consumption this is the way it should work ?   But as shared in another post lately the dialogue between the TCU and the car seems very “chatty” as I can be doing chores in the garage and hear the relay clamp under the hood a few times each hour even though the car is fully charged, plugged in, and I am not asking the vehicle to do anything via the app.   So either the backend is frequently asking the car for info or the car is frequently on its own wanting to send the backend data.  The problem with this is potential major drain impact to the 12v battery.   So one parks your FFE or CMax plug in at the airport for a few days and do you come back to a dead 12volt battery?     Hopefully the “system off to save the battery” logic will have intervened, but???   There was chatter in one of the other forums about some dealers claiming the upgrade program was on hold . . . If that is true (perhaps was just particular dealer talk) it could be because the beyond the concern with the app not being quite ready yet there are unexpected adverse event issues ?.   Let’s hope not.

[jtex]

I just posted on the Cmax forum on the same topic:

 

This morning when I went to the car and opened the door coincidentally I found the dreaded “system off to save battery” message which is the second time that has happened since installing the 4G TCU.

 

I took delivery of my 2020 FFE in late November of 2019 and I suspect it was likely built a few months before so to be fair I am getting reasonably close to the typical 3-4 year lead acid cell end of life.  I decided to replace the 12V battery.

 

Scary bit of intel: all of the area Ford dealers that particular replacement battery back ordered.  IMHO not a good sign.  But the parts guy told me that AutoZone carries the identical battery in the “Duralast” brand and recommended I check around local stores.   So I ended up with the Duralast Gold version and indeed everything other than the label is identical to the Motorcraft unit including vent port, etc.

 

It was priced a bit higher than the Motorcraft, but is rated about 100 CCA higher.  Standard 3 year warranty.

 

Before installing it I put my tester on it and it read 100%

 

Now I have a fresh start point so if the “system off to save battery”  happens again in the near future after a standard overnight Value Charge than (at least on my FFE) I have a 12V power drain issue post 4G TCU install.

[jtex]

Someone posted in the CMax forum on this issue that ALL of the other blocks matter too . . . So what I just posted there:

 

can now confirm those other blocks make a major difference as after just changing on my 2020 FFE to the identical blocks of ALL of the TCU blocks as shared from that was done by a Ford dealer I now have ability to set “Preferred Charge Times” (formerly called “Value Charge in MFM and still in SYNC).  So every bit matters ?

 

Charge level notification is yet to work, but the banner now at the bottom seems sufficient.

 

Note after making these changes to the TCU, I reset the TCU & and the APIM.  Then I did a SYNC reset.

 

So now all good so far on my FFE as long as the 12V battery issue doesn’t come up again.

[jtex]

On 4/2/2022 at 4:42 PM, jtex said:

Someone posted in the CMax forum on this issue that ALL of the other blocks matter too . . . So what I just posted there:

 

can now confirm those other blocks make a major difference as after just changing on my 2020 FFE to the identical blocks of ALL of the TCU blocks as shared from that was done by a Ford dealer I now have ability to set “Preferred Charge Times” (formerly called “Value Charge in MFM and still in SYNC).  So every bit matters ?

 

Charge level notification is yet to work, but the banner now at the bottom seems sufficient.

 

Note after making these changes to the TCU, I reset the TCU & and the APIM.  Then I did a SYNC reset.

 

So now all good so far on my FFE as long as the 12V battery issue doesn’t come up again.

I did not want to edit the above since it is all correct, BUT I learned the “preferred charge times” may be a bit buggy on the back end.  

 

BACKGROUND: A key “ahah!” when I got this to work after fixing all those other blocks was that finally my home location appeared in previous locations so I was finally able to make the settings (name my location, pick two sets of times, etc.).  Once that was done it did supersede the ValueCharge settings in Sync (i know this because in SYNC I set the start time to 12:01am whereas in the app it does not allow minutes so 12:00am).   

 

BUG APPEARS:  Later on I decided I wanted to change the second of the two preferred charge times, but it will not allow one to edit.   So I figured I would delete the location and start over.  Big mistake as then I could not get the location to return.   So next step was to figure out how I can prompt the system to get that location to return.

 

SOLUTION: It is a bit wonky from a user experience perspective, but if you have lost your preferred charge location to get it to return you must complete a charge now (seemed obvious so I had already done that), BUT additionally disconnect from the EV charger, start the car, drive a foot forward and back, turn off car.   The location will now appear and you can redo your preferred charge settings and also toggle between a preferred time and charge now just like with MFM.

 

BTW: Charge logs now works too.

Edited April 3, 2022 at 10:35 AM by jtex

[Cactusmatt]

In the Cmax forum CR08 posted this info:

 

This is 100% where mine is at as well. I just went through and compared notes on what I see with my app vs what you mentioned here and it's all identical. The assumption so far from multiple people is it is all on Ford's end and they still need to get FordPass fully functioning with these new features for us ( @bookemdano and I had a brief discussion on this stuff with F150chief over on the CyanLabs boards and that seems to be his thoughts as well. Did get some new and useful info on that front which I'll post below.). So it's largely a waiting game.

 

Once again thanks goes out to F150chief over at CyanLabs for providing some more useful knowledge concerning these TCU's and the AsBuilt configs. You can read the whole thread as it is currently here: TCU HJ5T Asbuilt Discussion - Ford / AsBuilt Configuration - CyanLabs Official Community

We had originally assumed the 754-03-xx blocks were just garbage or storage bits. But apparently these are additional configuration options to tell the TCU what various bits of data to pull from the vehicle and send back to Ford. 7D indicates the data should be pulled and sent back. 7C ignores that bit of data. Unfortunately there's no insight to what each individual bit corresponds to. Based on the discussion, it seems like it is harmless just to set everything to 7D to enable ALL THE THINGS and send it to Ford. It is still then up to them to populate and display this data on their end in the app. I have went ahead on mine and did just this and enabled all those bits. No new data just yet but as always I'll keep you posted if anything changes on this front.

 

Just as a quick FYI on the AsBuilt stuff that I've briefly mentioned here previously: With ForScan, the last two bits in each individual block are checksum bits. So in the case of these changes to the 754-03-xx blocks, they won't show or even be able to be set to 7D. You can enter anything in these bits and ForScan will just recalculate what should be there when you go to write it to the module.

Edited April 2, 2022 at 02:42 PM by cr08

 

 

 

This morning I tried to do just this and change everything that was a 7C to a 7D.  I didn't reset Sync or anything, but for the first time ever I'm able to see the address where I'm charging, as well as how long it's been charging and distance added.  

I'll see how the charging cycle goes, my next hope is that one day I get a notification when it's done charging.    I know with Myford Mobile it also told  you when the alarm goes off.. Does Fordpass do the same thing when it's working as intended?

 

-Matt

[jtex]

On 4/3/2022 at 10:48 AM, Cactusmatt said:

In the Cmax forum CR08 posted this info:

 

This is 100% where mine is at as well. I just went through and compared notes on what I see with my app vs what you mentioned here and it's all identical. The assumption so far from multiple people is it is all on Ford's end and they still need to get FordPass fully functioning with these new features for us ( @bookemdano and I had a brief discussion on this stuff with F150chief over on the CyanLabs boards and that seems to be his thoughts as well. Did get some new and useful info on that front which I'll post below.). So it's largely a waiting game.

 

Once again thanks goes out to F150chief over at CyanLabs for providing some more useful knowledge concerning these TCU's and the AsBuilt configs. You can read the whole thread as it is currently here: TCU HJ5T Asbuilt Discussion - Ford / AsBuilt Configuration - CyanLabs Official Community

We had originally assumed the 754-03-xx blocks were just garbage or storage bits. But apparently these are additional configuration options to tell the TCU what various bits of data to pull from the vehicle and send back to Ford. 7D indicates the data should be pulled and sent back. 7C ignores that bit of data. Unfortunately there's no insight to what each individual bit corresponds to. Based on the discussion, it seems like it is harmless just to set everything to 7D to enable ALL THE THINGS and send it to Ford. It is still then up to them to populate and display this data on their end in the app. I have went ahead on mine and did just this and enabled all those bits. No new data just yet but as always I'll keep you posted if anything changes on this front.

 

Just as a quick FYI on the AsBuilt stuff that I've briefly mentioned here previously: With ForScan, the last two bits in each individual block are checksum bits. So in the case of these changes to the 754-03-xx blocks, they won't show or even be able to be set to 7D. You can enter anything in these bits and ForScan will just recalculate what should be there when you go to write it to the module.

Edited April 2, 2022 at 02:42 PM by cr08

 

 

 

This morning I tried to do just this and change everything that was a 7C to a 7D.  I didn't reset Sync or anything, but for the first time ever I'm able to see the address where I'm charging, as well as how long it's been charging and distance added.  

I'll see how the charging cycle goes, my next hope is that one day I get a notification when it's done charging.    I know with Myford Mobile it also told  you when the alarm goes off.. Does Fordpass do the same thing when it's working as intended?

 

-Matt

It sounds like the key was sending Ford all the data.  I too see that address where charging, distance, etc. as well.  In the My Journeys/My EV driving the MPG number is a bit nonsensical, but I am sure they will get that figured out.

 

I don’t know about the alarm, but will try in some remote parking lot or similar this week and see if I can find out.

 

Also it may be wishful thinking, but I don’t seem to be hearing all the relay clicks when the car is just idle plugged-in in the garage.   Perhaps a few of those prior incorrectly programmed blocks were causing excessive chatter between the TCU and Ford.   Hopefully the case so we avoid any 12V battery issues.

 

With Charge settings/Preferred charge settings, etc. now working with also the ability to remotely toggle the scheduled charge vs. charge now . .. .  for me this endeavor is now a success.  I look forward to things being cleaned up in the app, etc., but as long as we don’t have any upcoming upcoming updates change regressions in the app or the Ford backend I am happy.

 

Great collaboration by the folks on this forum, the CMax, and the F150.   Interesting stuff plus most of us saved a bit of $$ and learned a bunch about how our cars work.  Thanks all!

 

 

[Cactusmatt]

This was also the first time I was able to get info from the Charge Log.  Still no Charge Complete notification though.   Little something more each try.  7D is the way.

[Cactusmatt]

As of today I am the proud owner of a Fully Charged Notification.  Even though in the app if I set it, it just spins, I still got it at 80%.  

[jtex]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:11 AM, Cactusmatt said:

As of today I am the proud owner of a Fully Charged Notification.  Even though in the app if I set it, it just spins, I still got it at 80%.  

I just tried it and even as the “Loading” was spinning I received the notification as well.  Oddly, though, when the spinning finished I got the usual in red “something went wrong” at the top.  One then has no choice, but to cancel to back out.   It’s will be interesting to see if now that notification functionality sticks even after the error.

 

Adding: If I try to save it again I get the notification again during the spinning, but the error at end persists.  I tried it about 5 times with the same results.

Edited April 4, 2022 at 04:22 PM by jtex

[jtex]

Just in case other forum members are experiencing the same  . .. so you know it is not your setup . . .since last evening the Fordpass app (on iOS) is not getting any response from the backend for nearly all key actions including lock/unlock, charge state, charge schedule, etc.   Top of my app says it hasn’t been updated in 16 hours.  The bottom banner says “waiting to charge” with the time stamp for last night ?

 

Things I have tried:

-force close the app

-reset the iPhone

-delete Fordpass, reset the iPhone, download fresh Fordpass, and login

 

Some historical stuff remains (like going into Journeys I can see EV data from a brief drive yesterday morning), but anything interactive to the backend is down (like going to charge settings/setup preferred . . . ./ you get a hard red error banner at the top after “begin setup”)

[Cactusmatt]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:25 AM, jtex said:

Just in case other forum members are experiencing the same  . .. so you know it is not your setup . . .since last evening the Fordpass app (on iOS) is not getting any response from the backend for nearly all key actions including lock/unlock, charge state, charge schedule, etc.   Top of my app says it hasn’t been updated in 16 hours.  The bottom banner says “waiting to charge” with the time stamp for last night ?

 

Things I have tried:

-force close the app

-reset the iPhone

-delete Fordpass, reset the iPhone, download fresh Fordpass, and login

 

Some historical stuff remains (like going into Journeys I can see EV data from a brief drive yesterday morning), but anything interactive to the backend is down (like going to charge settings/setup preferred . . . ./ you get a hard red error banner at the top after “begin setup”)

 

As of yesterday I get a "Fordpass is not responding" on my current Charge Session, also tells me "some info is missing" but still gives me the banner at the bottom with the finish time estimate, but when I click Details I have nothing.  It's still saving charge logs and giving me notifications, so I'm hoping this is them working on the back end of the app?   I didn't change anything on the car recently..

 

 

[jtex]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:03 AM, Cactusmatt said:

 

As of yesterday I get a "Fordpass is not responding" on my current Charge Session, also tells me "some info is missing" but still gives me the banner at the bottom with the finish time estimate, but when I click Details I have nothing.  It's still saving charge logs and giving me notifications, so I'm hoping this is them working on the back end of the app?   I didn't change anything on the car recently..

 

 

Is your Fordpass running on iOS?   I ask since on the Cmax forum CR08 said all is fine on his Android so I am wondering if this is a backend issue specific to iOS users only?

[Cactusmatt]

On 4/5/2022 at 8:09 AM, jtex said:

Is your Fordpass running on iOS?   I ask since on the Cmax forum CR08 said all is fine on his Android so I am wondering if this is a backend issue specific to iOS users only?

 

No, I'm on Android.  I can try iOS later this evening.

[jtex]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:14 AM, Cactusmatt said:

 

No, I'm on Android.  I can try iOS later this evening.

May have nothing to do with the platform . . .I just checked and AT&T 4G cell service is down (checked with 3 mobile devices) in my area so at least for now it appears the root cause is my FFE not being able to make contact with the Fordpass backend.

Edited April 5, 2022 at 01:23 PM by jtex

[Cactusmatt]

On 4/5/2022 at 8:22 AM, jtex said:

May have nothing to do with the platform . . .I just checked and AT&T 4G cell service is down (checked with 3 mobile devices) in my area so at least for now it appears the root cause is my FFE not being able to make contact with the Fordpass backend.

 

Now it's all back to normal and reporting everything, so it was down about 16 hours for me. I'll still try the iOS this evening to see if I'm getting all the same info.

[jtex]

On 4/5/2022 at 8:44 AM, Cactusmatt said:

 

Now it's all back to normal and reporting everything, so it was down about 16 hours for me. I'll still try the iOS this evening to see if I'm getting all the same info.

ATT towers have not yet returned to service in this region.   Both Down Detector and social media forums are showing lots of complaints from folks in the area.   Not good for folks that depend on cell service for emergencies.

Edited April 5, 2022 at 02:03 PM by jtex

[jtex]

After nearly 24 hours AT&T fixed their regional outage so my FFE is now working on Fordpass again.   Even the charge notification now works (that’s how I knew the FFE was back online: I received a charge notification).   

 

So the lesson is that if you have been successful updating your vehicle to 4G (so most Fordpass functions work for you including lock, unlock, start, charge scheduling, etc.) and suddenly the Fordpass interactive functions are no longer working then the first thing to check is to determine if your vehicle is for some reason no longer connected to the ATT 4G network.

 

your vehicle functions<->your vehicle’sTCU & antenna<->AT&T 4G network<->Ford’s Fordpass “servers”<->Fordpass app on your device