Blue cruise 1.3 oddity

[Dustus]

I've been using the 1.3 for several months now. I took a long 1000+ mile road trip and it worked great. Strangely though the last 50 miles or so just before I got home it stopped doing the lane changes. Blue cruise was still active but activating the turn signals didn't change lanes. Just flashed the blinker several times and turned off. I didn't think much about it as it was the end of a long trip and I figured it was tired.

Yesterday though I took a few hundred mile trip and used blue cruise for the first time since that long trip. It worked good for about half the trip and then the lane changes stopped again. Activating the turn signal didn't give the preparing for lane change message, just flashed the blinker a few times and quit. I also noticed that it wasn't giving trucks the wider berth that it has been doing since the 1.3 update either. It acted like 1.3 had just stopped working and it had reverted back to the pre 1.3 blue cruise.

I didn't have any errors. Blue cruise activated just like usual, just seemed to lose the 1.3 enhancements. Any idea what would cause that and in the middle of a trip. It didn't happen after a stop or power down, but during the drive itself.

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[kennelh]

I've been using the 1.3 for several months now. I took a long 1000+ mile road trip and it worked great. Strangely though the last 50 miles or so just before I got home it stopped doing the lane changes. Blue cruise was still active but activating the turn signals didn't change lanes. Just flashed the blinker several times and turned off. I didn't think much about it as it was the end of a long trip and I figured it was tired.

Yesterday though I took a few hundred mile trip and used blue cruise for the first time since that long trip. It worked good for about half the trip and then the lane changes stopped again. Activating the turn signal didn't give the preparing for lane change message, just flashed the blinker a few times and quit. I also noticed that it wasn't giving trucks the wider berth that it has been doing since the 1.3 update either. It acted like 1.3 had just stopped working and it had reverted back to the pre 1.3 blue cruise.

I didn't have any errors. Blue cruise activated just like usual, just seemed to lose the 1.3 enhancements. Any idea what would cause that and in the middle of a trip. It didn't happen after a stop or power down, but during the drive itself.

I has something similar happen a month ago. We left home and doive for about 3 hours south on I-5 to our first charging stop at Kettleman CIty. BC 1.3 90+% of the way without any issues. We got back on heading south and for the first 15 miles lane change behaved the same way you describe; lane shift worked fine. After 15 miles, all normal the rest of the trip.

On the trip back home a few days later, on a different road (CA-58 east of Mojave I think), BC would only work in the left lane. You couldn't initiate a lane change either. It worked fine in the left lane. It was as though it couldn't see the stripe on the right side of the road even though when cruise was engaged the left and right side markers for lane keep assist were visible. And the road was clearly marked; clearly visible line, no weird sun angles. Suddenly again, decided to start working and no issues the rest of the trip.

 

[AliRafiee]

I’m assuming you were going over 40mph when you asked it to change lanes?

Were the <?> arrows there?

 

[kennelh]

I’m assuming you were going over 40mph when you asked it to change lanes?

Were the <?> arrows there?

In my case, we were doing 65-70 MPH and the arrows were there.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I've been using the 1.3 for several months now. I took a long 1000+ mile road trip and it worked great. Strangely though the last 50 miles or so just before I got home it stopped doing the lane changes. Blue cruise was still active but activating the turn signals didn't change lanes. Just flashed the blinker several times and turned off. I didn't think much about it as it was the end of a long trip and I figured it was tired.

Yesterday though I took a few hundred mile trip and used blue cruise for the first time since that long trip. It worked good for about half the trip and then the lane changes stopped again. Activating the turn signal didn't give the preparing for lane change message, just flashed the blinker a few times and quit. I also noticed that it wasn't giving trucks the wider berth that it has been doing since the 1.3 update either. It acted like 1.3 had just stopped working and it had reverted back to the pre 1.3 blue cruise.

So you have to be in a Blue Zone in order for lane change to be available. The lane lines also need to be visible. If both of those are true, then the arrows will show up. If you're driving in the rain or something, it may not be able to see the lines well enough to complete the lane change and will fail. My guess is weather or camera visibility had something to do with it.

On a recent drive, I had several cases where hands-free mode just refused to engage the entire rest of the drive. Had to turn the car off and on again before it would work on the next leg of the trip. Lane shifts for trucks were also not working.

One thing I will say is it's very frustrating when it's not working because you have no idea why. It should really tell you why it's not able to function. Needs way more error annunciation.

 

[Dustus]

I’m assuming you were going over 40mph when you asked it to change lanes?

Were the <?> arrows there?

I was driving between 70 and 80 the whole time. Its a stretch of road I've driven many times and never had the issue. Well painted road. I'll have to watch for the arrows.

 

[JustBob]

And Ford thinks they can charge $800 a year for this! I feel like we're beta testers.

 

[Space_Pony]

And Ford thinks they can charge $800 a year for this! I feel like we're beta testers.

Maybe they're just testing us to see how many suckers are willing to part with their money.

 

[jetermeyer]

I was driving between 70 and 80 the whole time. Its a stretch of road I've driven many times and never had the issue. Well painted road. I'll have to watch for the arrows.

Doesn't BC stop working when you go over 80?

 

[ChehRob]

I've had both rain and sun interfere with 'hands free'.

 

[Adventureboy]

And Ford thinks they can charge $800 a year for this! I feel like we're beta testers.

We ARE the beta testers.....

 

[Snakebitten]

Doesn't BC stop working when you go over 80?

Yes.
Although it's not an "indicated" 81 that nixes Bluecruise.

If I monitor the PID for vehicle speed, the speedometer can indicate 81mph and Bluecruise is still engaged. The PID is 79.X

82 mph indicated kicks Bluecruise off. The PID confirms the actual speed exceeds 80.0

This is all in the F150, by the way.
I'm sure the software stack is very similar though.

 

[JustBob]

Yes.
Although it's not an "indicated" 81 that nixes Bluecruise.

If I monitor the PID for vehicle speed, the speedometer can indicate 81mph and Bluecruise is still engaged. The PID is 79.X

82 mph indicated kicks Bluecruise off. The PID confirms the actual speed exceeds 80.0

This is all in the F150, by the way.
I'm sure the software stack is very similar though.

I've wondered why it sometimes stays engaged at 81 and sometimes not. Thanks.

 

[Dustus]

Just to be clear on my original post. I was usually driving about 75. I have seen blue cruise disengage over 80 and am used to that. In this case though blue cruise was active and was operating hand free. It just wouldn't initiate lane changes or give extra room to passing trucks. It just randomly seemed to forget all the new 1.3 enhancements and operate like before the update which I got months ago. This last drive it was during several times of the day and I wouldn't say the sun was a factor. I have driven in to a sunset and had it have trouble, which is expected. I've driven several thousand miles using blue cruise both before and after the 1.3 update. Just seems very random that it would lose its 1.3 features and i couldn't find any environmental or lighting reasons. I would think if Blue Cruise was active that it would be the 1.3 version and would have all of its features. It was a bit perplexing.

 

[Chuck]

Doesn't BC stop working when you go over 80?

Hands free stops working but Blue Cruise still works.

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