The Complete DIY Guide to Updating Your Mach-E with FDRS (Alternative to Forscan)

[KevinS]

Just to clarify for those of us considering doing the updates ourselves...how does the USB drive fit into the process? Is data loaded onto it prior to the update using the laptop? Is it then transferred to one of the usb slots in the car?

Correct on all points. If you follow the screen instructions and the service bulletins, it’s a very straightforward process.

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[dreKion]

When update my car. Max 33-34A. We need minimum 40a power supply. I use 60a

 

[Jambler]

Just curious on those with high amp draws. Did you let the car cool/warm to about 60F for 24 hours before hand and stay out of the sun or cold? And turn off all climate control?

 

[generaltso]

Just curious on those with high amp draws. Did you let the car cool/warm to about 60F for 24 hours before hand and stay out of the sun or cold? And turn off all climate control?

Yes, that's irrelevant. Some updates just fire up the coolant pumps while the update is running, regardless of the temperature. This is probably done as a fail safe in case some temperature sensors are brought offline during some updates. It's better to condition the battery when it's not needed than to not condition it when it is needed.

 

[Jambler]

The general rating of the car’s battery is 35 Amp Hours. Seems like a bit of a small battery for such a possible high amp draw. Most cars would be in the 70Ah+. Oh I forgot there is another 68+kwh battery at 450 volts. If only we could find a way to tap that

 

[mkhuffman]

Oh I forgot there is another 68+kwh battery at 450 volts. If only we could find a way to tap that

Yes but "tapping that" requires a lot of overhead from all the systems that control use of the HVB.

You could eliminate the 12V battery and just use the HVB but then your HVB would rapidly discharge while parked and off. Using the HVB takes a lot of energy, much more than just minding the LVB and keeping that battery charged.

Then we would get posts like I see on the Rivian forum about "vampire loss" or whatever they call it. Your HVB could loose 5% of the charge just sitting overnight in your garage. This would not make anyone very happy.

 

[generaltso]

The general rating of the car’s battery is 35 Amp Hours. Seems like a bit of a small battery for such a possible high amp draw. Most cars would be in the 70Ah+. Oh I forgot there is another 68+kwh battery at 450 volts. If only we could find a way to tap that

The HVB is used for some updates since the DC/DC converter stays on. But some updates require the DC/DC converter to be down, so there would be no way to use the HVB for the 12V components.

 

[ricksta6]

A 12 Volt Power Supply
Some updates can take over an hour. During these updates the car will not be maintaining the little baby 12v battery the Mach E comes equipped with. If the battery goes kaput during the update, the update goes kaput as well. Since we're not in the business of making bricks here you need a power supply to keep this from happening. Mind you I said "power supply" not "battery charger". I didn't measure, but I hear the car can draw upwards of 30A during the updates.

I DO NOT recommend doing what I did, but I'm overly cheap sometimes. I happen to have a gigantic RV battery just sitting around for another project, so I ran jumpers to the RV battery to assist. It did the job just fine. But again, that is NOT a recommendation.

My understanding is that modules can be updated via OTA as well (please correct me if I'm wrong). If that's the case, how do OTA updates get around the 12v power supply requirement that the FDRS update method requires? Or is that why there have been so many bricked vehicles?

And sorry if this has been asked but couldn't find it in my search.

 

[bshaw]

OTA is a different process and doesn’t need the 12V supply. From what I can tell while running FDRS on my car, it runs the battery cooling system on full blast once you put the car in update mode for many updates. This is regardless of the ambient temp or HVB battery temp at the time you start. Maybe OTA looks at HVB battery temp and knows not to start something if battery cooling is expected to be necessary. The cooling pumps are the big current draw, not the module programming, so if it’s off no additional power is required.

 

[mkhuffman]

My understanding is that modules can be updated via OTA as well (please correct me if I'm wrong). If that's the case, how do OTA updates get around the 12v power supply requirement that the FDRS update method requires? Or is that why there have been so many bricked vehicles?

And sorry if this has been asked but couldn't find it in my search.

A 12V power supply is not needed for all updates. Also some OTA are applied when the car is on or charging and the HVB assists.

It is generally known, however, that there are some module updates that are not OTA compatible and cannot be delivered that way. Some updates can only be successfully applied via FDRS and with a connected 12V PS.

Why do you think there have been so many bricked vehicles? I am not aware of any.

 

[Mike G]

A 12V power supply is not needed for all updates. Also some OTA are applied when the car is on or charging and the HVB assists.

It is generally known, however, that there are some module updates that are not OTA compatible and cannot be delivered that way. Some updates can only be successfully applied via FDRS and with a connected 12V PS.

Why do you think there have been so many bricked vehicles? I am not aware of any.

There was a list or presentation somewhere, can't remember if it was on the forums or not, that talked about all the modules and which method was required to update them (USB, CAN, etc.) and talked about things like dependencies and "chained" updates like doing the BlueCruise sequence where selecting any of the affected modules kicked off the update of all of them in the correct sequence.

Wish I could find that again.

Edit: Found it... Post describing OTAs, modules, and how each can get updated

Mike

 

[Mach-Lee]

I'm running dual PL2320's here in power supply mode, peak draw was about 34A for one second, but most of the time the draw was less than 25A. You could probably get away with a single PL2320 for most updates shorter than an hour. During some of the updates the DC/DC continues to run which also reduces demand. Posting this to spread the word that you don't have to spend $500+ on a PL6100 power supply to do FDRS updates.

 

[Neil4Real]

I'm running dual PL2320's here in power supply mode, peak draw was about 34A for one second, but most of the time the draw was less than 25A. You could probably get away with a single PL2320 for most updates shorter than an hour. During some of the updates the DC/DC continues to run which also reduces demand. Posting this to spread the word that you don't have to spend $500+ on a PL6100 power supply to do FDRS updates.

Yay, that’s what I bought, but only one. Do you just do the power supply setting and 20 amps? What battery type setting do you use?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Yay, that’s what I bought, but only one. Do you just do the power supply setting and 20 amps? What battery type setting do you use?

Yes, use the power supply (PS) setting, it will output about 13.8V constant and provide up to 20A. In PS mode green light means constant voltage mode, amber light means constant current mode (car is drawing >20A). If you see the amber light on for more than a few minutes keep an eye on the voltage.

 

[Mach1E]

Did anyone here install the “bad modules” listed in this recall??

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...software-issue-464-units-affected-189201.html

“
The shoddy powertrain control module software may lead to unintended acceleration, unintended deceleration, unintended vehicle movement, or reduced motive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

A grand total of three versions are listed in the attached report: MJ98-12A650-AXH, MJ98-12A650-BBH, and MJ98-12A650-BEH. Ford says the affected software rolled out exclusively as a service release, never introduced into series production. The remedy versions are MJ98-12A650-AXJ, MJ98-12A650-BBJ, and MJ98-12A650-BEJ, which are designed to report the secondary axle torque value properly to the vehicle’s PCU.”

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