[Shadow5501]

It seems we have a couple of members with cars that have been impacted by problems applying the software update for the 16C13 hatch release recall. Figured we could gather up information in one location to share, or perhaps just commiserate. I'll go first. Please share whatever you think is relevant.

Car: 2014 Focus ST. Trim: ST3 w/sunroof. Build date: November 2014.
Miles: 25K-ish
Dealer: North Central Ford, Richardson, TX (DFW)
Date of Problem: May 31, 2017
Problem Description: BCM software update failed to complete. Car will not start, nothing electrical/electronic functions. Essentially, it's a big paperweight at the moment...
Notes: Dealership is contacting Ford engineering hotline for guidance. As of close of business June 1 they indicated no information on how to repair or when repair might be available. They have two cars in shop with this problem - first one occurred on Friday, May 26 2017.
Loan Car: Yes. Driving a rather well used Focus SE sedan.

 

[xrayruester]

Hey let me in on this!

2015 Focus ST, ~17,000 miles and live in York Pennsylvania. Car threw a misfire code on the 16th of May so I scheduled a service for that and to have the recall performed. Dropped the car off on the 19th and that was when they fried the BCM. Part was on back order, they got a new one last Thursday or Friday. Same issue is still happening, BCM won't update and the car is dead until the BCM can be reprogrammed. It has been officially two weeks since the car was dropped off and broken. The cel was never resolved let alone investigated. If this continues I would suggest members who still have factory warranty or fall under lemon law look into taking action. Lemon law is pretty well know, but under the Magnuson-Moss act an item that has a warranty and cannot be repaired in a timely manner is eligible for complete refund or replacement at no cost.

 

[ArrestMeRedST]

Unfortunately I too have joined the club. Took "Red" (2014) in yesterday for an oil change. Got that sickening call about 4:30 that she wasn't coming home. Dealership has been beside themselves and frustrated that there is no guidance or information coming from Ford. I'm sure the Turbo in the Ford Escape is going to melt the road like Red did. At least they promised to store her inside (probably because they cant drive it or lock it).

 

[AK2112]

Unfortunately I too have joined the club. Took "Red" (2014) in yesterday for an oil change. Got that sickening call about 4:30 that she wasn't coming home. Dealership has been beside themselves and frustrated that there is no guidance or information coming from Ford. I'm sure the Turbo in the Ford Escape is going to melt the road like Red did. At least they promised to store her inside (probably because they cant drive it or lock it).

Made me laugh even though nothing about this incompetency from Ford is funny.

 

[FocusST101]

Did 16C13 (and 16s30 )yesterday, dealer said it won't update so they ordered a new BCM, hopefully I won't have any problems however those 2 recall won't interfere with power steering right? the steering seems to be much tighter, checked tire pressure it's fine, dealer did multi point inspection on suspension etc and everything is fine. odd it's much tighter than before.

Loan Car: Yes. Driving a rather well used Focus SE sedan.(they should have matched a similar car, had a Honda and they matched it) lol I got a 33k focus SE sedan as well, had to pay taxes on that for 2 days. wasn't too happy about that, car got a recall and .....I have to pay out of pocket? I mean fuel and insurance for it it's fine, but not others come on.

2014 ST3 without sunroof.

 

[HBGeek]

I am not sure if they did an update for this the last time I was at the dealer. I know they flashed something because I had to get my tune updated, but nothing happened. I won't go in for the hatch recall specifically though.

 

[Prrnrngr]

I had my BCM reprogrammed 2 months ago, along with the rear door latch replacements. I had no issues, but my "Vehicle Health Report" shows that the BCM reprogramming did not get completed. I find it weird because I can't force the hatch by pushing the dash button anymore, so something obviously changed.... I wonder if in the last 60-30 days Ford realized that the update was not actually being shown on the vehicle's history, so they tweaked some code and are now grenading BCMs left and right.

 

[tpiechow]

I had my BCM reprogrammed 2 months ago, along with the rear door latch replacements. I had no issues, but my "Vehicle Health Report" shows that the BCM reprogramming did not get completed. I find it weird because I can't force the hatch by pushing the dash button anymore, so something obviously changed.... I wonder if in the last 60-30 days Ford realized that the update was not actually being shown on the vehicle's history, so they tweaked some code and are now grenading BCMs left and right.

Vehicle health report is garbage. And I can assure you that engineering did not spend a ton of money to re-write code to make the vehicle health report happy.

 

[tpiechow]

It seems we have a couple of members with cars that have been impacted by problems applying the software update for the 16C13 hatch release recall. Figured we could gather up information in one location to share, or perhaps just commiserate. I'll go first. Please share whatever you think is relevant.

Car: 2014 Focus ST. Trim: ST3 w/sunroof. Build date: November 2014.
Miles: 25K-ish
Dealer: North Central Ford, Richardson, TX (DFW)
Date of Problem: May 31, 2017
Problem Description: BCM software update failed to complete. Car will not start, nothing electrical/electronic functions. Essentially, it's a big paperweight at the moment...
Notes: Dealership is contacting Ford engineering hotline for guidance. As of close of business June 1 they indicated no information on how to repair or when repair might be available. They have two cars in shop with this problem - first one occurred on Friday, May 26 2017.
Loan Car: Yes. Driving a rather well used Focus SE sedan.

There is a high chance that this is the dealer's fault. Like they didn't put a battery charger on the battery. They didn't have the lap top plugged in. Weak internet connections. There are tons of things at the dealer level that are much more likely than it being a software issue. They basically blanked the module.

But it needs a BCM. They dealer is pretty damn dumb if they need the hotline to figure that out.

 

[Straightline]

There is a high chance that this is the dealer's fault. Like they didn't put a battery charger on the battery. They didn't have the lap top plugged in. Weak internet connections. There are tons of things at the dealer level that are much more likely than it being a software issue. They basically blanked the module.

But it needs a BCM. They dealer is pretty damn dumb if they need the hotline to figure that out.

These were my first thoughts too.

I am pretty sure nobody at Ford would have "tweaked" the code for the recall. Im not a software engineer but I am pretty sure normal practise is to spend time testing the final code revision & once that is marked complete nobody is allowed to change anything. In a perfect world anyway.

But this certainly sucks for the owners of ST bricks. Somebody needs to be doing some massive apologizing.

 

[Shadow5501]

There is a high chance that this is the dealer's fault. Like they didn't put a battery charger on the battery. They didn't have the lap top plugged in. Weak internet connections. There are tons of things at the dealer level that are much more likely than it being a software issue. They basically blanked the module.

But it needs a BCM. They dealer is pretty damn dumb if they need the hotline to figure that out.

I think one of the guys with this problem had a BCM put in and it didn't fix the problem. I'm guessing that is why the hotline isn't providing any answers right now.

There have been several previous recalls of C platform cars that required a BCM flash to address. I don't find any incidences of similar failures in those, even though the number of cars recalled is much larger. If it was a problem with the service tech procedure, I would expect to see it occur during other recalls too.

That's pathetic design if a failed software download bricks the module. Embedded devices typically have boot firmware that brings the module up to the point it can talk to the handheld tester or laptop, boot the software image from nvram, download new software, etc. So long as you don't overwrite the boot firmware you can always attempt a fresh download to replace a failed or faulty image. A better approach is to store two software images and only overwrite the older one so there is always one good image on the device. But on consumer hw maybe the few extra pennies makes a difference.

 

[Shadow5501]

These were my first thoughts too.

I am pretty sure nobody at Ford would have "tweaked" the code for the recall. Im not a software engineer but I am pretty sure normal practise is to spend time testing the final code revision & once that is marked complete nobody is allowed to change anything. In a perfect world anyway.

But this certainly sucks for the owners of ST bricks. Somebody needs to be doing some massive apologizing.

I am a sw engineer, although I apparently can't figure out how to multi quote. change control is a big deal, you can bet not just anybody goes in and updates the code when they feel like it. The whole recall is because the code does not meet FMVSS. Once it's certified, I expect nobody touches it.

 

[FocusST101]

Did the recall yesterday and my other key fob doesn't work. kept saying no key detected. put it next to steering column doesn't work either, also changed the battery. I guess they replaced the whole BCM so I need to re-program this fob or what? (in setting it does say 2 admin keys)

to multi quote you click the " thing under "like" in each post, then click reply to thread.

 

[tpiechow]

These were my first thoughts too.

I am pretty sure nobody at Ford would have "tweaked" the code for the recall. Im not a software engineer but I am pretty sure normal practise is to spend time testing the final code revision & once that is marked complete nobody is allowed to change anything. In a perfect world anyway.

But this certainly sucks for the owners of ST bricks. Somebody needs to be doing some massive apologizing.

Oh yes, there are tons of process's in place before a software update goes out to the field. Plus this recall has gone out to a lot of cars that have been updated with no issue, so what are the chances that it's bad software? Not likely. To the dealer's defense, the BCM requires the most special attention to program. It is the heart, brain, soul and blood of most Ford vehicles. If you do anything wrong, such as the things that I mentioned, you are going to mess things up.

 

[tpiechow]

I think one of the guys with this problem had a BCM put in and it didn't fix the problem. I'm guessing that is why the hotline isn't providing any answers right now.

There have been several previous recalls of C platform cars that required a BCM flash to address. I don't find any incidences of similar failures in those, even though the number of cars recalled is much larger. If it was a problem with the service tech procedure, I would expect to see it occur during other recalls too.

That's pathetic design if a failed software download bricks the module. Embedded devices typically have boot firmware that brings the module up to the point it can talk to the handheld tester or laptop, boot the software image from nvram, download new software, etc. So long as you don't overwrite the boot firmware you can always attempt a fresh download to replace a failed or faulty image. A better approach is to store two software images and only overwrite the older one so there is always one good image on the device. But on consumer hw maybe the few extra pennies makes a difference.

It's not the service tech procedure that's the issue, its the dealer not paying attention and not making sure everything is 100% perfect before and during a BCM update. Trust me, I worked at the hotline long enough to know that 90% of failed modules are dealer induced. The other 10% is failed parts. It's 100% not the software that bricked the module. If it was the process or the software, you would be hearing about failed updates on all BCM equipped vehicles (which is basically all of them after 2010) a lot more often.

It's the human factor at the dealer.

All Ford modules have programming that allow them to communicate with the scan tool even if it is not programmed to the vehicle. This is a separate file that is stored within the module that is not touched or changed for any reason during the lifespan of the module. So when a module is programmed or updated, the files being downloaded is completely seperate and would not affect the modules ability to communicate. In the case that a module loses it's ability to communicate, it cannot be programmed at all, is considered "bricked" and has to be replaced.

Saying that this is a software issue is like downloading windows 10 on your windows 7, your internet gets taken down and the install gets screwed up. Was it the software or some other factor? Probably some other factor since there are so many people that downloaded windows 10 without any issues...

 

[KM177122]

Would a cobb or custom tune be a solution to this problem if the dealer isn't competent enough to be able to fix it?

 

[xrayruester]

Would a cobb or custom tune be a solution to this problem if the dealer isn't competent enough to be able to fix it?

Nope, or at least I would highly doubt it as it's different computer. Cobb stuff goes to the pcm this is the BCM. And what it happening is that the bcms aren't taking the update and are occasionally bricking. This is where the problem comes in. They new bcms still do not work with certain cars and will not sync or take the update it whatever. This results in a car that will not start, lock, lights won't work etc. It appears to be negligence on the dealers for not making sure everything is ok before they start, trying multiple attempts when the reflash failed, and Ford for not with holding the recall until this issue is solved. It seems a small amount of cars are getting bricked, but those that frying seem to be pretty well screwed. It's been officially over two weeks since ford was notified of my issue and they have not come up with a fix. And others appear to have been waiting even longer

 

[Ibepaintin]

I had this update done with no issue on a 15. Has it been an issue on the 14's and under only?

The dealer said they "did it free of charge" made me laugh

 

[xrayruester]

I had this update done with no issue on a 15. Has it been an issue on the 14's and under only?

The dealer said they "did it free of charge" made me laugh

No, mine is a 2015 and it failed and fried the BCM. It is a very small amount of cars that are impacted negativity by this recall.

 

[Shadow5501]

It's not the service tech procedure that's the issue, its the dealer not paying attention and not making sure everything is 100% perfect before and during a BCM update. Trust me, I worked at the hotline long enough to know that 90% of failed modules are dealer induced. The other 10% is failed parts. It's 100% not the software that bricked the module. If it was the process or the software, you would be hearing about failed updates on all BCM equipped vehicles (which is basically all of them after 2010) a lot more often.

It's the human factor at the dealer.

All Ford modules have programming that allow them to communicate with the scan tool even if it is not programmed to the vehicle. This is a separate file that is stored within the module that is not touched or changed for any reason during the lifespan of the module. So when a module is programmed or updated, the files being downloaded is completely seperate and would not affect the modules ability to communicate. In the case that a module loses it's ability to communicate, it cannot be programmed at all, is considered "bricked" and has to be replaced.

Saying that this is a software issue is like downloading windows 10 on your windows 7, your internet gets taken down and the install gets screwed up. Was it the software or some other factor? Probably some other factor since there are so many people that downloaded windows 10 without any issues...

Ok, what you are saying about the BCM is exactly the same as what I wrote above, using different terminology. Very typical of an updatable embedded system.

I didn't intend to imply it's a software issue. In my case, the update goes to about 75% downloaded and then hangs, according to the tech. So we're not even getting to the point where the new software is running in the car. Maybe the scan tool needs to be more idiot proof or something, I don't know. What I can tell you after 30 years designing software systems is that's always possible to make them more reliable and there are always errors that will not be handled gracefully. Whether or not those problems ever get fixed is decided by economics - how often they occur, how much they cost to fix, how mission critical is the software, etc.