Unable to save ValueCharge and GoTime profiles

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kokurlia

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
Messages
14
Location
Ukraine
Hi everyone.
I've just got my first EV! Used FFE 2013.
It was bought on manheim and imported here to Ukraine.

I have several issues that i can't figure out by myself and would like to ask you guys.
ValueCharge and GoTime profiles settings aren't get saved for some reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I3LeDaKlIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrl36jCPh4E

I have an idea what could be the reason, but i'm not sure:
Could it be like that when you use MyKey key? Owners manual doesn't mention that, but who knows.. Can anyone confirm that?

And here we come to my another main issue: i have one key only and i've managed to screw it up with that "MyKey" thing :cry: So now i have all those restrictions and can't figure out how to get rid of them. I tried to turn off MyKey with Focuus app but had some error while reading from the car's memory (i suppose it is obd adapter issue).

Also, i'm interested in getting phone app work with my car. I registered to myfordmobile, added car by VIN and after that i have to get some verification code on the car's display?, i suppose... The thing is, i'm pretty sure, modem connection doesn't work here and i tried to use wi-fi connection but without any success. Any messages from the car...

But first thing first: why i can't save those settings? Any thoughts?
 
It may take as many as 30+ tries to get focccus to read/write. Keep trying. Of course it could also be your OBDII adapter. I used a USB one and had to manipulate a port setting on my computer to get it to work more reliably. It still fails often but I have fewer repeat attempts before it finally works. For some reason while reading and writing mine tended to error when the climate control would come on so while reading/writing I'd immediately turn off the climate control when it comes on. Not sure if this actually helped or not but it seemed to. Don't forget to use FORScan to clear all the error codes generated by focccus. The go times and value charge settings are stored in the TCU (telematics control unit). Sometimes it stops responding. If you can figure out the proper fuse pull it out and then put it back in to do a hard reset on the TCU. If you're not sure which fuse you can also just unhook the 12V battery for a while. Unfortunately if you want to add extra keys you will need to have a dealer do that for you. There is no way for an end user to program new keys. The dealer would have to connect to the RFA (remote function actuator) and delete all keys associated with the car and then add all the key fobs you have to the car. The MyFordMobile app only works thru the TCU's modem. So if your car doesn't have a mobile connection it will never work. Also the modem was replaced under a recall since it used to use AT&T's 2G network that was shut down at the end of 2016. You should be able to register the car with the vin on owner.ford.com. If the TCU wasn't already replaced it would show up as and outstanding FSA (recall). You may yet have some luck. Some FFEs exported to Jordan have worked with my Ford mobile or at least it showed its location on the former US owners myfordmoble app.
 
Thanks triangles.
I've tried several of whose obdII adapters, bluetooth and usb, based on elm327. But i've never went as far as 30 attempts :)
I'm going to get a better one (according to comments) based on els27. Also, i might try ask dealer for some tools. It is funny and sad story at the same time: our dealers don't have any EVs officially, so they've never seen any of them and don't have any tools, apps, skills, etc.
I asked them about my case and all they can say is: "you may order a computer diagnostic and we will try to do something by without any warranty".
They can't program second key, because they don't have keys like this and have some doubts that european key will program successfully. Transponder frequencies might differ. In this case I'll probably get a car without any key at all.

As for TCU and fuse - i definitely should try that.
The MyFordMobile app only works thru the TCU's modem.
It's sad to hear. I don't think AT&T connection works here.. We still have 2G networks, but GSM frequencies might be different and roaming might be the issue. Also it is almost 5 years old and exported form the USA, so who pays for it?
By the way, does anyone know whether TCU have regular SIM card inside? Is it possible to change mobile operator to a local one?

I have such item on the owner.ford.com :
FSA Title: EMBEDDED MODEM REPLACEMENT
Field Service Action Number: 15N04
so i'm still on 2G modem, right?

In general we have a lot of Nissan Leafs, very limited number of FFEs, Fiat 500e and even some Teslas here. All of them don't have remote access features, official service, spare parts, etc.. but people like them and i like my new old FFE as well. It is completely different experience in comparison to ICE vehicles. But without government incentives like you have and taxes it is impossible to sell new EVs here. Price would be somewhere close to 40k for cars like FFE or leaf. So the only option for now is to import used or even salvaged cars from the USA or Europe.
 
I had the exact same issue. My TCU had to be replaced to fix it.
 
kokurlia said:
Thanks triangles.
I've tried several of whose obdII adapters, bluetooth and usb, based on elm327. But i've never went as far as 30 attempts :)
FYI I use this with my laptop. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F0GVBWY/ Supposedly the ODBLink MX wireless works but I'm too cheap to spend $80 https://www.amazon.com/ScanTool-426101-OBDLink-Bluetooth-Professional/dp/B006NZTZLQ
It is possible to program key fobs to some '11 and earlier ford focus with FORScan software. Maybe they will update it someday to allow programming with our FFEs.
kokurlia said:
They can't program second key, because they don't have keys like this and have some doubts that european key will program successfully. Transponder frequencies might differ. In this case I'll probably get a car without any key at all.
The ford service computer should be able to access the RFA module. I believe the way it works is that the serial numbers or codes for each fob is stored in the RFA module. When reprogramming for additional fobs, all fobs stored in the RFA are cleared and then each fob to be used with the car is paired or somehow entered into the RFA module. I'm not 100% certain how this works but this is what I gather from reading about it. I know they had the FFE in Europe, Might be worth while to load your FFE on a trailer and haul it to another country where they were available and have a dealer there fix you up with extra fobs.
The tiny numbers along the top (white on black) are what you need to match up with any new fobs. It's been a while so I don't remember which groups are the important ones. You can probably figure it out by searching on the "focus fanatics" forum.

kokurlia said:
It's sad to hear. I don't think AT&T connection works here.. We still have 2G networks, but GSM frequencies might be different and roaming might be the issue. Also it is almost 5 years old and exported form the USA, so who pays for it?
By the way, does anyone know whether TCU have regular SIM card inside? Is it possible to change mobile operator to a local one?

I have such item on the owner.ford.com :
FSA Title: EMBEDDED MODEM REPLACEMENT
Field Service Action Number: 15N04
so i'm still on 2G modem, right?
Yeah I don't know about the network frequencies and what not. I'm gonna guess without the new TCU you likely have 0 probability of getting MFM to work. You are correct if it shows 15N04 you still have the 2G TCU. I have no idea what the TCU even looks like to know if it even has a sim card. All I know is it's in the back of the car somewhere and the fuse for it at least in my '14 is also in the rear. I pulled the fuse for mine and that's how I discovered go times and value charging are dependent on the TCU as they both stopped working until I put the fuse back in. As far as who pays for it? good question. The first 5 years of the service are included in the car purchase and it's supposed to be a billed service after that but I haven't heard of anyone getting billed for it yet. I figured it was tied to the US AT&T network. That's why I was surprised that it apparently worked for some cars exported to Jordan.
 
Thanks for advice.
I pulled the TCU fuse out and back again and now i have go time and value charge setting enabled. Will see how it works.

Unfortunately, mobile connection doesn't seem to work. At least i can't see any messages while trying to add vehicle to mfm. Should there be some icons, logs, status messages about TCU connection?

MyKey thing is still in progress. Also i think that it would be great to get the same key as mine, that will definitely fit my car. In this case i will be able to program both of them and all my troubles will go away. (You know, that programming procedure requires at least two keys.) Does anyone know how to find useless (used) key for FFE 2013? Ordering here at dealer would cost me a lot of money (briefly estimation is "more than $350"). So I thought it would be great to find someones used key for reasonable amount of money. Anyway it's just my thoughts..
 
When you put the vin in the app it goes to Ford's servers. Fords servers have the ESN of the modem associated with the car's VIN so that it knows where to send the confirmation to. The confirmation is then sent to the car over the mobile network and a message pops up on the car's screen asking to confirm the paring with MFM. This process takes about 24-48 hours and that is assuming your car can actually connect to the mobile network. Since ford knew the AT&T 2G network went away it wouldn't surprise me if Ford automatically deactivated all the 2G modems such that even if there was a 2G network for it to connect to, the modem is no longer active.

kokurlia said:
(You know, that programming procedure requires at least two keys.) Does anyone know how to find useless (used) key for FFE 2013? Ordering here at dealer would cost me a lot of money (briefly estimation is "more than $350"). So I thought it would be great to find someones used key for reasonable amount of money. Anyway it's just my thoughts..

The two key requirement isn't necessarily applicable. When programming a key with ford's tool connected to the computer I'm 99% sure you can program 1 up to the max number of keys which I think is either 4 or 8. Where the 2 key requirement comes in is that on some Fords you can go thru a convoluted series of button/pedal presses and holding the fobs up to a sensor to program additional fobs. This does not apply to our FFE's or at least the '14 and earlier. Not sure about the '15 and '16. I believe it is applicable to the '17 as in you can program a 3rd + fobs if you have 2 already programmed keys. I learned this the hard way as I read the 2 fob requirement and so I picked up a 3rd spare fob second hand only to learn that it wasn't possible to do it myself. The stealership wanted $$$ to program the 3rd key only adding to my rage. Since it was a spare I figured it would lay around until I needed it. Fortunately my RFA module went bad under warranty and I gave all 3 fobs to my dealer to pair with the new RFA :D. As far as spare fobs. There are a few online places that will sell them but you may not get what you need. I got mine on ebay making sure the part number and revision number were the same as the fobs I already had. I don't remember which numbers were important but if you search on the Focus Fanatics forum about "intelligent access key" you should find what you need.
 
It's kind of a funny story.
Each step further makes more questions :)

Now a can set GoTime. It is good. But i can't notice it's working.
I set it 9:00 today's morning. The car was plugged in from the evening. It was -8°C (17°F). I did wait for 9:03 and checked the car. Ventilation fan was working at high speed. I was almost happy at that moment, but when i came in to the cabin - there was freezing cold inside.

It seems like when i do autostart from keyfob it makes the same thing - just makes some noise and runs ventilation without actually heating.

When i "start engine" it starts increasing temperature, so in a few minutes it is nice and warm inside... I though it should heat the cabin before i start driving. That is the point of all that thing.
 
kokurlia said:
It's kind of a funny story.
Each step further makes more questions :)

Now a can set GoTime. It is good. But i can't notice it's working.
I set it 9:00 today's morning. The car was plugged in from the evening. It was -8°C (17°F). I did wait for 9:03 and checked the car. Ventilation fan was working at high speed. I was almost happy at that moment, but when i came in to the cabin - there was freezing cold inside.

It seems like when i do autostart from keyfob it makes the same thing - just makes some noise and runs ventilation without actually heating.

When i "start engine" it starts increasing temperature, so in a few minutes it is nice and warm inside... I though it should heat the cabin before i start driving. That is the point of all that thing.

Is the car plugged in to just the 120v l1 charger when the go time starts? I have heard that pre heating does not really work well unless youre plugged into 240v l2 charger. It just may be too cold out for 120v preconditioning to have any effect. Now, using the auto start from the key fob should work fine as its supposed to be the same thing as starting the car. I used this method many times this winter and the car was fairly warm inside within 10 minutes or so.
 
There is a setting for how you want to precondition the cabin for go times. Maybe you didn't have this set correctly. Likewise somewhere on the in car menus there is a setting for what the car does when you remote start. It's been years but I think I set mine to "auto." In "auto" it heats when it's cold outside and AC when it's warm outside. Maybe you don't have these settings right? As Carbuff mentioned, are you L1 or L2 charging?
 
I set 18.5C (65F) in gotimes and as for autostart - i've tried both: "auto" and "last settings".

and here we have 240V only. But it plugged in through its convenience charger which was modified to work with 240V grid.
 
Got any info on how the convenience cord was modified? I've been trying to modify mine but I think the GFCI is screwing me up. It keeps Faulting after charging for a few minutes. Also what is the part number on your convience cord? Should be something like "FM85-10B706-AH."

BTW that convenience cord can only supply 2.88kW which might have something to do with it. I noticed that when I plug in at 2.88kW the battery heater doesn't come on. Where when I plug in my 7.7kW EVSE the battery heater kicks in. It sounds like a distant leaf blower.
 
I've just gone outside and checked: mine part number is FM58-10B706AD
And also it is charging at the moment, but shouldn't. Value charge time begins in several hours... Unplugged, checked settings and plugged back again and it started to charge again.. wtf (timezones differ somewhere in display and tcu?)

And as for remote start when plugged in - yes, i beleave car decides what to do. If it sees that input power is not enough - heater doesn't work. Probaly charger tells it's output power.
I performed an experiment: unplug, autostart - consuption gauge shows climate max consume. Plug in - vents still blows, but climate consumtion goes to zero.

Unfortunately i don't have any detailes on how it was modified. I just can assume, that it has some logic inside to check ground and, maybe, comunicate with a car. That logic needs power suply for its work and basically all you need is to change that tiny PSU. At least Nissan's charger needs only that transformer to be replaced.

As for your faults - try to change socket polarity (neutral and line). I saw somewhere on locan nissan leaf forum about such issue. That helped in that case.
 
kokurlia said:
And also it is charging at the moment, but shouldn't. Value charge time begins in several hours...

The priority is the Go Time, not the Value Charge. So if it thinks it needs to charge in order to be 100% full at the GoTime it will charge even outside the value charge window.


As described above, when you set a Go Time there is a setting for the cabin temperature. I normally do the 72 degree setting. And it will only use as much power as the outlet can provide, it will not drain the battery to pre-condition the cabin.

You said you have 240v available, but you're just charging with the Ford-provided plug? Does it pull 12 amps? That still will only give you maybe 2800 watts or so total (less after the efficiency drop through the charger). If you had an adapter capable of 30+ amps you would see a difference (the car pulls about 29 amps max).
 
I see. I set GoTimes to 9am and plugged in in the evening, about 7pm. Why it starts charging even if it has 70% battery?

Also this weekend i noticed "waiting for charge" and "start at 23:00" instead of simple current time as a start time! I was so happy - "it works finally" i thought. But no :) it just can appear randomly. Once i notices it blinks rapidly between those two options...

my latest hypothesis is: tcu module (now i know that it is responsible for valuecharge, gotimes and communication) is doing something (trying to connect or so) and it simply busy. Don't know its algorithm so who knows.

It would be great to update tcu and all my issues might gone. But here it is problematic for me. Keep researching for places who has spare parts and can program this module...
 
cecil-t said:
You said you have 240v available, but you're just charging with the Ford-provided plug? Does it pull 12 amps? That still will only give you maybe 2800 watts or so total (less after the efficiency drop through the charger).
This it interesting moment. I have modified Ford-provided plug so it works with 240V. Car consumes up to 3kW approx.
But it never preheat cabing when plugged in. Heater takes 5+kW according to dashboard. So it makes sense - not to overload charger. But also, when cabin goes warmer, heater takes about 1.5kW - so it can work in a "economy mode". Why this doesn't use for preheating when plugged in?
 
FYI I have mine set for value charging and in winter when the battery is cold it will ignore value setting and heat/charge the battery. It stops at some point I assume it's once the battery is up to 50F. It then finishes charging at the prescribed value charge time.
 
Hi guys, some update.

I received my els27 adapter two days ago. I had no luck with focccus app. It can't read all the data correctly and says about checksum mismatch. But after receiving Forscan extended license i managed to disable MyKey. So even having 1 keyfob it is definitely possible.
Also i decided to turn off TPMS, at least till summer (winter tyres don't have sensors and that warning is so annoying)

So now i have two issues less :)

The only major thing left is buggy value charge and minor one is lack of internet connectivity. Keep going...
This car just can't stand still in a garage :)
 
Did they update forscan? About a year ago you could only do up to MK2 focus keys with forscan. Or were you just able to turn off the "my key" limitations? You can turn off TPMS with forscan? Please do tell how.
 
I've just downloaded it from official site (for windows). It shows 2.3.13 beta version.

Configuration and Proframming tab -> Central Configuration - main. There is a filter on the top. Type "Mykey" and there you have it. Also in the IPC there is also MyKey and you can disable it there as well. TPMS also somewhere there.. I knew i should take a pictures while doing that :)
 
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