Ive been following this thread for a few days now as I'm trying to get the 2.8.1 update. I've had my truck on a Genius 10 charger for 2 nights now and still can't get the update to go. I'm curious if it's something different than the normal battery issue. Is there any way to tell ?

 

I guess it won't hurt to try. I remember anyone trying that. It'd be interesting to see if it makes a difference.

I've been following this thread for months and countless people have had issues with this update even with a charger on. Make sure the charger settings are set for an AGM battery. Some people have reported to have your headlights on the off position and setting the parking break before you start the update helps. Otherwise, just keep trying until it sticks.

 

Thanks for the info. I've never set the parking brake before hand.

Can you look up my vin to see what the error might be?

I'm going to try again with your suggestions and see what happens.

VIN 1FTFW1E84MFB94726

 

The dreaded insufficient battery charge every single time.

 

Dang it. The battery charger shows it charged. It's been on for about 10 hours but I'll leave it on until this afternoon then try again.

 

It sounds like you plan on taking it off the charger to attempt the update. I'm pretty sure they are talking about leaving it on the charger during the entire update process....

 

yeah I've left it on the charger all the times I've tried. I learned the AGM setting from this group as well, the first go round I didn't have it set to AGM on the charger. I have the parking brake on now, turned off the headlight switch from auto, and I read on another forum something about the BMS and moving the negative charger cable from the battery to a bolt on the chassis so the BMS can reset or recognize the power flowing to the battery so I'm trying that right now. Just started another manual update so we'll see. The charger has been on the battery since last night around 8pm MST so its been well over 14 hours at this point. We'll see what happens.

 

also, after you start up the update, be sure to walk away backwards (NEVER let the truck see the fear in your eyes) and BE SURE to start on your LEFT foot. Or, wait, maybe it’s your RIGHT foot?
Dang I can never remember.

in all seriousness, does it strike anybody else that this is just crazy? I don’t doubt for a moment that the error code is “insufficient battery”, nor do I doubt that doing the install with a charger hooked up is part of the answer.
But I cannot shake the feeling that it’s not actually a battery problem, but instead something goofy with the way the patch is written.

 

Alright so here's how it went. I did 2 things different than all the other times. Whatever it was it finally worked. First I read somewhere about the negative cable from the charger, so I took it off the batter and put it on a bolt near the battery. Then I changed the battery charger from charging mode (because it was already fully charged) and switched it to supply mode. Closed the hood walked back starting with my left foot first (military) habit. I didn't look directly at the truck as I moved slowly away from it. I waited my usual 15 min for the message "we tried to update your truck but we suck" and it never came. I opened the Ford pass app and it's said it was updating and not available. About 45 min later a message confirming it was complete.

So to summarize, headlight switch manually turned off, parking brake enabled, battery charged for like 14 hours then put in supply mode, all widows and latches closed on everything that had one, all USB charging cables unplugged form every orifice in the truck. Took out the kids booster seat, lot a candle, offered a blood sacrifice to the update gods and bam it finally worked.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

I really don’t think you needed to take out the kids’ booster seat … in fact you probably could have left the kid in the seat and skipped the blood sacrifice.

Glad it worked for you, finally. Ford should be very embarrassed, but I doubt they are.