FORScan Modifications

[JTDay]

Hey everyone, I've received my obdii dongle and have the trial license ready to go. I understand that when I first connect to the truck, FORScan will read the tuck's computer(s) and then offer for me to save an AS-Built "profile" of the truck in case I ever want to revert back to factory settings.

So my question comes after I've made a few changes to the module data. It appears that there are two things that people are making backups of: the profile and the module data.

Do I need to save backups of the individual modules AND save a new profile each time I make a change? Or do I just do one or the other? It seems like saving a new profile each time would be less messy than having to save and remember (or write down) one or more individual modules. Or does it not work that way?

TIA. I don't want to brick my ecu or get in trouble with the dealer!

Josh

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[RCMUSTANG]

Hey everyone, I've received my obdii dongle and have the trial license ready to go. I understand that when I first connect to the truck, FORScan will read the tuck's computer(s) and then offer for me to save an AS-Built "profile" of the truck in case I ever want to revert back to factory settings.

So my question comes after I've made a few changes to the module data. It appears that there are two things that people are making backups of: the profile and the module data.

Do I need to save backups of the individual modules AND save a new profile each time I make a change? Or do I just do one or the other? It seems like saving a new profile each time would be less messy than having to save and remember (or write down) one or more individual modules. Or does it not work that way?

TIA. I don't want to brick my ecu or get in trouble with the dealer!

Josh

You can't brick your ecu as there's nothing you can do to it with forscan.

 

[Big Blue]

Hey everyone, I've received my obdii dongle and have the trial license ready to go. I understand that when I first connect to the truck, FORScan will read the tuck's computer(s) and then offer for me to save an AS-Built "profile" of the truck in case I ever want to revert back to factory settings.

So my question comes after I've made a few changes to the module data. It appears that there are two things that people are making backups of: the profile and the module data.

Do I need to save backups of the individual modules AND save a new profile each time I make a change? Or do I just do one or the other? It seems like saving a new profile each time would be less messy than having to save and remember (or write down) one or more individual modules. Or does it not work that way?

TIA. I don't want to brick my ecu or get in trouble with the dealer!

Josh

Create the profile the first time you connect the truck. It will scan your truck and get all your modules both the asbuilts and for some also a configuration. Next, before you make any changes back up all the as built modules. This is very important. This will give you way to return the truck to the original state if some thing work as expected. Don't worry about the profile just reuse it the next time you log in. You can and should make incremental back ups of the as built models as you make changes, develop a naming convention so you can tell module and version it is. Don't worry about the configuration files. If you make the changes there, which is easier and safer than editing the as built file, the changes will show in the as built as well. Welcome to Forscan and have fun with your truck.

No you really can't brick anything with Forscan as long as you have backups so you can restore to a previous working version or original settings.

 

[JTDay]

Create the profile the first time you connect the truck. It will scan your truck and get all your modules both the asbuilts and for some also a configuration. Next, before you make any changes back up all the as built modules. This is very important. This will give you way to return the truck to the original state if some thing work as expected. Don't worry about the profile just reuse it the next time you log in. You can and should make incremental back ups of the as built models as you make changes, develop a naming convention so you can tell module and version it is. Don't worry about the configuration files. If you make the changes there, which is easier and safer than editing the as built file, the changes will show in the as built as well. Welcome to Forscan and have fun with your truck.

No you really can't brick anything with Forscan as long as you have backups so you can restore to a previous working version or original settings.

Thanks Blue. So what I'm reading is that each vehicle only has one profile and if I ever wanted to revert back to a previous revision or go back to stock completely, I would have to do so solely by loading and writing the modules individually?

I've watched about 2 hours worth of tutorials so far but that backup piece eludes me. If the above is correct, I'm going to start editing the modules a bit tonight. Thanks for helping to clarify this for the uninitiated!

Josh

 

[Big Blue]

Thanks Blue. So what I'm reading is that each vehicle only has one profile and if I ever wanted to revert back to a previous revision or go back to stock completely, I would have to do so solely by loading and writing the modules individually?

I've watched about 2 hours worth of tutorials so far but that backup piece eludes me. If the above is correct, I'm going to start editing the modules a bit tonight. Thanks for helping to clarify this for the uninitiated!

Josh

Correct the profe is linked to your vehicles VIN. The only time I've needed a new profile was when a revision to Forscan added a configuration file to a module that didn't have one.

 

[Wasatch]

Okay lesson learn just changing the numeric value did not turn off the Auto Start/Stop, had to go to functions and disable it also. Works great no more annoying engine turn off at stop signs.

Can anyone elaborate on this? I too found that disabling the 'Auto Start Stop' in the IPC module did not work. It only turns off the confirmation in the dash.

 

[Big Blue]

Can anyone elaborate on this? I too found that disabling the 'Auto Start Stop' in the IPC module did not work. It only turns off the confirmation in the dash.

You need to turn it off in the BCM configuration as well. It's in the BMS area of the menus.

 

[TimmyB]

This thread is now 53 pages long, so I apologize if this has been asked. I found references but saw differing answers, especially with regard to the difference between the original file that I saved on my first connection and the "As Built" file that some are saying you download from Ford.

I have been using Forscan, so far with no issues. I am only changing things that are very "harmless", such as time the stereo can play without the car turned on, turning off the fake engine noise, etc. I have kept a spreadsheet of all changes, listing what module, starting value, ending value, etc.

If I decide to switch everything back (for whatever reason), I want to make sure I am understanding this correctly.

• First, I must load the profile that I saved when I first connected to the car, before any modifications were done.
• Then, I must load each module in which I made changes and click the "Write All" button, which would reset all of the changes that I have made since this file was created.

Am I understanding this correctly? I am not foreseeing this being necessary, but just wanted to know for peace of mind.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[Tom_C]

@TimmyB good question. I have the downloaded asbuilt file and have a spreadsheet like you. There is a way to save .eb files, but I haven't gone that far. I'm only doing minor stuff and I'm comfortable with changing stuff. I hope I don't regret that.

Another question. Navigation in Motion isn't available in the APIM module on my 2020 Lariat. Does anyone know where that is for the 2020?

 

[jzinckgra]

Is it possible to make the text reply options selectable when driving? When someone sends me a text and it is a simple yes, no, I'm driving type of response, I'd like to just select one of them, but they are greyed out and only allow you to use them when stopped. Seems counterintuitive as some will just start texting while driving. If you can change a radio station or push a climate control button, seems you should be able to push one more button for a text reply. My Ridgeline had this ability while driving.

 

[JimH]

Is it possible to make the text reply options selectable when driving? When someone sends me a text and it is a simple yes, no, I'm driving type of response, I'd like to just select one of them, but they are greyed out and only allow you to use them when stopped. Seems counterintuitive as some will just start texting while driving. If you can change a radio station or push a climate control button, seems you should be able to push one more button for a text reply. My Ridgeline had this ability while driving.

I get options I can press to send a reply while driving my 2020 Ranger. About 8 or 9 options, if I remember correctly.

 

[Big Blue]

If I decide to switch everything back (for whatever reason), I want to make sure I am understanding this correctly.

• First, I must load the profile that I saved when I first connected to the car, before any modifications were done.
• Then, I must load each module in which I made changes and click the "Write All" button, which would reset all of the changes that I have made since this file was created.

Am I understanding this correctly? I am not foreseeing this being necessary, but just wanted to know for peace of mind.

Thanks for any assistance.

Hopefully I will make this simple.
You only have one profile, the one for your truck. You load it every time you connect Forscan to your truck.

If you want to revert to the original settings, you must load up the as-built of a module you changed. Then you call up the as-buildt back-up file you hopefully saved when you first loaded Forscan. You then write the module. You then repeat this for each module you made changes to.

I have back-ups of the original as-buildts and incremental back-ups as I have made changes. I always make a back-up before I make a change, so I can revert back to the last working version of something goes wrong.

Working with the down loaded as-built file from Ford is a bit of a PITA. It is in a different format from what Forscan uses, and all the modules are in one file. If you know how to manipulate delimited text files, you can spend some time formatting into spreadsheets for each module. I did this for my truck. You will find some modules Forscan doesn't show you and some that don't have all the PIDs that Forscan does. These are usually things like place holders for radio presets and the like. I also went through and created spreadsheets for the GUI menus for each module. You can find interesting things there. I have to recheck my APIM sheet after the last SYNC update some options may have changed.

 

[TimmyB]

Hopefully I will make this simple.
You only have one profile, the one for your truck. You load it every time you connect Forscan to your truck.

If you want to revert to the original settings, you must load up the as-built of a module you changed. Then you call up the as-buildt back-up file you hopefully saved when you first loaded Forscan. You then write the module. You then repeat this for each module you made changes to.

I have back-ups of the original as-buildts and incremental back-ups as I have made changes. I always make a back-up before I make a change, so I can revert back to the last working version of something goes wrong.

Working with the down loaded as-built file from Ford is a bit of a PITA. It is in a different format from what Forscan uses, and all the modules are in one file. If you know how to manipulate delimited text files, you can spend some time formatting into spreadsheets for each module. I did this for my truck. You will find some modules Forscan doesn't show you and some that don't have all the PIDs that Forscan does. These are usually things like place holders for radio presets and the like. I also went through and created spreadsheets for the GUI menus for each module. You can find interesting things there. I have to recheck my APIM sheet after the last SYNC update some options may have changed.

Ok, thanks! I've been working with spreadsheets since they were developed, so working with csv's is nothing big. I might do this just to see what else is out there!

 

[Big Blue]

Ok, thanks! I've been working with spreadsheets since they were developed, so working with csv's is nothing big. I might do this just to see what else is out there!

Have fun. The GUI menus do make it easier make changes to things than editing the Hex codes. But, there are a few changes that still require it. Can't remember them right now, but they haven't made it to the menus yet.

 

[TimmyB]

Have fun. The GUI menus do make it easier make changes to things than editing the Hex codes. But, there are a few changes that still require it. Can't remember them right now, but they haven't made it to the menus yet.

Yeah, I was dealing with hex way back in the 80's when I was working in the Point-of-Sale industry. That doesn't scare me too much, but the nice thing about the GUI's is that they are relatively idiot-proof! Not that I would ever put the wrong value in or anything!!! ? Thanks, again!

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