Bronco TCU ON BOARD MODEM IS ON 24/7 AND CREATES BATTERY DRAIN FUSE #20 BCU inside fuse box

I've had FordPass on 3 different vehicles, and have yet to see any signs that my information is being spied on by "big brother", the Feds or my insurance company. Might need to adjust the size on your tinfoil hat...you're still getting zapped by the aliens.

Why did your insurance company give you a discount on your Bronco. See Progressive has plug in device for driving records. Ford and AT&T has one step beyond. Tin hsts are too expensive these days . Use your Bronco Nation hat!😆😆😆

frankgoss

Why did your insurance company give you a discount on your Bronco. See Progressive has plug in device for driving records. Ford and AT&T has one step beyond. Tin hsts are too expensive these days . Use your Bronco Nation hat!😆😆😆

My insurance company didn't give me a discount..ha! If the FordPass is so "all knowing" why does Progressive need to use their plug in device? hmmm questions questions questions.

So if you're soooo worried about the inner workings (electrical, fordpass, battery draining, and whatever next weeks flavor of the week is) why not get rid of the Bronco, and get a simple, non computer--wired correctly, non battery draining vehicle..say a Corvair?

frdfan

My insurance company didn't give me a discount..ha! If the FordPass is so "all knowing" why does Progressive need to use their plug in device? hmmm questions questions questions.

So if you're soooo worried about the inner workings (electrical, fordpass, battery draining, and whatever next weeks flavor of the week is) why not get rid of the Bronco, and get a simple, non computer--wired correctly, non battery draining vehicle..say a Corvair?

and leave your cell phone at home or better yet smash it with a hammer.

I heard if you put an aluminum foil hat on it will block transmission from your brain, but it must be aluminum, not tin. Good luck. Let’s stick it to the man.

I WANT a discount on my insurance! How do I get Ford to spy on me?

It is well known, documented and reported on that your telemetry is sold to numerous big data companies, who then create products ranging from simple odometer / car fax style data (which is also used to calculate vehicle usage/annual mileage with insurance carriers), driver scores (based on location and vehicle speed), and some who provide law enforcement access to your real time and location history, both with and without a warrant, depending on the product. The TCU itself has its own GPS, but cell tower data is also easy to position you from anyway.

I’ve asked about the modem, specifically whether it connects when connectivity is switched off, and have been told by Ford engineers that it does in fact NOT connect when turned off. The only sure fire way, however, to guarantee that is to pull the fuse.

That said, I’d rather get software updates most of the time, at least until they fix this hot garbage. If you need to hide a body, by all means disable it, and then you’ll only have your cellphone, your watch, toll transponders, license plate readers, eye witnesses, cameras, and forensics to worry about.

If you want to receive updates but preserve your privacy, you could try removing the SIM or disconnecting the LTE antenna, but the TCU behaves as an event recorder, queuing up telemetry events and sending in batches, so even if you rely on WiFi at home for updates, chances are at least some data is going to go to Ford such as odometer and recent events. As I pointed out in another thread, this also includes your configuration parameters (including forscan changes), which gets uploaded into your ASBUILT profile.

My advice is to keep it on for now, as Ford is obviously working on many fixes and improvements. Once the software is where you want it, kill the TCU. If you really want to be hardcore, pull the fuse and then buy a Mongoose cable and FDRS license to update manually. Chances are FDRS at least reports some data such as odometer and parameters, which ends up with big data as well. The only way to be truly off the grid is to freeze your vehicle’s software and other module versions. That will not fair well with insurance companies if Ford pushed out a safety fix, and you disabled updates.

Sulley

It is well known, documented and reported on that your telemetry is sold to numerous big data companies, who then create products ranging from simple odometer / car fax style data (which is also used to calculate vehicle usage/annual mileage with insurance carriers), driver scores (based on location and vehicle speed), and some who provide law enforcement access to your real time and location history, both with and without a warrant, depending on the product. The TCU itself has its own GPS, but cell tower data is also easy to position you from anyway.

I’ve asked about the modem, specifically whether it connects when connectivity is switched off, and have been told by Ford engineers that it does in fact NOT connect when turned off. The only sure fire way, however, to guarantee that is to pull the fuse.

That said, I’d rather get software updates most of the time, at least until they fix this hot garbage. If you need to hide a body, by all means disable it, and then you’ll only have your cellphone, your watch, toll transponders, license plate readers, eye witnesses, cameras, and forensics to worry about.

If you want to receive updates but preserve your privacy, you could try removing the SIM or disconnecting the LTE antenna, but the TCU behaves as an event recorder, queuing up telemetry events and sending in batches, so even if you rely on WiFi at home for updates, chances are at least some data is going to go to Ford such as odometer and recent events. As I pointed out in another thread, this also includes your configuration parameters (including forscan changes), which gets uploaded into your ASBUILT profile.

My advice is to keep it on for now, as Ford is obviously working on many fixes and improvements. Once the software is where you want it, kill the TCU. If you really want to be hardcore, pull the fuse and then buy a Mongoose cable and FDRS license to update manually. Chances are FDRS at least reports some data such as odometer and parameters, which ends up with big data as well. The only way to be truly off the grid is to freeze your vehicle’s software and other module versions. That will not fair well with insurance companies if Ford pushed out a safety fix, and you disabled updates.

I tend to agree, what Ford is doing is a spit in the ocean compared to the tons of other data about me that's being collected and sold, especially by social media.

It is called Data Mining. And everyone does it.

Gentleman:

ISSUE: MODEM CAUSING BRONCO TO GO IN DEEP SLEEP
TEST OF CLAIMS:

Here is a log of various voltage taken by Ford Pass telematric modem in the last week:( Ford Pass only updates voltage when it reads mileage, oil status.History records are dropped and replaced with most current time stamped readings)

On 3/4/23 spoke to, Latonya W. supervisor , she stated @1095 miles, at 1:15pm on Ford Pass showed 12.015v (40-50% battery charged) ; then on 3/6/23 12.4v 12:30pm, on glass mat battery, miles 1103 per supervisor stated , up from 12.015v! .
On 3/9/23 Mileage 1107 8:25am going in shop , for deep sleep issue called @9:15Am Ford Pass they said 14.85v had to be running at 8:25am by stop light..START/STOP was disabled. Then at same mileage, after tech break Bronco went into shop, say 9:45-10:00am. Battery was on Ford battery test machine and Ford Pass stated 14.6v 10:00am reading over modem. Car was not running at 10:00am but hooked up to charger in shop. Bronco cannot be running while on charger, load test or charging !

Conclusion: The modem is transmitting data periodically when engine is off and milliamp draw is drawing down to 12.015 ; 12.4. maximum v per chart 12.7v, but 10:00am Ford Pass reads 14.6v while on charger, and engine can not running, on test/charging unit.See table for AGM below.

frankgoss

Gentleman:

ISSUE: MODEM CAUSING BRONCO TO GO IN DEEP SLEEP
TEST OF CLAIMS:

Here is a log of various voltage taken by Ford Pass telematric modem in the last week:( Ford Pass only updates voltage when it reads mileage, oil status.History records are dropped and replaced with most current time stamped readings)

On 3/4/23 spoke to, Latonya W. supervisor , she stated @1095 miles, at 1:15pm on Ford Pass showed 12.015v (40-50% battery charged) ; then on 3/6/23 12.4v 12:30pm, on glass mat battery, miles 1103 per supervisor stated , up from 12.015v! .
On 3/9/23 Mileage 1107 8:25am going in shop , for deep sleep issue called @9:15Am Ford Pass they said 14.85v had to be running at 8:25am by stop light..START/STOP was disabled. Then at same mileage, after tech break Bronco went into shop, say 9:45-10:00am. Battery was on Ford battery test machine and Ford Pass stated 14.6v 10:00am reading over modem. Car was not running at 10:00am but hooked up to charger in shop. Bronco cannot be running while on charger, load test or charging !

Conclusion: The modem is transmitting data periodically when engine is off and milliamp draw is drawing down to 12.015 ; 12.4. maximum v per chart 12.7v, but 10:00am Ford Pass reads 14.6v while on charger, and engine can not running, on test/charging unit.See table for AGM below.

Not gonna say “I told you so” but certainly gonna think it…

Well just picked up Bronco from Shop after 1:02 charged hours reading 12.43 Volts Good by Ford Rotunda ( oil) test report. Same a one of above Ford Pass before charging for 1 hr. Start/stop is disabled, just like before under Deep Steep messages. NO MESSAGE ON SHUT DOWN ANYMORE! SEE PIC BELOW State of charge ok!