SYNC Black Screen of Death

[SILK]

I have a bit of an update on this. I've come to realize that this black screen of death happens every single time I drive this thing longer distances. And this time, I think I've worked out what's going on.

As @Dgc333 predicted in post #14, I think it's overheating and shutting itself off.

I've ruled out that it's a Sync issue as it's happened over three versions of Sync 3 (3.3 & 2x 3.4). When I touch the display as it's working properly, it feels warm, but not hot. When I touched the screen after it died on this past weekend's long trip, it was HOT. On the way home, I decided to try modulating the heat inside the cabin. I noticed at the end of the trip out that pointing the heat at the floor and not a floor/defrost combo kept the infotainment on longer. On the way back, I only pointed heat at floor and kept turning it on and off completely at about 45-minute intervals (it got quite cold in the cabin). The unit only shut off one time on the 7 hour drive back. On the way out, it died 5 times with the heat on normally.

I have an appointment with the local dealer to have it reviewed next week. I'm going to strip to my skivvies in this 10-degree weather and blast the everloving heck out of my heater on my next few 30-minute drives home from work to see if I can force it to happen over a short distance.

More to come.

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[BuzKilington]

I have a bit of an update on this. I've come to realize that this black screen of death happens every single time I drive this thing longer distances. And this time, I think I've worked out what's going on.

As @Dgc333 predicted in post #14, I think it's overheating and shutting itself off.

I've ruled out that it's a Sync issue as it's happened over three versions of Sync 3 (3.3 & 2x 3.4). When I touch the display as it's working properly, it feels warm, but not hot. When I touched the screen after it died on this past weekend's long trip, it was HOT. On the way home, I decided to try modulating the heat inside the cabin. I noticed at the end of the trip out that pointing the heat at the floor and not a floor/defrost combo kept the infotainment on longer. On the way back, I only pointed heat at floor and kept turning it on and off completely at about 45-minute intervals (it got quite cold in the cabin). The unit only shut off one time on the 7 hour drive back. On the way out, it died 5 times with the heat on normally.

I have an appointment with the local dealer to have it reviewed next week. I'm going to strip to my skivvies in this 10-degree weather and blast the everloving heck out of my heater on my next few 30-minute drives home from work to see if I can force it to happen over a short distance.

More to come.

I noticed this on a longer trip in our bronco sport as well. Havnt noticed it in the ranger though. Wishing you the best of luck at dealer. Interested to see what they say.

 

[SILK]

To my surprise, the dealer was able to replicate and diagnose the issue. And the winner is.....

heat.

There are two modules behind the display that are connected together. Both were so hot to the touch that the technician wasn't able to hold them. This is unusual, so they are calling Ford to determine the next step. They are unsure if one is bad and causing the other to overheat as well since they're connected, or if they're both bad. If only one is bad, they are unsure how to determine which one is the bad one. They're waiting for Ford's direction on proper testing/replacement recommendation.

I'm hoping that they replace both modules since I'm assuming some sort of damage has been done to both with all that heat. Heat and tech aren't a good combination.

 

[9zero1790]

wow glad that didnt catch fire!

 

[JesseS]

As I ham operator and long time electronics hobbyist I was thinking heat related by your 3rd or 4th post. too much heat without properly installed heat sinks is the death of the new surface mount tech. Sync was ruled out by the multiple updates that didn't fix it. The fact that it worked after being off for a period of time then repeated the issue after being turned back on is classic heat induced failure. Glad you got it worked out.

 

[mailbox4449]

To my surprise, the dealer was able to replicate and diagnose the issue. And the winner is.....

heat.

There are two modules behind the display that are connected together. Both were so hot to the touch that the technician wasn't able to hold them. This is unusual, so they are calling Ford to determine the next step. They are unsure if one is bad and causing the other to overheat as well since they're connected, or if they're both bad. If only one is bad, they are unsure how to determine which one is the bad one. They're waiting for Ford's direction on proper testing/replacement recommendation.

I'm hoping that they replace both modules since I'm assuming some sort of damage has been done to both with all that heat. Heat and tech aren't a good combination.

Please keep us posted on what was actually replaced/repaired for future reference

 

[SILK]

Update:

The dealer traced the issue to a faulty APIM module which I understand to be the module that runs SYNC. As has been theorized and confirmed in previous posts, the issue was the APIM overheating. They put a call into Ford and two days later they heard back that they would replace the APIM and that they would send out a unit immediately.

Unfortunately, the news of the replacement came after I decided I would take the truck home and wait to hear from Ford as I assumed the replacement part would be weeks or months given the current shortages. The poor technician had fully reinstalled my unit so I could take it home just before hearing that he'd have to take it all back apart again in a week. Oh well. At least it's being replaced.

My only gripe/worry is that I was told that the APIM was physically connected to another module and they didn't know which was the issue. I'm concerned that the second module may have been damaged from the heat of the faulty unit.

 

[Jrel209]

Is there any update? This has happened the last couple weeks whenever i pust max defront and hear on, so it definitely makes sense on bring related to heat behind the sync screen.

 

[SILK]

Is there any update? This has happened the last couple weeks whenever i pust max defront and hear on, so it definitely makes sense on bring related to heat behind the sync screen.

Sure do! After the APIM was replaced back in February, I've had no issues. Though my issues seemed to be more prevalent in the winter than the summer with the heat of the defroster contributing to the issue. I just had a road trip for the holiday last weekend with the defroster on and had no issues. I would ask your dealer to check it out. Have them put defrost on full blast/max heat and wait until the screen fails. Then check the heat of the APIM module. I'd see if they could get a replacement in advance so they can replace it right then and there.

 

[Jrel209]

Sure do! After the APIM was replaced back in February, I've had no issues. Though my issues seemed to be more prevalent in the winter than the summer with the heat of the defroster contributing to the issue. I just had a road trip for the holiday last weekend with the defroster on and had no issues. I would ask your dealer to check it out. Have them put defrost on full blast/max heat and wait until the screen fails. Then check the heat of the APIM module. I'd see if they could get a replacement in advance so they can replace it right then and there.

Thats exactly when this issue presented itself,snowed recently and i put that on max blast and thats when it shut off

 

[SILK]

Thats exactly when this issue presented itself,snowed recently and i put that on max blast and thats when it shut off

My dealer was never a dick about it, but it did sound like they hadn't seen this issue before. Luckily I got a failed attempt on video and showed it to them. That's when they took it in to attempt a replication of the issue. One way to get it on video would be to defrost until it shuts off, then take a recording of you powering it back on manually (hold "fordward skip" and "radio on" at the same time for 5 seconds), then continue recording until it shuts off. If it's a heat-related issue, it will shut off again.

 

[RangerDanger617]

Screen turned black yesterday for a few seconds with no response. Clicked the power button a few times and it rebooted. Unable to replicate issue.

 

[underwhelmed]

Today I got the black screen of death twice. Couldn’t turn off the radio or tune it. Volume worked. Had to park, shut off the truck and reset with the power button and FF button. Traveling and pissed. If there was a SYNC update while I was away I guess that could be the problem. Never had this issue until my travel buddy plugged his Android crap into my usb port in the console.

 

[wamaty]

I've experienced the black screen of death and was told I needed a new APIM. It was backordered. Had to pay for it in advance. Was told by dealer they would call when it arrived. After not hearing from them in over a month, I called. Surprise! It was in. Thanks for the no-call. When I told them I wanted to keep the old APIM, they called and told me that there is a $350 core charge if I wanted to keep it. This was not told to me when I bought the new one for around $700. The service guy told me they refurbish them. I said that I hope the "new" one wasn't a refurb, he told me he did not know. They've lost me as a customer for life. I've bought three new Fords from this dealership, and a certified pre-owned. A Toyota Tacoma is now in my future when I'm ready to purchase a new mid-sized truck.

 

[Ronbo]

Issues with Sync are not unique to just Ford. Every truck manufacturer has had a small percentage of issues with trucks that have infotainment (sync) systems on their vehicles. Toyota is not exempt, nor is GM, Dodge, or Nissan.

“Infotainment issues: The infotainment system in the new Tacoma is reported malfunctioning by many owners. The complainants state that the unit randomly reboots and freezes. this causes a distraction while driving.” Aug 24,2022
https://www.carhp.com/toyota/tacoma...ent system,causes a distraction while driving.


“2023 Chevy Colorado problem
Instead, the software update freezes, and it won't let the truck turn itself all the way off. This leads to dead batteries and, in several cases, ordering a completely new infotainment system.Aug 9, 2023”
https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/08... freezes,a completely new infotainment system.

“2022 Ram owners have complained about the system's inability to run smoothly in multiple forum threads. Some say the Uconnect 5 software boots them out of CarPlay abruptly or toggles the climate control on and off without reason.Jul 5, 2022”
https://www.thedrive.com/news/ram-p...ers have complained,on and off without reason.

“The recall of more than 27,000 vehicles was announced because the Nisaan infotainment systems may continuously restart when the vehicles are restarted. This means the backup camera image can't display properly, a violation of federal safety standards.Oct 22, 2022”
https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/...re than,violation of federal safety standards.

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