SYNC 3 swap, It's all in here

[CrashOverride]

Thanks Spart for these. Somehow I didn't find these in my swap and was looking into my compass issue. Bringing this to the top for people that have the "backwards compass" problem which is apparently (I haven't tested it yet) solved by setting the Transmission type to what's actually in your car. My donor had the "Autotragic" and my car has the "Manual Master Race"

I wanted to post back...Literally right after the screen reset itself after I changed the transmission setting to "manual" (WHat my car has...the donor was an automatic) via ForScan, the compass pointed in the correct direction. Just wanted to throw this out there.

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[louierg]

For all who will upgrade to v3.0 from a donor, be sure to follow instructions. Have read much info on updating. Some informative others not. 32 GB thumb drive formatted to exFat. First fail for man. Download to computer. Unzip zipped download and move and or copy into the thumb drive. There should be three items in drive. File containing all vehicle updates, autoinstall.lst, and DONTINDEX.MSA. NOTE. The file containing the updates should all be suffixed".tat".

Start and run vehicle in park. Allow Sync 3 System to load. Input USB in dash USB port. DO NOT SHUT ENGINE DOWN UNTIL THE UPDATE IS INSTALLED.. Allow a couple of minutes before shifting into a gear if you will drive rather than sit at idle. My installation took 20 minutes. After a couple of minutes I shifted in to drive and went about my business. I received a note on top screen saying the unit was updating. The sign remained till the update was installed. Then notice was posted that the installation was complete with further instructions.

I offer these words of instruction such that you may not have my experience. Had the pleasure of driving about for nearly six hours with nothing by the rumble of my 5.0 A great trade off but........

 

[rangerjoe33]

I apologize in advance for all the questions here. I honestly read a lot of this thread, stayed up late a few nights ago reading through this incredibly informative thread, kudos to spart, hextall, and chris. I re-read a lot of it this morning and believe I have what I need to know to try this upgrade. I just want to verify I have the right plan put together before i start buying parts and taking things apart.

I have a '15 GTPP Premium with Nav. Heated seats (which the wife loves) on the bezel...BLIS with cross traffic alert, Shaker Pro, memory seats. Sorry for all the detail but I want to give as much info as possible to make sure i do not disable any features in this upgrade process. So here what what I understand I need to do:

Swap the MFT APIM with a Sync 3 APIM
Swap the GPS Antenna
Get a HU5Z hub and adapt the power supply wiring using one of the methods Hextall discussed (or buy his harness?)
Update the APIM with my VIN using FORscan
Flash the Sync version with latest software build

Do I also need to make APIM mods that Spart listed above? Nav vs. Non-Nav, Shaker vs. Shaker, ProRPA vs. Non-RPA, Manual vs. Auto Trans,Tire Size

Should I be concerned about any of the drive, steer, tcs, mode switches working properly after the upgrade?

One of the last things I recall reading in the this thread is that they went through this upgrade process and their Nav was giving an error...I am not overly concerned with that as what I really want to accomplish here is the addition of Android Auto so I can rely on Waze and still have everything else function as it does currently from stock.

Am I on the right track here? Are there any video how-to's that I missed, I did not read every post from the 75 page thread.

Thanks for reading.

 

[CrashOverride]

I apologize in advance for all the questions here. I honestly read a lot of this thread, stayed up late a few nights ago reading through this incredibly informative thread, kudos to spart, hextall, and chris. I re-read a lot of it this morning and believe I have what I need to know to try this upgrade. I just want to verify I have the right plan put together before i start buying parts and taking things apart.

I have a '15 GTPP Premium with Nav. Heated seats (which the wife loves) on the bezel...BLIS with cross traffic alert, Shaker Pro, memory seats. Sorry for all the detail but I want to give as much info as possible to make sure i do not disable any features in this upgrade process. So here what what I understand I need to do:

Swap the MFT APIM with a Sync 3 APIM
Swap the GPS Antenna
Get a HU5Z hub and adapt the power supply wiring using one of the methods Hextall discussed (or buy his harness?)
Update the APIM with my VIN using FORscan
Flash the Sync version with latest software build

Do I also need to make APIM mods that Spart listed above? Nav vs. Non-Nav, Shaker vs. Shaker, ProRPA vs. Non-RPA, Manual vs. Auto Trans,Tire Size

Should I be concerned about any of the drive, steer, tcs, mode switches working properly after the upgrade?

One of the last things I recall reading in the this thread is that they went through this upgrade process and their Nav was giving an error...I am not overly concerned with that as what I really want to accomplish here is the addition of Android Auto so I can rely on Waze and still have everything else function as it does currently from stock.

Am I on the right track here? Are there any video how-to's that I missed, I did not read every post from the 75 page thread.

Thanks for reading.

When you get your new APIM, it will have all of the stuff from the previous car programmed into it. You will essentially need to replace the values from your car into them using forscan. Make sure to save the "as-built" values from your current setup first. Then, after you wire everything in, go through the dozen or so lines setting them the way your car's is now.

I went from a completely base to a non-nav/HD-Radio setup, so I had to do a lot of wire work, so I can't say how much (If any) you'll need to do other then, yes, you will need to replace your USB hub for sure. Buy lots of extra dash clips - you will break/lose many of them no matter how careful you are.

You don't have to update the APIM with your VIN# -- actually, you need to make sure you get the VIN# from the donor car, so you can register than VIN with Ford to be notified when new Sync3 updates are pushed along. Because you're not switching your bezel, you can't pull the vin from the old car's bezel like I did (Once again, Spart's excellent/informative post). If you don't get the VIN, then you'll need to find a suitable 2016-2017 VIN using car-part or some other website in order to register/get the updates. I think you can get the software pack elsewhere, but only if you don't mind possibly getting hacked.

I can't remember if the APIM has the car's transmission type in it. If it does, you need to make sure it is the same as your vehicle (manual or automatic) otherwise the compass will read backwards, and you will spend hours fabricating large metal pieces for your dash and days waiting for new antennas to arrive only to find they still don't work (Ask me how I know ). One forscan line later...Everything worked. Lesson for me: learn to read.

If you don't have forscan yet, I would register now because it takes the developers ~24h to approve you for the forum. Otherwise you'll get all the parts, be ready to go, only to find you can't program it once you're done wrenching on it.

Hope this helps.

 

[zackmd1]

I apologize in advance for all the questions here. I honestly read a lot of this thread, stayed up late a few nights ago reading through this incredibly informative thread, kudos to spart, hextall, and chris. I re-read a lot of it this morning and believe I have what I need to know to try this upgrade. I just want to verify I have the right plan put together before i start buying parts and taking things apart.

I have a '15 GTPP Premium with Nav. Heated seats (which the wife loves) on the bezel...BLIS with cross traffic alert, Shaker Pro, memory seats. Sorry for all the detail but I want to give as much info as possible to make sure i do not disable any features in this upgrade process. So here what what I understand I need to do:

Swap the MFT APIM with a Sync 3 APIM
Swap the GPS Antenna
Get a HU5Z hub and adapt the power supply wiring using one of the methods Hextall discussed (or buy his harness?)
Update the APIM with my VIN using FORscan
Flash the Sync version with latest software build

Do I also need to make APIM mods that Spart listed above? Nav vs. Non-Nav, Shaker vs. Shaker, ProRPA vs. Non-RPA, Manual vs. Auto Trans,Tire Size

Should I be concerned about any of the drive, steer, tcs, mode switches working properly after the upgrade?

One of the last things I recall reading in the this thread is that they went through this upgrade process and their Nav was giving an error...I am not overly concerned with that as what I really want to accomplish here is the addition of Android Auto so I can rely on Waze and still have everything else function as it does currently from stock.

Am I on the right track here? Are there any video how-to's that I missed, I did not read every post from the 75 page thread.

Thanks for reading.

Keep in mind that it is not just the APIM you need but the screen as well. Sync 3 went to a more modern touch screen.

In terms of programming, someone correct me if I am wrong, you can copy the As Built Data from the current APIM and transfer it over to the new.

 

[CrashOverride]

Keep in mind that it is not just the APIM you need but the screen as well. Sync 3 went to a more modern touch screen.

In terms of programming, someone correct me if I am wrong, you can copy the As Built Data from the current APIM and transfer it over to the new.

I think some of the APIM data is changed to accomodate Sync3 features, but it is always a good idea to get before and after values for everything. Then, when you put in the new APIM, you can pull those details, and use the comparison tool (I forget what it's called) and see what's changed. Then, using the spreadsheet, fix the fields that need to be changed. In my instance, I got parts from another Mustang, but it had heated seats, and an automatic, so I had to change them back to being normal.

The thing is, there could be a lot to each line. Switching xxxA xxxx to xxxB xxxx leaves a lot of different possibilities for the other bytes in the line. So many features could be represented by a single line - but we don't know what they are, so they have been reversed engineered by very analytical and meticulous people (In other words, flip this byte, then see what changed...)

 

[5.0_SD]

Hello all, I just installed my sync 3 upgrade from base and I need a little bit of help with a couple things. First issue is low volume. I know @Spart posted this:

This is assuming you are keeping the Base ACM.
ACM:
727-01-01 Factory: D800 2800 00, after Sync 3 Swap: 9800 3800 00

But I'm not sure if this applies to me, and there are two digit values in the last that are missing above. My current value at 727-01-01 is 9850 2800 0040...what should it be to get better volume?
The second issue is the a/c. In the base, I could set it max heat/defrost and shut the car off. Next morning, remote start and when I'd get in the car it would be on where I left it. After sync 3 upgrade, I do the same, but now when I get in the car, the a/c is kinda low and not doing what I set it at. It won't get to the previous setting until I push the ignition button...any help there?
Thanks for any help on this.

 

[CrashOverride]

Hello all, I just installed my sync 3 upgrade from base and I need a little bit of help with a couple things. First issue is low volume. I know @Spart posted this:

This is assuming you are keeping the Base ACM.
ACM:
727-01-01 Factory: D800 2800 00, after Sync 3 Swap: 9800 3800 00

But I'm not sure if this applies to me, and there are two digit values in the last that are missing above. My current value at 727-01-01 is 9850 2800 0040...what should it be to get better volume?
The second issue is the a/c. In the base, I could set it max heat/defrost and shut the car off. Next morning, remote start and when I'd get in the car it would be on where I left it. After sync 3 upgrade, I do the same, but now when I get in the car, the a/c is kinda low and not doing what I set it at. It won't get to the previous setting until I push the ignition button...any help there?
Thanks for any help on this.

Base audio gets power from the head unit, premium (aka Sync) units have a external amp, so the head unit is coded to output a low level signal. Because the equipment you bought thinks it is in a car with an amp, it's set to low level.

There are two separate codes, one is for the volume, the other is for the equilization. Music quality is highly subjective, but I didn't like the sound of the base audio when I turned off the factory eq (So I just put it back). But, it is up to you.

This has everything you will ever need for forscan: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JsjNNLuEvLQa7PEcSN7v6AjN_t9rWvz0npQpcBbU_u0

That being said, it doesn't show the stereo level outs, so these are the values from my as-built before I upgraded (Not trying to be a jerk here, but this is why it's so important to back these up before you start tweaking things)

Speaker level out:
727-01-01 xx00 xxxx xxxx
727-01-02 01xx xx

As far as the remote start deal, I really don't know. Did you get your equipment from a Mustang? Or something else? If you do have your old as-built values, you could compare them and see what was changed. Otherwise, maybe update Sync to the newest version? Sorry I can't help more there - I have a manual/no remote start.

 

[5.0_SD]

Thank you for the reply. It did come from a mustang. I will try those settings. I have not done an update for the sync 3 since installing but that will be done soon. I do have that spreadsheet saved in my sheets in google.
My 727-01-02 line reads 0300 34 so I will try changing the first 3 to a 1 and in 727-01-01 I have 9850 2800 0040 so I will change the 5 to a 0. I will try after work and report back on the audio...not sure when I'll do the software update...maybe Saturday.
Edit: Success on the low audio correction!

 

[ctandc72]

So I finally made time to install the Sync 3 upgrade on my Base '17 yesterday. Everything went fine - except for a boneheaded wiring mistake on my part that I figured out - Hextall's harness made it easy. Not to mention he sent me the Sync 3 worksheet with the needed changes in FORSCAN. All the switches works, climate controls work etc. Turns out I ended up acquiring a '16 Sync 3 module that had ver 1 of the software. Upgrading to v3 did not work. Ended up searching around, found the non NAV 2.2 upgrade that that worked. Carplay works etc. The issue?

Even with sound controls adjusted, the RH Channel (passenger) speakers are CONSIDERABLY lower in volume than the LH (Driver's side) now. Weird. I'm getting ready to do the v3 upgrade and will comb through the AS BUILT data sheet - but has anyone sent this issue.

 

[Chris@HBH]

@5.0_SD your settings are specific to your car with aftermarket amplifiers. Once you get your RCA harness you need to change back to the one that we provided.

@rangerjoe33 did you already purchase parts for your hub adapter? If not we provide as built data specific to your car with the purchase of any of our harnesses.

@ts03691 we’ll gladly take those brackets!! PM me for a shipping label.

To everyone else THANK YOU!! for helping us get Harness By Hextall LLC established. We have been working on a lot of new stuff this winter and have some pretty cool new information and products planned.

We have 2 new complete kits for GT350/R owners almost finished. We are stocking 2018 Recaro bezels for our harness and complete kit customers and we finally have some in car video that I will post on our new YouTube channel as soon as it’s edited.

Murph

 

[Theisland]

Big thank you to Thomas and Chris from HarnessbyHextall!

They provided:

1. The conversion harness from base to Sync 3
2. Took in my trade in GT350 premium bezel for the appropriate GT premium bezel
3. Tech support with Forscan even after I royally messed up programming on my end.

Now I have Sync 3 with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay and I have the drive modes function on my base 2015 GT PP!
I can not recommend them enough!

 

[5.0_SD]

Thanks Chris I knew I would have to do that before doing the amp/speakers, but I'm glad it was set to low level initially because now I know what to change back to, lol. I still don't know what's up with the A/C acting like it does...works as it should AFTER pressing engine start button...but like I said before, my base unit would be on exactly what I left it at so blasting away with remote start when I get in and BEFORE pushing engine start button...I would really like that function back. I haven't done the update yet so maybe that'll do it although I doubt it since I think it's either a forscan thing or that is the normal operation which would bum me out a lil. Oh ya, I still don't have drive modes but Hex has screenshots of my module settings so maybe he can figure it out. Hopefully next weekend I'll have time to everything (new speakers, tune the dsp, and troubleshoot the little things listed above).

As @Theisland said, these guys are awesome to deal with and imho are the best when it comes to doing the Sync 3 conversion...at some point I'll incorporate their logo in my sig along with some others to give them some recognition and I try to tell anyone who wants to go from the tiny screen to bigger screen and still look stock (which I think is a HUGE bonus).

 

[ydoucare]

I did a MFT to Sync 3 w/NAV swap in my 2015. Everything works except I have one really weird issue with navigation. When I get in and start my car, navigation loads and shows my correct location. When I start driving, though, my location on the maps gets increasingly off the more I drive. For example, if I take off out my driveway and drive 500 ft down the road to the nearest intersection, about 3/4 of the way there my car will have already crossed the intersection on the map and i'll now be driving out in an open field across the road. It'll always show me traveling the correct direction, but my location on the map will seemingly keep getting farther and farther away from where I actually am the longer I drive.

At any point, I can go into the test settings and pull up the GPS coordinates via the location diagnostics screen and it's always a close match to where I actually am, but on the map i'll be nowhere even close. It seems to have no trouble getting a GPS lock, and the last I looked, it had a lock on 9 sats. During the install, I disconnected the old MFT GPS antenna/module under the center dash panel and installed a new one from 4DTech.

Anybody else come across this or have any suggestions? I'll be using Android Auto if I really need navigation, but it'll really bother the hell out of me just knowing that it's not working right and I can't use it if i'm in an area with no data connection.

 

[CrashOverride]

There were some posts about needing to create a larger metal "Antenna Plane" (I believe it's called...I'm not an RF Engineer) since the dash is made of plastic. I made one out of galvanized sheet metal from home depot. I did it to fix a backwards compass, but, my issue turned out to be the transmission type was wrong in ForScan. Nevertheless, maybe setting the GPS antenna on a larger piece of metal would help.

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