Issues for those with the base radio

[Stormtrooper5.0]

I am having a few annoying random issues with my base radio/Bluetooth/music in my 2018 GT, also happened with my 15 V6.

So sometimes I will start up the car, Bluetooth will connect, and then my music will start playing (either Pandora or the songs in my phone), I don’t have to do anything. GREAT!

Other times:
-The music will start playing for like 5 seconds…and then stop/pause…and then I have to open my phone and hit play. Which is not really an issue but it can get annoying especially once you’ve already started driving. The play button on the dash doesn’t play the music.

-Sometimes the Bluetooth just doesn’t connect when I start up the car and I have to manually re-connect which can be a pain in the ass. And then sometimes it wont let me connect....and then it'll reconnect at some random point when I'm already driving.

-There are also times when i've reconnected, and the music plays but its still coming from my phone….yet the song is showing up on the screen. WTF?

Anyone else having these types of issues with the base radio?

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[Nagare]

Partly sounds like a phone issue to be honest. I've had it where things will play but the display will just be blank, but not playing then stopping or connection issues.

 

[Grinder67]

Someone else on here suggested this and it’s been working for me. I use Spotify and had the same issues. Before I get to the car I open Spotify and play any song for a couple of seconds. I usually do this in the house before even going outside and it seems to connect every time.

 

[The Dark D]

Yeah I have had all those issues as well. I have an iPhone 7 but it is the most buggy iPhone I’ve ever had. Though I definitely think this is a sync issue not the phone. As in Bluetooth when I use siri there are like crackles and small pops when she talks (only happens with Siri). I think they should really release a new sync update for base models as the 18s still have them. Shoot they need to add simple things like a track length to see how far in the song you are as there is such a big blank spot that can be used for it. Maybe someone working on sync can see this and maybe let us know if a new update is coming soon for base model owners.

 

[draconis123]

I've had similar issues. This definitely isn't phone specific because I swap phones all the time. In the time I've had this car I've had 2 iPhones, 2 androids, and a blackberry and they've all had similar issues.

The most annoying for me would be when the phone will connect and disconnect immediately and will not function over bluetooth at all. The only way to fix it I found was to disconnect the battery for a moment.

 

[ctandc72]

My base '17 has some issues. I used Spotify (note I 'used' as in I don't anymore. It stopped working in the car last week and I googled it and apparently Spotify is not in Ford's Sync App Catalog anymore because Spotify stopped full support for Sync)..with Spotify, I would connect with the phone, plug it up to the radio, and it would start playing in the car, but the first song would start playing then it would immediately move to the next song even before that song was finished.

I am trying out Slacker Radio right now. It's supported by Sync, and it's cheaper than Spotify. I like it so far.

What I've noticed A LOT of the issues are based on whether or not the data signal your phone is getting is strong or not. There is a dead zone near my house - if I am doing something (changing songs, stations, playlists etc) when I hit that dead zone - Sync + the app will freeze then come back.

I have noticed it seems to work much better if I plug the phone up first thing when I get in the car, before I turn the car on.

Yes, waiting for "connecting..." is annoying. Normally I just hit Menu, Apps, Mobile Apps - and pick my app. Takes just a second.

First world problems I guess.

It doesn't bother me enough to actually look at upgrading to Sync 3 or aftermarket radio. I will likely replace speakers, add a sub and an amp before I do anything else.

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