Sync 3 Screen goes black

[ivan5slow]

Hey guys, I recently bought my 2018 mustang gt used with 55k miles. A week into owning it my sync 3 screen barely works. It takes about 10 minutes for it to power up, and only time it's not laggy is when I'm using Apple Carplay. If I don't have my phone connected, it freezes every minute or anytime I touch the screen to navigate through the settings and it's basically unusable.

I already did the power reset technique with holding the power and seek buttons at the same time, I disconnected and reconnected my battery, and I also checked the fuse. Nothing worked. Another thing I noticed is that it takes like 3 minutes or so when I initially start my car for my USB port in the front to work.. Like it doesn't charge my phone up until a few minutes have passed.

I'm having trouble finding the source of the problem, I know it's most likely the APIM but at the same time why is my USB port acting funky too? I'm worried it's a wiring issue of some sort and I'm scared to take it to the dealership and have them try to charge me out the a** to fix it or mess something else up.

Anyone got any ideas? :/

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[I Bleed Ford Blue]

Is your phone plugged in to the usb port when you start the car and it is trying to boot up?

 

[lacanteen]

@ivan5slow welcome here, were're a savvy bunch. If you don't have any kind of extended warranty, try a high end car stereo shop in your area. They may have heard of your issue. There may be a master reset routine. It worked on my Sync-1 in my F150 a month back.

 

[ivan5slow]

Is your phone plugged in to the usb port when you start the car and it is trying to boot up?

Both. It doesn't make a difference. I did notice that when I dimmed my dash lights my SYNC was lagging less... So I honestly think it's an electrical issue whether or not it's within the APIM.

 

[NotQuik]

Interestingly enough, my truck was doing the same, or at times it simply wouldn't load the navigation map even if the screen would finally come up. I got tired of it and decided to do an update as it'd never been done (2 years old). Being it'd never been done, an update via Wi-Fi wouldn't work so I had to use a USB drive. I haven't experienced any more issues and have since set it up to auto update via Wi-Fi. Food for thought anyway.

 

[Bikeman315]

Interestingly enough, my truck was doing the same, or at times it simply wouldn't load the navigation map even if the screen would finally come up. I got tired of it and decided to do an update as it'd never been done (2 years old). Being it'd never been done, an update via Wi-Fi wouldn't work so I had to use a USB drive. I haven't experienced any more issues and have since set it up to auto update via Wi-Fi. Food for thought anyway.

I would highly recommend against doing any updates until you have determined it is not an electrical issue. Doing so could cause an update malfunction that could brick your system.

Since no one at this point has come up with a specific solution and your basic troubleshooting efforts have not worked it time for someone to open it up and check your wiring, connectors, and APIM. You could also have a bad head unit but honestly I’m thinking a loose connection.

 

[ivan5slow]

I would highly recommend against doing any updates until you have determined it is not an electrical issue. Doing so could cause an update malfunction that could brick your system.

Since no one at this point has come up with a specific solution and your basic troubleshooting efforts have not worked it time for someone to open it up and check your wiring, connectors, and APIM. You could also have a bad head unit but honestly I’m thinking a loose connection.

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking too, I just never had to do this before so idk what the hell im doing lol. Y’all are definitely helping though cause I wasn’t even sure if I was at least on the right track

 

[Problem5.0]

i just start having this problem too. Screen black but everything else works , back up camera radio, etc. Today i started seeing pop up for updates... my car had troubles starting and then boom the problem happened.

 

[Freedom]

not an expert in radios but it sounds like the processor is toast. Take it to the dealership while you still have warranty.

 

[Mitchstang]

Hey guys, I recently bought my 2018 mustang gt used with 55k miles. A week into owning it my sync 3 screen barely works. It takes about 10 minutes for it to power up, and only time it's not laggy is when I'm using Apple Carplay. If I don't have my phone connected, it freezes every minute or anytime I touch the screen to navigate through the settings and it's basically unusable.

I already did the power reset technique with holding the power and seek buttons at the same time, I disconnected and reconnected my battery, and I also checked the fuse. Nothing worked. Another thing I noticed is that it takes like 3 minutes or so when I initially start my car for my USB port in the front to work.. Like it doesn't charge my phone up until a few minutes have passed.
Anyone got any ideas? :/

Q- Do you have Nav on the Sync 3?

On my 16 Edge with Sync 3, I get similar behavior at times which must be Nav related. Very slow to completely hung. The Sync woman delays and/or stutters. Sometimes a reset might help for a while, and sometimes it doesn't.

For me, it doesn't happen in my home state or anywhere where I drive normally, but when I cross the Mississippi river, I can be on the interstate, and the Nav map shows I am leaving the road, soon after the issues will start - it has only occurred west of the Mississippi. -- If I get on Carplay before we cross the bridge, usually it will be ok, until I get out of carplay. Maybe 1 of every 3 trips the issue doesn't occur. I have not been over the bridge since the latest Jan update --- I need to go take a trip to see if it is still occurring before having Ford look at it. Unfortunately my dealer won't be able to replicate the issue unless they go for a 2 hour roadtrip - so even if they look at it, I don't know if they can tell anything.

 

[Problem5.0]

i just start having this problem too. Screen black but everything else works , back up camera radio, etc. Today i started seeing pop up for updates... my car had troubles starting and then boom the problem happened.

The problem was due to auto update to sync 3... it was fixed my rewriting build data to the APIM....

 

[Bikeman315]

I NEED HELP!! so I upgraded my 4” to a sync 3 a while ago. Never updated it till now since my CarPlay wasn’t working anymore. Did the USB update as fords instructions stated. After it finished updating it turned the screen black. But then I noticed the pony was still showing up instead of the Ford logo. The screen then just went black with a slight dim to it. I left it off all night then decided to try it out again. It now showed me the 4” display on the left corner. I tried the soft reset and then the screen went black again. Disconnected the battery and nothing…. Anyone had this issue ?

I suggest reaching out to @HextallS550. He is our resident Sync expert.

 

[Bikeman315]

Would you know if all sync 3s have a APIM? Mine doesn’t. But they told me on Instagram that the APIM could’ve crashed so maybe i need to use forscan to backup. But the thing is whenever I did the upgrade it was just the sync 3 itself nothing else

Yes they do and yes it should. The website is strictly FYI. For specific info reach out to @HextallS550.

https://www.4dtech.com/mustang-2019-4-to-8-touchscreen-conversion-w-sync-3/

 

[Bikeman315]

Sent him a message already but whenever I bought my sync 3 only the touchscreen and bezel came with it. Guy said APIM wasn’t needed since it was a Non Nav sync 3

There are different APIM’s for Nav or no Nav. You need one of them.

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