I've got a 2017 F150 Lariat SCREW with the 3.5 ECO. I bought it used at the end of 2017 w approx 5K miles. I've got 48K miles on it now and it's been mostly trouble free. Recently I've started having issues with my SYNC connections with my Iphone 12 (ios 17.4.1) whether it's connected via bluetooth or plugged into the USB (I'm not a fan of apple car play).

I've got a ton of music on my phone. Until very recently I could always select an artist or play list from the sync touch screen (whether connected via BT or not). Now when I try doing that, rather than playing the song or playlist I selected on the sync screen, it plays some random song. Choose AC/DC's Back and Black, and it plays some Billy Joel song. Doesn't matter the artist or playlist I choose, the truck plays music roulette and chooses for itself.

I can select the song or the play list directly from the phone and it plays whatever I choose.

I have automatic updates turned on and when I scan for updates it shows me the time stamp for the date and time it scanned, but nothing else.

The myford website says there's an update ready, but the truck either isn't finding it or it's just not looking.

Pretty sure it's got something to do with the latest IOs, but it's not like I can turn that back.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any insights anyone can offer.

Regards

 

Your truck may actually be downloading the available update. It's a slow process over WiFi, because (1) your truck's WiFi is not on all the time, just for about 30 minutes afterward each time you park it where you have it paired with a router or hotspot, and (2) your truck usually isn't very close to your router, which means a slow connection. You can go to the Ford owner web page and download Sync updates to a USB thumb drive for installation if you want... follow the instructions to the letter and expect to do your installation during a long drive (90+ minutes). Or wait for WiFi to download and install them automatically.

You can speed up auto updates over WiFi if you frequently park someplace where a public hotspot is available, and connect to it. Many places like restaurants, barber shops, public parks, etc. have a hotspot that is accessible from the parking lot.

 

Thanks. I'm gonna try the thumb drive route and see what happens.

Another issue is that the same exact thing had originally happened to my wife's brand new 2024 Explorer ST. Interface worked fine w BT only but then it started doing the music roulette trick.

 

I've never had the music roulette issue. If you have a thumb drive inserted, it might be a problem with it instead of Sync.

 

The music roulette just started this week. I updated the software using a thumb drive (since removed) and nothing has changed. The sync interface does make it easier to use car play now, but the phones always gotta be plugged in for that to work.

 

Do you have shuffle turned on?

 

Negative.

 

They make numerous different wireless car play adapters so you don't have to plug your phone in. I have an Android phone and use the AAWireless device for Android auto and it works great, you just plug the device into the USB port and your phone connects to it wirelessly. I'm not sure which adapter is best for Car Play but I'm sure someone will chime in or you can do a search for the best one.

 

Thanks for the tip!