I'm sensing 2018s have a bad batch of APIMs, no? Mine acted up all of a sudden last week, with unresponsive nav button (needed to input a destination), but system beeped. Turned truck off and back on, and then it got worse: black map, and still no nav (and no beeps), but also no radio, and no bluetooth. Geez. Had to drive 3 hours with road and wind noise as music (ha ha). The rest of the screen was missing info as well; only the top band was the same. It sorted itself out the next morning, and hasn't acted up again. Had Sync version 17276 and 1.16 maps. Does that sound like a software issue, or APIM issue??? I finished updating my system to version 19205 and 1.18 maps yesterday, so I'm up to the latest for Sync3.0. Just curious if it could have been software, or my APIM will eventually crap out. Prior symptoms of APIM crapping out were slow response, etc. I'd imagine an electronic part either craps out or not, and if there're intermittent issues, it's the firm/software, but could be wrong. Thx.

 

I have the same issue with the truck I just bought. My 2014 never had this issue. Ford knows its an issue and they have dropped Sync in future models. Its a train wreck.
The software updates do not work and the help desk folks are brain dead and have no idea what they are doing. I did see an article for a class action lawsuit on these in the works.
In the mean time you just have to deal with it until you buy a new vehicle down the road.
Just my humble aggravated opinion mixed with facts.

 

Did you have the GT theme enabled? That will cause the symptoms you're describing

 

Nope. The only thing I did when new to the APIM was to program the seats (heat and cool) into the screen. That's it, and no issues before. So far it hasn't acted up again. Didn't give me trouble on the trip back home, and no trouble after updating both the Sync to 19205 and maps to 1.18... but haven't used the truck much. Hope that was it, but we'll see.

 

there is no year limit to bad apims..i have sold ones dating back to sync 1 and sync 3 on 2019 vehices

they are all junk

 

I was told they were at a loss when it comes to my audio issues. 2 APIMs and a new screen. Passes all of the tests that they run. I have brought it in twice while the audio was screwy so they saw the problem. It has been three years. I was supposed to get a call today with a path forward but the call never came. They thought maybe there was an issue with the audio control module, but that wasn’t it either. The service manager has pawned me off on someone else, who actually seems to somewhat care about fixing the issue. I have read most of this thread, welcome any thoughts on what to do next.

 

When you say your audio has problems is it the whole audio system (Radio, SYNC, CD) or is it just the voice prompt thats slow? Also do you have premium or base model sound? If it's anything like Sony, B&O,THX. It might have a built in amp called a DSP (Digital Signal Processing) module. If your sound crackles you might try tapping on it with a rubber mallet and see if it goes away or changes if it does you found your problem.

 

I've had all the same issues with Sync3 as everyone else here (I have a 2016 XLT). Had APIM replaced once under warranty in Nov. 2018; it worked fine for 18 months and has now crapped out again. Now the vehicle and the repair job are out of warranty and Ford wants me to pay $1000+ for another new APIM (with no guarantee that it will work any better than the last one). NO THANKS! So, my question is: has anyone had any luck convincing Ford to do a free repair even if it's out of warranty? Is Ford just blatantly ignoring the fact that this is clearly a systemic, widespread issue of a defective product? This seems like grounds for a class action lawsuit. In fact, Ford has already settled such a lawsuit regarding earlier My Ford Touch systems, but now it's time for round two regarding more recent vehicles!

 

I installed a replacement APIM on my '17 XLT to upgrade from 3.0 to 3.4 and to add navigation. It works great and I'm very happy with it. Has anyone had any luck getting the Ford website to update with the new hardware? I've connected up fordpass and even searched for updates with the built in updater and the owner.ford.com site still says mine is up to date with 3.0. Does a ford tech need to do this?

 

You have installed an unsupported apim/software combination in your vehicle. The site will never reflect the change.