I've only had my 2021 F-150 for a few months. Twice now when I start the truck the touch screen does not come on and the radio doesn't play. Turn off the truck and restart then it comes on and works fine. Why is this happening and how is it fixed?

 

I've had the freezing, black screen, restart problem in my 2022 sync 4 almost from the day I purchased it. Dealer did a master reset in May and when I went out to start it after the service it did it again. Lately it's been doing it again. When it's time for the next service I'll tell them about it again. Truck is still under warranty but customer service told me it wasn't covered. Dealer did it for me at no charge, WO had nothing in the column where price or warranty would be, probably because I purchased the truck from them and have used them for service for years.
Good Luck.

 

Hate to say this, but this is not that unusual. Our '22 takes occasional naps on startup. No pattern to the problem. It will go a month or two just fine then take a couple of naps. When I posted, I got a message from one of the Ford reps that monitor the site asking for VIN etc. I submitted the info and the response was nothing but crickets even though I poked the bear a couple of times. Best I can figure out is that it may have something to do with software updates. You might check for updates. It might fix it. It might make it worse. Be sure to update the forum on your progress. It might help the next person.

 

That really stinks. Knock on wood so far I have not had that on my '21. There have been a few suggestions by others over the years:

• Next time it happens instead of shutting off the truck try messing with the lighting brightness for the cluster lights and see if it comes back to life from that.
• While still stopped move the shifter from drive into neutral or reverse and it should come back on
• Hold the power and seek forward buttons at the same time to force reboot

Good luck.

 

I have a 24 and it has happened to me once. I don't drive it daily so it is possible that would probably do it more often if I did. The fact that you can shut the truck off and restart it and it works again kind a give me peace of mind. My 2016 has an aftermarket alpine touch screen radio in it. It freezes up up probably twice a month on average, same scenario cut the truck off and back on again and all is well. Maybe it's just the nature of software and touch screens? That said for a piece of metal that costs north of 60k, its BS.

 

Welcome to Ford electronics. My 2023 has had a number of electronic issues over the year I have owned it. Most are minor and I have mostly ignored them. Finally, last week, the truck decided to throw in the towel and demand it be fixed. The fix was like many others. A new battery. All of the funny behaviors are gone. Everything works like it did when new. I hope it lasts.

 

Thanks everyone for all the info. I see I'm not alone. I wonder if it would come back to life if I just started driving the way it is. I'll have to try some things to see if it wakes up without a restart. Will let you know if I find anything useful.

 

Bad APIM... Warranty. If it wakes up dead... immediately drive to the dealership and don't shut off the truck until a tech sees it

 

Most of the time it will wake up on its on which is ok unless you need the cameras for some reason.

 

I've had several times experienced the screen not booting up normally, but then it comes back to life and all seems good,

My best guess is that there is a software update incoming that triggers a restart of the system. I can't be 100% sure that's the answer but there seems to be some correlation between the two.