I recently sourced all the parts individually and did the Sync 3 upgrade to my 2014 Ford Taurus…
A couple days ago I started getting the battery low message, and later that day battery was dead and needed a jump. (I figured it was dead due to me spending a long time programming the new APIM and messing with some settings) battery is less than a year old.
A few days later I went to start and it’s dead again.
I found a few things online saying 2019 APIMs can cause battery drain on older vehicles. (My APIM states manufacture date 10/10/2019)
My question is, can the 2019 APIM settings be changed in FORScan to stop the drain? Or should I just replace it with an older 2018 APIM?
Also, I have a 2018 Ford Edge, can I just swap the APIMs (move 2018 ford edge APIM to my ford Taurus, and move 2019 APIM from Taurus to 2018 Edge) to solve the issue?
Any feedback is appreciated
Also sorry I’m new to FORScan and APIMs so if this sounds dumb or confusing i apologize.
When I first installed the APIM (before I changed any AB data) the screen remained on even after vehicle was off and door open and closed.
TBH I didn’t really pay attention after I loaded new AB data if the screen remained lit. It appeared to be off and radio turned off when door opened. But it may have stayed lit. I’ll have to jump start again later and try to see if the screen is staying lit.
Just for reference, here’s one of the places I read about the 2019 APIM compatibility issue with older models
And also here is a picture of the part number of the APIM (that’s the only picture I took before installing but will take apart dash and take more if need be lol) I got the sync 3 screen and APIM on eBay for $123.00 but it’s no longer in return period so I hope I can get this sorted lol
Thanks for that information. With that being said, am I SOL? Or is there any possible changes I can make to make it compatible with my 2014 Taurus? Would the “L Serie” APIM be compatible with my 2018 Edge, so I can just swap the APIMs?
It’s fully compatible, just drop in your 2018 Edge’s factory AsBuilt to the “new” APIM and you can drop the config in that you’ve built for the 2014 Taurus into the APIM your pulled from the Edge.
Okay that’s great! I was thinking it might work that way, but definitely didn’t want to take apart both dashes just for it not to work. So this should solve the pain/screen drain issues I was having with the 2020 Apim installed in the Taurus? But also, not cause the Edge to start having the drain issue?
Thanks everyone for their replies! Super helpful guys.
I wouldn’t expect to have the battery drain issues in the Edge if you drop the factory AB in.
When you start ForScan do it with no saved config and you will probably see a block count mismatch error when you go to write the Edge’s AB into the unit.
It’s not an issue.
The factory J series usually tops out at 7D0-08-02, the L series tops out at 7D0-09-01/02/03/04 you can just enter 0 in all those blocks if you want.
You’ll also see the same thing if you write the AB that you’ve been playing with in the Taurus to the APIM that came out of the Edge for just the opposite reason. It will have settings in 7D0-09-01/02/03/04 in the file and the APIM will top out at 7D0-08-02
BTW did you try to build your AB from a 2016 Taurus with close to the same features from Ford?
Get the VIN from a used car site and pull it down from https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Asbuilt/
