2017 F250 Cant get radio hard buttons to work after Sync 3 Update

[aacthree]

Updated my 2017 F250 base model (no sync, no bluetooth, no backup camera) to Sync 3 using Ebay parts and 4DTech Harness. Got the following working
-All audio
-GPS/Nav
-Bluetooth
-Android Auto
-Steering Wheel Controls (Lariat wheel installed)
-HVAC
-Volume and tuning knob
-Factory backup camera
-No DTCs or error codes present in any module

Note - still using the original CD player audio controller, dash buttons and APIM were pulled from running vehicle.

I cant get the hard buttons under the screen to work. They either give the wrong action or no action.

I found a VIN of a similar truck (2017 XLT Gas with 8" screen) and used that to get my APIM, steering wheel controls, and loaded the as-builts for the radio and dash control modules from that VIN.

Any thoughts?

[aacthree]

@F150Chief this is the same issue referenced here but no resolution was posted.

I did a little more digging this morning, loaded as-builts from a similar 2019 with no love, swapped the FCIM with my old 4” one and the track forward reverse buttons work on that but the 5 way control in the middle does nothing.

4" to 8" swap 2021 f250

I have started a conversion from a 4.2-8" screen the swap has went well everything plugged right in. I got for scan to change vin on FCIM and apim. My problem is that the buttons for the radio on the FCIM seem to be going off the controller for the 4.2 screen. In the apim settings all I have is the option to select between controllers for the 4.2 screen. I have built asbuilt data into the apim and FCIM for the truck they were taken out of with no luck. It’s a 2021 f250xl donor was a 2023 f250 S…

Update - tried everything in the old thread that was linked, no love.

APIM

7D0-08-01

Tried

0005 0004 00XX

0001 0040 0039

0021 0040 0041

No changes.

This configuration is the best I have found yet. All steering wheel controls work 100% as intended, backup camera works, the knobs on the FCIM work, but the buttons do not.

Tried loading 2021 as built because I have a MY20 APIM.

No improvement. Everything works perfectly besides the hard buttons under the screen.

Kinda frustrating.

Does anyone know what actually controls those buttons? Is it the FCIM, APIM, audio controller, or IPC?

I may have to pull out the schematics, I wonder if its an issue with my 4Dtech harness and my specific base model vehicle or my FCIM.

I have a 3.4 MY20 APIM

[SaNdMaN]

Hey there.

Please, from now on, use the edit button instead of posting multiple consecutive messages… You are basically talking to yourself, so use the edit button instead…

I’ve merged all your previous messages.

[warlock12118]

Just throwing this out there, on my 2018 Fusion I had to update the firmware/calibration to get my FCIM to behave correctly with a Sync 3.4 L series APIM.

You may need to load the AB from that 2017 XLT into the FCIM and ot update the firmware to get things working.

[aacthree]

Thank you for the reply. I will check the FCIM Firmware today and see what it says.

One thing that may be tripping me up, I still have the old ACM from the 2017 with the CD player slot, the bezel cover I have for the 8” screen is from a 2019-2020 with no CD player slot. I dont use CDs so figured I would just turn the CD function off. The FCIM part number I have is KC3T-18E243-APC.

Looking at the 4DTech install videos of this configuration they use a 2017-2018 FCIM in 2017-2018 vehicles that has the CD player slot.

Not sure thats whats hanging me up but certainly a possability.

Edit: FCIM firmware update did not go to plan, bricked module. I think I loaded the FCIM firmware from the 4” screen by mistake. If anyone can supply me the correct firmware for the FCIM PN KC3T-18E243-APC so I can recover it that would be appreciated. I have a new FICM with CD player slot coming anyway to see if that solves my issue.

Hoping I can get some help from a few more knowledgable folks to get this sorted out.

[aacthree]

**SOLVED**

I was using FCIM PN KC3T-18E243-APC (no CD Slot). Swapped to FCIM PN JL3T-18E243-CDJ (with CD slot) and my issues are resolved. Apparently its important to match FCIM year to chassis year, at least within a narrow range. 2017-2018 are specific to that model year. If you had a CD slot, get an FCIM with a CD slot.

Everything is working now

[warlock12118]

It’s not so much it having the CD slot in the plastic as it is having the correct firmware in the FCIM that is compatible with everything else in the vehicle.

[aacthree]

Lowkey disagree here that its just a firmware difference for the early build F250s based on I was getting codes in the FCIM for stuck buttons with the No CD FCIM and the hardware is different between the CD and No CD FCIM along with the pinouts. I also was using a matched APIM/Screen/FCIM/ACM from a 2019 F250 No CD and could not get it to function correctly - if it was just a firmware issue by using a matched set of components from a 2019 I would have expected the 2019 FCIM should have been “right enough” to work in its little ecosystem.

The hardware of the FCIM where the radio controls are is marked 17016 436-03 a14A for “with CD” and marked 17016 436-02 a14B for “without CD”.

If you have the correct firmware from the “with CD” I could flash to the “without CD” to prove me wrong I would be happy to update this post to reflect my wrongness.

Also of note is 4Dtech’s website for whatever its worth specifies you need a 2017-2018 FCIM for 2017 F250 XL Base model.

[warlock12118]

Hardly, Ford makes changes along the way for the following year and started some on various models in mid-2018.

To use my Fusion as an example, the FCIM with heated/cooled seat buttons and control buttons added to the APIM worked fine with a J or K series APIM running 3.4.x, take the same APIM AB, drop it in a L series APIM (all the additional blocks in the L series -Ex firmware were zero’d in the donor AB) and I had non-functional buttons both on the screen and on the FCIM (they lit on both and did nothing). Drop in the firmware for a 2019 FCIM and everything started working.

Ford made an MY18.5 change in the Fusion that affected DDM\PDM\DSM

[aacthree]

Just a few data points for those following along:

-Vehicle in question is a 2017 F250 not a Fusion.
-Vehicle in question is a super duper base model with CD, no bluetooth, no APIM at all.
-Vehicle had perfectly working steering wheel and screen controls, but FCIM controls were non-functional.
-Swapping a “matched set” of 2019 F250 components (APIM, 8" screen, FCIM, and ACM) into 2017 F250 resulted in the same issues as a “mix n match” set of components (APIM and 8" screen from a 2021 F250, FCIM from a 2021 F250, ACM from a 2017 F250 (original to vehicle)
-Hardware part number on the radio controls circuit board and pinouts are different between a 2017-2018 FCIM and a 2019-2022 FCIM.
-Loading a 2017 F250 FCIM firmware into a 2019 FCIM bricked the unit (yes I had a few FCIMs from various projects and parts vehicles). There is a chance I did this wrong, but either way its bricked.
-Loading the FCIM As-Builts from a 2017, 2018, and 2019 FCIM into a 2021 FCIM did not brick the unit but did not provide the needed resoltion.
-Problem was SOLVED when a 2018 F150 FCIM was installed in a 2017 F250.

To anyone else facing this issue - I know at least one other person posted they had a problem, many things were tried, it was never resolved - I linked to it in my 2nd post - the recommended course of action from someone who has actually done this work and actually gotten it to work is to use a 2017-2018 F150 F250 FCIM PN JL3T-18E243-CDJ in a 2017 F250 when you are upgrading from a base model with screen but no bluetooth to 8" Sync. It works perfectly and is plug n play. No firmware changes, no changing of pinouts or messing with harnesses.