2017 Ford Escape (19205) To 3.4 (19274) Questions

Ford SYNC 3 Support
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1

Hi Everyone. I should get my vehicle back tomorrow from having some warranty services completed.

I have a loner of a 2020 Ford Fusion with 3.4/19274 on it which works really well. Based on research and some issues I see reported on later versions, I think I’ll try that build.

I’ve created my USB and know what to do. Here’s my question.

I see most people saying I’ll be missing things if I do not update my APIM firmware. While my day job is IT (hardware repair, networking, software support), ForScan scares me. I’ve never ‘messed around’ with a car before and I am concerned I may cause more problems than I solve. I do know what I need to buy if I decide to do it.

Question: Without updating the APIM, how bad is the experience? Can someone take the time to give me a NOOB guide to how I would update that and ONLY that, without messing up anything else in my car?

I tried to get on the Discord and the app just tells me my invite is invalid or expired.

Anyone with experience feel like helping the new guy out? I’d really appreciate it.

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it sounds like the only thinks you miss by not updating apim are the calm screen (just a screen that shows a clock or something and not all the fluff and radio station logos. I dont really care about either on of those. if you dont update apim, it wont impact the other features. you just dont get these 2 things.

3

Thanks for the reply. I did find a decent guide on here. I wish I could get on the Discord.

The APIM guide didn’t look too bad. I only get logo’s when I’m listening to satellite anyway. I accidentally engaged calm mode in my loaner vehicle and prefer the heads up.

It looks like I can do the update and then later down the road flash the apim if I really want to.

I did change my USB installer to be 19274 instead of the latest one. I’ve had no bugs in that car since I’ve had it (about a week). I saw some USB complaints in the newer versions.

I think I’ll go that route and slowly learn more about ForScan. If there is a way to do a whole vehicle backup in that program, so I could fix any mistakes, I’ll probably go for the APIM.

I did ask my Ford guy if he would see if his tech would update the firmware on my APIM and he said he would try (I’m having a radio issue as part of my warranty situation, preset banks jumping around).

4

FORScan has a built in backup feature for the AS BUILT configuration but I’m not sure about saving the actual firmware files. Regardless, if the firmware update fails there might not be any way to restore it anyways. I have successfully updated some of the modules on my car (BCM and the PCM) without many issues. However I would still recommend not upgrading firmware unless you have a specific problem that you need resolved. If everything works fine as is then its probably best to avoid the potential headache of a botched firmware upgrade.

5

A year or so ago, I looked at getting the ODB and FORScan to disable that annoying auto start/stop.

I ended up getting a simple dongle that accomplished that, so I left it alone.

I may still get it and try to learn a bit, without actually doing anything. Seems pretty neat to have that level of control.

6

Ah, yeah I’ve been playing around with it for a few months now and I’ve grown to really like it even as a diagnostic tool. It’s pretty much able to do everything the dealership can do now that it includes firmware updates for modules. Mainly been using it to monitor battery voltages and clear DTC’s.

7

With regards to your preset problem, the ACM (audio control module - the CD player) holds your presets so ask for that to be upgraded as well as your APIM

8

Thank you. I am going out there tomorrow and they are supposed to let me have a one on one with the tech that handles those things.