Black screen, otherwise Sync3 seems to be working..?

Leaving work today I noticed my splash screen did not come up but my radio is working, apparently Apple Car Play as well played music from my phone, Waze was giving me alerts, phone connected for a call, etc. Everything appears to be working but the screen.

I did a soft reset (power + fwd seek button for 10 seconds), reset the APIM in Forscan… could it just be the screen that went bad? No splash screen, nothing on the screen no matter what I try. I even disconnected my battery and still nothing.

Some of my trucks controls are on screen only so this is something I need to figure out… help!

If the rearview camera does not work either, I would assume it’s a hw error… Check for DTCs and make sure al cables are properly set…
If everything looks good, try with a new screen…

The rear camera does not work either… by HW I assume you mean the screen specifically?

I have a few/bunch of APIM DTCs currently…

B119F:13-0B
B11BA:1C-0B
U0155:00-0B
U0162:00-0B
U1018:00:0B

I did just replace my steering wheel audio control module the other day… could that be the culprit? The U codes seem to point to that? Could that be messing with the screen?

You need to fix all of those, specially U0162.

You can’t just swap Steering wheel control packs. You have to change the AB settings in the SCCM in order for them to function right. With so many DTC’s you may want to consider loading everything back to OEM and start there.

Interesting… even if it’s the same part? My old one was having issues sometimes, like every now and then volume up would do a fwd/seek function, so swapped in the same part.

Are you just referring to the switch packs or the SCCM?
With the SCCM you need to load your factory AB into the module using ForScan/IDS/FDRS, straight out of the box its pretty much a blank slate as the same part can be used in other models/years.

The switch pack, specifically the right one on my steering wheel that controls the media… not the SCCM

If it is the same part number than you should not need to make changes. You may want to double check the wiring and make sure the plugs are solid.

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I know the first 2 codes are from my glitch GPS antenna. GPS works but it shows an error message initially on startup sometimes but it always works. I have another that I’m going to replace the current one when I get in to replace the screen…

I found a site with some info re: a Lincoln and the U0162 code… a couple FDIM related issues… ordered a screen so I’ll know in a few days if that is the issue or not.

  • Faulty Front Display Interface Module (FDIM)
  • Front Display Interface Module (FDIM) harness is open or shorted
  • Front Display Interface Module (FDIM) circuit poor electrical connection
  • Faulty Accessory Protocol Interface Module (APIM)

With some of the 4" to 8" conversions you actually have to move pins on the factory harness as well as using an adapter harness.
Might want to dig into that a bit more.

It isn’t a 4" to 8" conversion… my truck is a 2013 and had Sync2 in it. It already had the steering wheel controls, 8" screen, etc just Sync2. I put in a Sync3 APIM/screen, new GPS antenna and the USB hub. Then programmed the AB and updated the Sync system with Cyanlabs tool.

I’ve had the Sync3 retrofit installed and working for around 2 years at this point until the screen went dark this past week.

I did swap the media control switch pack the other week prior to the screen going black on me. The screen failure did not happen until a few days later, so I’m not sure if its related or not. Like I mentioned it appears to be working except the screen is dark.

Bought a screen and waiting for it to be delivered later this week… fingers crossed it’s just that.

I see a lot of content with black screens being APIM related but wonder, does the system still seem to be operating all except the screen does not come on like what I’ve got going on?

ok, if this is an out of the blue black screen its probably a bad screen.
Does ForScan throw any codes on the APIM after you clear the DTCs?

Got my screen yesterday and installed it. Also replaced the GPS antenna that I’ve had on hand for a while to cure the first two antenna related codes… it would toss an error on bootup that I had to hit Okay on but it worked and was accurate. No error popup with the one I swapped in.

B119F:13-0B
B11BA:1C-0B

Didn’t hook up Forscan since I had company and had to man the grill, but success! The new (to me) screen is working and I can access my on screen only things like my heated/cooled seat, see what temp the air is set to…

So it appears that yes not all black screens are necessarily bad APIMs. If everything appears to be working, it COULD be the screen.

Some black screens can be screen related, bad screen or we had a case a month or so ago where someone put a 2019MY+ screen from a car that can with a late generation APIM on an H series and it failed to boot after the update (ForScan showed an incompatible hardware code).

The thing to remember here is that when someone does a reformat to get to 3.4 no matter what the model year or method its a roll of the dice. In PC world this would be the equivalent of installing Windows 10 on Windows 7 hardware, it may work or it may not depending on the hardware, there are underlying variables that are outside of the control of the developers.
Were the instructions followed, is this a Sync3 upgrade mod or is the APIM one that came with 3.3+, what grade USB was used, what kind of condition is the USB port in, is the calibration/firmware of the APIM or other modules in the car compatible (with my 2018 Fusion Platinum Hybrid I added my seat/wheel buttons to the screen and it worked in 3.0, to get it working in 3.4 I had to update the calibration/firmware in the FCIM).

If you read through the threads, the most common bricked APIMs are G/H series which are old hardware in older cars which more than likely have worn USB ports and MY2020+ which cannot be re-formated by just using the updater.

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Definitely a lot of variables and my APIM is a 2/22/2017 HJ5T… haven’t messed with any of calibration/firmware updates. So its probably in its stock format with the Sync updated to 3 (don’t know the version off the top of my head, latest maps) as it had a v2 on it when I put it in.

Appreciate all of the feedback and discussion helping me sort out my black screen issue.

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