I am in the process of upgrading my sync3 to 3.4 from the current 2.0 software on it. I used to live in the states and the car is a US Mustang with a US purchased sync3 hardware upgrade kit (I used to have a sync2 from the factory being a MY2015). As of now i live in Europe (Italy). So my question at this point is, what region do i select when generating the files and configurtation? do i choose “NA” being it a US mustang or do I select “EU” phisically where I am now? sorry if the question might seem dumb, but I honestly don’t know if there are any gotchas.
SYNC Region: NA
Navigation Variant: Non Nav
Manufacturer Year: Pre MY20
Install Type: OEM Replacement
Old SYNC Version: 2.0
New SYNC Version: 3.4.23188
Do you have a error message, if so what is it?
no error message
It’s not that simple, if you have a US APIM then you only have 32G of memory, EU APIMS have a 64G memory to cope with the large maps size. So if you do a region change you’ll have to select a cut-down map set.
EU non-NAV APIMs are 16GB units due to the extra voices, the US/NA non-NAV are 8GB units.
I’m not sure you even need to change the build if you’re keeping it in English/Fr/Sp.
If anything you need to swap out the ACM and change the APIM AsBuilt since the EU radio frequencies are different from the US/NA.
Before moving forward, I would run an interrotagor log and save your current asbuilt since going from 3.0 to 3.4 may revert some asbuilt values back (since you are using a retrofit kit).
Share the XML file from the log to confirm which APIM you have.
Download the Syn3 Updater, install it, go to the Tools menu and make an Interrogator Utility USB, run it in the vehicle. Get the XML file from the USB and place it here in the chat.
The APIM is loaded with…
HB5T-14G381-AJ
HB5T-14G391-BE
HB5T-14G423-BD
The Apim is HP5T-14G371-BAG , 8GB, NON-NAV
<d2p1:PartitionHealth type=“/dev/hd0t180” total=“24416990208” available=“54710240”/>
<d2p1:PartitionHealth type=“/dev/hd0t181” total=“647923712” available=“2097120”/>
<d2p1:PartitionHealth type=“/dev/hd0t177” total=“37336064” available=“2097152”/>
This has old firmware on it. There is a possibility the unit will brick if reformatted due to firmware files that are known to cause issues with bad addressing, etc.
GB5T-14G374-CB is known to brick the APIM under certain conditions.
I recommend purchasing an EU APIM for the vehicle that is at least a 2018 version. Nav is your choice.
Thank you for the reply. So do I just get a used APIM? At that point, after I do swap out the hard ware, how would I get it synced to my vehicle with the correct info?
When I swapped my old sync2 with my current sync3 it already came loaded with all the settings for my car
For your vehicle you would want an APIM with a part number beginning with J. Example JS7T-14G371-ABC…that is not a valid part number but just an example. The J is 2018.
You will need an app called FORScan, it is free. But you will also need a good USB OBD adapter, like the OBDLink EX, about $50 US. And of course the replacement APIM.
But before you do that, you could just try to upgrade the old one. If it doesn’t brick, you’re ok. If it does, you get the replacement. The issue with the older models is the earlier hardware, not designed to run Sync 3.4, and the old firmware which was problematic regardless of trying to upgrade it.
