Alright, new car. 2014 Ford Explorer. TL:DR, I might have bricked the APIM. Let me explain.
My Explorer originally came with the small 4" screen without BT/SYNC. The SYNC 3 screen and APIM came out of a 2017 Ford Escape. Plugged it in, and almost everything seemed to work, except climate wasn’t on the screen. As I was writing asbuilt data, it lost connection with the APIM. CarPlay quit working, and it wouldn’t stay on after key was turned off with doors closed. It just shut down. A day later, climate and nav made its way, doesn’t speak, and while the volume adjusts, it doesn’t show on the screen. Climate fails to work on the screen but fine on the front panel.
What can I do from here? I’m lost and I am about to buy another APIM.
SYNC Region: NA
Navigation Variant: Non Nav
Manufacturer Year: Unknown
Install Type: Retrofit
Old SYNC Version: 1.1
New SYNC Version: 3.0
Do you have a error message, if so what is it?
N/A
First you need to get a valid config in the unit for an Explorer, one from an Escape isn’t going to work.
I’d start by going to the used car sites to find a 2017 Explorer that matches what you have from the factory plus the NAV, once you have the VIN go to https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Asbuilt/ and download the AB to your laptop.
Once you have that go to the APIM in ForScan in AsBuilt mode and do a load from file and write, that should get you a lot closer than the config from a random Escape.
Ford removed the climate screen on the Escape, Focus, Fiesta after 2016.
Turning on the climate screen alone doesn’t mean it will work if the rest of the hardware doesn’t match the config.
Climate for a 2014 Explorer is incompatible with Sync 3, it will not work right. Just turn it off in the asbuilt. The 2014 Explorer is CGEA 1.2. You will need to make adjustments to the asbuilt to reflect this.
Don’t do this. A 2014 Explorer is CGEA 1.2 and a 2017 is CGEA 1.3 this will cause even more HVAC problems. Find the VIN off a 16-19 Flex as they were CEGA 1.2 and had Sync 3. They also have the exact same hardware as an 11-15 Explorer so the AB value will work perfect.