Hello guys, I am new to this community, I have bought from eBay a cheap apim and screnn( bundle) the owner said that after an update it will get a blank screen, I have installed it in my car( I have a sync 2 in a ford focus mk3) and I get a blank screen and nothing works, I have connected the car to forscan, and have tried a apim firmware rewrite but have failed because I have a crappy elm157 cable, my question is , if I buy another apim would this work with the existing screen? My apim is from 2016, and found one from 2020. Thank you
Screens are “basically interchangable”, so you can do that as long as they are Sync3.
Since you are buying an APIM, I would not buy MY20 models since they can’t be easily reformatted… they can, but just not as easily as not-MY20 models.
About the APIM you bought, the real question is why it went black.
Is the APIM readable through Forscan?, can you get the model and/or asbuilt values from it?.
The apim it is seen by forscan, before I have tried the firmware reprogramming I had my own as-built written to it( but I think I saved the file from it before hand, but need to check) now if I con5to forscan with this apim it will show some errors because.of the software rewrite fail( I need a better OBD2 cable)
Are the apims shown above my20?
Model is 14g370 as is written on the label from the first picture
Do not double post, use the edit button instead if you want to add information. I’ve merged your messages.
They all are.
I saw the pictures and I can read, but that’s not the model we are interested in.
I want to know the full 14G371 model/number it gives back, not the 14G370 one (which is not the APIM itself). If the unit is at not operational state and can’t access it through forscan to see the model, then you just can’t provide that.
I am really sorry I am a partially noob to this, I have never done this before and some parts of this is total.alien to me, I have done in the past smartphone software rewrite but not this, unfortunately this is just something that shows up on eBay and I thout to my self hey why not buy this( 40 euros) and try and fix it, inthinknat the.moment the only issue I habe is a good quality odb cable( expensive ), so I am.lookong to buy an apim that I found for 120 euros ao I can upgrade.my sync 2
That’s ok, we do not born knowing stuff, you have to start some where.
What you are trying to do a Sync2 to Sync3 conversion, which can be done for sure, but you require more than the APIM and screen.
The older APIM you showed, the H series one (even though it’s not the APIM itself, you can check APIM’s models in our DB → SYNC 3 APIM Hardware Database - CyanLabs ), it’s funny that the previous owner said it went black after an upgrade. As far as date goes, even though is an old APIM, it should not go dead like that. But since we do not know what the previous owner did, well, it’s hard to know…
Usually when that happens, it does not mean “reflashing it” would fix it.
What you do via forscan is just firmware, but then there’s the software (and hardware) side of things.
That was why I was curious about the unit’s state and model.
Anyways, lets wait if someone else has something to say/share.
So beside the screen and apim, what else do I need? As far as I know I need to change the usb hub( but that can be turned off in forscan) and also the GPS antenna, anything else apart from these? And yes to add my own asbuilt.
Also anyone know what is the exact procedure of upgrading to sync 3 beside the plug and play and updating the apim with my own as-built?
The barcode from which unit? The one I want to buy? And I suppose the as built file is the one I get from motorcraftservice or something like that where you upload your vin number and they will give your as buil, is that wright?
The AsBuilt that Ford has on their site will be for MFT (which the car came with) not Sync3 so its not usable.
Look at the font on the bar code and label appearance for what is being sold, then compare them with the multitude of APIMs being sold by salvage yards on eBay.
Here’s an example of mine that I pulled from a 2020 F150
So which as-built should I use? From a car that is exactly like mine as spec and features but came with sync 3?
And also how do I even get the current apim fixed? Should I try with the syn3 updater( I do not know how to use it and where to start from), ideally I would like to have reformatted and up and running. Any help would be appreciated.
Pretty much for the AsBuilt, you would want to stay as close as possible to the first year Sync3 became available, so use my 2014 Fusion SE as an example, the AB from a 2018 was a no go, but one from a 2017 worked well enough for me to turn on other mods that I had (eg the HD radio toggle button).
Worst case you could hit Navi’s site, if I’m not mistaken he offers custom ABs for retrofits for something like $30 USD.
If you’re going to do firmware you really should get a good adapter like an OBDLinkEX and use the recommended settings on ForScan’s site. If the seller tried to install a higher firmware than what the APIM supports it can cause a black screen.
The seller said that he tried an official update from ford, he was on sync 2.2 and the official update was 3.something, I will try and reformat it with a syn3 reformat method and see if that works as I do not have a good quality obd link cable( or if I can borrow one I will try with that)
Thank you guys for your help but I am a TOTAL IDIOT, I have fried the unit after trying to reflash the firmware on it with forscan, it does not turn on anymore, forscan cannot communicate with it anymore, I will have to get my self a new apim as I am not an electrician, the stock sync2 system works as normal so it is not a fuse issue , I have found these two apims from 2022 for 100 euros each but I am a bit reluctant to buy as you guys said they are prone to fail if they need formatting( but at the end of the day I should not need that).
About the my20 units failing, are they failing only when trying to format them using the syn3 reformat method and also using forscan? Or they can be easily flashed with forscan?
, I have found these two apims from 2022 for 100 euros each but I am a bit reluctant to buy as you guys said they are prone to fail if they need formatting( but at the end of the day I should not need that).