Hello friends,
Today hasn’t been the best day. I wanted to finally update my Mustang’s infotainment to 3.4 using the USB method. I downloaded the software off Ford’s website after inputting my VIN, and went off of their instructions. I placed the USB into the car, and it then said it was downloading an update. The screen said to remove the USB and went black. It has not worked properly since.
A little bit of context regarding my vehicle, it is a base 2021 GT. I bought a Sync 3 system 2 years ago, used Forscan to program it, and gained all the features of Sync 3. I forgot the exact year of the system, but it should be 2019 if I remember correctly. I used Forscan to turn the start-up animation into the Ford GT “GT Performance” start-up screen, as well as adjusted the theme to be a dark color. I remember reading that Sync 3.4 does not have access to these, but I also remember reading it was okay to update your Sync 3, you would just lose access to the Splash Screen and Theme.
The screen now displays some interesting characteristics. It is a completely black screen but I can tell it is still being backlit. When using the stereo power button and forward skip to do a hard reset to the system, the Ford logo would show, disappear, and then the screen would be black again. The reverse camera still works. The radio also works when I increase the sound. I went back to Forscan to readjust 7D0-02-01, setting it to the Mustang Splash screen to see if that would change anything. The only thing that changed was that when I did the hard reset, it now showed the normal Mustang splash screen. I also adjusted 7D0-03-01 since that was what had the Ford GT Theme, I believe I now set it to the normal Sync 3 theme for 8-inch screens. Nothing has changed, unfortunately.
There was also this one extremely strange case where after a few hours, I went back to my car to see if anything changed. Strangely, this time it booted up the 4 inch Sync 1 display onto my 8 inch screen, it displayed it in the top left part of the screen. It was so strange, but it worked just like a base car. I thought it would start working so I then reset it using the radio power button and the forward button. Unfortunately, this resulted in no progress and sent me back to square one, I haven’t seen that Sync 1 screen since.
After that, I used Forscan to reboot my APIM, which didn’t do anything. I then lurked on these forums a bit and attempted to follow the steps on the “Reboot APIM on Forscan” PDF, which used the 4U5T-14G381-AN - SYNC 3 APIM Software (IVSU) Database in an attempt to get the software into Sync 3.3. I did not turn on my car’s engine, I instead powered it on with just the battery and placed the USB in the port. I waited for around 25 to 30 minutes, the screen was still blank, and I powered down the car, removed the USB, powered on the car, and still a black screen.
If anyone can help me resolve these issues I would be grateful. I’m a bit frustrated but I hope everything can work out. Worst case scenario I spend a couple hundred on a new APIM. I could take it to a dealer too but I’m sure I would be charged, so I’m trying to reach out for advice before that. I’ll place a screenshot of my current Forscan code for the APIM. Thanks in advance!
SYNC Region: NA
Navigation Variant: Non Nav
Manufacturer Year: Pre MY20
Install Type: OEM Replacement
Old SYNC Version: 3.3
New SYNC Version: 3.4
Do you have a error message, if so what is it?
Black Screen
Update Method: Official Ford
