UPDATE The SiriusXM and Travel Link issues identified in this post have been fixed in Sync 3.4.21194. It is recommended that users update their Sync software to this version.
Officially, this TSB applies to 2019-2021 vehicles factory equipped with Sync 3. However, unofficially, this information would logically apply to vehicles retrofitted to Sync 3.2+ from Sync 2.0 or 3.0.
For SiriusXM, the issue starts with the 3.4.21020 update. Sirius Travel Link issues have existed before this TSB and are also addressed in previous TSB releases. TSB 21-2150 rolls back to 3.4.20136 using the “Sync 3 Universal Thumb Drive”, although 3.4.20351 also fixes the Sirius issues specifically. Sync 3.4.20351 can be installed using the Syn3 Updater in autoinstall mode.
There is no update past 3.4.20351 that corrects the SiriusXM/Travel Link issues, although 3.4.21098 has worked for some, and other users have not experienced any issues. Sending a SiriusXM refresh signal will not fix the issue.
There are several other issues identified in the TSB:
The tsb does not mention disabling automatic updates. Seems like that might be necessary to keep it from going back to 3.4.21020 after downgrading to 3.4.20351.
A couple weeks ago, my Sirius TravelLink stopped working, with most of the selections showing as not available. After a few calls with Sirius support, the last one being with the advanced tech support team, they said the account is fine and it had to be a problem with the truck. Been searching all the Ford forums I could find and found out that the truck had automatically updated to version 21020 which broke much of TravelLink and even affected the nav maps (not showing traffic patterns green/yellow/red any more). Found a bunch of references to this site and was excited to use Syn3 updater today to go up to 21098. The install only took about 25 minutes! After it completed, I shut the truck down and went away for about 15 minutes. Came back started it up to go run an errand but was disappointed to see that TravelLink is still broken.
Now the question is, would there be any issues to now use Syn3 to go back to 20351? It appears that the TSB does this, but it would be quicker and easier for me to use this very cool utility to do this.
Any here done this yet?
Thank you
There are no issues downgrading to 3.4.20351. To prevent the same issue again, turn off auto update on the Sync unit in the vehicle. Use the Syn3 Updater in autoinstall mode.
Yep, the downgrade went smoothly and I have my TravelLink back and working normally. I had already turned off auto updates.
I’m so impressed with Syn3, I’m making a donation.
Thanks everyone!
This is not Firmware, but software. Sync software is available to update your Sync system. Being you have a 2021 Explorer ST, you will likely not need to update your vehicle. If you are experiencing SiriusXM issues, You should talk to your dealer about this TSB first before you do anything yourself.
This is exactly what I wanted to know before I wasted time at the dealership. Using v3.4.20351 works for me.
To anyone reading this: Make sure you disable Automatic Updates after downgrading to 3.4.20351.
If you upgraded your grace notes, and/or your voice package when upgrading apps with a version higher then 3.4.20351 (which is possible because Gracenotes was updated with v3.4.21020, depending on your options) you can simply use the following when you downgrade.
Absolutely. The exception would be anyone who upgraded their vehicle from Sync 2 to Sync 3, automatic updates will never work for the Sync 3 retrofit. The same is true for anyone who has reformatted from Sync 3.0 to Sync 3.2+.
I’m having trouble disabling the autoupdate - I’ve disabled it, then gone into the autoupdate prompt that talks about auto updates, and clicked “no” for that as well. So on the auto update side everything seems to say “don’t auto update.”
I also went into wifi settings, forgot every access point, then turned off wifi. Then I turned wifi back on. The next day, sync had been updated to 21098 version!
Currently just leaving wifi completely off at this point, but is there another spot I need to check to disable auto updates?
Note for me I did the downgrade from 21098 to 20351 - only did the “apps” package. I unchecked voice and gracenotes.
