Sync 3 still dropping my phone

[BerndM]

2017 Explorer Platinum with Sync 3 v2.3 when I bought it and everything worked great EXCEPT it wouldn't update itself from my wifi router less than 30 feet from its parked.
I had the Ford dealer update the system to the then latest v3.x
Right after that update, my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone started disconnecting and reconnecting to the Sync 3. It had NEVER done that on v2.3, ever.
To verify that the issue was not my phone, I tested it in my wife's 2017 Mustang GT which had the identical Sync 3 v3.x as mine.
No issues whatsoever during a 250 mile trip.
That same trip in the Explorer cause that same S7 phone to disconnect and reconnect over 30 times some of which were in the middle of a phone call.
I had the dealer check everything out and they reinstalled the latest Sync 3 software.
No change. Problem still remained.
I upgraded my S7 to the latest Galaxy S10 and the problem was STILL as bad as with the S7 phone.
I took it to the dealer AGAIN and they spent a day and declared they found nothing wrong.
I even had video of the car's display to show them what it does to no avail.
I live 1 mile from my Ford dealer, and after the initial hookup to my phone, it disconnected 2 times in that 5 minute 1 mile trip to the dealer.
BTW, my new S10 phone stays connected 100% of the time in my wife's car with the identical Sync 3 v3.x.
I may take my S10 mback to Costco and swap it for a brand new replacement and if that doesn't cure the problem, I'm not sure waht my next step should be.
Call Ford Company?? or??

 

[blwnsmoke]

Same issue with my mother's 2017 Fusion. She had the S7 and now the S9 and it does the same thing. It randomly disconnects and reconnects. Dealer could never find anything wrong in the few times it was in for it.

 

[peterk9]

2017 Explorer Platinum with Sync 3 v2.3 when I bought it and everything worked great EXCEPT it wouldn't update itself from my wifi router less than 30 feet from its parked................................................

That is nothing new. It is only recently that updates via WiFi have begun to work for some. From reading a few posts where members were successful, the download took much, much longer than downloading it directly using the USB method.

Peter

 

[Steven Lundberg]

My 2018 Limited will drop my S9+ phone but it only happens after a phone reboot. A message on the phone gives a warning about volume. If I acknowledge the warning on the phone, the phone drops stop until I reboot the phone again. It also does this on my 2016 Taurus.

 

[Donald Anderson]

2017 Explorer Platinum with Sync 3 v2.3 when I bought it and everything worked great EXCEPT it wouldn't update itself from my wifi router less than 30 feet from its parked.
I had the Ford dealer update the system to the then latest v3.x
Right after that update, my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone started disconnecting and reconnecting to the Sync 3. It had NEVER done that on v2.3, ever.
To verify that the issue was not my phone, I tested it in my wife's 2017 Mustang GT which had the identical Sync 3 v3.x as mine.
No issues whatsoever during a 250 mile trip.
That same trip in the Explorer cause that same S7 phone to disconnect and reconnect over 30 times some of which were in the middle of a phone call.
I had the dealer check everything out and they reinstalled the latest Sync 3 software.
No change. Problem still remained.
I upgraded my S7 to the latest Galaxy S10 and the problem was STILL as bad as with the S7 phone.
I took it to the dealer AGAIN and they spent a day and declared they found nothing wrong.
I even had video of the car's display to show them what it does to no avail.
I live 1 mile from my Ford dealer, and after the initial hookup to my phone, it disconnected 2 times in that 5 minute 1 mile trip to the dealer.
BTW, my new S10 phone stays connected 100% of the time in my wife's car with the identical Sync 3 v3.x.
I may take my S10 mback to Costco and swap it for a brand new replacement and if that doesn't cure the problem, I'm not sure waht my next step should be.
Call Ford Company?? or??

I had the same issue with my Samsung S7. I found that the Max Volume Limiter setting on my phone created a warning message that knock my phone off the bluetooth connection. I turned it off and now keep my media volume level at 50% or less. Problem went away.

 

[peterk9]

I had the same issue with my Samsung S7. I found that the Max Volume Limiter setting on my phone created a warning message that knock my phone off the bluetooth connection. I turned it off and now keep my media volume level at 50% or less. Problem went away.

Welcome to the Forum.

Peter

 

[BerndM]

I had the same issue with my Samsung S7. I found that the Max Volume Limiter setting on my phone created a warning message that knock my phone off the bluetooth connection. I turned it off and now keep my media volume level at 50% or less. Problem went away.

Thanks for this info Don. I will try this and see if it helps. I have gone so far as to exchange my brand new Galaxy S10 for a replacement to see it that solved the problem. Sadly it did not. It still disconnects and reconnects numerous times, even when I am parked.
I'll report back when I have tried this out.. Thanks

 

[Donald Anderson]

2017 Explorer Platinum with Sync 3 v2.3 when I bought it and everything worked great EXCEPT it wouldn't update itself from my wifi router less than 30 feet from its parked.
I had the Ford dealer update the system to the then latest v3.x
Right after that update, my Samsung Galaxy S7 phone started disconnecting and reconnecting to the Sync 3. It had NEVER done that on v2.3, ever.
To verify that the issue was not my phone, I tested it in my wife's 2017 Mustang GT which had the identical Sync 3 v3.x as mine.
No issues whatsoever during a 250 mile trip.
That same trip in the Explorer cause that same S7 phone to disconnect and reconnect over 30 times some of which were in the middle of a phone call.
I had the dealer check everything out and they reinstalled the latest Sync 3 software.
No change. Problem still remained.
I upgraded my S7 to the latest Galaxy S10 and the problem was STILL as bad as with the S7 phone.
I took it to the dealer AGAIN and they spent a day and declared they found nothing wrong.
I even had video of the car's display to show them what it does to no avail.
I live 1 mile from my Ford dealer, and after the initial hookup to my phone, it disconnected 2 times in that 5 minute 1 mile trip to the dealer.
BTW, my new S10 phone stays connected 100% of the time in my wife's car with the identical Sync 3 v3.x.
I may take my S10 mback to Costco and swap it for a brand new replacement and if that doesn't cure the problem, I'm not sure waht my next step should be.
Call Ford Company?? or??

Make sure the Media Volume Limiter s turned off on you phone. It sends a warning message that disconnects the phone.

Settings, Sounds, Volume, three dots upper right hand corner.

 

[BerndM]

I will give that a try.
Thanks

 

[Bobs2018ExplorerSport]

I, too, have been having the same issue as soon as I got my new Galaxy S10e cellphone!

My 2018's SYNC3 system (v3.0, I believe?) automatically recognizes and connects to my new Samsung Galaxy S10e cellphone, via Bluetooth, every time I first start the vehicle. However, during the course of driving, even while just running around town, my SYNC3 screen will suddenly show a pop-up screen, telling me that it is unable to maintain the Bluetooth connection with my phone. Then, typically, anywhere from (1) to (30) seconds later, it suddenly reconnects itself and shows my phone's info up on the display... meaning, it's reconnected again. It will then continue to go through these same kind of annoying cycles, at random intervals, during my drive. While it's becoming very annoying, the only other thing I've noticed is that IF I am on an in-progress call, it never seems to happen.

I've talked to my Ford service people about it, and was told "it seems like every time a new phone comes out, the manufacturer of the phone still needs to put out some sort of software update to address the phone's ability to interface with systems like SYNC3", as this was definitely not the first time they had heard about such issues. They referred me to contact Samsung about it, as they saw it as being a cellphone software issue, and not an issue related to the SYNC3 system.

So, when I went to Samsung's website and searched on their "Community Forum" page, there were clearly many other people having the same issues in keeping connected to their own SYNC3 systems... and all the site had to offer was the usual "Try this, try that" kind of useless advice... the most drastic being to advise people to do a "reset" of their SYNC3 system, saying "sometimes that will clear up the problem". IF it's really an issue with the phone's software, there didn't seem to be any indication of additional software updates coming up for this phone; I guess that's why any such S10-series replacement phones don't seem to resolve the issue?

 

[BerndM]

My S10 will drop out in the middle of a call but usually reconnects within seconds. VERY annoying. When I still had my S7 phone, it would do the same things. Interestingly though, I NEVER had a single dropout issue when the Sync 3 was on the original v2.3. Only AFTER ford upgraded to v3, did these issues start. I should have left well enough alone. Apparently they cannot downgrade from v3 back to v2.3.
I do NOT have ANY dropouts on my wife's Sync 3 v3 in her 17 Mustang GT so I KNOW with 100% certainty, that the issue is with MY 17 Platinum.
To test this theory further, I have installed a windshield mounted solar charged portable bluetooth device and paired it to my S10. After deleting the S10 from the Sync3 in my car, this $25 fliphone sized bluetooth unit works flawlessly every single time.
So a $25 device works, and a $2000 in dash Sync3 does not.
I am almost at the point of telling Ford to replace the entire head unit in my car since it is obviously defective. I can hear the whining and *****ing now.
BTW....I did actually reset my Sync3 and it seemed better but then went right back into into its crappy performance issues.

 

[Bobs2018ExplorerSport]

Update: I finally got to talk to a live person at Samsung, regarding my phone repeatedly dropping its Bluetooth connection with my SYNC3... and they said that I should try disabling a feature in my phone called "Battery Optimization", telling me that this feature can sometimes try to turn off an app intermittently, in an apparent attempt to save battery life. Well, I followed their instructions, and had to drive all over town today on errands... and noticed that my Bluetooth connection (to my SYNC3 system) never once dropped! While this may have just been coincidence, and will require a lot more driving time to make sure it's actually performing better... I at least did notice an immediate change for the better!

For those of you who happen to have a Galaxy S10-series phone, here are the steps he walked me through:

- Go to SETTINGS
- Go to APPS
- Click on the 3 DOTS that appear in the upper R/H corner
- Select "Special Access"
- Select "Optimize Battery Usage"
- There are 2 choices shown... "Apps not optimized" and "All"
- While you CAN select "ALL", and then selectively turn some of this off for each app... I chose to turn them ALL OFF, to see what would happen.
- At a minimum, locate the app called "Bluetooth" and disable this feature.

Anyway, if any of you are having a similar problem, perhaps following similar steps in your phones, to turn off this "optimization" feature, just might work for you as well.

I will re-post / update more on this, after I am able to continue to test this "fix" a little more thoroughly.

 

[BerndM]

Thanks for this info.
I followed your instructions and found that I was in the "Apps not optimized" mode already and ALL my switches were already OFF.
Bummer

 

[Bobs2018ExplorerSport]

I'm sorry to hear that; I suppose it could mean that my phone, too, may once again start to drop-off again?

I will update here if and when it happens... thanks.

 

[Bobs2018ExplorerSport]

UPDATE: Well, it's been a little over a couple of weeks, and the problem has so far NOT RETURNED!

After disabling the "battery optimization" feature on my Galaxy S10e a couple of weeks ago, I have yet to have the phone lose its Bluetooth connection with my SYNC3 system in my Explorer, when I'm out driving around.

Seems like there might be something to the steps that the Samsung representative told me to try!

 

[Bobs2018ExplorerSport]

It's been another two months since my last posting, and my phone continues to stay connected to my SYNC-3 system, without any problems! Clearly, having the "battery optimization" feature disabled seems to be the fix for this problem!

 

[BerndM]

I have no idea what has happened but mysteriously my Galaxy S10 has had no dropouts and stays connected since about December 1 of 2019. I don't know if the Sync 3 app has updated itself and fixed whatever bug there may have been OR maybe Samsung updates have cured my Galaxy S10.
At this point I am clueless as to who's issue was causing the problem.
I hope it keeps working.
Time will tell