Touchscreen is black

[markscalise]

2020 Explorer XLT purchased new in April. The touchscreen has intermittently not been coming on (stays black) when I start the vehicle. Has happened both with remote start from the key fob and pushing the start button in the vehicle. Seems like when it works, the screen lights up before the vehicle is even started, and when it doesn't work it starts black and stays black. Obviously a lot of functionality gets lost when it doesn't work. The media system power button does nothing when the screen is in a "black" state.

Anyone else experience this or know what the fix is? Thanks in advance.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
When you say "media system power button" are you referring to the radio power button? The screen and dash come on as soon as I open the driver's door. Does yours stay black after you've started the vehicle or does eventually come on?

Peter

 

[markscalise]

Welcome to the Forum.
When you say "media system power button" are you referring to the radio power button? The screen and dash come on as soon as I open the driver's door. Does yours stay black after you've started the vehicle or does eventually come on?

Peter

The screen stays black after starting the vehicle. Turning the vehicle off and on again doesn’t seem to solve it, but it usually works again after the vehicle sits for awhile. Calling the dealer tomorrow, but I really don’t want to get into a “cannot reproduce” thing with them.

 

[markscalise]

The screen stays black after starting the vehicle. Turning the vehicle off and on again doesn’t seem to solve it, but it usually works again after the vehicle sits for awhile. Calling the dealer tomorrow, but I really don’t want to get into a “cannot reproduce” thing with them.

And yes, I was referring to the radio power button. The driver display has no issues.

 

[UofMEngineer]

The screen stays black after starting the vehicle. Turning the vehicle off and on again doesn’t seem to solve it, but it usually works again after the vehicle sits for awhile. Calling the dealer tomorrow, but I really don’t want to get into a “cannot reproduce” thing with them.

Step 1, update the software. Have you applied the latest update by chance? Have you tried the reboot method when it happens to see if that helps at all? The long press of power and seek right/forward.

 

[markscalise]

Step 1, update the software. Have you applied the latest update by chance? Have you tried the reboot method when it happens to see if that helps at all? The long press of power and seek right/forward.

Thanks, I’ll try the reboot, and if it works I will try a software update. I’m assuming that’s in the touchscreen options somewhere? Just a little disconcerting with a 4 month old vehicle.

 

[UofMEngineer]

Thanks, I’ll try the reboot, and if it works I will try a software update. I’m assuming that’s in the touchscreen options somewhere? Just a little disconcerting with a 4 month old vehicle.

Download it from the Ford Owner website. Could be a number of things, but most likely the dealer will first update the software as long as there aren’t other codes, etc. to point to some faulty hardware.

 

[peterk9]

Mark, you may want to check out the last couple pages of this thread. SYNC 3 .4 Most recent version?

Peter

 

[markscalise]

Went out to the vehicle this morning, unlocked using the key fob, and noticed that the touchscreen *did* come on. I didn't start the car right away and it turned off after 30 seconds (I think) or so. Started the vehicle using the start button and the touchscreen came on just fine. Managed to connect to my local Xfinity wi-fi and did an update scan, which reported software up to date. SYNC is reporting SYNC 3 version 3.4, build 19200_PRODUCT.

I'll have to keep an eye on this. Would love to figure out if there's a reproducible scenario resulting in screen blackout. Thanks everyone for the tips!

 

[UofMEngineer]

Went out to the vehicle this morning, unlocked using the key fob, and noticed that the touchscreen *did* come on. I didn't start the car right away and it turned off after 30 seconds (I think) or so. Started the vehicle using the start button and the touchscreen came on just fine. Managed to connect to my local Xfinity wi-fi and did an update scan, which reported software up to date. SYNC is reporting SYNC 3 version 3.4, build 19200_PRODUCT.

I'll have to keep an eye on this. Would love to figure out if there's a reproducible scenario resulting in screen blackout. Thanks everyone for the tips!

If you want the OTA update, try again later this week, say Thursday or Friday. I think it should be available then.

 

[peterk9]

Went out to the vehicle this morning, unlocked using the key fob, and noticed that the touchscreen *did* come on. I didn't start the car right away and it turned off after 30 seconds (I think) or so. Started the vehicle using the start button and the touchscreen came on just fine. Managed to connect to my local Xfinity wi-fi and did an update scan, which reported software up to date. SYNC is reporting SYNC 3 version 3.4, build 19200_PRODUCT.

I'll have to keep an eye on this. Would love to figure out if there's a reproducible scenario resulting in screen blackout. Thanks everyone for the tips!

As mention, OTA updates are not yet available. Sign in and check your Ford Account and there should be an update available. Build 19200 is not the updated one. The update will be 20136.

Peter

 

[themishmosh]

I get a persistent black screen even with 20136. There's no rhyme or reason to it... just random. Seems to occur more frequently since 20021 though--it never happened to me for the first 8-9 months of ownership. I can always reboot Sync and it'll be normal. With all this Covid stuff, I just am not keen on making a dealer visit for it. I used to think it was related to carplay but lately, I've not plugged in the phone and it would still happen. It is not always from the get go. Yesterday, it happened after it gave the screen saying was trying to connect to my iphone (which was not in the car). I selected cancel and it was a blank screen after that. Other times, carplay will be running and then i look down and the screen is blank. No matter what, I always reboot (power + FFWD) and it will be fine after that.

 

[markscalise]

I got the black screen of death again yesterday on starting up my Explorer, but the long press pwr-seek fwd reboot worked for me (thanks for that tip!) I tried running a system scan again and couldn't get a wi-fi connection but was able to connect to my iPhone personal hotspot and confirm that a download was available. It started downloading, excruciatingly slow, and I still don't have more 10% downloaded. Says the update file is 5U5T-14G391-BL_1580862528000.TAR.GZ, but after sitting in the vehicle for awhile (a couple times now), it doesn't seem to want to download. Is there an easier way to do this, or something else I can connect to?

Still don't see any reproducible pattern of why the screen is black, but I'll note here that it was a damp rainy day, in case moisture proves to be some kind of issue. Right now I just want to get the downloading issue taken care of. Maybe I have to figure out where there's an Xfinity hotspot, park near it, and connect via my Xfinity account.

 

[peterk9]

Sign into your Sync account and download the update to your computer and then transfer to a USB drive. That is the way it has been done. Not sure if the OTA update is working yet.
See the thread on 3.4 Most Recent Version as mentioned before.

Peter

 

[markscalise]

Thanks, I'll try the flash drive method. Does it really take 25-30 mins to update?

 

[peterk9]

I updated mine and it took about 15 minutes. I then found out the update was missing the nav file. I downloaded the corrected file and it again took about 1 5 minutes or less to load into the vehicle. I'm guessing it reloaded the entire package. I believe others have posted their times in the other thread as well.

Peter

 

[UofMEngineer]

I got the black screen of death again yesterday on starting up my Explorer, but the long press pwr-seek fwd reboot worked for me (thanks for that tip!) I tried running a system scan again and couldn't get a wi-fi connection but was able to connect to my iPhone personal hotspot and confirm that a download was available. It started downloading, excruciatingly slow, and I still don't have more 10% downloaded. Says the update file is 5U5T-14G391-BL_1580862528000.TAR.GZ, but after sitting in the vehicle for awhile (a couple times now), it doesn't seem to want to download. Is there an easier way to do this, or something else I can connect to?

Still don't see any reproducible pattern of why the screen is black, but I'll note here that it was a damp rainy day, in case moisture proves to be some kind of issue. Right now I just want to get the downloading issue taken care of. Maybe I have to figure out where there's an Xfinity hotspot, park near it, and connect via my Xfinity account.

That’s the 20136 OTA update downloading. It’ll be going on in the background. That file is fairly large at 1.3GB so it can take a bit.

 

[markscalise]

Installed the 20136 update on Monday via the flash drive> USB port method. Worked great and took 20 minutes or so. No issues with the touchscreen Monday or Tuesday. Today, Wednesday, started up the vehicle mid-day, and got the black screen again. The reboot method worked as before. Coincidentally or not, Mon and Tues were dry days here in Massachusetts, while today was damp and rainy again. Still wondering if ambient moisture is somehow a factor. Tomorrow may still be a little damp, but Friday-Tues are predicted to be sunny, so we'll see if it happens again.

Thank goodness for the reboot functionality. This would be intolerable without that feature.

 

[greeman]

Just saw this this morning:

DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 700,000 vehicles in North America because the backup cameras can show distorted images or suddenly go dark.

The recall covers most 2020 versions of Ford's F-Series trucks, as well as the 2020 Explorer, Mustang, Transit, Expedition, Escape, Ranger and Edge. Also included are the Lincoln Nautilus and Corsair. F-Series trucks are the top-selling vehicle in the U.S.

 

[markscalise]

Yup, I've had the backup camera issue too. When I take my Explorer in for the recall, I'll have them take a look at the touchscreen also, which still goes out intermittently, and sometimes does NOT come back on after the reboot. There is a bulletin for the touchscreen (Ford TSB SSM 48917 — 2020 Explorer | CarComplaints.com)