2015 Explorer Sport - upgrading Sync 2 to Sync 3 - have few ?'s | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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2015 Explorer Sport - upgrading Sync 2 to Sync 3 - have few ?'s

Joe Sola

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Joined
January 3, 2019
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Location
Kansas City, MO
City, State
Riverside, MO
Year, Model & Trim Level
2015 Ford Explorer Sport
So I found out about the Sync 3 from a friend with a 2017 F-150.
I did research and found I could upgrade my 2015 Explorer Sport w/ Sync 2.
I've purchased a Sync 3 screen from a 2018 Flex (GB5T-18B955-SC), plus the other parts (usb hub, GPS antenna, ODB2 MS/HS, the correct wiring adapter, pry tools.

The only thing I haven't ordered yet is the Sync 3 APIM.
I found one with the part number, GB5T-14G371-BF, out of a 2017 Lincoln MKC with VIN: 5LMCJ1C99HUL40030, but I'm finding conflicting on this APIM if it's Nav or Non-Nav.
I found a Google Spreadsheet that lists it as having navigation, but then I've found that the last section needs to have the first character as a "C" not as a "B".

So here are my questions.
Does anyone have any knowledge on this particular APIM or can confirm if this APIM has Navigation or not?
If it doesn't have nav, am I able to program it since my 2015 Explorer had it originally.

Unrelated to this APIM:
If I have XM radio now, does that get screwed up at all in the upgrade process?
Will I be able to take advantage of the remote start through the FordPass app? I currently have remote start from the keyfob.
Which VIN do I use when reprogramming? My current VIN or a similar 2017/2018 Sport model?
Thank you all in advance.
Joe
 



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ETIS seems to be down but from the looks of the Junker who is selling the parts and the images they posted the Screen doesn't show the Nav button on the bottom which would mean it's not equipped. You cannot add Nav to a non equipped Sync3 system unfortunately so you'd need to use Android Auto or CarPlay instead.

For the Sirius Radio, its a separate module and the Sync3 system will just read the module and everything will work the same as before. FordPass will not work as it doesn't know your vehicle is a Sync3 vehicle so no Cell Phone starts. For Vin Programming I tell everyone to pay someone to make a custom AsBuilt. Typically its $75 and you know it will work versus fumbling through. I tried to program my own before paying Dan @ 2GFusions to help. When I did my wife's vehicle I paid as well.
 






Thank you for your reply.
I was thinking about the XM/Sirius Radio after I posted and kinda figured it was part of the actual radio components and a different module. Thank you for clarifying that.
ETIS is the website I had visited previously, but couldn't find the link/site again. Thank you for mentioning that.
That makes sense about the FordPass app.
Thank you
 






Hello! did you ever do the upgrade? i have a 2015 limited i would like to change from sync 2 to 3. and would like to know what your experience was. Thanks!
 






Hey,
I did get this installed. Finished it back around Feb 2019. Everything is working great. Although in the past couple of weeks, I've had a fuse #4 get blown that I don't believe is related, but not 100% sure.
Here is a list of the items I used/needed for my 2015 Explorer Sport Edition
If you just search the Ebay ID, Amazon ASIN or the model numbers, they should pull up what you need.
The APIM and Screens are interchangable. if you've done your research, you should know that.
I found my APIM and Screen from a junk yard on car-part.com
All in, I only paid $265, but I took my time digging and researching through car-part.com.
I think I eventually got my APIM and Screen from a 2018 Flex and got lucky and shipped them together for a total of $175
  1. APIM - GB5T-14G371-BF $174.60
  2. Screen - GB5T-18B955-SC
  3. USB Hub - HC3Z-19A387-B $30
  4. GPS Antenna - Amazon ASIN #: B006AKVX2S $12.97
  5. USB - ODB2 - Amazon ASIN #: B01N18TOFB $17.97
  6. USB hub wiring adapter ebay ID: 143048747613 $30
Using the ODB2 and programming the APIM is kind of hit or miss... I haven't found a cut and dry instructions, but I found some sites that had enough of what I needed.
I removed the double honk when exiting the car while it's running.
I had to add, the heated steering wheel, rear climate control settings, and change the name from Flex to Explorer. I "think" that's all.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll answer as best as I can.
Joe
 






Joe, i really want to thank you for taking the time to post this! great information. i know this was a none Nav apim, im assuming the procedure would be the same for one with Nav, also for the programming, dont suppose it would be as simple as copying the "as built" data from my 2015 to the new APIM?
 






No, this APIM has NAV. I'm trying to look and find my list. I see that by doing a quick search that some places have that as NAV and other have it as Non-NAV, but regardless. Yes, same thing.
As far as copying the 'as built', that's what I did, and it was missing some stuff. That's whyI needed to add... I still think I'm missing a few items. I've thought about having it programmed professionally, but I'm good with it for now. The only thing I'd like to find and fix, would be to put the internal temperature setting in the info window on the dashboard, to the right of the speedometer..
 






Ok thanks, and does it matter what year or part number the apim is or screen? as long as its sync 3 with a recessed mount? and looks like Sync 3 Programming for Ford / Lincoln Vehicles does the programming reasonably cheap?

examples of APIM parts available for a 2017 explorer:
Communication, (voice recognition module, Sync), ID EA5T-14D212-FA
Communication, (voice recognition module, Sync), ID HB5T-14G371-BAF
Communication, (voice recognition module, Sync), ID HB5T-14G371-BAG
Communication, (voice recognition module, Sync), ID HB5T-14G371-BCA
Communication, (voice recognition module, Sync), ID HB5T-14G371-CAG

again not sure it matters?

Chris
 






If I remember correctly, the screen has 3 different types "SA", "SB", and "SC". Don't hold me to that., but those indicate the mounting holes.
I think that's why I went w/ the "SC", b/c I knew the Explorer had SC from the chart that I found, so I made sure I got the same, so I wouldn't have to drill or modify my own.
The APIM I had, was from a 2018 Flex. Works great.
DanMc85 was the one that I found that I was going to have do my programming as well. From what I read, he's done great work.
 






Thanks again! i ordered an APIM from a 2017 mkz with navigation. (wasnt able to get a part number from salvage yard) scored it for 90.00! i found a screen from a 2018 explorer for 175.00 not bad! ordered everything else on the list. so hopefully next weekend!
 






Thanks again! i ordered an APIM from a 2017 mkz with navigation. (wasnt able to get a part number from salvage yard) scored it for 90.00! i found a screen from a 2018 explorer for 175.00 not bad! ordered everything else on the list. so hopefully next weekend!

Did you ever complete the swap? Just purchased a 2016 with MyFord/Sync 2 and am extremely interested in doing the upgrade. Vehicle only has 40k miles and the older infotainment is the only thing keeping it from feeling like the brand new ones.
 






Welcome to the Forum. :wave:
There are a few threads on this. Here are a couple I found using the Forum's 'Search' feature.
Hope that helps.

Peter
 






Hey,
I did get this installed. Finished it back around Feb 2019. Everything is working great. Although in the past couple of weeks, I've had a fuse #4 get blown that I don't believe is related, but not 100% sure.
Here is a list of the items I used/needed for my 2015 Explorer Sport Edition
If you just search the Ebay ID, Amazon ASIN or the model numbers, they should pull up what you need.
The APIM and Screens are interchangable. if you've done your research, you should know that.
I found my APIM and Screen from a junk yard on car-part.com
All in, I only paid $265, but I took my time digging and researching through car-part.com.
I think I eventually got my APIM and Screen from a 2018 Flex and got lucky and shipped them together for a total of $175
  1. APIM - GB5T-14G371-BF $174.60
  2. Screen - GB5T-18B955-SC
  3. USB Hub - HC3Z-19A387-B $30
  4. GPS Antenna - Amazon ASIN #: B006AKVX2S $12.97
  5. USB - ODB2 - Amazon ASIN #: B01N18TOFB $17.97
  6. USB hub wiring adapter ebay ID: 143048747613 $30
Using the ODB2 and programming the APIM is kind of hit or miss... I haven't found a cut and dry instructions, but I found some sites that had enough of what I needed.
I removed the double honk when exiting the car while it's running.
I had to add, the heated steering wheel, rear climate control settings, and change the name from Flex to Explorer. I "think" that's all.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll answer as best as I can.
Joe

Joe,
I am troubleshooting an install of Sync3 to a 2015 XLT 202A for another member and am trying to determine the as built data that will correct his issues. Are you able to take a picture of the as built data you have installed currently?
Here are his issues:
Clock blank and cannot be adjusted
Audio Presets are grayed out and cannot be touched
Climate controls are grayed out and inop, however they work from the FCIM.

I am manually building a new abt file for him to load but want to compare what I have to what you have that is functioning properly.
Thanks
Jon
 






Joe,
I am troubleshooting an install of Sync3 to a 2015 XLT 202A for another member and am trying to determine the as built data that will correct his issues. Are you able to take a picture of the as built data you have installed currently?
Here are his issues:
Clock blank and cannot be adjusted
Audio Presets are grayed out and cannot be touched
Climate controls are grayed out and inop, however they work from the FCIM.

I am manually building a new abt file for him to load but want to compare what I have to what you have that is functioning properly.
Thanks
Jon

Hey Jon,
I’m sorry, I’ve sold my vehicle back in March 2020 and no longer have any of that info.
Joe
 






Hey Jon,
I’m sorry, I’ve sold my vehicle back in March 2020 and no longer have any of that info.
Joe
What do you have now? Your profile still shows the 2015 Sport.

Peter
 






Joe,
I am troubleshooting an install of Sync3 to a 2015 XLT 202A for another member and am trying to determine the as built data that will correct his issues. Are you able to take a picture of the as built data you have installed currently?
Here are his issues:
Clock blank and cannot be adjusted
Audio Presets are grayed out and cannot be touched
Climate controls are grayed out and inop, however they work from the FCIM.

I am manually building a new abt file for him to load but want to compare what I have to what you have that is functioning properly.
Thanks
Jon
I have the same issue with the clock being stuck at 12:00. When I plug my phone in, it updates to the time from my phone, but on it's own it's useless. Here are some other things that didn't go smoothly after the upgrade and would love to have these ironed out.

For context, I upgraded using a Sync 3 (with nav) screen v2.0 from a 2017 ford Escape (junk yard salvage) after the upgrade, I've been looking into fixing the following issues and have been hoping to get some information on fixes. If these are things that any of you observing this thread have solved I would greatly appreciate it.
  1. Time on Sync 3 screen showing 12:00 always, and the clock on the dash display showing --:-- (right of speedometer)
  2. Climate Control (Dual) not working as expected. The dual button on the HU only toggles off but can’t be toggled on, while the button on the climate control unit does the opposite??
  3. Steering wheel voice control rocker and ‘Seek’ not working at all. Is this something that is wrong on my APIM setup?
  4. USB port says not working properly – error messaged received on startup. However android auto does work, but phone doesn’t seem to be charging. Do I need to get another USB unit?
  5. Navigation says not working properly on startup but does actually work properly. How can that error message be removed?
  6. Navigation prompts are not sent to dash readout to the right of speedometer.
  7. Bluetooth pairing name (Want to change from focus to explorer??)
  8. Roraty volume not displaying on screen when volume adjusted.

What I'm still confused about is, do I use the APIM config codes for the stock 2014 Explorer or do I have to input codes that would be for a 2017 escape? Any guidance would be very welcome :)
 






I paid this guy 60.00, sent him my vin number and he sent the file to write to the apim, using forscan. The sync3 has more lines of code and will not work correctly without it. Otherwise, you need asbuilt file from Explorer that has same features as yours, but came with sync3.
 






I have 2015 Explorer XLT, did the same upgrade. Did you change the usb port and add the fakra style gps antenna?
( forgot to ask on my previous post)
 






I have 2015 Explorer XLT, did the same upgrade. Did you change the usb port and add the fakra style gps antenna?
( forgot to ask on my previous post)
Hi Joe,
I did not yet change the USB Port but have updated the Fakra Style GPS Antenna. The USB port and GPS are giving me warnings on startup but when i acknowledge they go away. The GPS as a result works perfectly, so just need to get rid of that message. The USB however, will work with android auto (after I changed my USB settings on my phone in the developer settings) however there isn't enough juice provided to actually charge my phone.
 



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I have the same issue with the clock being stuck at 12:00. When I plug my phone in, it updates to the time from my phone, but on it's own it's useless. Here are some other things that didn't go smoothly after the upgrade and would love to have these ironed out.

For context, I upgraded using a Sync 3 (with nav) screen v2.0 from a 2017 ford Escape (junk yard salvage) after the upgrade, I've been looking into fixing the following issues and have been hoping to get some information on fixes. If these are things that any of you observing this thread have solved I would greatly appreciate it.
  1. Time on Sync 3 screen showing 12:00 always, and the clock on the dash display showing --:-- (right of speedometer)
  2. Climate Control (Dual) not working as expected. The dual button on the HU only toggles off but can’t be toggled on, while the button on the climate control unit does the opposite??
  3. Steering wheel voice control rocker and ‘Seek’ not working at all. Is this something that is wrong on my APIM setup?
  4. USB port says not working properly – error messaged received on startup. However android auto does work, but phone doesn’t seem to be charging. Do I need to get another USB unit?
  5. Navigation says not working properly on startup but does actually work properly. How can that error message be removed?
  6. Navigation prompts are not sent to dash readout to the right of speedometer.
  7. Bluetooth pairing name (Want to change from focus to explorer??)
  8. Roraty volume not displaying on screen when volume adjusted.

What I'm still confused about is, do I use the APIM config codes for the stock 2014 Explorer or do I have to input codes that would be for a 2017 escape? Any guidance would be very welcome :)

I have just found a solution from another site, thanks to @f150chief from Cyanlabs community. Here is the breakdown of the solution and the APIM settings below. Remember this fix is for a 2014 ford explorer limited with sync 3 (v3.4) upgrade.

  1. Time on Sync 3 screen showing 12:00 always, and the clock on the dash display showing --:-- (right of speedometer) - fixed with settings below :)
  2. Climate Control (Dual) not working as expected. The dual button on the HU only toggles off but can’t be toggled on, while the button on the climate control unit does the opposite?? Still not working as expected but many other commentors believe this is a hardware issue. :(
  3. Steering wheel 'voice control rocker' and ‘Seek’ not working at all. Is this something that is wrong on my APIM setup? fixed with solution below. specifically, the settings for 7D0-01-01 (xx21 xxxx xxxx). The default apim setting was 22 and this was incorrect. inserting 21 fixed the problem. :)
  4. USB port says not working properly – error messaged received on startup. However android auto does work, but phone doesn’t seem to be charging. Do I need to get another USB unit? - ordered a new part and Gen2a connector from ebay (~$100 CAD) and aliexpress (~$20 CAD) respectively.
  5. Navigation says not working properly on startup but does actually work properly. How can that error message be removed? sorted with settings below... not sure which exactly :)
  6. Navigation prompts are not sent to dash readout to the right of speedometer. fixed with apim settings below... not sure which exactly :)
  7. Bluetooth pairing name (Want to change from focus to explorer??). This used to read as Ford Escape... so I changed the following 7D0-04-01 (xxxx xxxx xBxx). lots of other forums give a breakdown for what this can be.
  8. Heated steering wheel, cooled seats, heated seats and rear controls with manual airflow - 7D0-01-01 (xxxx xxxx xExx) adding the 'E' fixed the problem.
  9. Rotary volume not displaying on screen when volume adjusted. this is fixed with settings below... not sure which one exactly :)
  10. Park assist was not working. Changed the following settings to enable. 7D0-04-02 xx** xx from 02 to 03. xx03 is the old Sync 2 setting I had so that should is now the correct sensor array.
  11. EQ Settings and sound balance (front, back, left right) not working properly... the settings below fixed this as well :)
Really important to MASTER RESET after applying many of the changes or you won't notice a difference. Also, there was some settings I played around with that caused traction control to fault and terrain management system to fault. DONT PANIC, just drive around for 15 minutes and it will manually reset. This happened twice to me as I was making changes and it solved the problem.

See more APIM setting breakdowns below.

ba08d91f5dce52caf99bafe0889b9ccbf6a2b8cf.png


Rear Climate Controls, Heated Steering Wheel (HSW), Heated/Cooled Seats HMI
7D0-01-01 xxxx xxxx x*xx
0=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Not Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Not Present
1=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Not Available, Cooled Seats Present
2=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Not Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Present
3=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Not Available, Heated Seats Present
4=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Not Present
5=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Available, Cooled Seats Present
6=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Present
7=Rear Climate Not Available, HSW Available, Heated Seats Present
8=Rear Climate Available, HSW Not Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Not Present
9=Rear Climate Available, HSW Not Available, Cooled Seats Present
A=Rear Climate Available, HSW Not Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Present
B=Rear Climate Available, HSW Not Available, Heated Seats Present
C=Rear Climate Available, HSW Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Not Present
D=Rear Climate Available, HSW Available, Cooled Seats Present
> E=Rear Climate Available, HSW Available, Heated/Cooled Seats Present
F=Rear Climate Available, HSW Available, Heated Seats Present
 






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