1,100 Miles and MyFord Touch Already Dead

[Kevboy]

Mine has reset multiple times and seems to come back on. I just received a recall on the seats so when I bring it in I will have them look to fix the MFT. I have had the explorer for just over a month and have 1000 miles. The system has reset 5 or 6 times. It is disturbing but we love the car. Hopefully Ford will start to contact people on the problem so we wont get angry and we will realize that they are actullay looking into this

 

[yourstone]

Thank you Edge929

I work as a software developer and have built hundreds of computers so here's my 2 cents on MFT. It's just a smaller/slower version of your modern day PC, the equivalent of an iphone/Android handset with a bigger screen. Computers have 2 sides, hardware and software. A hardware issue is the worse of the 2 (ie usually more expensive to fix) and needs to physically be replaced. Software issues are much more common and are easily fixed with updates. Since I don't have my Explorer yet, I can't comment on how fast Ford is pushing out updates, however I do already have a sync account and have read many of the problems/forums on the syncmyride website. Keep in mind all of these issues are a combination of coding for X number of phones, user error and legit issues. Ford has to code for nearly each handset. Sure, Bluetooth is Bluetooth but it's just a communication interface, not a language. Each phone has it's own mini-operating-system that needs to talk to MFT (it's like web development for IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc). Based on how well that communication is, you may have all features available or none. As with all computer-based systems, it should have a hard-reset switch somewhere. Pulling the fuse is the equivalent of doing this, so on next start-up it should cycle through it's diagnostic checks (like a BIOS screen for example). If they coded it right, it should "fix itself" but it sounds like this is not the issue. A blank screen sounds like a hardware fault or possibly a fail-safe where the software detects a non-recoverable fatal error on start-up and goes into stasis until a dealer can look at it. The only other option I can think of is to unhook the battery for 15 minutes, hook it back up and see if MFT comes up.

I would make sure you have the latest updates from syncmyride.com. If you can get your MFT limping along again, try updating it with a USB stick as the website details.

Thank you for the informative post. I appreciate it.

 

[edc37027]

Mine did the same. Screen went black and then 30 seconds later reset.

Strange...

 

[yourstone]

A dumb question here. What is the APIM module and what does it do?

 

[1995E]

The APIM is the SYNC computer, Ford calls it the Accessory Protocol Interface Module. It comes with vehicles equipped with Sync or Sync with MFT.

 

[yourstone]

Is the purpose of the APIM to act like a traffic cop to ensure correct handshakes between modules in the MFT?

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

2011 Limited.
1,000 miles.
MFT/Sync Version 2.4
Mid November build.

Running great! Did the "black screen" "system's maintenance" yesterday for <1 minute. Almost crapped my pants, but everything is rocking!

 

[yourstone]

I gotta believe that the software engineers can modify the maintenance protocol to ask you if you want to update now or when you next start up the vehicle.

 

[K-Rod]

Think of the APIM like you would a computer hard drive. If the hard drive craps out, the whole system is dead in the water.

By the way, even though my APIM died at 1,100 miles, I have NEVER had that "system maintenance" reset thing happen. If you ask me, that would mean something isn't communicating well inside the APIM. Whether it would ever "die"...who knows.

In other words, I don't think it's really "maintenance".

 

[yourstone]

The APIM does not sound like a hard drive to me. But then I don't know. But rather it sounds like a module that controls the traffic between components and tells the MFT what you want to do. It sounds like it controls all of the ports to the MFT including USB, screen, voice, and steering wheel. It is kinda like when my brain does not coordinate my big feet with my hands. But that is just my guess. It does seem like the APIM is the culprit on many problems people are having. The culprit in my own problems is my tiny brain! ~;-)

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

Smart Key

I'd like to buy an extra (have 2, want 3 total) smart key for the new Limited. How much will these cost at the dealership? Will it require programming from the dealership? Thanks.

*I put this in the wrong spot. Sorry, mods.

 

[yourstone]

Do we get two key FOBs with our new Xs?

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

Do we get two key FOBs with our new Xs?

Yes, I received two smart key fobs with my new Limited.

 

[JDraper]

...*I put this in the wrong spot. Sorry, mods.

UNACCEPTABLE!!! You get and INSTANT LIFETIME BAN for your misdeed!!!!!!!!



::::::

:mattmoon:

 

[cfioretti]

Black screen of death on 2012 Focus

I just bought a new 2012 Focus last week with the MFT. I started noticing problems with the My ford Touch system almost immediately. I had been having problems with the turn by turn directions not completely downloading to my Sync unit. In fact, the system NEVER downloaded a route for me to follow.

Just tonight, after a week of ownership and 400 miles, the My ford touch screen went black. I thought that the bugs would have been worked out by now... Already taking the car in to service next week to have the left rear door painted. Turns out they painted the door a matte instead of glossy finish. I am very disappointed.

 

[RKelly2233]

at least you got 1100... got the 11' for my wife- she's at 32 miles and its dead. completely. cant get it to do anything. turned it in- furious. driving an expedition until they do what they do.. At least I have my 03X and my Aviator that just wont die

 

[yourstone]

at least you got 1100... got the 11' for my wife- she's at 32 miles and its dead. completely. cant get it to do anything. turned it in- furious. driving an expedition until they do what they do.. At least I have my 03X and my Aviator that just wont die

Sorry to hear that. I am lucky I suppose that my MFT/Sync and navigation have been flawless since taking delivery on 3/12. If a master reset did not fix yours then perhaps it is the APIM module. Your dealer should be able to figure it out.

 

[Spengracin]

Have a 2012 LTD MFT froze, on the way home, then went blank. I have tried ing on/off, nothing, is there a master reset?

 

[twentygb]

Have a 2012 LTD MFT froze, on the way home, then went blank. I have tried ing on/off, nothing, is there a master reset?

Hi Spengracin, I remember you got your Ex around same time as I did. I have to say I've exprience two issues with MFT since we got it.

1. MFT froze while listing sync directions (we opted to save the $$ from the nav option). I suspect it froze because of how it gets the current GPS location for a non-nav based MFT. That must have been the root cause since it froze just after turned a corner. I also think since we were stressing it to some degree by using the more complicated features most likely less tested considering all the problems with MFT mentioned on this forum.

We left it in the frozen state until we got home and turned off the engine and turn it back on. After a few moments it must have detected the frozen state and initiated a restart. It went black for a minute or so then booted back up (showing the maintenance screen with the progress bar). After that it work as expected.

2. The second time we had an issue was after I was testing out the sync features by trying to download directions via the sync services. I tried a number of times but each time it would say directions failed to download. Later during an update I got a windows popup dialog flash on screen then black. I think all the "heavy" use eventually crashed it and it rebooted itself. 2minutes later after everything loaded back up, I tried the sync directions and it worked perfectly. One note, I never pulled the fuse or unplugged the battery. Each time, I let the system reboot itself. In our case we were lucky that we weren't driving.

I guess this is more of an antidote but nonetheless this was our experience. In my experience with windows BSOD debugging, the majority of cases, the root cause of windows crashes are poorly written third-party drivers (in this case possibly Ford?). If a driver is expected (or not) to be in a specific part of memory and that location is overwritten, than the OS may become unstable and lead to a crash or frozen state.

It is clear that MFT 2.11 continues to have bugs and I suspect they were introduced by Ford.

What I dont understand is if Ford is having a hard time reproducing these bugs or tracing the root cause because it seems to me its very easy to crash MFT.

 

[Spengracin]

Thanks for the info, I waited for awhile after getting home, it never woke up, battery was my only option. Have you figured out the master reset yet, how?