Apps for MFT. What apps?

[Sgt1411]

Does anybody know if Ford will implement a HUD? Could be a slick new feature to integrate with the new Sync since it's open for development.

Well the new Mustang GT350 got a version of HUD, not what we wanted but getting closer.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-highlights-gt350-mustangs-hud-shift-light-89174.html

 

[jetpilot747]

Well the new Mustang GT350 got a version of HUD, not what we wanted but getting closer.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-highlights-gt350-mustangs-hud-shift-light-89174.html

Step in the right direction I suppose.

With the price if a decked out F150 approaching $60K, sooner or later people will be expecting some high end technology to go with that price.

Spent a week driving my wife's Explorer on a vacation trip and without a HUD(that I got used to on BMW) I used the display to the right of the speedometer for navigation so I can almost keep my eyes on the road, which periodically blacked out when doing updates to turns. Its going on the shop Wednesday to hopefully get that APIM replaced. The navigation was lagging and had me driving through buildings at some points, couldn't keep up with the turns we made driving in San Diego.

 

[gatzdon]

Step in the right direction I suppose.

With the price if a decked out F150 approaching $60K, sooner or later people will be expecting some high end technology to go with that price.

Spent a week driving my wife's Explorer on a vacation trip and without a HUD(that I got used to on BMW) I used the display to the right of the speedometer for navigation so I can almost keep my eyes on the road, which periodically blacked out when doing updates to turns. Its going on the shop Wednesday to hopefully get that APIM replaced. The navigation was lagging and had me driving through buildings at some points, couldn't keep up with the turns we made driving in San Diego.

Can't speak for other models, but the Explorers GPS antenna doesn't work well in cities with tall buildings. If you had issues ONLY in the city, then there may not be much the dealer can do (they will reinstall the software and wipe all your settings). If it's still under warranty, might as well bring it in to complain about it though.

 

[Sgt1411]

I would read up on the "Sticky" thread that explains how to put your MFT into diagnostic mode and see how many satellites it's getting. I believe it needs minimum 4.....

I drove around watching it change to see how well it can track and connect.

Could indicate bad GPS module

 

[jetpilot747]

We were in downtown area of San Diego but not near tall buildings, however it was down a slope near the water and there are obstructions to the East with the terrain, so I suspect lack of good satellites. Does the system use GLONASS also?
The GPS has worked fine since we owned it so it was a surprise to see it act up, but it worked fine the rest of the trip. I chalk it up to Selective Availability due to the Naval bases there! I did have a Dual 160 GPS module I use with my iPad, but it didn't do it long enough for me to compare with that.

The reason the car is going in the shop is the small screens blanking. Does it periodically at start up when backing up or just starting off usually. Does it a lot while navigating. Hopefully the dealer has seen this and knows what to do to fix it. I'll report back the outcome of that.

 

[jetpilot747]

I would read up on the "Sticky" thread that explains how to put your MFT into diagnostic mode and see how many satellites it's getting. I believe it needs minimum 4.....

I drove around watching it change to see how well it can track and connect.

Could indicate bad GPS module

Interesting experience at the dealer. They ended up "updating" my GPSM, which the service manager said was the GPS module. Didn't solve the issue unfortunately.

Scheduled service on Wednesday to make sure they could have it all day, called at the end of the day and they hadn't touched it, said two tech's called in sick. Asked to keep it another day. Called them back today at 1pm and they hadn't touched it. Went in to visit them around 4pm and they just finished with it. They said they couldn't duplicate the hood vibration or unlatching in a road test. (Umm unlatching only happened to be twice in 18,000 miles, so might be some effort to duplicate that one). Said they couldn't duplicate the screen blanking either, but said to call them and leave the car running should it happen again and bring it in.

Well it happened twice on the way home so I called them and they said all the tech's went home. I said I could video it for them if that helps and they said a tech needs to witness it live and then do diagnostics on it. It apparently doesn't set any flags or fault codes when it happens. The screen blanking mostly happens if you set a destination and navigate to it, not as often without. I took video of it happening twice tonight just in case they ask for it but I guess I'll consider taking it to another dealer if it really gets annoying to my wife.

I think this dealer means well just having issues. When they brought my car out to me they offered to take it back and wash it real quick even though it was mostly clean, so they drive back out a few moments later and it was covered in soap. Apparently their car wash broke so they took it back again and about 20 minutes later it came out clean and mostly dry.

 

[jmr061]

Interesting experience at the dealer. They ended up "updating" my GPSM, which the service manager said was the GPS module. Didn't solve the issue unfortunately.

Scheduled service on Wednesday to make sure they could have it all day, called at the end of the day and they hadn't touched it, said two tech's called in sick. Asked to keep it another day. Called them back today at 1pm and they hadn't touched it. Went in to visit them around 4pm and they just finished with it. They said they couldn't duplicate the hood vibration or unlatching in a road test. (Umm unlatching only happened to be twice in 18,000 miles, so might be some effort to duplicate that one). Said they couldn't duplicate the screen blanking either, but said to call them and leave the car running should it happen again and bring it in.

Well it happened twice on the way home so I called them and they said all the tech's went home. I said I could video it for them if that helps and they said a tech needs to witness it live and then do diagnostics on it. It apparently doesn't set any flags or fault codes when it happens. The screen blanking mostly happens if you set a destination and navigate to it, not as often without. I took video of it happening twice tonight just in case they ask for it but I guess I'll consider taking it to another dealer if it really gets annoying to my wife.

I think this dealer means well just having issues. When they brought my car out to me they offered to take it back and wash it real quick even though it was mostly clean, so they drive back out a few moments later and it was covered in soap. Apparently their car wash broke so they took it back again and about 20 minutes later it came out clean and mostly dry.

You stated it has been working fine until the trip. Does that mean you have used routes before and no problem or is it something that you noticed because of using a route for perhaps the 1st time?

Any changes made to the vehicle? New tires, etc?

 

[Sgt1411]

That wasn't Peoria Ford on Bell Road was it?......I have had good success there in the past.

 

[jetpilot747]

You stated it has been working fine until the trip. Does that mean you have used routes before and no problem or is it something that you noticed because of using a route for perhaps the 1st time?

Any changes made to the vehicle? New tires, etc?

Notice it mostly while using Navigation, regardless of the route entered, never recall it happening before until recently with the Navigation active. We rarely use that function. Other times they black out is usually when backing out of the garage or when you shift to Drive and start driving. Those occurrences are not very often, it appears using Navigation makes it happen more often and reproducible where the other times are more random.

Its a 2014 with less than 20K miles, no changes to the car and on the original tires.

When the radio stopped working for a few days my wife did a reset of some sort in one of the menu's and that came back online. Another time she said the center MFD went black but came back up after a short bit. The small screens left and right of the speedo come back after about 5-10 seconds when they go black. Its not a big concern but makes me wonder if they there will be a time when they don't come back, would like to have my fuel gauge!

 

[jmr061]

Notice it mostly while using Navigation, regardless of the route entered, never recall it happening before until recently with the Navigation active. We rarely use that function. Other times they black out is usually when backing out of the garage or when you shift to Drive and start driving. Those occurrences are not very often, it appears using Navigation makes it happen more often and reproducible where the other times are more random.

Its a 2014 with less than 20K miles, no changes to the car and on the original tires.

When the radio stopped working for a few days my wife did a reset of some sort in one of the menu's and that came back online. Another time she said the center MFD went black but came back up after a short bit. The small screens left and right of the speedo come back after about 5-10 seconds when they go black. Its not a big concern but makes me wonder if they there will be a time when they don't come back, would like to have my fuel gauge!

The screens in the instrument cluster are blacking out as well? If that is the case you have a bigger problem. Wonder if there isn't some can bus issue going on in the vehicle. That will be hard to track down.

 

[jetpilot747]

That wasn't Peoria Ford on Bell Road was it?......I have had good success there in the past.

It was the one on Bell and I-17. They tried I think, just no codes or anything to work with it would appear. Only steps I see is starting to replacing boxes to fix it, but I plan to get a tech in the car and reproduce it and see what they think. I'll have my wife drive it a bit longer to see how it behaves then re-visit a dealer.

 

[jetpilot747]

The screens in the instrument cluster are blacking out as well? If that is the case you have a bigger problem. Wonder if there isn't some can bus issue going on in the vehicle. That will be hard to track down.

Correct, the left and right displays on either side of the speedometer are the ones going black, the Navigation display, radio or other pages on the main 8" MFD in the center don't go black when this occurs. When navigating when I drive it I usually keep the Nav Page open on the right 4" display to the right of the speedometer and when it goes black the Main navigation screen seems just fine so I agree it could be the data bus between the two causing issues enough to throw the small displays into a cold start.

 

[jmr061]

Correct, the left and right displays on either side of the speedometer are the ones going black, the Navigation display, radio or other pages on the main 8" MFD in the center don't go black when this occurs. When navigating when I drive it I usually keep the Nav Page open on the right 4" display to the right of the speedometer and when it goes black the Main navigation screen seems just fine so I agree it could be the data bus between the two causing issues enough to throw the small displays into a cold start.

I thought the MFT screen was going black. You have an IPC issue. Your IPC may be bad. The IPC interfaces with the MFT system but is separate.

 

[Sgt1411]

Not sure if you already did this but just to rule it out go undo the blue clip on the positive side of the battery. Let the vehicle sit for minimum 30 minutes. Then re-connect. I did mine overnight to fix some MFT issues.

 

[jetpilot747]

Not sure if you already did this but just to rule it out go undo the blue clip on the positive side of the battery. Let the vehicle sit for minimum 30 minutes. Then re-connect. I did mine overnight to fix some MFT issues.

I pulled the large blue plug with the heavy gauge red wire on the drivers side of the terminal if you will, that brought down all the inside electronics. When I reattached and started it up it indicated "scheduled maintenance" or something like that for a second then booted up ok. We'll see if that clears up some memory pointers and such and makes a difference. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Sgt1411]

Another indicator of just how far behind the rest of the market we are.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/gm-promises-android-auto-for-chevys-eight-inch-mylink-radios-89758.html