No HD Radio Reception

[peterk9]

My limited isn't showing any HD stations. I did read in the manual it says "if equipped" but how would I know? listed on on the build sheet? or somewhere else?

The Order Guide shows HD Radio is standard on the Limited and Limited Hybrid.

Peter

 

[N3DD]

My limited isn't showing any HD stations. I did read in the manual it says "if equipped" but how would I know? listed on on the build sheet? or somewhere else?

Interesting. I can't find that listed anywhere but it should be in the Limited trim.

 

[N3DD]

Deja Vu All Over Again!!!

After two months of working fine my HD reception failed again!! Brought it into the dealership today and they ran diagnostics and got the U3000 code again like they did back in September. This time they are immediately are requesting from Ford to replace the ACM which solved the problem last time. Let's see how long this takes.

 

[ljn21]

How do you know when you are listening to an HD station? On my ST there is a an antenna symbol on the FM source screen but it never changes...is it supposed to change from grey to colored or something? No idea if we have HD signals in Charlotte but would assume so.

 

[peterk9]

How do you know when you are listening to an HD station? On my ST there is a an antenna symbol on the FM source screen but it never changes...is it supposed to change from grey to colored or something? No idea if we have HD signals in Charlotte but would assume so.

From your Owner's Manual;
When HD Radio is on and you tune to a
station broadcasting HD Radio technology,
you may notice the HD Radio logo on your
screen. When this logo is available, you
may also see Title and Artist fields
on-screen.

Peter

 

[N3DD]

The HD logo appears under the Sources button on the Audio screen. If the station is transmitting in HD and you are in range it will be in color and will show the HD subchannels below it. Touching the Logo gives you access to the subchannels. If you are in a poor reception area the Logo will be greyed out and you will switch to analog FM until the signal is stronger. The HD Radio logo also appears on the center dash display.

 

[N3DD]

Deja Vu All Over Again!!!

After two months of working fine my HD reception failed again!! Brought it into the dealership today and they ran diagnostics and got the U3000 code again like they did back in September. This time they are immediately are requesting from Ford to replace the ACM which solved the problem last time. Let's see how long this takes.

Ford has authorized replacement of the ACM again along with some voltage checks to try and figure out what the U3000 code is. Hopefully they will have in by the end of the week to be installed.

 

[Spacey]

Obviously everything in your vehicle should work. However "HD" radio is broadcast in the margins of the FM spectrum. While it is digital, the bit rate is so low that the audio fidelity is significantly worse than traditional FM radio.

 

[N3DD]

Obviously everything in your vehicle should work. However "HD" radio is broadcast in the margins of the FM spectrum. While it is digital, the bit rate is so low that the audio fidelity is significantly worse than traditional FM radio.

I beg to differ. The Digital FM reception to me is far superior to the traditional analog signal especially on the AM band. Not to mention the availability of the HD subchannels which provide more choices which are usually commercial free. To be honest, I have so many audio choices that I usually do not listen to OTA broadcasts but when I do there is a definite difference between the analog and digital signal.

 

[Spacey]

I didn't say anything about AM radio, which has always been poor quality. My statement was regarding the bandwidth / audio fidelity of a properly received FM broadcast vs the bit rate of "HD" radio.

 

[N3DD]

Ford has authorized replacement of the ACM again along with some voltage checks to try and figure out what the U3000 code is. Hopefully they will have in by the end of the week to be installed.

The dealer finally received the new ACM and installed it yesterday along with doing a bunch of voltage checks (all OK) to see why it keeps failing. Hopefully the second replacement solves the issue. They also updated Sync to build 19274.

 

[Frank Trivieri]

What is different about the sync version they installed?

 

[N3DD]

What is different about the sync version they installed?

No new features. I believe only bug fixes.

 

[UofMEngineer]

No new features. I believe only bug fixes.

This.

 

[Bender953]

Got mine back from the dealership this morning and the HD radio is fixed and sync updated to 19274. They said they performed an update to the APIM module then written on my repair order it says "hotline advised using PPT A under sec 415-00B. A1-no, A6-yes, A7-yes, A12-no, A13-no, A14-yes" Not sure what this means. That still didn't fix the issue so during testing they found a break in the antenna lines grid in the back glass. They repaired the break and it resolved the issue.

 

[N3DD]

Got mine back from the dealership this morning and the HD radio is fixed and sync updated to 19274. They said they performed an update to the APIM module then written on my repair order it says "hotline advised using PPT A under sec 415-00B. A1-no, A6-yes, A7-yes, A12-no, A13-no, A14-yes" Not sure what this means. That still didn't fix the issue so during testing they found a break in the antenna lines grid in the back glass. They repaired the break and it resolved the issue.

Thanks for the this information. After 2 ACM replacements I am beginning to see the failure mode happen again on this one. Although I still get HD reception the HD subchannel button is no longer working. The last time this happened the HD reception eventually failed. I had no idea there was an antenna on the back window. This may be what's happening to me because after replacing the hardware twice it's obviously something else.

Does your paperwork show any error codes?

 

[Bender953]

No error codes were found when they were testing. Interesting that Ford had a 10 point inspection process already in requirement for the dealership to follow which leads me to believe there might be more of a known group of problems they have been seeing.

 

[N3DD]

The dealer finally received the new ACM and installed it yesterday along with doing a bunch of voltage checks (all OK) to see why it keeps failing. Hopefully the second replacement solves the issue. They also updated Sync to build 19274.

Well almost a year to the day my second installed ACM has apparently failed and I have no HD Radio reception. I have an appointment next week to start this pain all over again.

 

[N3DD]

Well almost a year to the day my second installed ACM has apparently failed and I have no HD Radio reception. I have an appointment next week to start this pain all over again.

Brought my EX in today to figure out why my HD reception failed. Again a U3000 error code was found but this time it directs the tech to immediately replace the ACM. In the previous two attempts this direction came from Ford engineering. I suggested that the dealership make sure they advise Ford that this is the third ACM they are installing ( which are quite expensive) to correct this issue. ACM is on order and is expected in next week.

 

[N3DD]

Brought my EX in today to figure out why my HD reception failed. Again a U3000 error code was found but this time it directs the tech to immediately replace the ACM. In the previous two attempts this direction came from Ford engineering. I suggested that the dealership make sure they advise Ford that this is the third ACM they are installing ( which are quite expensive) to correct this issue. ACM is on order and is expected in next week.

So after waiting for the third new ACM to arrive I brought the EX in on Thursday for installation. The Dealership gave me a loaner for the day. Late in the day the Service Advisor called me and said they were having trouble programing the ACM until they noticed that Ford sent the wrong one. He asked me if I wouldn't mind keeping the loaner through the weekend since it would take 2 days for the correct one to arrive. Surprisingly late Friday afternoon the Advisor called me and said that the new ACM had arrived and was installed and all was working OK.

Of note was that Ford had suggested to look for water intrusion from the rear side window above where the ACM is located (apparently they had a case) but there was none. Also, they had changed the P/N for this ACM which could mean a revision or a new vendor.

In any event, if this fails is a new 21 in the cards?