Infotainment System Completely DEAD, apparently no fix available - Please Help!

[GoBroncos]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I took delivery of a 2021 Black Diamond in December 2021. Minimal issues in 50K miles. I love this truck!

One day, I went to start it and the infotainment screen stayed completely black. No screen, no audio, no power at all. The USB charging port had also lost all power. I took it to my dealership to have the issue looked at. They inspected it and I got a call saying that it was a known issue and that they would need to order a part that was not in stock. They said it may be a couple of days but that they would contact me when the part arrived. They also told me that the part would be covered under my warranty.

After over a week of waiting, I checked back in with the dealership and finally got a hold of someone on 12/22. They stated that the part needs to be programmed and that couldn’t be done now because Ford Engineering is completely shut down until after the new year (seemed odd, but Fine). They said they would contact me within a couple of days after New Years for an update. Of course no one did, so I checked in again.

This time they stated that their parts manager had reached out to Ford Engineering, and they had “unfortunately” received the same message from Ford with no estimated time of completion. The service rep said that “Ford Engineering is holding up the process due to new technology and programming that needs to be updated.”

I am now about a month in and becoming very frustrated with the now limited capabilities of this relatively new truck. I have no backup camera (which is a safety concern), no audio, no connectivity. It also seems suspicious to me that Ford would have no way to make this fix for such a long period of time.

Is anyone aware of this issue or had any similar experiences?

Communication from the dealership has not been good and I feel like I’m getting the runaround. I’ve learned a ton from this community which helped get me thru a long 12 month wait which was well worth it! Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

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[BUCKIN6VA]

I would escalate this beyond your dealer, if you can.

 

[GoBroncos]

I would escalate this beyond your dealer, if you can.

I contacted Ford customer support. This is the response I received. As this is now back on me, I am waiting for the dealership to confirm if they have the part they supposedly ordered a month ago. I'm hesitant to drop it at the same dealership that is saying they are unable to fix at this time.

"If you are still waiting on the part, then we would be able to look into escalating this case for you. However, if the dealership does have the part, the only way we would be able to escalate this case is by having your vehicle currently at the dealership. What I am going to do is provide you with a case number, and when you are able to find out if the dealership has the part, you can contact us back. The case number I have for you today is CXH-0130xxxxxxxx"

 

[BUCKIN6VA]

Ugh I'm sorry man. That sounds very frustrating. Wonder if you could make a temp wire-up for an aftermarket CarPlay unit.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I took delivery of a 2021 Black Diamond in December 2021. Minimal issues in 50K miles. I love this truck!

One day, I went to start it and the infotainment screen stayed completely black. No screen, no audio, no power at all. The USB charging port had also lost all power. I took it to my dealership to have the issue looked at. They inspected it and I got a call saying that it was a known issue and that they would need to order a part that was not in stock. They said it may be a couple of days but that they would contact me when the part arrived. They also told me that the part would be covered under my warranty.

After over a week of waiting, I checked back in with the dealership and finally got a hold of someone on 12/22. They stated that the part needs to be programmed and that couldn’t be done now because Ford Engineering is completely shut down until after the new year (seemed odd, but Fine). They said they would contact me within a couple of days after New Years for an update. Of course no one did, so I checked in again.

This time they stated that their parts manager had reached out to Ford Engineering, and they had “unfortunately” received the same message from Ford with no estimated time of completion. The service rep said that “Ford Engineering is holding up the process due to new technology and programming that needs to be updated.”

I am now about a month in and becoming very frustrated with the now limited capabilities of this relatively new truck. I have no backup camera (which is a safety concern), no audio, no connectivity. It also seems suspicious to me that Ford would have no way to make this fix for such a long period of time.

Is anyone aware of this issue or had any similar experiences?

Communication from the dealership has not been good and I feel like I’m getting the runaround. I’ve learned a ton from this community which helped get me thru a long 12 month wait which was well worth it! Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

INTERESTING

My truck is at Ford right now because my GPS was displaying weird characters. They've had it about 2 weeks now and ordered a new APIM for it. They installed the APIM but are still having the same issue and tell me the system has to be programmed... but it's not taking the programming. So they are waiting to hear back from Ford on how to fix that.

ODD how you are having a different yet related issue (programming) and can't get anywhere either.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

ODD how you are having a different yet related issue (programming) and can't get anywhere either.

Wasn't there a similar issue where , out there somewhere, a Forscan altered vehicle went in for service, it some how uploaded some bad programming into Ford's system, which then dl'd it into numerous other customer vehicles.

Supposedly, it was thought to be "impossible" for that to happen, but in the end, that is what they discovered.
So, yeah , there were some vehicles out of service for quite some time until it got resolved.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Wasn't there a similar issue where , out there somewhere, a Forscan altered vehicle went in for service, it some how uploaded some bad programming into Ford's system, which then dl'd it into numerous other customer vehicles.

Supposedly, it was thought to be "impossible" for that to happen, but in the end, that is what they discovered.
So, yeah , there were some vehicles out of service for quite some time until it got resolved.

I dunno how that could happen. Not unless the tech UPLAODED the customers truck data into his tablet/pc and then downloaded all that from the tablet/pc to another customers truck. Those usually match the vins for programming/etc...

But my trucks never really gone in for much service to be honest.

My issue was weird characters on the GPS, as if it was displaying internal characters from tables or something. My guess is during an OTA update something bugged. We don't drive our Bronco much.

But I just called the dealership and told them we'll take the truck and asked them to call us if/when they hear back from Ford.

We're in the middle of developing new products right now and they've had the truck 2 weeks. I need to finish working on these new products first, then they can play with the truck again

 

[GoBroncos]

Forgot to mention that the unit died within about 15 hours of my 1st scheduled software update. Don't know if that may be related, but once my screen is working again I plan on disabling that auto update feature.

 

[GoBroncos]

INTERESTING

My truck is at Ford right now because my GPS was displaying weird characters. They've had it about 2 weeks now and ordered a new APIM for it. They installed the APIM but are still having the same issue and tell me the system has to be programmed... but it's not taking the programming. So they are waiting to hear back from Ford on how to fix that.

ODD how you are having a different yet related issue (programming) and can't get anywhere either.

That does sound related. I just got an update from my dealership. Part is still on backorder with no estimated time of arrival. Reason for delay is listed, "delayed in programming from Ford engineering".

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

That does sound related. I just got an update from my dealership. Part is still on backorder with no estimated time of arrival. Reason for delay is listed, "delayed in programming from Ford engineering".

See they said they had to order a new APIM, which showed up Friday last week.

But they had programming issues. Something about Ford has to program it and they were waiting on a special department to call them. Sounds like a similar issue with the programming.

I ended up going back to pick our truck up, as we need to develop some new products. I'll bring it back to them next week and leave it with them

 

[BroncoA512021]

I am surprised your dealer didn't blame all of your lights........

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

You can file a report with the NHTSA for the safety issues you think apply.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safe...Xhn44H18hpMi0aAoeOEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#index

 

[Fly by Nite]

I've been waiting for a new APIM module to come in since 11/17/23.
The 8" Sync screen went permanently black when my BaseSquatch was barely 4 months old..... so it worked for 4 months and has been dead for 2 months. Ford needs to get their s**t together.

 

[C6ZZGT]

We also have an APIM on order for a customer, Can't be shipped because AER or United Radio is waiting on programming from Ford.
Hurry up and wait.
It is what it is.

 

[projectbadlands]

INTERESTING

My truck is at Ford right now because my GPS was displaying weird characters. They've had it about 2 weeks now and ordered a new APIM for it. They installed the APIM but are still having the same issue and tell me the system has to be programmed... but it's not taking the programming. So they are waiting to hear back from Ford on how to fix that.

ODD how you are having a different yet related issue (programming) and can't get anywhere either.

same happened with mine. Nav text would show that looked like script. The search bar would display "KIPoneBoxSearchPlaceHolder", street names would be displayed as KIP{streetname} and basically all text showing started with KIP.

They also replaced the APIM and it did not work. Ford advised that I HAD to buy one year membership to NAV and that new updated info would download and the issue would correct itself. When I purchased it and it did not change, I dropped it back at Ford.

Engineering suggested replacing the body control module and that fixed it.

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