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SYNC - Black Screen of Death ...


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The Edge is back at the shop for its scheduled repairs. A recurring issue with the Alternator has popped up. I run w/a Passport Radar detector set for voltage readout, it's running in the range of 11.6 to 12.6 volts and is constantly fluctuating. Since they replaced the alternator after complete failure and plug burn out (10k miles) it has been 13.6+- constant, right up until yesterday. Funny thing is on the gas voltage goes down, off of the gas it goes up, same as before. Put the detector back in my 6.4 diesel for the ride home and it read 13.7 volts for the 1 1/2 hour ride home. This thing has electrical problems that I don't believe the shop has the ability to find.

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70amcpwr, on 20 Feb 2014 - 02:35 AM, said:

The Edge is back at the shop for its scheduled repairs. A recurring issue with the Alternator has popped up. I run w/a Passport Radar detector set for voltage readout, it's running in the range of 11.6 to 12.6 volts and is constantly fluctuating. Since they replaced the alternator after complete failure and plug burn out (10k miles) it has been 13.6+- constant, right up until yesterday. Funny thing is on the gas voltage goes down, off of the gas it goes up, same as before. Put the detector back in my 6.4 diesel for the ride home and it read 13.7 volts for the 1 1/2 hour ride home. This thing has electrical problems that I don't believe the shop has the ability to find.

 

The 2011+ Edge (and many other models) have what Ford calls "Smart Charging", the alternator output varies by design. See attachment for description.

 

2011 Ford Edge Sourcebook_Page8_Smart Charging.pdf

Edited by omar302
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It should increase out put w/RPM not decrease. Also I don't think "smart charging" means if you hit it (the alternator) with a Brass hammer it smartens up and and starts working normal :doh: . Seriously though, this is the same symptoms as before which eventually ended up with it frying the alternator and burning the pigtail. And, the brass hammer actually would make the internal regulator temporarily start working before, this time didn't have to resort to this as it was going into the shop anyways.

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Well our screen is back (module and APIM supposedly). All I can say is I put 2 vertical finger smears on the left side of the screen before it went into the shop when messing around with it trying to get it to work and they are still there. I asked if the entire unit was replaced and was told yes. The state inspection cost $128, they turned all 4 rotors and charged us for front pads. The slides seized and wiped out the pads. Rotors still look like crap. They say the charging system is normal. That's all for now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

... All I can say is I put 2 vertical finger smears on the left side of the screen before it went into the shop when messing around with it trying to get it to work and they are still there. I asked if the entire unit was replaced and was told yes. ...

 

70amcpwr,

 

The service adviser might not have been clear on what you meant by "entire unit". I've never heard of a dealership replacing the touchscreen to address an APIM-related issue. How's the system running currently?

 

Question, I am trying to find the APIM location at my 2012 edge. Can anybody help me on that? Highly appreciated, Michael

 

Hello mourits,

 

What kind of issues are you having that might warrant an APIM investigation? I'd be glad to offer assistance with whatever's going on. Feel free to PM your VIN along with the details if you want to tag me in. :)

 

Antonio

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I had a similar issue and one day the screen went blank. Two days later it started again. I took the car to the dealer and I was told that I need to have the unit replaced on my 2012 Edge because changes in the weather can impact the wiring with electronics. I was told that for 300+ dollars they would replace as I now have 40,000+ miles and I am no longer under warranty. My car is is excellent condition and always garage kept save the time I drive it.

 

From reading this forum, it's clear others have had similar issues. At what point does Ford do a recall? How many people have to pay out of pocket for a faulty, glitchy system?

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I had a similar issue and one day the screen went blank. Two days later it started again. I took the car to the dealer and I was told that I need to have the unit replaced on my 2012 Edge because changes in the weather can impact the wiring with electronics. I was told that for 300+ dollars they would replace as I now have 40,000+ miles and I am no longer under warranty. My car is is excellent condition and always garage kept save the time I drive it.

 

From reading this forum, it's clear others have had similar issues. At what point does Ford do a recall? How many people have to pay out of pocket for a faulty, glitchy system?

Do you have the MyFord Touch (8" touch screen)? if so, the APIM, the module responsible for system including the touch screen, has a 5 year unlimited mileage extended warranty (5 years from vehicle purchase).

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I had a similar issue and one day the screen went blank. Two days later it started again. I took the car to the dealer and I was told that I need to have the unit replaced on my 2012 Edge because changes in the weather can impact the wiring with electronics. I was told that for 300+ dollars they would replace as I now have 40,000+ miles and I am no longer under warranty. My car is is excellent condition and always garage kept save the time I drive it.

 

From reading this forum, it's clear others have had similar issues. At what point does Ford do a recall? How many people have to pay out of pocket for a faulty, glitchy system?

Is your system working now, Msjesims, or is it still a black screen? Depending on what they deem the issue to be and like omar302 stated, you do have an extended limited warranty of five years on the module for MyFord Touch. I suggest that you contact the Service Manager at your dealership to discuss this further. Let me know if you need any help.

 

Rebecca

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

My 2011 Edge is only 3 yrs old and I've had similar issues as stated here. I, too, have already had the power steering line replaced (that was last year, so car was only 2 yrs old). Now, the dealership is telling me it is an APIM issue with the "black screen of death" I have read so much about. Funny thing is...I had come in a week prior to their "finding" this problem bc I'd been at church (car parked for say 45 mins) and my son had gone to sit in it until I was finished. He had it turned on to the accessory functions (car not fully engaged with engine running) and w/in 5 mins every alarm on the dash started going off and the "black screen of death" occurred. The car completely shut off, the doors would not unlock using key fob, key would not turn engine over, even the gear shifter couldn't be moved into the neutral position. NOTHING WORKED!! Under the hood, there was a ticking sound coming from the relay box. I had to leave my car in the parking lot overnight as dealership wasn't open on a Sunday. Next morning, have to get my car towed to the dealership and guess what?! Although I raised holy h&^%, telling them it had to be an electrical issue due to the noises from the relay box, they got out of pursuing any real issues that may have been occurring otherwise by throwing up the "dead battery" card. Of course my battery was dead! The ticking noise had been going all night...SOMETHING was working under that hood that drained my battery!! But bc I have over 50,000 miles on the car, they stopped listening as soon as I walked in. My husband, who is an electrician, told me (and with my limited understanding, I apologize if I screw this up) that there are codes that will appear when the mechanics hook the car up to check it out when issues occur, and bc the battery had been allowed to go dead, those codes very well could've disappeared or been reset to give the appearance that nothing else was really wrong with my car. But if this APIM is such an issue (as evidenced by everything I have been reading online), this dealership simply wrote me off so they wouldn't have to deal with the APIM issue then. They'd already started off the day by telling me they couldn't get me into the dealership bc they had too many scheduled appts for the day...REALLY? I'm sorry I didn't schedule my car to fubar. Luckily for me, the week after I had to spend money on a new battery I didn't need, while driving back from a vacation (no less), the "black screen of death" appeared again and I was close enough to home to drive straight to the dealership and show them that I was not making this crap up. I have an appt tomorrow to have the APIM replaced, but at this point, I am EXTREMELY disappointed with the dealership, and Ford, that I was told I had to purchase a new battery for a 3 yr old car when those guys had to have known this issue was going on. And, again, bc my car is over that 50,000 mile mark, they are just sitting back smiling bc they at least got that $200 from me.

Edited by Nicole Adkins
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Nicole,

 

The APIM has an extended warranty, 5 years total from original purchase date regardless of mileage. So if the APIM needs replacement, it should be done without any charges.

 

As for the battery, if you think the old one was still ok, put it back & try to return/sell the new one. Good luck.

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Sounds to me like it was the battery that died first, then you had all your issues. The clicking relay is not caused by a bad APIM, it's caused by a bad battery. Now it could be that your APIM is what caused the battery to die, but I think the dealership was correct in trying a new battery first.

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It appears to be working fine, we really don't use the vehicle much. I did notice changes in the system since the replacement.

 

 

Ahhhhh....."changes in the system"!

Shortly after getting it back my wife tried to sync her phone to no avail. We figured it was us, or where we are, or something, we'll deal with it later. Now we don't use this tech crap much (CRAP!), not like those that ride around all day with "Tom Tom" stuck to their windshield or a phone glued to their ear. The other day we needed to make a 550 mile round trip to a place that all we had was the (GPS) address. Went out to the car to put it into the Nav and where it used to say "Navigation" it says "Information". I knew the screen had changed but never researched it, figured I would just "touch" information and it would bring up Nav and go from there, and @ the time of picking up the car the technician (22 years old, fact) assured us he checked everything and reset it as it was originally . Well.....after a few minutes it was obvious we no longer have Nav. Made the trip using the old fashion method (your brain) and called the dealer the next day. After 3 times getting his (service writer) voice mail I finally reached him. No Clue! Never heard of it, I'll look into it and call you back. Which he did, 5 hours later. The answer; No Clue! we'll have to have the car here. "Here's what we'll do", We have a salesman that lives in your area and he'll pick it up and bring it back when (IF) we figure it out. Yeah right! were going to let someone we don't know drive off with our $38k vehicle with no plan (time wise) of when to return it!

 

This vehicle has been a CONSTANT electrical/technical frustration!

 

If anyone has had this or has an idea let me know, so we can "tell" the dealer how to fix it to try to avoid 3 more (useless) trips!

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Ahhhhh....."changes in the system"!

Shortly after getting it back my wife tried to sync her phone to no avail. We figured it was us, or where we are, or something, we'll deal with it later. Now we don't use this tech crap much (CRAP!), not like those that ride around all day with "Tom Tom" stuck to their windshield or a phone glued to their ear. The other day we needed to make a 550 mile round trip to a place that all we had was the (GPS) address. Went out to the car to put it into the Nav and where it used to say "Navigation" it says "Information". I knew the screen had changed but never researched it, figured I would just "touch" information and it would bring up Nav and go from there, and @ the time of picking up the car the technician (22 years old, fact) assured us he checked everything and reset it as it was originally . Well.....after a few minutes it was obvious we no longer have Nav. Made the trip using the old fashion method (your brain) and called the dealer the next day. After 3 times getting his (service writer) voice mail I finally reached him. No Clue! Never heard of it, I'll look into it and call you back. Which he did, 5 hours later. The answer; No Clue! we'll have to have the car here. "Here's what we'll do", We have a salesman that lives in your area and he'll pick it up and bring it back when (IF) we figure it out. Yeah right! were going to let someone we don't know drive off with our $38k vehicle with no plan (time wise) of when to return it!

 

This vehicle has been a CONSTANT electrical/technical frustration!

 

If anyone has had this or has an idea let me know, so we can "tell" the dealer how to fix it to try to avoid 3 more (useless) trips!

 

Hi 70amcpwr,

 

All your dealer has to do is reload the MyFord Touch software. It sounds to me like they loaded the non-navigation version on to your Edge. Let me know if you'd like me to escalate this to the customer service manager for your area.

 

Rebecca

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This is not the first time this has happened to my 2012 Ford Edge Ltd, but unlike other times where the screen has come back after a few hours, it's going on three days that the screen went black. I've had nothing but problems with my Sync system since Day 1. Dealer resets, software updates all fixed the temporary problems, but quirks persisted. And since my vehicle is past warranty, and it seems that a module replacement is needed, I'm not inclined to pay for it.

 

It's a shame because the mechanical aspects of the vehicle are great and I was contemplating leasing a new Ford Explorer Ltd. when my lease is up in eight (8) months, but now I'm going away from Ford and looking to get a lesser non-Ford vehicle to get out of my lease early.

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You should still have your limited warranty extension for MyFord Touch, KingLouie; it's been extended to a total of five years from the warranty start date, regardless of mileage. This additional coverage not only exceeds the original warranty coverage provisions of your vehicle, but also includes important future software updates. I suggest making an appointment with your dealership to have your system checked and corrected.

Rebecca

Edited by FordIVTteam
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  • 5 months later...

Something weird happened today. I received the Black Screen for the first time (2011 Ford Edge Sport). I pulled the fuse multiple times (the main fuse that delivers power to fuse 29). The radio worked for about a minute each time, but then turned off. However, the screen never came on. It was always stayed on the black screen. Any ideas what this might be?

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My experiences with what you're calling the black screen of death. thread

 

I want assurance that I'm not getting my 1st gen, 2011 APIM unit "repaired" and put back in. Obviously there is/was a design flaw with the first several revisions. I want to know that I'm getting a current "revised version" of the APIM where they've addressed all the issues that they've learned from all of us doing their beta testing.

 

For those of you who have had the APIM replaced within the past 12-18 months, has your MFS been problem free ?? I'd really like to hear.

 

I should have my Edge back monday or tuesday if it simply just works.

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