linkstur

No need for any hostility. I troubleshoot for a living so I'll take the liberty of making a few educated guesses. Based on the sheer number of complaints from about four different forums I read on the MKX/Edge, it doesn't seem to matter what phone people are using...they all have identical problems. There is obviously a problem with the system. My phone works flawlessly outside the car. When it's in the car, even when I try to make a call using the phone, NOT the system, the same problem occurs. That pretty much tells me that the car's not right...NOT the phone. Since this problem is so aggrivating, I've spoken to a lot of people about it and noboby else seems to have a problem with their phones in a wide variety of different makes and models of vehicles which have very similar capabilities as the Ford system. This really isn't rocket science. A simple $30.00 blue tooth headset works on virtually any blue tooth enabled phone reliably. My guess is that Ford tried to "enhance" the basis sync system (which works much better than the MyTouch system) using their in-house IT people instead of paying more money to MicroSoft. In the process, they screwed up the code and created all kinds of bugs that they didn't anticipate and are not cabable of fixing. I don't see any significant improvements to the system for about a year until they bring in some outside help and basically re-write the entire code and do some thorough testing on it, unlike what they released to us 'beta' users... Just my opinion.

It's the same phone I use in the wife's car (2008 Camry) and it works fine. Also pairs with wireless headset. I don't have another phone to try right now, but I agree with you...logic dictates...except for the 3,186 posts on these forums who happen to have similar problems. One note of interest...after the update, the phone continued to disonnect, but the splash screen saying "no phone, trying to connect, etc" didn't come up anymore and I had to manually re-connect the phone. After two days, the notice started coming up again and the phone would re-connect by itself. The V2.8 update did seem to help the problems with playing MP3's through the memory stick and also the initial start up of the system. I also had climate control problems that seem to have also been rectified. Also, after the update, when I made a call it went through on the first try. Now, it's back to where it completes the call, but neither party can hear each other. After 3 or 4 re-dials, the call will eventually go through. That absolutely sucks.

Sooooo... 16 days and a new APIM later, I finally got my car back with V2.8. I really don't think there was anything wrong with my APIM before I took it in. Everything worked...just not as good as I thought it should. They tried to download software 44 times before they changed the module. Unfortunately, the main problem I had with it still exists, that's the phone constantly disconnecting. But on the plus side, the calls that I make will actually connect the first time, unlike before the upgrade where it made the call, but neither party could hear each other. There are some marginal improvements in climate control, MP3 music (by way of memory stick), initial start up of the system (used to take about 45 seconds for radio to come on), Nav system freezing when zoomed in all the way. I don't see any increase in the speed of the touch screen itself. Maybe mine was as fast as it gets before the upgrade. Anyway, all in all, I'm still somewhat disappointed. I would really like to have a reliable phone.

Sooooo... 16 days and a new APIM later, I finally got my car back with V2.8. Unfortunately, the main problem I had with it still exists, that's the phone constantly disconnecting. But on the plus side, the calls that I make will actually connect the first time, unlike before the upgrade where it made the call, but neither party could hear each other. There are some marginal improvements in climate control, MP3 music (by way of memory stick), initial start up of the system (used to take about 45 seconds for radio to come on), Nav system freezing when zoomed in all the way. I don't see any increase in the speed of the touch screen itself. Maybe mine was as fast as it gets before the upgrade. Anyway, all in all, I'm still somewhat disappointed. I would really like to have a reliable phone.

This is the first I heard of v2.8. I dropped my car off Sunday night so they could have it all day Monday to do a software update. As of today, they still aren't able to successfully complete. I'm not even sure WHAT they're trying to do. I asked one person which version they were attempting to load and they said that they're trying to READ my vehicle and not load anything. AKIRBY...You are correct... Thankfully, I'm in a position at this stage of my life that I could have chosen any car to buy. Being in the technology field, I chose this car specifically for the gadgets that it had. Their advertising was very convincing. The fact that they don't work as advertised and based on recent experience, the fact that they can't seem to fix it is extremely disturbing to me. So NOW what am I supposed to do? This isn't like an ordinary product that you can return if you don't like it. I have the feeling that I'll be stuck with a lemon that will eventually be extremely hard to get rid of. What happens when more people become more vocal and the news feeds start picking up on the story and this car becomes the 21st century Gremlin? Enough ranting... but seriously...FIVE DAYS to do a software upgrade????

I've been lurking here for the last few weeks...basically said all there was to say and have just been reading the frustration of all the new buyers who are having problems with this car. Relatively speaking, my problems aren't nearly as severe as some, but even the smallest things really piss you off when you invest as much money as we have becasue we decided to 'spoil' ourselves with the latest technology. Well, I've decided to take the plunge and try the latest update. I'm dropping my car off for a Monday morning fix and they claim it should be ready by the end of the day. Here is my list of issues that I'm submitting to the dealership: Repeatable Occurances: The system itself usually takes a long time to initiate. Most times, I’ve backed out of my parking space, rolled down the driveway and am half way up the street (20 or more seconds) before the radio even comes on. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The phone not staying connected is an absolute must fix... It pairs at start-up, but usually within a minute or two it will flash an alert on the screen saying that the phone disconnected. During my 20 minute commute to work, this happens an average of 6 times. The phone I am using is on the list as one of the ones that were tested and should work with the MKX/Edge. (VX8350) Even when it is connected, when you make a call, the call goes through, but you cannot hear anything. After two or three tries, it may actually work like it should. But if you stay on a call too long, you’ll get disconnected anyway. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The MP3 player (via the USB drive) is very inconsistent. It usually takes a long time to change to the next song. The music occasionally skips and/or stops and then advances to the next song for no reason. No problem with live radio/Sirius ------------------------------------------------------------------- The climate control does not seem to work properly. I adjusted the temperature down to 60 degrees while the ambient temperature was in the high 70’s and the A/C (light) would not come on (while in auto). I had to manually activate the A/C in order to get cooled air. The compressor DOES seem to activate with the remote start, but NOT when you manually start the vehicle. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The driver’s seat takes an inordinate amount of time to heat up. By the time the driver can actually sense any warmth from the seat, the heater has already kicked in and started to warm the car, which pretty much defeats the entire purpose of the heated seat. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The navigation system (in highest magnification) freezes and won’t update until the car is stopped. ------------------------------------------------------------------- In the infotainment screen, the only options that appear are AM/FM, Sirius and CD. The USB(s), Memory card and A/V inputs do not appear (without some "massaging", ie, going back and forth through the menu) Infrequent or Singular Occurances: The automatic windshield wipers have been known to activate in dry conditions. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The CD in the disk changer would pop out whenever I opened the door and then would return when the car was started. Lasted about 4 days and then went away. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I lost the letter “V” for two days. The letter was replace by an “underscore”. So I had a _olume control… _ehicle settings, and worst of all, Santana was now playing Oye Como _a. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The screen and radio did not shut off one time when the door was opened. I opted to just leave and let it run it's course. A few minutes later the car alarm went off. When I went back out, the screen said the fuel system had been shut down and the attempt to contact 911 failed. -------------------------------------------------------------------- System resets are still a common issue as well. Usually once a week. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The car itself seems to be a dirt magnet. Rain does not seem to wash away the dirt. Running it through your car wash would be a nice thing do, especially since I'm opting not to make the dealership supply me with a loaner vehicle... Just saying. I've had the car for 2 months now and like most of you, am very disappointed with how all the gadgets work. I'll get back on here Monday night or Tuesday to report on the status of the latest upgrade.

My phone is on that compatability list...but it don't work. Constantly looses the connection.

That's kinda funny that Apple works better on Microsoft than Microsoft does. Can't do it, though. Too much DRM on the "I" products.

5600 in my collection, and yes, it's very painful. I used Media Player (ver 12.0.xxx) that comes with Windows 7. Has more features than the version on XP. Gets album art from the internet.....ONE SONG AT A TIME. But, when you're done, it works fine....on the computer. The same stuff doesn't work in the car. Even editing the text of the song and artist was a chore because for some reason, SYNC doesn't look at the file name, nor does it look at the meta tags (in properties). It goes to some unknown location to get this information and can only be edited in Media Player. Lots of songs had all caps or all lower case and it was driving me crazy to figure out why. I'm not saying that it can't be done with a third party program, but I was just trying to use stock Microsoft software. (Since SYNC was a MS product) I wish ntrlsur would elaborate on just how you embed the album art in the mp3 file. That's what I'm trying to do, buy maybe just going about it the wrong way. When you use your external mp3 player, can you still use voice commands to select tracks and artists? Does the album art still show on the touch screen? I think what's pissing me off the most here is that although I'm complaining about some trivial issues, there's no place to turn for a definative answer. There's no instructions how to use some of this crap and when something doesn't work, there's no troubleshooting guides. The dealers have no clue how any of this stuff works and there's no motivation for them to learn. They just want to make a sale. And lots of people on this forum have significantly larger issues than I do. I can only imagine their frustration. Bottom line, new cars shouldn't outta be like this.

OK, now that I'm done venting, hopefully, here's some useful information. The problem with the USB and the AV not showing up in the infotainment display to the right of the speedometer can be fixed by just hitting the left button and then going back with the right button ( on the steering wheel). I was also having problem getting album art to display when playing mp3's from a memory stick. After a lot of testing it appears the only way to do it is to create a separate folder for each artist. Place your music in the corresponding folder along with the album art. Then you have to re-name the album art in each folder to "folder.jpg". Unfortunately, this means that even though you may have songs from multilple albums, you can only dislplay one picture for each artist. But I guess it's better than nothing. If anybody knows of a better, or different way to get this done, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Is there a place to actually get help from Ford or Lincoln about smaller matters like this?

Just wanted to share some observations with you all.... I am convinced that this is a "Not for Prime Time" system that Ford released. It's hard to believe that a $49,000 vehicle takes over 40 seconds before the radio will turn on. That said, I've noticed that this system really does act like an old computer. If you try to input anything before it's ready, it will either significantly slow down or hang. This problem is more pronounced when using blue tooth and especially USB devices. A large stick (4 gig or greater) takes a lot of resources. Indexing takes up to 5 minutes and then it goes into creating a command list...another 2 or 3 minutes. The other night, I input a command while a thumb drive was indexing and the system hung up and stopped playing music from it. The screen locked up with what was playing when it happened. I was able to change devices and play the radio and Sirius, but the screen was still frozen. I figured I'd just turn off the ignition and open the door to reset it, but when I opened the door, the radio continued to play. Not much more I could do, so I just left it and went in the house. About 10 minutes later, I heard the alarm going off from the car. Went out and shut it off. Turned on the car and a big red star showed up saying 911 service is unavailable. Another notice came up saying the fuel system has been shut off and I needed to contact the dealer for a reset. Apparently, the computer thought I had been in an accident. I can only guess that I may have made a call to 911 had I stayed in the car, assuming my phone worked, which it occasionally does. I reset the fuel system and things are back to normal. The system is a great ideal and when it works, it is really cool. Unfortunately, Microsoft seems to have set a precedence to release products as soon as possible and fix them as they go along. It seems that this could be what's happening with this product. I don't mean to beat this down too much, because I still like the car and even the MLT, but you would think that a system that controls so many aspects of a vehicle would be more reliable than what this one is. I'm sure we'll eventually get to that point, but we should have already been there when we paid for the car. I've only had mine a little more than a week, so I'm just venting a little here.

My phone hasn't worked (reliably) since day 1. When the salesman paired my phone when I took delivery, it took about 3 minutes before the "phone disconnected" message came up. The dealer said "Oh, you must have one of those phones that won't stay connected". This pretty much tells me that they're well aware of a problem with the phones. Unlike most of you guys, my phone will reconnect by itself, but will usually disconnect again...and again... Three to five times on a 20 minute ride. I told him I'd be happy to change phones if he could tell me of a make and model that he's sure will work with the car, but he wasn't able to do that.

Could be. I was in the driveway when it happened, but close to the house, so you might be on to something. I noticed when it wasn't working, there were hour glasses by the services. Today, when it worked again, there were carrots. Going back to one of my first complaints, I spoke to the dealer today and we talked about the remote start and the seats and the steering wheel not heating up. He told me that according to the book, ambient needs to be 32 or below. I know someone mentioned that in the forum earlier. But he went on to say that 32 to 80 is considered "moderate", and according to the book, neither the air nor the heat come on when the temperature is in the moderate range. I don't necessarily agree with what they call moderate, but I don't unerstand why they (FORD) can't be more detailed with some of their information. This is a spec that I think is kind of important. BTW, my "I" is still white.

Took your advice and created an account. Looks like I'm up to date: Sync Version Gen2 - V2.4 Confirmed installations BT4T-14D546-AG BT4T-14F496-BJ BT4T-14F497-AG SYNC compatible software BT4T-14F603-AG Dealer-Installed Upgrades and SYNC Tools BT4T-14D546-EB Version 1.1 SYNC GEN 2 STATUS CHECKER SYNC Download & Installation History for this vehicle Back BT4T-14D544-BE Gen2 - V2.4 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE CI 1/24/2011 BT4T-14D544-BE Gen2 - V2.4 SYNC GEN 2 IMAGE CI 1/21/2011 Waiting to download 0 items. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few more observations... On the infotainment screen (next to the speedometer), I lost the USB and AV input selections. CD, AM/FM and Sirius are still there. They're not actually totally lost... They do both occasionally pop up for a few seconds, but then vanish again. It's interesting that they do this as a pair and not individually. This actually looks like some pretty neat stuff (from the syncmyride page) if they could just get it to work reliably.

Read your post before I left work. Never even tried the travel link button, so when I got in my driveway I thought I'd play a bit. Pressed the info button and went though all the stuff there. HOW COOL. Got gas prices, got weather and weather maps, got movie listings, sports scores and more. Went inside to tell the wife about all the cool stuff I found. Took her out to show it to her and nothing worked. Pushed the button and just got the "Accessing Information....May Take A While" notice, and then nothing. Still said I was subscribed to everything, but I guess I have a once a day limit on usage. (Computers really do need a sarcasm font)

Settings are set to Auto. Amzingly enough, the steering wheel warmed up this morning, but not the seat. I plan on going to Syncmyride.com, but I was much more impressed by the knowledge that was being shared here. Hope to get around to it this weekend. Thanks.

Hello all. I am the proud owner of a six day old MKX. Three of those days were spent reading this most enlightening forum from start to finish. Lots of good information here. After reading some of the horror stories, I'm almost embarassed to post my minor (by comparrison) issues, but this certainly seemed like the place to come and vent. The cell phone disconnecting at random has already been reported by numerous people here so I don't think there's any reason to mention it, except for the fact that when I picked my car up this past Friday, we paired the phone at the dealership and it quickly lost the connection. That's when the sales man commented, "Oh, you must have one of those phones that won't stay linked". After seeing all the other phones out there that "won't stay linked", it's obvious to me that this is a SYNC problem. The one big thing that bothers me, particularly because it's one of the features that persuaded me to buy the car is the remote start. The remote itself actually works fine, but when you start it, it's also supposed to activate the heated seats, steering wheel and rear defroster. Unfortunately, that's the stuff that don't work. Not being able to keep my car in a garage, I was really looking forward to getting into a toasty warm car in the morning. But that ain't happening. The last issue I have is indeed the most trivial, but it's always the small stuff that knaws at you. I don't like anything 'Apple', so all my music is strictly .mp3. At first, it wouldn't even recognize my memory stick. I was using a 16 gig stick and I thought that may have been too big, having seen this issue before with some antiquated technology, so I loaded up a 2 gig stick and it worked....sort of. The music played fine, but a lot of the titles and artists were 'unknown'. Those that were had all CAPITALS and some others were all lower case. Certainly not the way I archived them. They worked fine in my previous vehicles mp3 player and my computer. So I went back to the computer and modified all the 'meta tags', the information that you can access when right clicking and selecting 'properties' on a computer. Still no good. It turns out that the player in the SYNC system is based on the latest version of Windows Media Player. Version 12.0.7xxx has it's own editor in it that will enable you to make the appropriate adjustments. That fixed the labeling problem. Unfortuantely, while I was doing this, there was another feature that allowed you to download "Album Art" for your mp3's. I did that while editing and it worked really well...on the comuter. Now, when I play an mp3 in the car, I have the all the titles and artists and even the ablum art...except when I play Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd's album art comes up. The Who might have Crosby, Stills and Nash's album art. I know I took the long route to get to this minor problem, but I wanted to let others know how to fix the text on mp3's if they're as anal as I am about capitalization and stuff like that. Well guys, thanks for listening. Sorry for the extrordinarily long initial post. Bob