Sync 3 - Software Bugs

Zigman · 16-02-2017, 07:49 PM

I have noticed several software bugs in Sync 3. All have been reported to Ford Australia, but their responses have all been dismissive with no indication the reports are taken seriously by Ford Australia.

Who else have seen these bugs:

1. SatNav - All suburbs are (in my case) 'Melbourne'. Apparently my home suburb is Melbourne just like my work suburb is Melbourne, yet they are 45 km apart.

2. Collision Alert - On the freeway with a nice 2 second gap between me and the car in front (per the adaptive cruise control). Car in next lane sees the gap and decides to change lanes and move in front of me. Mondeo computer sees the other car appearing in my lane as a threat and initiates the “Collision Alert” sequence. Trip computer flashes red with the warning message, radio mutes and the system beeps. All good, as you would expect. The problem is that prior to the collision alert I was listening to a DAB station on preset (ABC Melbourne). Once the collision alert is cleared, the radio doesn’t return to the preset station, instead it begins a DAB station search and stops at the first station it finds on the first ensemble (DAB Channel 9A and the first data stream which happens to be NOVA 100). Surely the radio should just return to the previous station after the alert. Now I'm fumbling around trying to put the radio back to my station of choice potentially creating a dangerous driving situation.

3. SatNav - Driving on Eastlink (toll road in Melbourne). SatNav is NOT set to avoid toll roads and yet at every exit I am prompted to exit. Ignoring the advice from the SatNav and staying on Eastlink my ETA immediately reduces by 5 minutes, until the next exit where the sequence repeats. On one trip last week I saved 15 minutes of travel time by ignoring the Sync 3 SatNav instructions. BTW, Mrs Google had my ETA perfectly timed from the start of the 45 minute journey.

What other bugs have been found by folks?

My32Doors · 16-02-2017, 09:29 PM

I have Sync 3 in an XLT Ranger. Have had a few niggles with it since purchase but overall it has been OK.
1. Screen went black while driving (twice). Pull over and shut down engine. Restart and all good.
2. Many times now DAB station does not work after engine start. Screen says station is loading but nothing after minutes of driving. Turn radio off and then on again and DAB station loads and all is good.
3. Poor spelling of some locations entered into its database makes it difficult to program satnav at times. For example, Barkly (with an "L") Homestead in NT is entered into the database as BARKY Homestead.

These are just little things, but a PIA all the same.

gsd112 · 16-02-2017, 09:29 PM

my sat nav has most suburbs Sydney. Doesn't bother me still gets me there. Mine occasionally freezes, and some times the front sensors come on and stay on till I turn he car off and on again. Minor issues.

asteele-xr6 · 17-02-2017, 08:59 AM

It's great that SYNC3 uses the home wifi when you get home to check for updates each day... we just need Ford to release some!

I have been very happy with my SYNC3, and have only see the occasional screen glitch where it hasn't refreshed the screen clearly. There are quite a few things that I would like to tweak, if given the option though.

I don't bother with Apple CarPlay or AndroidAuto - very happy with Sync3 on its own.

ope126 · 17-02-2017, 03:54 PM

All very similar issues with mine.
I even took video footage of the various crashes / blank screens / no sat nav etc. but Ford were not interested. When they had the car it was faultless.

I have only had the car for 6 weeks and the first 2 weeks were terrible. It has settled down now with no further glitches to report.

asteele-xr6 · 17-02-2017, 04:03 PM

When you say "Ford were not interested" - I presume you mean the Ford dealership, who I doubt would not care very much at all.

Maybe we need to try reaching out to Ford directly.

It would be nice for Ford Australia to share what their development plans actually are, for instance it would be nice to know that they are working on it - but I would bet all the development is being done over in the USA.

SYNC3 is actually made by Panasonic Automotive who use BlackBerry QNX as the underlying operating system. I am sure that most people understand that this is now a standard offering in most Ford vehicles right around the world - so one would hope and expect that with such a massive worldwide audience, Ford would have a team working with Panasonic to iron out bugs and introduce new features.

ope126 · 17-02-2017, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asteele-xr6

When you say "Ford were not interested" - I presume you mean the Ford dealership, who I doubt would not care very much at all.

Maybe we need to try reaching out to Ford directly.

It would be nice for Ford Australia to share what their development plans actually are, for instance it would be nice to know that they are working on it - but I would bet all the development is being done over in the USA.

SYNC3 is actually made by Panasonic Automotive who use BlackBerry QNX as the underlying operating system. I am sure that most people understand that this is now a standard offering in most Ford vehicles right around the world - so one would hope and expect that with such a massive worldwide audience, Ford would have a team working with Panasonic to iron out bugs and introduce new features.

Yes my local Ford Dealership when I went in for the 3,000km "peace of mind" service...

Zigman · 17-02-2017, 07:53 PM

Overall, Sync 3 is very good. I recently drove a rental car with Sync 2 (XR6) and can now appreciate Sync 3 even more :-)
To me, these bugs are like v1.0 software where you hope the release of v2.0 resolves the issues. Unfortunately we are already at v2.0 and so now can only hope that the Ford USA code-cutters are busy ironing out these bugs.
The question was asked ... "When you say "Ford were not interested" - I presume you mean the Ford dealership, who I doubt would not care very much at all" ... actually it was the other way around. Ford Australia couldn't wait to pass the problem back to the dealer. The dealer was sympathetic to the issues, but as they don't write the code or have access to the code-cutters in the US, their hands are tied. Ford Australia should really take these issues on-board and pass back to Ford USA.

gsd112 · 25-02-2017, 06:59 PM

Had a new glitch today. When adjusting the temp on the climate doing the drivers side would adjust the passenger and vise versa. Increasing the temp would decrease it and vise versa and putting it on dual control would actually turn it off. I pulled over and turned it off for a few minutes and all back to normal. It didn't matter if I used the touch screen or the temp controls on the fascia.

Zigman · 26-02-2017, 02:36 PM

That's an interesting new bug.

What we really need is a way of reporting these bugs to Ford USA (assuming this is where the code is written). Too bad they don't have a bug-watch program/website where customers could report issues. Maybe they are too afraid of potential litigation and don't want to officially acknowledge Sync 3 problems?

KosCo · 21-03-2017, 09:51 AM

I have the Sync 3 in my Ford Focus - thought I would ask this question here to see if the same thing applies to the Mondeo version.

I have found Sync 3 quite excellent however I have 1 main gripe about it. In my system if I save an address as a "Favourite" it is stored in the Favourite list in no sequence. Basically, each new entry is just stored at the end of the list and there does not appear to be any way to sort the list.

So when looking for a previously stored entry, you basically have to search the entire list as it can be anywhere in the list. Just imagine if your phone did not sort your contacts list into an alphabetical sequence.

Does ths same apply to the Mondeo version?

asteele-xr6 · 21-03-2017, 01:25 PM

Hi, exact same for Mondeo sync3, and Escape too for that matter. I think we can expect sync3 to perform consistently regardless of which vehicle it is in.

There is currently no way to sort the favourites, you have to basically create them in the order you want them to be!

Hopefully this will be addressed in a future software update.

KosCo · 22-03-2017, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asteele-xr6

Hopefully this will be addressed in a future software update.

Thanks for that feedback - thought it would be the same situation. an't understand why it's not there already. I used to teach IT in high schools and one area we covered was writing code to sort information. It's not rocket science and fairly easily done. As you say - hope there is an update soon.

Zigman · 29-04-2017, 10:22 PM

It appears Ford USA have released an update to Sync 3 in the US presumably for US vehicles. See this link ...
http://www.focusrs.org/forum/30-focu...-2-2-ford.html
The question now is - how long before Ford Australia has an update available for Australian vehicles?

Zigman · 08-05-2017, 06:17 PM

I have been advised by Ford AU that they -

"are expecting a fix mid-year to solve the GPS routing errors. This won't be fixed by a software update, rather a re-flash of all SYNC 3 units in the AU/NZ market"

I bet they say you need to book the car in for a service so they can charge their customers to fix the software bug in their software!

They go on to say -

"We have been advised that, at this stage, there is no ETA on when an Australian SYNC 3 update will become available for our market."

In the meantime, it would seem Ford US have released Sync 3 v2.2 to the NA market.

Zigman · 22-08-2017, 09:04 PM

It seems the version of Sync 3 that was released in the US earlier this year has finally made its way to Australia.
In a Ford showroom today (22/8/17) a vehicle that was available for sale in Australia had Sync 3 v2.2 build 16280 installed.
Questions now for Ford Australia are ...
- does this version address some or all of the many bugs in Sync 3, and
- why has this version of Sync 3 NOT been released to existing Ford owners?
We continue to wait on Ford Australia!

asteele-xr6 · 22-08-2017, 09:26 PM

Mine was shipped in Oct 2016 with Sync3 v2.0b build 16074, so I am very keen to see what the version you have seen above includes... and when I can get it!

My car automatically connects to the home wifi when I get home at the end of each day, but isn't given anything to upgrade.

Zigman · 23-08-2017, 07:32 PM

The problem is Ford Australia says it's up to the dealer to advise you of the upgrade and so wash their hands of the issue, and the dealer says it's up to Ford Australia to inform their customers.
Essentially, Ford Australia are washing their hands of customer's issues with Sync 3. They don't want to know about it and hope you will just go away.
Earlier this year when I had a support case open with Ford Australia in relation to the many software bugs with Sync 3, they closed the case by sending me a "goodwill" letter offering money. Clearly Ford Australia's solution to the issue to pay off customers and hope they go away.
I live in hope that Ford Australia will face up to their responsibilities and one day fix a faulty product - hopefully before my warranty runs out.

asteele-xr6 · 11-09-2017, 08:39 PM

Has anyone manually installed the Sync 3 v2.2 update in Australia yet?

My unit is running 2.0, and thinks that is the latest version available. MyFordAustralia website says that 2.0 is the latest version too.

I can see other forums where 2.2 is being installed, and there is even a version 3.0 just released now too.

Such a shame that our cars have the ability to download software updates over wifi, but Ford Australia don't release any!

Here is a link that I found to a US website:

http://www.2gfusions.net/showthread....0870#pid100870

Would be great if I can sort navigation destinations, and can see the duplicate phone number dialling issue resolved too!

...I am just rightly nervous installing this software onto my vehicle!

asteele-xr6 · 12-09-2017, 07:10 AM

...well, I did the software update - so you guys don't have to risk breaking yours!

Curiosity got the better of me.

The update was easy to do, and took about 15 mins.

Everything looks the exact same, I haven't yet spotted anything new. When I use a voice command to dial my wife I am still asked to choose between two identical numbers. My saved navigation favourites are listed as entered - so no way to sort them. Text messaging (that used to work for me but stopped some months ago for reasons unknown) - still doesn't work, which is a shame.

The voice command voice is different, speaks slightly faster with an American accent... that is the only change I noticed.

Oh, and I have broken being able to use voice commands for the navigation. It lists the different commands I can use, but if I try to use any of them it just does nothing... so there is some sort of a disconnect that I have fouled up. I was hoping to see "cancel route" just did it and didn't ask for confirmation - so I have caused a backward step!

Maybe at the next service I shall ask the dealer to put the "correct" software version on instead.

Let's see what else I notice over the next few days...but all the other voice commands work fine.

Pics below.

asteele-xr6 · 12-09-2017, 07:12 AM

Maybe I will find some other software versions to try!

asteele-xr6 · 12-09-2017, 12:42 PM

Hey, I just installed ver 3.0 .

Voice commands for navigation are still broken.
Everything else seems to work fine, but I still have lots of playing ahead.

I did think that I had stuffed the maps totally, as it spent 30mins with the message "loading maps" - I then left the vehicle (had to get some work done) and when I returned and powered on, the maps are now all showing correctly. I was just about to phone the dealer and get booked in. Call cancelled

I have lots of ver 2.0 bugs that I want to now test for, that 2.2 didn't address.

Shame that the voice commands for navigation don't work (it accepts the command and lists available commands - just doesn't action them) - but this is the risk you take when you install unapproved software.

I do not recommend installing any updates until we learn the benefits of why upgrading and how to get the voice commands for navigation to work... but if you want to go ahead, then good luck and share your experiences.

This is the link you need to get to the software.
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90236

** AT YOUR OWN RISK **

stefcio007 · 14-09-2017, 04:05 PM

Picked up the car maybe a month ago straight from the factory doors.
Software version 2.2 Build 16280

Has trouble understanding commands...

Zigman · 25-11-2017, 08:07 PM

Happy Days!
Ford AU have released Sync 3 v2.3 to the AU Ford Owners site.
Currently downloading the zip file (JL1T-14G381-AJ-PKS.ZIP ~ 2.1GB).
Will report back once installed.

asteele-xr6 · 25-11-2017, 09:53 PM

Wow, interesting... very good. Shame it isn't version 3.0 that they are offering though.

Zigman · 25-11-2017, 10:13 PM

Maybe now that Ford AU have finally broken the ice and made the update available to Aussie customers, other updates might now follow (or am I being too optimistic).

Read your posts both here and elsewhere about your Sync 3 v3.0 update experience. Are you still running v3.0 and do the voice commands still not work?

I read a post somewhere about downgrading v3.0 to v2.3. It would be interesting to see if the official Aussie v2.3 upgrade resolves your voice command issue. And then if it did, what happens if you then go back to v3.0.

I plan to upgrade the Mondy tomorrow. Fingers crossed it nails some, hopefully all, of the software bugs I'm seeing (although I'm led to believe the NAV bugs with toll roads and suburb names might still be present).

asteele-xr6 · 25-11-2017, 10:34 PM

Hi, I am actually running a European version of 3.0 build 17194, and it works perfectly with my original ANZ 1 15 maps - and voice commands work great again too. The trick is to use the Euro version rather than American one.

The differences between all these updates are so minor - many people wont tell the difference between 2.0 and 3.0 (let alone 2.2 and 2.3 as well). I am told that Android Auto is much faster, and I know that 3.0 has some better voice commands, but all in - they all look identical.

I am interested that the update 2.3 seems to write a file back to the USB afterwards, which Ford what to see uploaded to their website afterwards to confirm the update is in place. I didn't notice this happening with my unofficial updates, but I didn't pay much attention to the USB after upgrading!

Zigman · 26-11-2017, 10:55 AM

I knew it was too good to be true!
After waiting almost a year for the upgrade, the day finally arrives and <drum roll> ...

"Installation Failed, Error Code: SIGN_ERR01, Download files again and retry to install. If error persists, please note the code and contact 610-386-133673"

Not even an Aussie telephone number to call. I have to call the US.

I guess the disappointment doesn't disappoint. :-(

Zigman · 26-11-2017, 11:08 AM

So I called +1-610-386-133673 and no surprise, the number is not valid.

Then I thought, maybe its just the way the number is displayed in the error message and maybe they mean +61-03-8613-3673 (although the zero before the 3 shouldn't be there).

So I called 8613-3673 (I'm in Melbourne, so don't need the area code) and got ...
"The number you called is not connected, please check the number and call again".

So ... back to troubleshooting myself as Ford (AU or US) are unable to help.

asteele-xr6 · 26-11-2017, 12:00 PM

You need to have a blank USB, and then copy the contents of the zip file you downloaded onto it.

Don't copy the file you downloaded to the USB... instead go into that file using your PC and copy the folder and two files onto the USB.

Insert USB into usb media port and approx. 15 mins later you should see a "software update" message on media screen.