2021 F150 XLT 12' Screen - Blackout!!

[WFordKid]

Driving on a trip today - I noticed my 12' display getting dim..then it went completely dark...after a minute or so - i could start to see the screen albeit barely. The screen turns on when put in reverse, it also turned back on after turning the headlights from auto to off then back to auto. This work around only worked once. Any idea what could be happening - could it be a short - screen going bad. Also using the reset button under display tab only worked a couple of times. Truck has about 3,500 miles on it so a faulty part would have showed up earlier i would have thought. It has also gone black, and stayed that way. However, upon restarting the truck the screen comes back on - just to go black again. I will take it to the dealership when back in town - but i hate to do this as my oil change will be coming up soon and it is always a hassle to take your vehicle to the shop. May have no choice as it is very annoying. Thanks in advance for your help. Would a reboot help - or is that the same thing as turning off the truck and on again?

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[tony72cutlass's']

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[brenorman]

Driving on a trip today - I noticed my 12' display getting dim..then it went completely dark...after a minute or so - i could start to see the screen albeit barely. The screen turns on when put in reverse, it also turned back on after turning the headlights from auto to off then back to auto. This work around only worked once. Any idea what could be happening - could it be a short - screen going bad. Also using the reset button under display tab only worked a couple of times. Truck has about 3,500 miles on it so a faulty part would have showed up earlier i would have thought. It has also gone black, and stayed that way. However, upon restarting the truck the screen comes back on - just to go black again. I will take it to the dealership when back in town - but i hate to do this as my oil change will be coming up soon and it is always a hassle to take your vehicle to the shop. May have no choice as it is very annoying. Thanks in advance for your help. Would a reboot help - or is that the same thing as turning off the truck and on again?

Have done two hard resets. This doesn’t help. More info on mine
-Happens when going from dark to light for vice versa. Basically when the screen needs to brighten. It’s the worst on sunny days when you drive under shade and out of it.
-shifting into neutral for a split second fixes it also soft reset (power + forward seek for 10s) helps.
-seems like Dealerships are told it’s a software update which doesn’t work. APIM replacement seems ti work but havego thorough several visits to get there.
Wish ford would just acknowledge this is a system wide issue and replace APIM modules immediately.

 

[brenorman]

Have done two hard resets. This doesn’t help. More info on mine
-Happens when going from dark to light for vice versa. Basically when the screen needs to brighten. It’s the worst on sunny days when you drive under shade and out of it.
-shifting into neutral for a split second fixes it also soft reset (power + forward seek for 10s) helps.
-seems like Dealerships are told it’s a software update which doesn’t work. APIM replacement seems ti work but havego thorough several visits to get there.
Wish ford would just acknowledge this is a system wide issue and replace APIM modules immediately.

To me it seems like a glitch in the system that sense ambient brightness and adjusts the brightness of the screen. It’s dark but NOT off. If you push the screen while black it responds. Also if you didn’t a way to shine a light on it, it’s on.
kinda like when you turn the brightness on your screen on your phone all the down when it’s bright. The screen is on you just can’t see jack.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Driving on a trip today - I noticed my 12' display getting dim..then it went completely dark...after a minute or so - i could start to see the screen albeit barely. The screen turns on when put in reverse, it also turned back on after turning the headlights from auto to off then back to auto. This work around only worked once. Any idea what could be happening - could it be a short - screen going bad. Also using the reset button under display tab only worked a couple of times. Truck has about 3,500 miles on it so a faulty part would have showed up earlier i would have thought. It has also gone black, and stayed that way. However, upon restarting the truck the screen comes back on - just to go black again. I will take it to the dealership when back in town - but i hate to do this as my oil change will be coming up soon and it is always a hassle to take your vehicle to the shop. May have no choice as it is very annoying. Thanks in advance for your help. Would a reboot help - or is that the same thing as turning off the truck and on again?

Hello, Woody!
Send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your local Ford dealer.
I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist with this black screen concern on your F-150. Thanks!

 

[RossRR]

Driving on a trip today - I noticed my 12' display getting dim..then it went completely dark...after a minute or so - i could start to see the screen albeit barely. The screen turns on when put in reverse, it also turned back on after turning the headlights from auto to off then back to auto. This work around only worked once. Any idea what could be happening - could it be a short - screen going bad. Also using the reset button under display tab only worked a couple of times. Truck has about 3,500 miles on it so a faulty part would have showed up earlier i would have thought. It has also gone black, and stayed that way. However, upon restarting the truck the screen comes back on - just to go black again. I will take it to the dealership when back in town - but i hate to do this as my oil change will be coming up soon and it is always a hassle to take your vehicle to the shop. May have no choice as it is very annoying. Thanks in advance for your help. Would a reboot help - or is that the same thing as turning off the truck and on again?

Just curious, if you physuicaly turn your headlights off and disable auto light control, do you still lose the infotainment screen? Others have reported that hitting the instrumentation/display dimmer control buttons by your headlight switch also returns the screen to normal.

 

[brenorman]

Found a way to reproduce it basically every time. Cover the ambient light sensor and let the screen dim. Uncover it and when it attempts to brighten it happens for me every time. I tried permanently covering the sensor but it didn’t work, it just made the whole thing go haywire.

Clearly it’s a software glitch with the way the light sensor interacts with sync 4.

Come on ford!!! I don’t want to have to trade this truck in and go back to Toyota.

 

[WFordKid]

Hello, Woody!
Send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your local Ford dealer.
I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist with this black screen concern on your F-150. Thanks!

Done..thanks

 

[WFordKid]

One thing I did on the way back (during the day) from my trip was NOT to plug in the iPhone to charge and the screen never went off - don't know if this is a work around, or due to the fact that it was day the whole trip back, but the screen never went black. Try this as a temporarily work around. Also, thanks to @FordMotorCo for reaching out.

 

[Simo]

I just brought mine in for this blackout AND for my battery which today was completely dead for some reason...

@WFordKid mine will come back on if i flip my truck into neutral and back to drive... does that work for you too?

 

[bsmity]

I just brought mine in for this blackout AND for my battery which today was completely dead for some reason...

@WFordKid mine will come back on if i flip my truck into neutral and back to drive... does that work for you too?

21 XLT - Neutral and back works for me. Also turning headlights off and back to auto, and rapidly pressing the physical "display off" button under the screen about 4 times.

 

[BCM]

Driving on a trip today - I noticed my 12' display getting dim..then it went completely dark...after a minute or so - i could start to see the screen albeit barely. The screen turns on when put in reverse, it also turned back on after turning the headlights from auto to off then back to auto. This work around only worked once. Any idea what could be happening - could it be a short - screen going bad. Also using the reset button under display tab only worked a couple of times. Truck has about 3,500 miles on it so a faulty part would have showed up earlier i would have thought. It has also gone black, and stayed that way. However, upon restarting the truck the screen comes back on - just to go black again. I will take it to the dealership when back in town - but i hate to do this as my oil change will be coming up soon and it is always a hassle to take your vehicle to the shop. May have no choice as it is very annoying. Thanks in advance for your help. Would a reboot help - or is that the same thing as turning off the truck and on again?

Nothing sitting over the photo sensor on the dash is there? Couldn‘t tell by the picture.

 

[WFordKid]

Just curious, if you physuicaly turn your headlights off and disable auto light control, do you still lose the infotainment screen? Others have reported that hitting the instrumentation/display dimmer control buttons by your headlight switch also returns the screen to normal.

Hadn't tried that...so far one way that i have found that my screen did not turn black was not to plug in my iphone. That worked for the whole 5 + hour trip back home. Maybe try that until a fix (sotware) comes out.

 

[WFordKid]

I just brought mine in for this blackout AND for my battery which today was completely dead for some reason...

@WFordKid mine will come back on if i flip my truck into neutral and back to drive... does that work for you too?

I would think it would..as when i was put the selector in R the sreen would come back on..but what i have seen this is only a temporary fix. Maybe try not to plug in your phone to charge. See if that helps.

 

[WFordKid]

Nothing sitting over the photo sensor on the dash is there? Couldn‘t tell by the picture.

Nothing that i noted as well...I think i read somewhere that a software fix may be coming out in February to fix this and some other issues..let's hope so. Thanks

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