Modem suddenly stopped working...any ideas?

[tippykayak]

On Wednesday afternoon a couple days ago, my car's modem stopped working. I didn't notice right away, but the Ford app wasn't updating (which sometimes happened before when service was poor and has happened more since the big update). And Thursday morning, on my commute, BlueCruise wouldn't activate, nor would adaptive cruise control (it worked, but it wouldn't automatically adjust to new speed zones as I entered like it used to).

I reset the app, logged out and back in, even deleted and reinstalled it. And I called the Ford App help line, which is how we figured out the car hadn't been communicating at all with the mothership. And I realized the service bars for the car's modem had a little X on them.

This morning I also reset the car to factory settings on the SYNC screen, just in case, and when that didn't work, I pulled the fuses that seem to be associated with the modem (11, 19, 21, and 22 in the passenger footwell) and checked that they weren't burned out, also hoping that might get the modem to reboot if it was simply glitching.

But nope! Nothing is getting that little icon to stop showing an X, nor is the car updating in the app since the last data it connected with on Wednesday. I can time the time it stopped working almost to the minute, which corresponds to when I got home on Wednesday and plugged it in.

Anybody have any thoughts on anything else I could try? The car works entirely fine for all its non-connected features, but obviously I want my BlueCruise and app features back. I can't get it seen by the dealer for a week, so I'm wondering if there's anything else I should try to potentially fix it or narrow the problem down further.

Thanks in advance for the help!

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[tonytaylor53]

Mine had similar symptoms this week, they were resolved in approx 24 hours. I never got a chance to check the modem connection. I concluded Ford servers were having problems.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/is-the-azure-outage-affecting-ford-pass-app.50431/

 

[tippykayak]

Mine had similar symptoms this week, they were resolved in approx 24 hours. I never got a chance to check the modem connection. I concluded Ford servers were having problems.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/is-the-azure-outage-affecting-ford-pass-app.50431/

Thanks - I actually saw your thread when I was searching for solutions, and another person's response was one of the reasons I pulled the fuses I pulled, though I didn't wait a full five minutes. Like you, I figured the problem was on Ford's end, but it still hasn't resolved, so now I'm thinking my modem is just dead for some reason.

 

[E90alex]

Pull the negative battery cable for a few minutes. If that doesn’t solve it then time for a service appointment.

 

[load97]

Software update back in July or so screwed up my modem/corresponding modules software. Didn’t have my car for 5-6 weeks. Hopefully yours isn’t that screwed up.

 

[tippykayak]

Software update back in July or so screwed up my modem/corresponding modules software. Didn’t have my car for 5-6 weeks. Hopefully yours isn’t that screwed up.

Hopefully not! That seems bananas for a software problem. You'd think you could replace a modem and reinstall car software in less than a day...

 

[tippykayak]

Pull the negative battery cable for a few minutes. If that doesn’t solve it then time for a service appointment.

Haven't had a chance to try this yet, as getting at the battery would involve me watching some tutorials, which I haven't had a chance to do yet. but if I get to it before the dealer takes it on Thursday afternoon, I'll report back.

 

[rugedraw]

Do you have FORScan or a code reader to see what codes it may be reporting?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Haven't had a chance to try this yet, as getting at the battery would involve me watching some tutorials, which I haven't had a chance to do yet. but if I get to it before the dealer takes it on Thursday afternoon, I'll report back.

I'll message you and get some details. We'll get you back on track!

 

[tippykayak]

Do you have FORScan or a code reader to see what codes it may be reporting?

Alas no. I feel like that's one step above my paygrade. I'm relatively handy, but getting that far into the software is a little intimidating.

 

[rugedraw]

Alas no. I feel like that's one step above my paygrade. I'm relatively handy, but getting that far into the software is a little intimidating.

No tech savvyness needed to pull codes. You would not be altering any software. If the modem is truly excomunicado, I will not be able to see any codes, but message me the VIN and I will happy to look and see if I see anything useful.

 

[tonytaylor53]

I've got an OBDLink MX+ and will try and pull codes next time it stops updating. I pulled the 12V a few days ago and it took hours for it to start syncing again. Long enough for me to think the 12V reset was not related to the problem.

 

[tippykayak]

No tech savvyness needed to pull codes. You would not be altering any software. If the modem is truly excomunicado, I will not be able to see any codes, but message me the VIN and I will happy to look and see if I see anything useful.

Ha - I hear "FORscan" and it makes me think of changing the actual software, but yeah - I think I would be a lot less afraid of simply looking at codes.

 

[tippykayak]

Just picked it up from the dealer…and it’s exactly as broken as when I dropped it off. They say the lead tech spent six hours on it and tested that it worked, but it’s still totally broken for me. Connection “bars” icon still has an X. Nav system doesn’t find my current location (locates me as in City Hall Park in Manhattan with a flashing question mark on my location icon).

Kiiiiinda frustrated. I can’t leave it for a whole other weekday with them easily because I use it to get to work.

 

[rugedraw]

Offer still stands if you want me to take a look.

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