Voice commands not working, phone and radio inoperative

[hybridbear]

The radio won't work on the Focus. When I turn it on nothing happens. If I open that quadrant of MFT it freezes and doesn't work. The radio doesn't turn on and the volume control is imperative. Voice commands also don't work. The voice paddle does nothing. The phone also is inoperative. If I place a call from my phone and chose Sync as the audio source I cannot hear the caller and the caller cannot hear me. The right dash screen always says "Audio off" no matter what happens.

All other functions on the MFT screen appear to function normally. How can I reset this without doing a Master Reset in MFT? I don't want to do a Master Reset because of the potemtial issues with MFM that doing so could cause. Is there a fuse I can pull?

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[jmueller065]

Yes:
Pull the fuse in the fusebox below the glovebox (look in the owners manual for the Sync module fuse). Pull it, count to 10 and put it back in.

In this owners manual:
http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/14fevom1e.pdf

See page 203, fuse F67
(2nd column in, 3rd from the top--yeah I've had to do it a few times.)

 

[hybridbear]

See page 203, fuse F67
(2nd column in, 3rd from the top--yeah I've had to do it a few times.)

Thanks Jamie. Have you had this exact same issue?

 

[jmueller065]

No not the exact same thing, but having MFT in my ICE Focus before the FFE I've had to pull that fuse several times due to various MFT bugs.

That one and the F1 fuse in the trunk (telematics module) are two fuses I usually pull when troubleshooting issues with the car.

 

[WattsUp]

The radio won't work on the Focus. When I turn it on nothing happens. If I open that quadrant of MFT it freezes and doesn't work. The radio doesn't turn on and the volume control is imperative. Voice commands also don't work. The voice paddle does nothing. The phone also is inoperative. If I place a call from my phone and chose Sync as the audio source I cannot hear the caller and the caller cannot hear me. The right dash screen always says "Audio off" no matter what happens.

All other functions on the MFT screen appear to function normally. How can I reset this without doing a Master Reset in MFT? I don't want to do a Master Reset because of the potemtial issues with MFM that doing so could cause. Is there a fuse I can pull?

Has anyone else experienced this?

It's a long shot, but try unplugging any USB devices you have plugged in, and make sure the navigation maps SD card is seated securely. Also, as other have suggested, try pulling the MFT fuse to "reboot" the computer. (This is not a master reset, it just makes the computer restart.)

 

[v_traveller]

Okay, so this just happened to me yesterday morning. Pulled the fuse twice for 10+ seconds with no USB or SD Card plugged in, both times Sync rebooted telling me that it was performing scheduled maintenance. After everything was up, the Entertainment system was still unresponsive to any attempt to turn it on, either through the hard button or touch screen. Voice command and phone audio inoperative.

Any ideas before I take it to the dealer tomorrow AM? Fortunately I have 1600 miles left on the factory warranty.

 

[WattsUp]

Strange. This exact thing happened to me yesterday. Out of the blue... never happened like this before. (I'd had other MFT freeze-ups and other oddness, but not this exact combination of things.)

The MFT software was "active", in that I could use maps and stuff and move around, but the entertainment portion was "dead". The physical volume control had no effect, I couldn't eject the CD, and the on/off button did nothing. The entertainment and voice-command steering wheel controls were also being ignored.

Anyway, I fixed it by pulling the fuse for the "radio" and "MFT". Once both had been reseated, and MFT had booted up again, everything was working.

In my 2013 FFE, the radio fuse is 79, and the MFT fuse is 67.

 

[damania]

The GPS stops working when I need it most. Sometimes my radio audio stops working. Right now, I'm having trouble with some USB readers working then not being recognized. And there's no lights in that usb compartment in the 2014 unless my LEDs went out?

 

[NightHawk]

In my 2013 FFE, the radio fuse is 79, and the MFT fuse is 67.

Do you have a picture to illustrate where exactly those fuses are?

 

[WattsUp]

In my 2013 FFE, the radio fuse is 79, and the MFT fuse is 67.

Do you have a picture to illustrate where exactly those fuses are?

There's a picture in the manual in the section about fuses.

The fuse panel behind which these fuses are is located just under the glove box. To remove the panel, you have to pull off two round plastic black "push-on" pins on each side near the top of the panel. The panel, just a flimsy cardboardy thing, will then pull off the reveal the fuses. It goes back on in reverse.

Pro tip: You will probably need some small needle-nose plyers to pull the fuses. They are not very finger-friendly. A bright light or perhaps a head-mounted light (that's what I used) will be necessary. It's very dark in the footwell under the glove box.

 

[v_traveller]

Strange. This exact thing happened to me yesterday. Out of the blue... never happened like this before. (I'd had other MFT freeze-ups and other oddness, but not this exact combination of things.)

The MFT software was "active", in that I could use maps and stuff and move around, but the entertainment portion was "dead". The physical volume control had no effect, I couldn't eject the CD, and the on/off button did nothing. The entertainment and voice-command steering wheel controls were also being ignored.

Anyway, I fixed it by pulling the fuse for the "radio" and "MFT". Once both had been reseated, and MFT had booted up again, everything was working.

In my 2013 FFE, the radio fuse is 79, and the MFT fuse is 67.

Dang! wish I saw your post on Friday night when you wrote it... I called the local Ford dealer that morning and they said they didn't have time to look at it on Saturday, which ticked me off. So I vented to my wife that night, who mentioned that the Mercedes dealer never treated me that way, and that I should just get her the B-Class she wants and that I can have her RAV4 EV. So I started looking into that and found out that folks have been getting the B-Class ED for less than $400/mo, tax included, $0 drive off, with the premium package... bottom line is that come January when my FFE lease is up I may be switching to a B-Class since I sorta promised the wife a B-Class at the end of the year. Told her it's hers as long as I can find a white one. Local dealer has two white ones right now.

So anyway back to the subject.... Oddly, my FFE's battery went totally dead on Sunday, so I hooked it up to a 12V car charger for 5 minutes set at 10A, then plugged in the L1 EVSE and unhooked the 12V charge; charged overnight. This morning I punched the start button, and the Center Display was totally blank. Shut down and started up again - this time the display woke up, telling me that Sync is performing regularly scheduled maintenance (ha ha), and then suddenly Maroon 5 was blasting at nearly full volume. Long story short, my Sync is working again after the 12V battery died.

Next time this happens I'll try pulling Fuse 79 so I don't end up making another promise to my wife that I might regret.

BTW, Ford does provide a fuse puller with the FFE... it's in the cover of the fuse box that's next to the 12V battery. Check it out.

 

[hybridbear]

So I vented to my wife that night, who mentioned that the Mercedes dealer never treated me that way, and that I should just get her the B-Class she wants and that I can have her RAV4 EV. So I started looking into that and found out that folks have been getting the B-Class ED for less than $400/mo, tax included, $0 drive off, with the premium package... bottom line is that come January when my FFE lease is up I may be switching to a B-Class since I sorta promised the wife a B-Class at the end of the year. Told her it's hers as long as I can find a white one. Local dealer has two white ones right now.

I drove a B Class ED when I was in the Bay Area for work a few weeks ago. It was awful! I didn't like the way it drove at all, except for the fact that you could completely turn regen off in D via steering wheel paddles for coasting. That's a nice feature. I didn't like the instrumentation of it at all. And it lacks DCQC capability. And it was very unresponsive when stepping on the accelerator compared to the FFE. What did you think about it when driving it? Based on your comments, it sounds like you've driven one already...

 

[WattsUp]

BTW, Ford does provide a fuse puller with the FFE... it's in the cover of the fuse box that's next to the 12V battery. Check it out.

Good to know, thanks!

 

[v_traveller]

Based on your comments, it sounds like you've driven one already...

Nope, not yet, couldn't get past its bland looks until now. Based on your assessment (except for the slow throttle response) it reminds me of the RAV4 EV - instrumentation sucks, no DCQC. DCQC is not important to me, but decent controls and displays is.

Now that my Sync is working, I'm hoping my wife forgets the promise... was really looking forward to saving over $100/mo on a monthly lease payment for a new FFE (currently shelling out $360/mo with tax). I will try to distract her with the possibility of picking up a BMW X5 plug-in or Volvo plug-in after the RAV4 and Volt leases both terminate in Feb 2017.

 

[hybridbear]

Based on your comments, it sounds like you've driven one already...

Nope, not yet, couldn't get past its bland looks until now. Based on your assessment (except for the slow throttle response) it reminds me of the RAV4 EV - instrumentation sucks, no DCQC. DCQC is not important to me, but decent controls and displays is.

Please let us know what you think when you drive a B Class ED. I'd be very interesting in hearing your comparison of it & the FFE.

Have you looked at the Soul EV? I drove a Soul EV when I was in the Bay Area & it wasn't bad. It's slower than the Focus, but I don't think it's any worse than the Leaf. It had decent instrumentation, but lacks features of MFT such as being able to read your text messages to you & display radio song info on the dash. One display that I liked was that on the center screen you could display an instantaneous kW display for the electric motor. It also has a lot more cargo & passenger room than the Focus.

 

[v_traveller]

Have you looked at the Soul EV? I drove a Soul EV when I was in the Bay Area & it wasn't bad. It's slower than the Focus, but I don't think it's any worse than the Leaf. It had decent instrumentation, but lacks features of MFT such as being able to read your text messages to you & display radio song info on the dash. One display that I liked was that on the center screen you could display an instantaneous kW display for the electric motor. It also has a lot more cargo & passenger room than the Focus.

I have not... not a big fan of Kia. Only ones I've considered to replace the FFE besides the B-Class is the e-Golf and 500e (jmueller's review of the 500e - "feels like a clown car" - helped put the 500e out of contention).

So, what else did you drive when you were in the Bay area? Sounds like you had a lot of fun!

 

[campfamily]

When I bought my FFE, I also drove the eGolf, Kia Soul, and Fiat 500 Electric. I liked the Kia and the eGolf very much, in some ways better than the Focus, but I kept coming back to the Focus because for the price, it just couldn't be beat. After the incentives that Ford was offering, I ended up paying about $8,000 less than I would have paid for an equivalent eGolf or Soul, with no real tangible benefit. The Fiat was comparable in price to the FFE, but it was just too small.

Since you're considering a B-Class, sounds like moving up in price is an option. Have you driven a BMW i3? I was able to do an extended test drive with one for four days (picked it up Friday morning, returned it Monday after work), and was extremely impressed. That car was what ultimately convinced me that an electric car was a viable option for me. BMW has some pretty impressive lease offers on them right now, so if you can get past the dorky looks (to me, it looks like a toaster!!), it is one heck of a nice car.

Keith

 

[hybridbear]

I have not... not a big fan of Kia. Only ones I've considered to replace the FFE besides the B-Class is the e-Golf and 500e (jmueller's review of the 500e - "feels like a clown car" - helped put the 500e out of contention).
So, what else did you drive when you were in the Bay area? Sounds like you had a lot of fun!

I wanted to drive an e-Golf, but I was there the week after the VW scandal broke & I couldn't get anyone at any VW dealership in the Bay Area to reply to my requests online for an e-Golf test drive. I also drove a base model Hyundai Sonata as my rental car

I'm not a big fan of Kia either, but I was fairly impressed by the Soul EV.

When I bought my FFE, I also drove the eGolf, Kia Soul, and Fiat 500 Electric. I liked the Kia and the eGolf very much, in some ways better than the Focus, but I kept coming back to the Focus because for the price, it just couldn't be beat. After the incentives that Ford was offering, I ended up paying about $8,000 less than I would have paid for an equivalent eGolf or Soul, with no real tangible benefit. The Fiat was comparable in price to the FFE, but it was just too small.

Since you're considering a B-Class, sounds like moving up in price is an option. Have you driven a BMW i3? I was able to do an extended test drive with one for four days (picked it up Friday morning, returned it Monday after work), and was extremely impressed. That car was what ultimately convinced me that an electric car was a viable option for me. BMW has some pretty impressive lease offers on them right now, so if you can get past the dorky looks (to me, it looks like a toaster!!), it is one heck of a nice car.

Price is the challenge. Ford has really priced the Focus aggressively compared to the other cars on the market. It is a very good deal! We want to do an extended test drive of the i3 as well to see if it would be a viable replacement for the FFE. I've been in contact with a local BMW dealer, but they have not been very helpful.

 

[campfamily]

We want to do an extended test drive of the i3 as well to see if it would be a viable replacement for the FFE. I've been in contact with a local BMW dealer, but they have not been very helpful.

I was able to arrange my extended test drive through a BMW forum, specifically Bimmerfest.com. At the time I owned a BMW as well, which might have made it easier for me. Plus, there are a bunch of BMW dealers here in SoCal, so if one wasn't being helpful, I had another one just down the road that I could try next; not sure if that is true in Minneapolis.

Keith

 

[hybridbear]

Plus, there are a bunch of BMW dealers here in SoCal, so if one wasn't being helpful, I had another one just down the road that I could try next; not sure if that is true in Minneapolis.

There are only 2 in the Twin Cities area...