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3.5.1......Anyone? Anyone?


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Picked it up today, Monday, and all is well. They reported, however, that it took a long time and several redos, ending up with long phonecon with FoMoCo and manual entry of some codes. 

 

Car definitely drives differently now with different brake response and different accelerator response.  Too soon to tell about gas mileage. Interesting that those things would change with a reprogram of the navigation and entertainment system!

 

 

 

  The update is only for the audio and navigation system. It should have nothing to do with the AC, motor, gas mileage, etc.  I really hope I am correct on this because if the Sync system has anthying to do with the rest of the vehicle, I will regret buying it. I love the car itself. It is rides nice, looks nice, get the stated MPG, but the audio system stinks (styncs?? ;p)  ). It is very buggy on our Cmax, even after the update. If they can ever get this right, it would have one of the better audio systems in the industry. Sound quality is great, in my opinion!

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  The update is only for the audio and navigation system. It should have nothing to do with the AC, motor, gas mileage, etc.  I really hope I am correct on this because if the Sync system has anthying to do with the rest of the vehicle, I will regret buying it. I love the car itself. It is rides nice, looks nice, get the stated MPG, but the audio system stinks (styncs?? ;p)  ). It is very buggy on our Cmax, even after the update. If they can ever get this right, it would have one of the better audio systems in the industry. Sound quality is great, in my opinion!

It doesn't.  The 3.5.1 update requires the Powertrain module to also be updated so the MFT screen can display the Hybrid status.  Since it changes the Powertrain to "Latest Calibration" there could be other changes rolled in there compared to the version the car left the factory with.  The different brake etc he is referring to could be the result of this Poswertrain update.

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It doesn't.  The 3.5.1 update requires the Powertrain module to also be updated so the MFT screen can display the Hybrid status.  Since it changes the Powertrain to "Latest Calibration" there could be other changes rolled in there compared to the version the car left the factory with.  The different brake etc he is referring to could be the result of this Poswertrain update.

 

 

     I have not noticed any change to the way ours drives. Do not like the idea that this buggy system affects the rest of the vehicle though!  We got the extended maintenance agreement on the car, so that makes me feel a little better!

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Got mine back today after 2 days this time. 3rd attempt. The SA says it is done. Apparently they spent a day trying to update with Windows 7, before finding out the download update from Ford required Windows 8. MPG dropped from 45 to 33 while in the shop, So much for the "external power source". Will see

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     I have not noticed any change to the way ours drives. Do not like the idea that this buggy system affects the rest of the vehicle though!  We got the extended maintenance agreement on the car, so that makes me feel a little better!

I was trying to say the opposite.  MFT does not affect the rest of the car.  MFT wanted to read values from the the power train system to display the Hybrid status.  Just because the data wasn't formatted correctly or wasn't available to the MFT system doens't mean it was a bug in powertrain.  They were adding a new feature.

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I was trying to say the opposite.  MFT does not affect the rest of the car.  MFT wanted to read values from the the power train system to display the Hybrid status.  Just because the data wasn't formatted correctly or wasn't available to the MFT system doens't mean it was a bug in powertrain.  They were adding a new feature.

 

 

    Ah!! I see. I did not read your last post correctly!! Thank you.

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well it doesn't matter if they did tweak things for 351 since now they have a REAL mpg update:

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2536-ford-to-offer-free-updates-to-boost-hybrid-vehicle-efficiency/

 

 

 

    I just read that! I think I will hold off on that. It sounds really good but will wait to hear others experiences with it before I take our vehicle back in. 

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Just got the 3.5.1 software installed.  Noticed several changes. Only issue is that on my Nav screen the traffic speed colors for the freeways has disappeared.  Otherwise all is good.

Are you sure your Sirius Travelink subscription has not expired?  Also there is an option (can't remember where) to turn this on and off.

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Given all the troubles with the 3.5.1 upgrade, Sync, Nav, etc., I found the following news item telling:

 

Ford Boosts Hiring of Engineers, Computer Workers
USA Today (07/23/13) Chris Woodyard
                ; Alisa Priddle

Ford Motor Co.'s recently announcement that it is boosting its planned hiring of engineers and software workers by 36 percent is part of a larger effort by the auto industry to recruit technology workers.  Ford says that about 80 percent of the new hires will be engineers and information technology workers that can help design the next generation of high-tech vehicles.  The greatest need is for workers with electronics and digital skills, highlighting how the auto industry is being driven by developments in infotainment systems, electronic controls, and safety systems.  "The skill set is changing, especially with the amount of electronics...in the vehicle," says SAE International's Andrew Smart.  However, recruiting is challenging because automakers are looking for a special combination of skills that relatively few professionals have.  "The specialties we are having trouble filling are software, electric, and electronic," says Ford's Raj Nair.  "There's a lot of demand for that talent."  Meanwhile, both Ford and General Motors are involved in programs to encourage high school students to study science, technology, engineering, and math subjects.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/07/23/ford-hiring/2578425/

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My update failed at North Central Ford in Dallas.  SA stated that all their update attempts have failed on all other cars.  I think its primarily user error. 

 

Anyways their solution is to order and replace with a brand new APIM.  My understanding is the apim is the cpu that controls all of the mft/sync funtionality. 

 

Anyone else had to do this?

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The first dealer that I took my cmax for the update replaced the apim module because the update failed. They tried again after the ao I'm was replaced and reported to me that everything was updated. Car was still on 3.1.3 and the nav now had the wrong SD card error. They took it back in and came back shortly to say it was fixed. Mft still wasn't updated correctly, so I took it to a different dealer and they got it done right the first time. Still hit and miss for most dealers because of the technical curve of these cars I guess

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still Ford Corp should be giving them a clear instruction set to follow step by step. this isn't rocket science (well maybe it IS).

this is like a warranty field service repair at my company. if we did this to our customer, we'd lose major work contacts in a second. surely many dealers are having issues with the updates and Corp would hear about this. there must be someone working on making it easier for dealers to perform updates. sounds like they need an internal audit of their systems and processes to understand the issues and how these dealers now need to be trained and equipped to do hybrid tech stuff. i wonder if it's harder(complicated more) for to the fact that MFT sync is a Microsift product and not made by Ford. do they have less say in how to do this.??  surely they hired ms specialists that do this as their primary job???

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It seems to me that the update issues are mostly unique to the CMAX.  I am not reading of the same problem in the Fusion Hybrid Forum. As I understand it the power train on the Fusion Hybrid and CMAX are identical.  However I understand there are some differences in the information systems and, perhaps, MFT.

 

Because Dealers deal with both the Fusion Hybrid and CMAX Hybrid it suggests that Ford still needs to figure out the hardware/software issues with the CMAX that are causing failures--that it is not necessarily a dealer problem.

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My update failed at North Central Ford in Dallas.  SA stated that all their update attempts have failed on all other cars.  I think its primarily user error. 

 

Anyways their solution is to order and replace with a brand new APIM.  My understanding is the apim is the cpu that controls all of the mft/sync funtionality. 

 

Anyone else had to do this?

 

Got my car back with a new APIM.  Initially my SA told me that i would have 3.1.3 and not the new version on it.  I was annoyed.  I was planning on taking to another dealership.

 

To my surprise when I picked up the car, it had 3.5.1 installed.  Not sure if the new APIM had it preloaded or the tech tried the update with a new APIM.

 

Regardless, everything is working flawlessly with no issues.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just wanted to post a note that yesterday they upgraded my Cmax to 3.6.2 - and boy - what a difference! The only thing is that I still see myself driving thru backyards, thru lakes and rivers... If they fix the gps somehow the car will be just awesome. Except for the change in PCM which is so annoying. 

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Just wanted to post a note that yesterday they upgraded my Cmax to 3.6.2 - and boy - what a difference! The only thing is that I still see myself driving thru backyards, thru lakes and rivers... If they fix the gps somehow the car will be just awesome. Except for the change in PCM which is so annoying. 

Mine I had to resync my phone and my wireless won't work with 3.6.2 . With my wireless its asking for a security key I don't have(haven't found a wps button on the cmax yet to use my key)

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Just wanted to post a note that yesterday they upgraded my Cmax to 3.6.2 - and boy - what a difference! The only thing is that I still see myself driving thru backyards, thru lakes and rivers... If they fix the gps somehow the car will be just awesome. Except for the change in PCM which is so annoying. 

 

Look in the maintenance forum for GPS fixes.

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