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Reverse lights don’t always come on in reverse

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Cedar Park Texas
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2020 Ford Explorer ST
#1
Has anyone had any issues with their reverse lights not coming on when going in reverse? I resolve it by shutting off the car and starting it back up. The blue screen update has been applied to the car already, but also still blue screens sometimes. They’re replacing the camera next week, but can’t see how the camera could effect the reverse bulbs.


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CapTom

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#2
I don't know of any connection between those two issues, but shutting it off and turning it back on seems to fix almost everything that goes wrong with them.
 

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Roseville
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2021 Explorer ST
#3
I get blue screen a few times in the 4 weeks I owed the ST I have also had the audio not turn on. like you both said turn car on/off fixes both issues. Audio is a pain as I am typically already driving and I'm not going to pull over for a radio. Next time I get blue screen I will check the reverse lights they are probably on the same switch
 

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Airizona
#4
I get blue screen a few times in the 4 weeks I owed the ST I have also had the audio not turn on. like you both said turn car on/off fixes both issues. Audio is a pain as I am typically already driving and I'm not going to pull over for a radio. Next time I get blue screen I will check the reverse lights they are probably on the same switch
There are times when the radio is unresponsive for me, doing a soft reset of the system has worked each time and you can do it while the vehicle is on. Hold both the Power & FF buttons for about 5 seconds until it reboots and you should be good to go.
 

hbalek

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#5
There are times when the radio is unresponsive for me, doing a soft reset of the system has worked each time and you can do it while the vehicle is on. Hold both the Power & FF buttons for about 5 seconds until it reboots and you should be good to go.
For me recent software updates fixed the audio and all Sync issues. The camera on mine had to be replaced. The software update in the recall did not work in the long-term.
 

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Location
Roseville
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2021 Explorer ST
#6
There are times when the radio is unresponsive for me, doing a soft reset of the system has worked each time and you can do it while the vehicle is on. Hold both the Power & FF buttons for about 5 seconds until it reboots and you should be good to go.
Didn’t know that. Thank you
 

OP
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Cedar Park Texas
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2020 Ford Explorer ST
Thread Starter #7
I get blue screen a few times in the 4 weeks I owed the ST I have also had the audio not turn on. like you both said turn car on/off fixes both issues. Audio is a pain as I am typically already driving and I'm not going to pull over for a radio. Next time I get blue screen I will check the reverse lights they are probably on the same switch
I’ve had the no audio before. This was resolved by the dealer replacing the APIM module.


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OP
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Thread Starter #8
I don't know of any connection between those two issues, but shutting it off and turning it back on seems to fix almost everything that goes wrong with them.
Yes, I don’t get how the two correlate at all. Makes zero sense to me tbh. Hopefully the dealer can figure out why.


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TMac

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#9
Problems like the OP is facing are very difficult to resolve. At one time, shifting into reverse triggered an actual physical switch that led to the backup lights. Pretty easy to trace a wiring problem or a switch problem. Now, you shift into reverse which just puts info on the CANBUS saying in effect "driver selected reverse". Then, various modules on the bus use that info to trigger the reverse lights, turn on the rear camera, change the screen output to rear view, put the trans in reverse, turn off parking brake, on and on- all while running through software and checking various saved "mode" settings (which were also transmitted over the bus) to determine whether this is action is allowable. While that's a good thing for safety, diagnosing this stuff is extremely difficult, and the software is glitchy. Luckily, a lot of times the problem can be fixed with various resets which clear certain "mode" settings that are still in the bus modules. There is a LOT of software in these vehicles.
 

OP
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Location
Cedar Park Texas
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2020 Ford Explorer ST
Thread Starter #10
Problems like the OP is facing are very difficult to resolve. At one time, shifting into reverse triggered an actual physical switch that led to the backup lights. Pretty easy to trace a wiring problem or a switch problem. Now, you shift into reverse which just puts info on the CANBUS saying in effect "driver selected reverse". Then, various modules on the bus use that info to trigger the reverse lights, turn on the rear camera, change the screen output to rear view, put the trans in reverse, turn off parking brake, on and on- all while running through software and checking various saved "mode" settings (which were also transmitted over the bus) to determine whether this is action is allowable. While that's a good thing for safety, diagnosing this stuff is extremely difficult, and the software is glitchy. Luckily, a lot of times the problem can be fixed with various resets which clear certain "mode" settings that are still in the bus modules. There is a LOT of software in these vehicles.
This made my head hurt while reading. You’re spot on though with the amount of things these cars are doing these days. It’s like, check this, turn this on, bypass this, engage sensors and etc.


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