Electronics issues after windshield leak

[BodeKean8]

Hi all, I posted a little about this in a different subforum but feel like this is the right place for it.

2021 F150 Limited. A replacement windshield installed by Safelite leaked and blacked out my touchscreen, glitched my right steering wheel cluster and greyed out "audio" in my dashboard menu. Safelite fixed the windshield and said they'd cover repairs and provide a rental.

Took my truck to the dealer a few weeks ago and they diagnosed the issue as a bad radio control module. They replaced it said they couldn't get the module programmed (not sure what programming means in this case?).

Then they said it was the APIM one, replaced it and still couldn't get it programmed. I drove the truck home after this and the touchscreen was on but would freeze/glitch. Some wonky electrical issues too like the radio control buttons staying on when the truck is off.

Dealer said they needed to replace the 2nd radio control module with a third, did it and still couldn't get it programmed. They said they don't know what to do and reached out to Ford and haven't gotten a response yet. I'm in touch with a representative from Ford who said they've "escalated" my case

When the touchscreen is on it responds, all the menus work, CarPlay still connects and works, reverse cam works. Still no audio (control buttons are unresponsive and its greyed out on the dash menu. Plays sensor alerts. No GPS/navigation.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to proceed with this? Ideas about what's going on with my truck? Possible diagnostics and fixes?

I'm wondering if it's possible and it's a software issue at this point since they've replaced all they replace, and say they can't get these modules programmed.

I'm concerned there's something more complicated going on that will take a lot of work to diagnose and fix... if a fix is even possible. I really don't want to lose my truck, I've owned it for 8 weeks after waiting years to purchase a truck.

I apologize for the long post. Thanks for your time and help.

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[Beef_Stew]

Windshield water leaks are bad. The dealership I work at just wrote an estimate for $16k to replace all the wiring/fuse boxes/modules/electronics behind the dash of an F350 due to the same issue. Interior electronic connectors are not sealed from water like the exterior connectors are, so it’s likely there could be issues and corrosion with the wire harness also if water found its way inside

 

[BodeKean8]

Windshield water leaks are bad. The dealership I work at just wrote an estimate for $16k to replace all the wiring/fuse boxes/modules/electronics behind the dash of an F350 due to the same issue. Interior electronic connectors are not sealed from water like the exterior connectors are, so it’s likely there could be issues and corrosion with the wire harness also if water found its way inside

Yeah, I fear this is the road I'm headed down. It didn't seem like that much water got in but it was dripping right into the trim behind the touchscreen. Since you work at a dealership, would you advise leaving my truck there until it gets fixed? Is there any advantage to that? Pardon my ignorance around these things. Thanks a lot.

 

[Beef_Stew]

Yeah, I fear this is the road I'm headed down. It didn't seem like that much water got in but it was dripping right into the trim behind the touchscreen. Since you work at a dealership, would you advise leaving my truck there until it gets fixed? Is there any advantage to that? Pardon my ignorance around these things. Thanks a lot.

I would not take delivery of the truck until you are happy with the repairs. Sounds like it’s not as bad as the truck we had (the carpet was soaking wet front to back) but I would at least have some serious digging done into all the electronics behind the dash just to make sure there’s no corrosion going on, especially in the connectors

 

[BodeKean8]

I would not take delivery of the truck until you are happy with the repairs. Sounds like it’s not as bad as the truck we had (the carpet was soaking wet front to back) but I would at least have some serious digging done into all the electronics behind the dash just to make sure there’s no corrosion going on, especially in the connectors

What does take delivery mean in this case? I've just driven the truck home between my visits to the dealer so I have something to drive. I would think my repair case would still be open since they haven't fixed my truck?

It seems like they haven't done a lot of digging, just trying what the diagnostics tell them to do. Like I said it's now reached a point where they've followed the procedures based on the codes they've gotten and it's not working. I believe they're now in contact with Ford trying to figure out the next steps to take. Whatever those steps are seem beyond their capacity, but what do I know.

Thanks again.

 

[BodeKean8]

Also, does anyone know what exactly it means to not be able to "program" the new modules? I'm not sure what that entails and why it wouldn't be working. It got me wondering if there might be an issue with software. But I assume the modules are not reprogramming because there are other issues at play (hardware and software) that they haven't diagnosed and addressed.

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