My backup screen in the dashboard Nav (Ford Escape Hybrid 2010) is not showing the backup picture -- it's just black with a tiny amount of visible contrast showing. I had the dealer replace the electrical harness back at the camera (it had corrosion) and it got ever so slightly better, but nowhere near acceptable. We have conclusively proven it's not the actual camera (in the tailgate) causing the problem. Now the dealer says it MIGHT be the APIM module. That's $500 and I can't get my money back if the APIM is not the problem. That won't work for me. Anybody got any ideas or paths to a solution that are not as expensive as the dealer?
Note: The Nav screen works perfectly EXCEPT for the backup camera function. The radio, the navigation maps, etc., etc. all work just fine. Backup sensors also work fine.
I'd like not to backup over my grandchildren! The camera is excellent for this.

 

There's a guy on eBay that is selling what he bills as the Sync control module for $58.50. Someone will have to check the part numbers to figure out if this is the baby. I'm sorry but I don't have access to that data. If this is it, if your Ford guy can verify it, you could buy this for <$60 plus shipping and have him install it or do it yourself. Hope this helps.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184495357429

 

Wow! Thanks so much. I guess I should not have been calling it an APIM (Accessory Protocol Interface Module) but rather Sync Communications Module (I'm assuming they're one and the same). I'll look into it. Nice job.

 

Well don't take my word for it, this is just based on some educated guessing while googling around. I've never seen an APIM or this module because I haven't had the problem. You really have to find out from either your Ford guy or hopefully someone else here if that's the correct box. I hope it is, $60 is a lot better than $500. I have a 2010 Limited with the SYNC/NAV and backup camera and mine's working fine but I would absolutely love to know if that is really the "baby."

Good luck! One of the photos has the part number.

 

No worries. I've learned that part numbers for the "same" item can go on and on and on. We have 2 of the same vehicle (different color, different VINs, same year and options) and the other one's camera fails intermittently but not often. There is a Navigation Systems repair shop in Minnesota (all makes and models foreign and domestic) with a branch in Texas who seem to know a lot about these systems. They are the ones who put me onto the corrosion problem -- seems it's very common. Don't know where you are located but I'm in Maine and the salt on the roads in winter here is deadly to cars. I suspect that's what caused it. I'll let you know the outcome.

 

This may help also:

Escape Hybrid Service Manual 2011
Go there, section 4-15.

Look for all the stuff on the APIM module. It looks very much like that ebay link but not exactly. Also apparently the APIM you get has to be correct version for the system you're plugging it into. Hopefully this will get you started. It seems that the backup camera is also associated with the autodimming rear mirror! I'm wondering if something is wrong with the mirror and that's causing the backup camera to be screwed up!!!

HTH.

 

After looking at everything I wrote, I was still puzzled about the relationship of the APIM to the camera. So I kept reading the manual. Under:

Group 13: Instrumentation and Warning Systems > Parking Aid: Video there is a very interesting troubleshooting page:

Parking Aid - Video

This includes specific pinpoint tests for various problems. Note that it states: "For vehicles without navigation, the signal from the rear video camera is sent to the auto-dimming interior mirror display on a pair of shielded video circuits. For vehicles with navigation, the signal from the rear video camera is sent to the ACM on a pair of shielded video circuits. The displayed video image is horizontally inverted from that viewed from the video camera perspective to mimic a conventional mirror image."

Interesting. It doesn't mention the APIM anywhere. It says the signal is sent straight to the ACM.

So there's a lot to look at. Maybe the camera is fine and the APIM and ACM and Autodimming Mirror are all fine but that: "pair of shielded video circuits" has gone blooey somewhere. If you just test at the camera but the wiring has developed a fault somewhere from the signal source up to the ACM, that could be the problem - and maybe the easiest and cheapest fix of all - like a loose connector!

Again, all this stuff is new to me, but since I like this feature on my car, if something goes wrong with mine I'd like to have a heads up. Hopefully all this will help you too.

Best,
Alex

 

As it turns out ... it was not the APIM module at all (and I rather thought it wasn't -- there is altogether too big a rush to blame the electronics, since that's an easy "way out" because they're practically impossible to prove as failed somehow/somewhere within them). It was in the wiring. Some wires in the harness near the camera (in my 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid liftgate) had badly corroded and the ground wire was failing (not sure how/where but continuity tests proved the ground was not fully functional). We strung a new ground wire and all is good now. The backup picture on the nav screen is perfect.
Thanks for feedback and support from those who contributed. It's appreciated.

Side note: In the first place, I bought a replacement camera on eBay inexpensively to prove whether or not it was the camera failing -- it wasn't. That was a cheap move and it's relatively easy to replace for the test. Now I have a good spare on the shelf for the next failure -- which I hope I never need. But since I have two of these 2010 FEH's ... I might.

 

That's **awesome**. I'm so glad to hear that. My bias in cases like this is to think: Solid state circuitry at 10+ years old, unless there are a lot of electrolytic capacitors, is pretty well burned in and reliable. Unless there's some kind of bad physical shock, electrical shock, water gets into something, etc., it usually doesn't fail. Wiring is different. And the Ford Escapes of this vintage leak water through the rear window seal on the glass hatch, it's a known problem.

GROUNDS. Always, always the grounds are the Usual Suspects!

You might want to think about replacing the weatherstripping on the rear glass. It is known to leak. This is a big contributor to the corrosion back there. It's not super-cheap, but it can be DIY. Here's a very good video: