2018 Ford F-150: screen or infotainment failure

Filed Oct 30, 2026 · AZ

1. Description of the Defect When the vehicle is placed in reverse, the center display no longer shows the area behind the truck. Instead, the image is directed downward at the trailer hitch and road surface, so the zone directly behind the vehicle — where pedestrians, children, and obstacles would be — is not visible. When I access the camera view through the vehicle's settings menu, the image appears correctly. The failure occurs in the one situation where the camera matters: backing up. In practical terms, the vehicle has no usable rear view camera. The camera image began flickering intermittently on or about July 28, 2026. On or about October 28, 2026, the image began pointing down at the hitch and road surface whenever the vehicle is in reverse, and it has stayed that way since. Mileage at onset: approximately 111,000 miles. There has been no collision, impact, or aftermarket modification to the tailgate or camera. I have confirmed that the camera's zoom and hitch-view functions are not engaged; the malfunction occurs with the standard rear view selected. 2. Ford Has Acknowledged This Failure Mode but Has Not Supplied a Remedy 3. A rear view camera is safety equipment. the federal safety agency's rear visibility standard, FMVSS No. 111 (49 C.F.R. § 571.111), reflects the agency's own determination that rear visibility systems are necessary to prevent backover crashes, which disproportionately injure and kill young children. A camera that displays the hitch instead of the area behind the vehicle defeats the purpose of that equipment entirely and is arguably more dangerous than a blank screen, because a driver glancing at the display may not immediately recognize that the view is wrong. Ford appears to treat the same failure mode — a blank or distorted rear camera image — as a safety recall for other vehicle populations, including Ford Safety Recall 25S89 (the federal safety agency Campaign No. 25V‑572). But for my truck I have no recourse when Ford does not supply parts.

Filed May 16, 2026 · Electrical · FL

The audio and navigation system with the sync 3 constantly malfunctions and causes immediate distraction of the driver and passengers and fails regularly with intermittent failures, freezes and takes the attention of the driver away from the road. This is a problem with many Ford vehicles and over many production year models. Ford will not address this and admit this common failure the Ford F-150 2018 the navigation and audio panel freezes locks up malfunctions doesn't respond and the navigation system will be working and then skips and puts you into a different location on a different Road or just locks up entirely.

Filed Oct 19, 2025 · Electrical · GA

Was listening to my radio in my 2018 f150 1min and the next the music stopped my phone stopped charging touch screen went black tried the soft reset nothing checked fuses nothing . Found out it’s my apim Ive also seen where a lot of people are saying they have had the same issue with this and it’s not a cheap fix one guy said he works at ford and done 15 in one day . Ford is suppose to be the best why isn’t there a recall on these . 98k miles and I have to spend $500-$1000 to be able to use my touch screen this is not right for anyone and this should be on ford . Believe I might be switching over to dodge now.

Filed Sep 24, 2025 · Driver assistance · 60,000 miles · MN

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that on several occasions while in reverse(R), the rear-view camera went black. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds intermittently, the infotainment screen went black. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

Filed Sep 23, 2025 · Electrical · MI

Back up camera stopped working on 2018 F150 XLT 2.7 v6. Screen only shows blank screen or blue screen with the words, cameral not available.

Filed Sep 18, 2025 · Driver assistance · 90,000 miles · VA

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle in reverse the back up camera screen display was either solid black with no image or with vertical lines with a very distorted image. The contact indicated that the failure was intermittent. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V252000(BACK OVER PREVENTION). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced that same failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 90,000.

Filed Jul 9, 2025 · Electrical · NC

When backing up, my camera will either not work or be extremely slow. Then once it works the backup image or blank screen will show up when not in reverse. My screen will be blank, be extremely slow, or freeze when I turn the vehicle on or when driving. Unable to get CarPlay to work at all. When pushing buttons the lag time is so bad that it will take minutes for it to catch up. Unable to update the software.

Filed May 31, 2025 · DE

This vehicle has and co tones to have the back up display freezing while in reverse - it has been unsuccessfully addressed at dealerships on multiple occasions. The current recall on this issue needs to be added to more model years, this is not a new problem with ford

Filed May 12, 2025 · Electrical · LA

The radio goes black giving no indication to why and no way to adjust the heated steering wheel or the climate controls.

Filed Dec 27, 2024 · Driver assistance · 102,500 miles · CT

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while reversing, the back-over prevention camera did not function as intended. The contact stated that the back-over prevention camera displayed a black screen. The contact stated that due to the failure, the vehicle lightly tapped a nearby pole. The contact stated that very little damage was done to the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed APIM module. The contact was informed that the APIM module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the federal safety agency Hotline and report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 102,500.

Filed Nov 29, 2022 · Electrical · IL

There is a noticeable lag in the infotainment system whenever an input from the steering wheel is changed or the screen is touched. The navigation screen shows "no gps" and the maps stop working frequently. There are times the touch screen is black and completely unresponsive. The bluetooth connection with my phone connects and disconnects constantly also. The usb ports directly beneath the radio frequently don't work either. Safety is effected because of increased time looking away from the road trying to answer calls or get directions through the navigation system. The problem has not been inspected because I haven't been to the dealer since this first started happening. There were no warning lamps. The only indicators were that the bluetooth connection for my phone was dropped and the "no gps" was displayed on the maps. This first appeared about 3 months ago.

Filed May 29, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · TX

While driving down the highway at the speed limit (75 mph), my truck suddenly lost power and partially lost braking. The engine was still running but was running at an idle speed RPM. Both an audible voice and a message on the driver information panel said "drive mode not available, service is needed" Braking power was partially lost at the same time. Steering power seemed normal but braking power was also partially lost at the same time. My truck started slowing down, obviously, and as soon as a shoulder was available, I pulled over onto the shoulder and let my vehicle speed decrease. I only had partial braking power (I estimate less than 30%) so was unable to quickly come to a full stop. As my truck slowed to a speed of about 5 mph, it suddenly started working again, although an icon shaped like a wrench appeared at the bottom center of the driver information panel. At the same time of the issue described above, the air conditioning and air blower fully stopped at the same time, and the multifunction display used for audio and navigation went blank for a moment and reset itself. When it came back on the navigation portion of the screen gave a "GPS faulted" error. I was able to finish driving to work, where I parked the vehicle. Later, after work, and after the vehicle had been parked for several hours, the truck behaved normally, the wrench icon was gone and there was no indication at all that there had been any issue. I was in congested traffic at the time of the event and it could have resulted in a serious highway traffic accident involving multiple vehicles.