3G to 4G Modem upgrade with used (recycled) parts

[djcwardog]

I did some searching and found this topic well-covered on the web but not so much here for this group.  I bought my car a few weeks ago and discovered, like many of you, that the Lincoln Way app was useless for me thanks to the 3G modem that came from the factory when my car was new.  So, I found and installed this particular 4G modem on eBay for $75 shipped.

 

PART NO:

JL3T - 14G087 - CK

 

I read and understood that any of the -C_ part # suffixes should work.  Mine is a -CK but others are out there for sale right now.  The key is to stick with the older JL3T parts rather than the very latest ones - at least for my 2017 car!  This is a possible way to swap in a 4G modem for your existing 3G modem that should work for you.  

 

Pull up the left (driver’s) side panel in your trunk to start.  In the photos you see that I moved the single power and CANBUS plug over and then moved my single FAKRA antenna plug over.  You see two FAKRA jacks in the photo.  However, only one of them will accept your existing antenna plug.  Seeing the word “GPS” on the old 3G part I have a feeling that the 3G modems need a GPS antenna FAKRA jack because they also incorporate the GPS function that your car uses to provide the compass in the dash display.  Nerdy Detail Alert - I think for our cars with Navigation there is indeed another (blue?) GPS antenna plug that goes into a jack on your APIM - the silver box that you’ll find secured to the center dash bezel right behind your 8” screen.  Anyway, I plugged a Bingfu 4G Wi-Fi antenna (cheap, on Amazon) into the other jack - see photo - and then did my Forscan work, as noted below.

 

First, delete your existing car profile in Forscan and let it find your car again when you connect.  This makes it build a new profile that includes your replacement 4G modem.  You should see a TCU included in your module list once the car finishes connecting.  Now let it save this new profile for you by clicking “yes” when it asks.

 

Under “Service Prodedures”, do a forced reset of the “new” 4g TCU.  Read and clear any codes that may remain in the TCU afterwards.  See my photos.  You’ll end up with one code for “Antenna 2” that will not clear.  No worry, that’s harmless and it’s there because you used the Bingfu antenna instead of paying more money to find and install the factory Ford 4G antenna under the rear deck between your speakers, and its required extension cord.

 

Now do the TSB 22-2230 initialization procedure - you’ll find that on an internet  search if the attached .pdf doesn’t work for you.  This is the procedure that has you go in and out of Valet Mode to initialize the modem.

 

As that procedure requires, I deleted my car from the Lincoln Way app and then added it back on.  When I clicked “Activate” in the app it sent the expected message to my screen in the car asking me to approve the car.  I did and I then finally saw the lock/unlock buttons, start/stop button and the horn/light flash buttons.  Now my Lincoln Way app does what it must have been doing before they dropped 3G modem coverage last February.  I also snapped a photo of the Sync 3 screen that shows my modem ID.  It’s indeed different from the same screen when I had the 3G modem in there.

 

 

 New part compared with old.  4G modem is bigger and it has two Fakra jacks instead of just one on the 3G part.

 

Recall Service Bulletin to set up 4G modem.pdf

 

The circuit is just fine, thank you very much.

 

Snap a photo of this screen in your own car before and after you do the swap.

 

Before I did the swap, everything below the car was just an empty blue field.

Edited December 3, 2022 by djcwardog
Details added

[bbf2530]

1 hour ago, djcwardog said:

I did some searching and found this topic well-covered on the web but not so much here for this group.  I bought my car a few weeks ago and discovered, like many of you, that the Lincoln Way app was useless for me thanks to the 3G modem that came from the factory when my car was new.  So, I found and installed this particular 4G modem on eBay for $75 shipped.

 

PART NO:

JL3T - 14G087 - CK

 

I read and understood that any of the -C_ part # suffixes should work.  Mine is a -CK but others are out there for sale right now.  The key is to stick with the older JL3T parts rather than the very latest ones - at least for my 2017 car!  This is a possible way to swap in a 4G modem for your existing 3G modem that should work for you.  

 

Pull up the left (driver’s) side panel in your trunk to start.  In the photos you see that I moved the single power and CANBUS plug over and then moved my single FAKRA antenna plug over.  You see two FAKRA jacks in the photo.  However, only one of them will accept your existing antenna plug.  Seeing the word “GPS” on the old 3G part I have a feeling that the 3G modems need a GPS antenna FAKRA jack because they also incorporate the GPS function that your car uses to provide the compass in the dash display.  Nerdy Detail Alert - I think for our cars with Navigation there is indeed another (blue?) GPS antenna plug that goes into a jack on your APIM - the silver box that you’ll find secured to the center dash bezel right behind your 8” screen.  Anyway, I plugged a Bingfu 4G Wi-Fi antenna (cheap, on Amazon) into the other jack - see photo - and then did my Forscan work, as noted below.

 

First, delete your existing car profile in Forscan and let it find your car again when you connect.  This makes it build a new profile that includes your replacement 4G modem.  You should see a TCU included in your module list once the car finishes connecting.  Now let it save this new profile for you by clicking “yes” when it asks.

 

Under “Service Prodedures”, do a forced reset of the “new” 4g TCU.  Read and clear any codes that may remain in the TCU afterwards.  See my photos.  You’ll end up with one code for “Antenna 2” that will not clear.  No worry, that’s harmless and it’s there because you used the Bingfu aBrennan instead of paying more money to find and install the factory Ford 4G antenna under the rear deck between your speakers, and its required extension cord.

 

Now do the TSB 22-2230 initialization procedure - you’ll find that on an internet  search if the attached .pdf doesn’t work for you.  This is the procedure that has you go in and out of Valet Mode to initialize the modem.

 

As that procedure requires, I deleted my car from the Lincoln Way app and then added it back on.  When I clicked “Activate” in the app it sent the expected message to my screen in the car asking me to approve the car.  I did and I then finally saw the start/stop button and door lock/unlock buttons.  Now my Lincoln Way app does what it did before they dropped 3G modem coverage last February.  I also snapped a photo of the Sync 3 screen that shows my modem ID.  It’s indeed different from the same screen when I had the 3G modem in there.

 

 

 

 New part compared with old.  4G modem is bigger and it has two Fakra jacks instead of just one on the 3G part.

 

Recall Service Bulletin to set up 4G modem.pdf

 

 

The circuit is just fine, thank you very much.

 

 

Snap a photo of this screen in your own car before and after you do the swap.

 

Hi djc. A very nice write-up which will certainly help others.

 

Thanks for taking the time, and good luck. ?

[drolds1]

Thank you for this.  It's now pinned as a how-to.

[jmcgliss]

Thank you very much. Will consider this after my Sync2 to Sync3 conversion. Good to know there isn't under-dash work involved.

[Chris109]

Don't you need Ford to do some kind of update or something?  I thought I saw that somewhere.

[djcwardog]

41 minutes ago, Chris109 said:

Don't you need Ford to do some kind of update or something?  I thought I saw that somewhere.

I had no dealer involvement at all in doing this.  As described above, I did have FORScan do a forced reset of the modem after I had it plugged in.

Edited January 9, 2023 by djcwardog

[Chris109]

28 minutes ago, djcwardog said:

I had no dealer involvement at all in doing this.  As described above, I did have FORScan do a forced reset of the modem after I had it plugged in.

 

 

Good if you have Forscan.  If not, dealer gets involved.  

I may try it sometime.

[Multitask]

Forscan is free

[kramf411]

By the way, I brought my vehicle for service for something else and asked the service advisor about the cost for switching from 3G to 4G. I was told "they did the math" and the amount would end up to be $900+, with the replacement part itself costing ~$600. They had multiple inquiries and none actually had it done.

[sitokod]

Thanks for the write up, i have ordered the same part for my 2016 MKZ 2.0 and i will try to do the upgrade this weekend. I will Update once i go through it.

Edited January 25, 2023 by sitokod
add more info

[121dj]

Thanks for putting this together.

I am stuck with Forscan not identifying the TCU after connecting it.

2017 3.0 Sync 3 v3

using same exact TCU in this thread.

Forscan 2.4.6 beta extended license on Windows

ELM 327 INTRRFACE v1.5 OBDII

Did the valet on/off from service bulletin

 

Any help appreciated.

Edited January 24, 2023 by 121dj

[sitokod]

16 hours ago, 121dj said:

Thanks for putting this together.

I am stuck with Forscan not identifying the TCU after connecting it.

2017 3.0 Sync 3 v3

using same exact TCU in this thread.

Forscan 2.4.6 beta extended license on Windows

ELM 327 INTRRFACE v1.5 OBDII

Did the valet on/off from service bulletin

 

Any help appreciated.

I am following this, still waiting on the antenna to do the upgrade on my 2016 2.0 . I am curious what your fix will be when you find one, incase i run into a similar issue. best of luck.

[sitokod]

On 1/24/2023 at 4:09 PM, 121dj said:

Thanks for putting this together.

I am stuck with Forscan not identifying the TCU after connecting it.

2017 3.0 Sync 3 v3

using same exact TCU in this thread.

Forscan 2.4.6 beta extended license on Windows

ELM 327 INTRRFACE v1.5 OBDII

Did the valet on/off from service bulletin

 

Any help appreciated.

Try doing a sync 3 master reset, if it does not work, disconnect the CAN/power plug from the modem, wait a few minutes and connect it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by sitokod

[Samym]

Hello. Does anyone have TCU firmware files for the "J" series. It is necessary to lower the "K" series. Sync sees the modem, but the modem does not want to log in.

[sitokod]

On 1/28/2023 at 2:12 AM, Samym said:

Hello. Does anyone have TCU firmware files for the "J" series. It is necessary to lower the "K" series. Sync sees the modem, but the modem does not want to log in.

i will suggest checking the cyanlabs forum. I think there is a way to downgrade the firmware explained there: https://community.cyanlabs.net/t/2017-mkz-hybrid-4g-tcu-upgrade/6814

[sitokod]

Finally got mine to work. Thank you for the instructions. Don't be like me, make sure you buy a 4G FAKRA antenna from any ford dealership and install it, rather than using the bingfu antenna from amazon which the module doesn’t seem to like. See post linked below:

 

https://lincolnmkxforum.com/topic/3662-4g-modem-replacement/?page=2

Edited February 27, 2023 by sitokod
More info

[Jgoody]

So I found this on eBay but it says it’s for the navigator everything matches up could I still use this for my 17 Mkz I hope so please someone let me know ASAP THANK YOU GUYS

[Samym]

9 hours ago, sitokod said:

Наконец-то мой заработал. Спасибо за инструкции. Не будьте как я, убедитесь, что обе антенны Bingfu и FAKRA подключены, иначе у вас возникнут проблемы.

Hello. How did you manage to authorize and what was the problem?

[sitokod]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:07 AM, Jgoody said:

So I found this on eBay but it says it’s for the navigator everything matches up could I still use this for my 17 Mkz I hope so please someone let me know ASAP THANK YOU GUYS

That will work. Same part i have for my mkz

[sitokod]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:11 AM, Samym said:

Hello. How did you manage to authorize and what was the problem?

I was using the cheap amazon antenna only. I did not read the instructions on the original post well. I switch to the old antenna i already had in the car, reset tcu and apim and was able to go through the steps in the original post without issue and everything is working. I do however have a Ford ORM 4g antenna on order to replace the original 3g antenna my car was built with. Note, on my car with the TCU part number mentioned in the original post, my first line of code for the TCU as built had a B142 which is a C1CMA architecture, i had to change that value to B132 which is the CGEA 1.3 (global electrical) architecture and everything worked. So do check your asbuilt first line of code to make sure it’s B132.

[Jgoody]

23 hours ago, sitokod said:

That will work. Same part i have for my mkz

Thanks is the antenna I should get 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Jgoody

[sitokod]

On 2/24/2023 at 2:30 AM, Jgoody said:

Thanks is the antenna I should get 

 

you need to order the 4G antenna from ford. If you can find the service bulletin online, some sites have the individual part numbers needed. You find the part number of the fakra antenna and order it. Some pple don’t even buy the bingfu antenna, the instead make a fused connector since one of the two ports is for hotspot i believe. See linked post for mkx! Its similar steps you need to follow. The post also has the ford antenna part number..

 

https://lincolnmkxforum.com/topic/3662-4g-modem-replacement/?page=2

[Samym]

Hi all. Owners of lincoln mkz hubrid 2014-2015 can you suggest TCU configuration?

[ballscout1]

I have a 2015 MKZ and about a year ago I upgraded my Sync 2 to Sync 3. I have been reading this topic and others like it for the last couple of months and decided to try my hand at upgrading the modem to 4g.

Well, today I did it, and although there were some things I couldn't figure out I got through it without bricking the modem or my car.

 I couldn't find a Hj5t-14g087-uf modem at a reasonable price so I decided to give it a go with a jl3t-14g087-cf.

 

 

So Start Stop Lock and Unlock work and it monitors fuel level, oil life and tire inflation.

I couldn't figure out how to monitor the TCU to  see signal strength and the status of the module among other things

Also, I saw images that in addition to start and lock and unlock also had lights and horns.I don't have those.

I also saw it mentioned that you had to plug in your old antennae cable as well as the $g cable but my old cable didn't fit on the tan connection so I only have the  4g antenna attached to the purple connection on the modem.

I do have a GPS antenna that was installed in the front of the car when I upgraded Sync.

Anyway, I am excited it worked and want to thank each one who spent their time sharing info and instructions so that those of us with no clue could make this happen.

Thanks so much and enjoy your holidays




 

Edited December 23, 2023 by ballscout1

[LINCJSD]

i also have JL3T telematics unit in my 2016, works flawlessly; the tan fakra doesnt need connected, just the purple, I actually connected the gps/ sirius antenna up to the brown fakra and for some reason my sirius wouldnt work when it was, so im not sure what its used for on the new ones ive looked over some pinouts but no answer.  Did you have active park assist? if so does it work now or are yoi having trouble with it?  I dont think there is a way to moniter the TCU except the signal meter on the SYNC3 screen and running a speed test if you have the conneceted car thru AT&T. which is worth it for only $20 monthly.

Edited December 25, 2023 by LINCJSD