2012 Ford Taurus climate & radio controls not working

Asked by Jasmine Jan 05, 2018 at 04:50 PM about the 2012 Ford Taurus

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 12 Taurus recently had the battery replaced and
now the climate and radio controls do not work. The radio
and air still works you just can’t control them and it’s
blowing out hot air on full blast. I took to a mechanic he
tried to hook up to a computer and couldn’t get it fixed.
Does anyone know what I can do to fix it?

24 Answers

30,385

The mechanic who changed the battery may have reversed the connections for a split second ,,, Try this "Hail Mary" fix ,,, remove the red cable from the battery for about 10 seconds then reattach it (you probably did this already)

32 people found this helpful.
520

I have near the same problem with at 2013. Mine started when the battery ran down. When I put the charger on it it was like it was turned on. Lots of clicking and what sounds like dampers opening\closing. Once there was enough charge I was able to shut it off. Then after charged I got it started but found part of the dash dead. The radio can be controlled from the steering wheel but the round volume knob and the other climate control buttons around it are dead like no power. The digital control are lit but you cant turn on climate. Just says that its off. The buttons beep when you touch them but don't do anything I cant find any blown fuses. I am afraid it burnt the panel out? Sick with flu and its 15 degrees outside so I wont get to work on it until Sunday. I will try disconnecting the battery trick. Got anything else to look for? Thanks

31 people found this helpful.
520

Well I am happy to let you know that disconnecting the battery did reset the climate console! Note: When I disconnected the battery there was some current draw as evident by an arcing at the terminal. No wonder the battery ran down while sitting with out being drove. Also NOTE: When I reconnected the battery the dash went through a reset process of, "SYNC" message and progress bar. I waited for that to finish before I tried to start. QUESTION: Is there a normal drain on the battery when the 2013 Taurus is shut off? If that is normal I will need to get a trickle charger and shore line! FYI: I can leave my old Ford pickup for months and it will start on the first crank!

21 people found this helpful.
80

I had problems of my Taurus radio skipping around inputs, it would be on CD then skip to radio and then from station to station. Drove me crazy. what I did to correct this was " using the Manuel radio knob go left arrow , then right arrow, then up the down. do this several times. press center to turn on and off. do all this serveal times to free up any sticking contacts in the switch. work for me. now radio works perfect again

8 people found this helpful.
160

i have same issue. I have tried everything and nothing works. I checked fuse, replaced battery, reconnected the battery, updated the system, did MASTER REST, this is common issue with SYNC system and not clear solution right now either from ford or ppl

16 people found this helpful.
60

i had the same issue Kevin and I did the hail Mary trick and it worked. however I am concerned about overnight battery drain. I have a 2016 and I have replaced the battery twice as well as a starter but the battery keeps draining.

6 people found this helpful.
100

I does work, I had the Positive Post disconnected for a good 25 SECS, id anyone , it happen on my 2014 Taurus SEL, most functions on the touch screen were not functional including defogger and heated seats. now everything is good.

10 people found this helpful.
130

Someone found the solution? I disconnect the cable and fix only 15 minutes maximum, then it fails again ... 2012 model

12 people found this helpful.
520

Can anybody tell me what I can do I have a 2011 ford taurus radio on but the buttons wont work to heat or radio and the heat on 90 full blast and wont turn off .

52 people found this helpful.
210

Can anybody tell me what I can do I have a 2010 ford taurus radio on but the buttons wont work to heat or radio and the heat on 90 full blast and wont turn off .

21 people found this helpful.
50

This sucks I have the same problem. No recall about this. Should be

5 people found this helpful.
50

Is there a relay that can be replaced to fix this problem?

5 people found this helpful.
50

Has anyone found a permanent solution to this common problem with their Taurus?

5 people found this helpful.
100

I changed the battery on my 2010 Ford Taurus SEL and now my radio doesn’t turn on. Please does anyone know what is going on?

10 people found this helpful.
160

It is called (FCIM) its Front Controls Interface Module.... it is all of your problems if the master reset does not work..(unhooking your battery for 30 sec.) You have to change this out for your controls to go to normal

16 people found this helpful.
115

same here, 2012 Taurus, radio doesn't work and the heat is at 90 with full blast. Will try the battery trick. Did anyone else find anything else that works?

11 people found this helpful.
100

I have a 2012 Taurus and my instruments controls ,climate control etc... stop working after I changed battery. I found a blown fuse that goes to the “Electronic finish panel, Ambient lighting” interior fuse box. I replace the 15 amp fuse location #16 and problem fixed. Hope this helps.

10 people found this helpful.
50

I have exact same problem.. How did you fix it

5 people found this helpful.
30

I had the trouble after battery going bad. High heat blower but no control of anything on panel. Took battery loose for 30 seconds and all reset. 2015 taurus Thanks

3 people found this helpful.
30

A marginal battery will trigger this. I had a year old battery which developed a bad cell. It would not jump with a “jump pac” and I think the marginal start attempts may created the issue. My solution: Remove battery Leave car doors open Connect the positive and negative terminals on the car together (no battery) for a minute or so (I used jump cables - black to black) Depressed car ignition switch several times Waited another minute Removed jumper cable Put in freshly charged battery (in my case new) made sure terminals were cleaned, protected and snug Connected negative terminal first Connected positive terminal while making sure it maintained a connection. Notice sync was booting. Waited 30 seconds and started car. Problem corrected Note I did make sure the fuse noted in an earlier post was good. My restraint system was also affected in addition to the lack of center console controls. Problem corrected

3 people found this helpful.
20

I have 2011 Taurus nd when I tried replcing factory radio I got the same problem. No functional dash interface and 90 blast defroster and can't turn off.

2 people found this helpful.
20

2013 radio not working and heat stuck on defrost nothing will work on the radio or climate control the air bag light is on go ahead and replace the fcim code u0057

2 people found this helpful.

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