Mk3 Prefacelift Sync 2 8" touchscreen upgrade, How to guide with pics!!!

[Steevo25]

I know that feeling 😕 

[JPW]

I also know that feeling 😏

[Nathan Buffery]

23 hours ago, Steevo25 said:

What is the actual DTC?

The DTC is "B1D55 Antenna #2 Circuit Short to battery or Open".

[Steevo25]

Do you have DAB? 

Or did you get an ACM that has DAB but you didn't have it before. 

[Nathan Buffery]

11 minutes ago, Steevo25 said:

Or did you get an ACM that has DAB but you didn't have it before. 

Yeah I upgraded to a ACM with DAB which I didn't have before. 

[JPW]

Thanks Steevo25 for the ACM DTC clues. I managed to clear my long standing ACM DTC with your Focccus central config settings.

I am stuck with just one APIM DTC now that always returns:

APIM: U0140 Lost Communication With Body Control Module

Any thoughts?

Also, any idea what the 9 speaker ACM option actually did? As we know, in the pre-facelift 9 speaker setup, the 4 door tweeters are just chained from the main speaker so is the 6 speaker setting just the same? I also have a centre speaker but disconnected that after having the car a week... I feel it makes the balance horrible and sounds worse when connected.

Finally, my setup still allows me to browse the USB drive whilst driving as I actually went for a proper drive for 20 mins today! I've saved my APIM settings, maybe I can share so you can compare.

I also noticed that when I upgraded to SYNC3 over a year ago I never changed the Illumination Strategy to C1CMA - my APIM setting was still and CGEA 1.3 and everything worked. I have now changed to C1CMA but nothing different... what does this actually do?

Thanks

[Steevo25]

Ok, so what did you plug in to the DAB antenna on the back of the new ACM? 

That error is pointing to the DAB antenna. If you didn't have DAB in the car then I assume there was no DAB antenna. 

If there is no DAB antenna plugged in to the ACM then it will throw that DTC. 

[Steevo25]

9 minutes ago, JPW said:

Thanks Steevo25 for the ACM DTC clues. I managed to clear my long standing ACM DTC with your Focccus central config settings.

I am stuck with just one APIM DTC now that always returns:

APIM: U0140 Lost Communication With Body Control Module

Any thoughts?

Also, any idea what the 9 speaker ACM option actually did? As we know, in the pre-facelift 9 speaker setup, the 4 door tweeters are just chained from the main speaker so is the 6 speaker setting just the same? I also have a centre speaker but disconnected that after having the car a week... I feel it makes the balance horrible and sounds worse when connected.

Finally, my setup still allows me to browse the USB drive whilst driving as I actually went for a proper drive for 20 mins today! I've saved my APIM settings, maybe I can share so you can compare.

I also noticed that when I upgraded to SYNC3 over a year ago I never changed the Illumination Strategy to C1CMA - my APIM setting was still and CGEA 1.3 and everything worked. I have now changed to C1CMA but nothing different... what does this actually do?

Thanks

The 9 speaker vs 6 speaker ACM puts out a different wattage. The 6 speaker system puts out 4 x25w as the 6 speaker systems had inferior Speakers. The 9 speaker systems had better Speakers not made of paper so wattage was increased to 4 x 45w. The 9 speaker system also has a front centre speaker. 

One ACM cannot be converted to the other for UK ACMs. They will both work in any car and many people won't notice. 

I will have a look at that DTC. 

The PDC strategy C1MCA is for the parking sensor display. The MK3s work on C1MCA whereas the MK3.5 works on CGEA. This is for communication with the relevant PAM module. 

It's not the illumination strategy, it's the PDC architecture. Illumination strategy on a MK3 is the same as MK3.5. 

[JPW]

Got it, thanks.

So are you saying, in a car with 9 Speakers, it's still better to leave it at 9 Speakers in the central config to get the increased output to match the installed Speakers and live with the DTC, or in theory is the 9 speaker option not doing anything on the sync 3 ACM anyway as they were only ever 6 speaker?

[Steevo25]

If the new ACM came from a car that had 6 Speakers and then put in to a car that has 9 Speakers, then you have to set everything to 6 Speakers and the centre speaker disabled. 

Unfortunately, the ACM will only run as it was configured at the factory, it cannot be changed. If you set the BCM to 9 speakers on a 6 speaker ACM then you will get that DTC about the module being not compatible. 

Ford were cheapskates on the MK3.5 as their base audio was 6 speakers and were the inferior speakers. 9 speaker systems on the MK3.5 are very hard to find as it was a special order option. And most people that went for 9 speakers in the MK3.5 went for the Sony premium upgrade which is a completely different ACM that would not really work at all on the MK3 as it is a slightly different wiring pinout and also puts out line level outputs rather than speaker level outputs. 

[Nathan Buffery]

54 minutes ago, Steevo25 said:

Ok, so what did you plug in to the DAB antenna on the back of the new ACM? 

That error is pointing to the DAB antenna. If you didn't have DAB in the car then I assume there was no DAB antenna. 

If there is no DAB antenna plugged in to the ACM then it will throw that DTC. 

I cant, for the life of me, remember which colour plug I used now, but I definitely didn't change the antenna, so I guess that'll be the problem. The DAB works really well so I didn't realise there was a different antenna I should of used. 

[Steevo25]

There should be a white Fakra connector that goes to the left hand Fakra on the back of the ACM (looking from the front). Then a black fakra connector that goes to the right hand port. The black Fakra is DAB. 

 

[Steevo25]

You can use this DAB antenna. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAB-Car-Aerial-Fakra-Adapter-Internal-Glass-Mounted-Antenna-for-DAB-Radio-/164186837463?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

 

 

[Nathan Buffery]

Ideal. Thanks buddy.

[JPW]

That one is from Lithuania so be careful on import duty these days!

Here's a UK one I think - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAB-DAB-Active-Antenna-FAKRA-VW-Audi-BMW-Ford-RNS2-MFD2-MMI-COMAND-NBT-CCC/254821109816

 

[Steevo25]

Sorry, I didn't even look. Just saw a fakra DAB antenna and copied the link. 

[JPW]

I'm the same, have to be really careful avoiding the overseas listing these days... I'd rather spend a few quid extra and get it from the UK.

[Steevo25]

Well I have just ordered a UCDS from Russia. I will have to wait until it arrives to see how much they will charge me. 

As I understand it, there is only additional costs on anything over £135. Anything below that from Europe is supposed to be no extra duty. Above that is supposed to be 20% VAT. Well that is what I understand in all this confusion. 

[JPW]

How much was the UCDS from Russia?

[Steevo25]

Came out at £202 all in. That was with 2 x level 1 credits (these are not really used as they are for things like mileage correction, engine tuning). But you have to have at least 1 credit on the device for it to work (they are 10EUROS each. I got 2 so that if I did ever use 1 then there is still 1 left for it to function). Then I got the extended license which allows firmware flashing, configuration etc. It's then 10EUROS delivery and then 6% PayPal fees.

The adapter is 100EUROS and the extended license is 80EUROS.

[smartguy69]

On 2/9/2021 at 2:32 AM, Steevo25 said:

Adding an OEM camera can be a minefield. It is true that Sync2/3 do not use the IPM. But this is where it gets complicated. You cannot just take any OEM camera and then bypass the IPM and go straight to the APIM. The IPM was ceased at the start of 2014. I can only verify this for a Focus, it may have been different for other Ford cars.

When the IPM was taken out, the OEM camera changed as well. Before, the camera used to pass the image to the IPM, and then the IPM would talk to the BCM and add the dynamic guide lines etc. This would then be passed to the camera input.

With the new way, the camera communicates directly with the BCM and adds the guidelines based on the information it gets back (steering angle etc). The camera then communicates directly with the APIM.

So the cameras are completely different. I fell in to this trap. Eventually I gave up and went the aftermarket route after trying about 3 different OEM cameras.

Regarding the ACM. This only seems to work on US ACMs. The European ACMs, do not provide access to an AsBuilt (at least Forscan doesn't anyway). If you look at my post above, I posted a photo of the AsBuilt for a Sync2/3 ACM which only presents a 4 digit HEX number not the entire 727 scope that US ACMs present. Also, my Sync1 ACM doesn't have any AsBuilt at all. It is not even listed in Forscan, only DTCs. This is for the Focus at least. Maybe there are ACMs for other models that do present the whole AsBuilt.

If you download an AsBuilt config from Ford at least for a Focus anyway, you will find it does not contain an AsBuilt for the ACM.

Not sure what it means by make sure HEX 4 is not enabled?

I think the idea around this (from what I understand from the limited information on the web) was that a basic car audio configuration was put on the ACM at the factory and then other minor changes would be read from the central configuration. But the basics must stay the same otherwise the ACM throws a DTC.

As I say, it might be very different for the Kuga.

Well after spending quite a bit of time replying to this I scrolled up and everything disappeared so will make this a bit shorter.

I have been researching Kuga models on Etis from 2013, 2014 and 2015. All sync 1 with rear camera. None of the cars I checked had an IPM module listed. The only ones that have the module is the cars with self park. One of the models checked had rear camera without rear sensors so it's not using the park assist module.

Although no reference is made to an IPM module on Etis I have just found a link from our own forum with a picture of one from a 2013 car. Scratching my head now why this info isn't shown on Etis unless cars just requiring a rear camera are fitted after the as built information has been submitted.

With reference to the ACM this is what we have on the first line. Screenshot from Forscan. I will have to boot my other laptop up to see what is shown on Kuga as built. I did initially have a Focus ACM plugged into mine and everything worked apart from bluetooth but didn't experiment any further as I only plugged it in for initial testing before using my own sync 1 system.

[smartguy69]

On 2/8/2021 at 4:04 PM, Steevo25 said:

I am now making a little HVAC CAN converter so the climate controls function as they should on the APIM. I am using a Teensy processor to intercept the MS-CAN signals to the APIM and convert the HVAC messages.

I did a quick CAN bus log and what is happening is that the climate system was only ever designed for LHD cars. Ford were being very lazy. So when you tell the system you have a right hand drive car, all it does is reverse the messages on the climate (i.e. when you change the driver side it send a message saying it was the passenger side). Unfortunately, the APIM has no concept of LHD or RHD cars so the climate controls are all reversed. My little CAN interpreter will trap the messages before they go to/from the APIM and reverse the messages for driver and passenger. This will make the APIM climate functions work correctly. I will keep you updated.

 

I think there will be quite a few guys who would be interested to know if this works or not.

Keep us updated and thanks for the info you gave on the OEM camera. I told our mod to forget OEM and fit something easy lol.

[Steevo25]

I have 3 ACMs here. The first is from my original Sync 1 factory installed. That one shows no AsBuilt at all. It does not even appear in the list for Forscan. It all works perfectly, but it only shows up under 'Firmware Upgrade' and in the list of devices on the bus. But I have no option to update any AsBuilt.

The other 2 ACMs are from Focus MK3.5. One is an early 2017 model and the other a late 2017 model. On both of those, the AsBuilt only shows 1 x 4 digit HEX value of 0030.

Whether this is how it is presented on a Focus I don't know, but that's all I get. Or maybe possibly a bug in Forscan.

 

 

[Steevo25]

A Kuga seems to be different to the Focus. I just went on eBay and picked a few Kugas from 2012-2014 and then went and got their AsBuilt.

For the Kuga, it does have the 727 block in the AsBuilt. 

But doing the same thing with a couple of MK3 and MK3.5 Focus, there is no ACM settings in AsBuilt.

[JPW]

@Steevo25 are you looking at something like this with the Teensy board?

http://skpang.co.uk/catalog/canbus-breakout-board-33v-teensy-31-compatible-p-1396.html

I am a developer and network engineer by trade, would love to know your plan and help contribute/test.

Thanks