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

[Steevo25]

Ford work in mysterious ways. 

It just doesn't seem cost effective to have all these different ACMs. If they just made an ACM for each market that was configurable then surely they would have saved money and made even their own logistics easier. 

But your 2015 Kuga is equivalent to the Focus MK3.5 in terms of cluster. 

It does surprise me that the Focus is one of Ford's best selling and most popular cars here in the UK but Ford seem to put their efforts in to other models. 

[Steve828]

10 hours ago, smartguy69 said:

 

It seems strange that the C-Max shares the same dashboard as the Kuga yet it doesn't share the same ACM or instrument cluster. My 2015 Kuga has the digital display and dual trip computer.

@Steve828 - Apologies for my referencing to the ACM changes. At the time of posting I didn't realise the C-Max shares the same/similar ACM to the Focus which cannot be configured as Steevo25 has previously pointed out. Good to see you have everything up and running. How have you secured your screen in the dash.

Not secured the screen yet I wanted to make sure I could get it all working before I started cutting away. Thats the next job once I get a couple of hours

[smartguy69]

On 4/18/2021 at 8:29 AM, Steve828 said:

Not secured the screen yet I wanted to make sure I could get it all working before I started cutting away. Thats the next job once I get a couple of hours

Finally secured my screen to the dash. An interesting exercise to get it in the right place and for the bracket not to foul the front and top cover. I have done a right up on our Kuga forum of how I did mine. Over engineering at it's finest lol.

[Pk2519]

On the topic of fascias, will the mk3.5 (2015+) sync fascia fit the mk3 (2014)? I know you'd lose the lock functionality but given how difficult it is to find the mk3 US fascia it may be worth it if the mk3.5 fascia fits.

[Phil21185]

Yes it fits, but there is some cutting required of some of the attachment points at the bottom of the fascia. There's a picture on my ancient build thread, or someone has reused it more recently. 

[devil71]

Hi I finished installing all the sync, due to low battery of the pc the acm f1bt-18c815-kp stopped me while it was updating the firmware. It was part of the apim sync3 kit, luckily I had the other of the 4 inch bvc system I connected and I hear the sound of the radio and the parking sensors.The problem is that I do not work both the volume from the knob and the whole band, and also the steering controls. I downloaded the as-built sync where it was installed, and I didn't continue the comparison for fear of blocking the other one too, how should I continue to be able to make the rest work? Who can help me? How should I go on? Sorry for my macaronic English

[Steevo25]

Check your connections to your old FCDIM connector (pins 7 & 10).

These contain the steering wheel controls. If they are not connected properly then the volume and band buttons on both the steering wheel and front panel will not function. 

[Nathan Buffery]

My sync 2 misses the first 2 seconds of the bbc radio news on the DAB. So I hear the pips, then nothing then it comes back. I was wondering if anyone else has the same. It's not a major thing but it bugs me!!

[Rowan112]

So i have a question about tapping into OBD2 port

My friend is a mechanic and has access to ford diagrams.
I was looking at the thread of ford focus full wiring schematics and @JPW picture of the OBD2 port. which looks like this

 

 

That is from the thread.

My friend who showed me some diagrams from fordtechservice, showed me this.

 

Now I am confused, why would the diagram on top swap the top 4 pins on each side?

I am leaning more towards my friend with his diagram, maybe that's why i can't get the sync3 unit to turn on. have i really been sending 12v power to the pin where MM-CAN is supposed to go?

mixing up HS-CAN wrong way round?

is this a european thing? he can only show me USA models for some reason.

I have base stereo and my car is a 2014.

[Rowan112]

12 hours ago, Rowan112 said:

So i have a question about tapping into OBD2 port

My friend is a mechanic and has access to ford diagrams.
I was looking at the thread of ford focus full wiring schematics and @JPW picture of the OBD2 port. which looks like this

 

 

That is from the thread.

My friend who showed me some diagrams from fordtechservice, showed me this.

 

Now I am confused, why would the diagram on top swap the top 4 pins on each side?

I am leaning more towards my friend with his diagram, maybe that's why i can't get the sync3 unit to turn on. have i really been sending 12v power to the pin where MM-CAN is supposed to go?

mixing up HS-CAN wrong way round?

is this a european thing? he can only show me USA models for some reason.

I have base stereo and my car is a 2014.

Just to confirm, I've done a voltage test and I got 12v coming from top right. So the diagram from my friend seems to be right

[Rowan112]

So to continue with these posts, I have got Sync3 to work on my car, even though my car came with basic stereo.

I have even got APIM to show up

So yes, the OBD2 diagram was wrong. I am actually happy, I tried this back in march/april and i failed. Thanks for the wiring diagram @JPW

[devil71]

Il 19/7/2021 alle 22:50, Steevo25 ha scritto:

Controlla le tue connessioni al tuo vecchio connettore FCDIM (pin 7 e 10).

Questi contengono i comandi al volante. Se non sono collegati correttamente, i pulsanti del volume e della banda sia sul volante che sul pannello anteriore non funzioneranno. 

Thank you for the wrong position of the yarns, on the verge with the ignition button, I checked everything I noticed wrong, I recalculated as it was supposed to be, and in the end I managed to do the update to version 3.4 as you can see in the photos. Once again thank you very much.. By italia

[smartguy69]

@Steevo25- Hi, I just wondered if you ever managed to get your sync 3 climate working on screen. I know you had a theory on how to adapt something to make it work.

Thanks.

[Steevo25]

I did get it working but it's more of a hack and not worth the hassle to be honest. 

Essentially, the APIM ignores the left hand drive/right hand drive setting. It just isn't written in to the firmware. 

I got it working by using a microprocessor that basically intercepts the CAN bus signal and reverses it. 

It's a software issue that will never be fixed by Ford. I have heard people say it's hardware related but it isn't. Sync 2 uses exactly the same hardware in terms of the climate part and works, and the only link between the APIM and the climate is the CAN. I can see the signals being incorrect by using a CAN bus scanner. I built the circuit and tested it and it worked with a couple of interference issues and I never went any further. I just switched it off now. 

[smartguy69]

Thanks @Steevo25 - Very informative as always. I have just one last query on my sync 2. I know you went to sync 3 but the query should still be the same.

I successfully upgraded from sync 1 to sync 2 with everything working 100% on my Kuga. I just have one issue which is with the Park Pilot display on screen. It only works with my engine running and I am pretty sure on sync 1 it worked with just the ignition on when selecting reverse. 

I can't be 100% that it worked like that on sync 1 but when I was originally trying to get the park pilot to display I wasn't trying it with the engine running so I did struggle for a short while until the penny dropped. There was a guy on Forscan as well with a mk4 (could be mk 4.5) Focus who tried everything to get his retrofit rear camera working only to find it worked when he started the engine.

 

Thanks.

[Steevo25]

I gave it a try on mine. My ParkPilot also does not function if the engine is not running, I don't even get the graphic pop up. In-fact, my ParkPilot does not even register unless there is movement. If I approach an object or something approaches the car, then the ParkPilot will beep and display on the screen graphic. If I stop or the approaching object stops then it will bleep for a couple of seconds then stop unless there is further movement. It also works like this on my daughter's MK3.5 Focus so I guess that is how it is supposed to work. 

My reversing camera does, however, activate whenever I put the car in to reverse as long as the ignition is on (does not require engine start). But I don't have an original OEM camera. 

 

[smartguy69]

Thanks Stephen. I guess that is just how it is meant to be.

[Scampa]

 Very impressed with this, can anyone offer a fitting service UK based? Grand c max 2014

Edited September 2, 2021 by Scampa
Update

[Rowan112]

22 minutes ago, Scampa said:

 Very impressed with this, can anyone offer a fitting service UK based? Grand c max 2014

I typically do focus mk3 sync3 upgrades for people.
can most likely do it for cmax too. give us a pm dude

 

[smartguy69]

17 hours ago, Rowan112 said:

I typically do focus mk3 sync3 upgrades for people.
can most likely do it for cmax too. give us a pm dude

 

You may want to take into account that there is nowhere to physically mount a sync 2 or sync 3 screen in a 2014 C-Max that has sync 1 fitted from the factory. It has the same dashboard as the Kuga and not an easier fit like it is on the Focus using part number 1895997 which fastens to the dash and then you fit screen and CD player to it. 

This is how i had to mount mine. The brackets just clear the air mounts and had to make the top brackets in 3 pieces. It was a pain. You could mount the screen to the front fascia which would be easier but I wanted mine fixed. There is a lot of cutting to do as well as the original CD player sits at the bottom where on sync 2 it sits on the top.

It's hours of work and not a 30 minute job swapping a sync 2 screen for a sync 3.

 

 

[Tristan82]

Hi, I’m trying to also use phil21185 guide to fit my sync 2 but are unable to see any of the pictures he put up, does anyone else have this problem and if not could someone send them to me if I give them my email address

thanks in advance

[beshqen]

hello i have set sync 2 on my ford focus 3 2013, everything works except the buttons on the steering wheel, they do not work properly, can it help, what is the problem? 😞 

[Rowan112]

9 hours ago, beshqen said:

hello i have set sync 2 on my ford focus 3 2013, everything works except the buttons on the steering wheel, they do not work properly, can it help, what is the problem? 😞 

did you properly do the wires from the FCDIM to FCIM?

[smartguy69]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:59 AM, beshqen said:

hello i have set sync 2 on my ford focus 3 2013, everything works except the buttons on the steering wheel, they do not work properly, can it help, what is the problem? 😞 

Did you make the changes using FoCCCus as shown on page 1 of this thread.

 

Open up foCCCus and load up the central config for your car, save a backup before you change anything!!!
The lines you need to change are – 
123 – Audio Aux Input change the value to 01 (without)
125 – DAB Radio System change the value to 01 (without)
154 – Module USB change the value to 01 (without)
157 – bluetooth Handsfree change the value to 01 (without)
172 – Front Display change the value to 09 (DM8 with nav)
214 – ICP change the value to 09

[Nathan Buffery]

On 9/9/2021 at 7:36 PM, Tristan82 said:

Hi, I’m trying to also use phil21185 guide to fit my sync 2 but are unable to see any of the pictures he put up, does anyone else have this problem and if not could someone send them to me if I give them my email address

thanks in advance

Hi Tristan. I dont know if you are aware or not, but if you put a @ before phil21185 (so @Phil21185) he will get a notification the next time he logs on to fordownersclub and will see this post. Sorry if you know this already.