How To: Focus MK3 pre-facelift SYNC 1 to SYNC 3 upgrade for late 2012, 2013 and 2014 models

[unofix]

52 minutes ago, Jay23wales said:

where can i download the asbuild for for me to load it onto my car

I could tell you but then you might know too much 🤣

You can get it from here:-

https://www.motorcraftservice.com/AsBuilt

[Jay23wales]

2 hours ago, unofix said:

I could tell you but then you might know too much 🤣

You can get it from here:-

https://www.motorcraftservice.com/AsBuilt

Thanks mate 

[Jay23wales]

10 minutes ago, Jay23wales said:

Thanks mate 

Im trying to upgrade my ford kuga 2015 sync1 to sync3 i bought a loom and its the wrong one when i get the right one hopfully i can load the asbuild from a identical kuga with sync3 already installed

[jethror1]

Anyone know if the PNP harnesses are still available and a rough price on them? Trying to decide if it’s worth picking one up or following this guide and modifying the existing loom

[dontpannic]

I believe Rowan is on holiday until the end of June, I’m sure if you PM him he can go through cost and availability of the harness when he returns 👍🏻

 

[David G W]

Hi guys really would love to put this into my focus but really having a hard time on working bits out.

My focus is a 2015 Zetec with the 4" screen and the photo of the 8" came from a 2016 focus. 

I did contact @Ronan112 about a conversion cable but none of the photo's seemed to get to him (As my status states Rookie lol) so hoping he picks up on this and can help me out. But seeing there are more smarter people on here than me any help would be most greatfull.

[dontpannic]

On 6/29/2023 at 11:27 AM, David G W said:

Hi guys really would love to put this into my focus but really having a hard time on working bits out.

My focus is a 2015 Zetec with the 4" screen and the photo of the 8" came from a 2016 focus. 

I did contact @Ronan112 about a conversion cable but none of the photo's seemed to get to him (As my status states Rookie lol) so hoping he picks up on this and can help me out. But seeing there are more smarter people on here than me any help would be most greatfull.

What do you need? If you want a plug and play harness then Rowan is your man. If you don't, all the instructions you need are in the first post of this thread.

[Jay23wales]

A massive thank you to rowan for sorting my harness out and programing my car i did have sync1 installed and with rowans help ive now got a full working sync3 unit in my ford kuga.anyone who wants to upgrade their unit rowan is the best person to speak to hes was amazing fairplay well recommended thanks mate 

[GeoffP]

On 1/20/2023 at 8:54 AM, OverRated said:

I did think that but I tested the camera output on a old TV using the AV input and it was perfectly fine, I also tested the sync 3 input with a old PS2 and it seem to hold the signal and had full color, I really don't know what the issue is. I have photos of all 3 here.

 

It reminds me of a PAL vs NTSC issue but i hardly think that would be the case.

Hi OverRated. Did you ever solve this issue? I've just upgraded to Sync 3 in my Australian (Thai built) 2013 Focus Sport and have this same issue. Also tested the sync 3 input with an old camcorder which worked fine, and output from the factory camera to a TV which worked fine. Same as yours my camera comes up with a ghosted image for a few seconds then turns off, then a few seconds later a message "Camera Unavailable".

[sunmarc]

Hey guys, due to this very good tutorial I was also able to do the SYNC 3 upgrade. Thanks for the great explanation @JPW

Everything is working, but unfortunately my oem reverse camera is not. The problem is, that my Focus does not have a fakra z plug and I do not know what kind of plug is needed. 

Does anyone have an idea what kind of plug this is?

Best regards

[GeoffP]

On 8/14/2023 at 3:27 AM, sunmarc said:

Everything is working, but unfortunately my oem reverse camera is not.

I don't believe I have the same plug on mine that you've shown there. Yours might be a different issue, but I did manage to work out last night that my camera works when I disconnect the main plug from the ACM, and then turns off as soon as I plug it back in. 

Does anyone have any idea what would cause that? 

The ACM and camera are the originals from the Sync 1 system. I wondered if it needs an ACM from a Sync 3 model.

[OverRated]

On 8/31/2023 at 2:13 PM, GeoffP said:

I don't believe I have the same plug on mine that you've shown there. Yours might be a different issue, but I did manage to work out last night that my camera works when I disconnect the main plug from the ACM, and then turns off as soon as I plug it back in. 

Does anyone have any idea what would cause that? 

The ACM and camera are the originals from the Sync 1 system. I wondered if it needs an ACM from a Sync 3 model.

 

After you posted this it made me start to think, so I was doing a Sync 1 to Sync 2 on another focus today and I had a LZ there which i was using for parts so I started to compare wires and there are 3 extra wires on the LW sync 1 ACM so i started cutting wires to see if it fixed the issue with the camera and it did there are 2 wires which cause the camera issue, no idea what these are for but there not used on Sync 2 or 3 and must be something to do with the old camera connection.

[GeoffP]

On 9/1/2023 at 3:18 PM, OverRated said:

 

After you posted this it made me start to think, so I was doing a Sync 1 to Sync 2 on another focus today and I had a LZ there which i was using for parts so I started to compare wires and there are 3 extra wires on the LW sync 1 ACM so i started cutting wires to see if it fixed the issue with the camera and it did there are 2 wires which cause the camera issue, no idea what these are for but there not used on Sync 2 or 3 and must be something to do with the old camera connection.

 

Hi @OverRated that's awesome 🥳. Thanks for trying that out. I'll see if the same trick fixes mine 🤞

Mine has 3 extra wires, not two, but I'll see what I can do. 

[unofix]

4 hours ago, GeoffP said:

Mine has 3 extra wires, not two,

That's what Overrated said, he had 3 extra wires but only 2 of them cause the problem with the camera.

[GeoffP]

18 hours ago, unofix said:

That's what Overrated said, he had 3 extra wires but only 2 of them cause the problem with the camera.

You're right. I should read more carefully.

@OverRated did you have the guide lines on your camera after that fix? I tried to remove the pins on mine but ended up cutting them. The camera now works!! Only problem is that there's no guide lines. I can live with that, but I had hoped I could keep both the standard guide lines as well as the dynamic white lines that move with the steering wheel. 

Strangely, the straight red/yellow/green lines do sometimes briefly appear for maybe one second the first time I use reverse after starting up. IIRC the original setup had buttons at the bottom of the screen for enabling/disabling the guide lines. Is there a way to get one or both of the line options back?

[smr]

Hi all,

I've sourced the parts aside from the USB Hub, anyone know where I can find one? 

Also, I notice some Fascias have Sync logo on and some don't... take it the ones with are from newer cars?

I don't mind removing the old stereo etc. and fitting the new one but I really don't want to be splicing cables and doing all of the wiring, as brilliant as the OP looks.

So I'm looking at buying a conversion harness instead like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325225779638

Would that work?

[OverRated]

On 9/7/2023 at 11:25 AM, GeoffP said:

You're right. I should read more carefully.

@OverRated did you have the guide lines on your camera after that fix? I tried to remove the pins on mine but ended up cutting them. The camera now works!! Only problem is that there's no guide lines. I can live with that, but I had hoped I could keep both the standard guide lines as well as the dynamic white lines that move with the steering wheel. 

Strangely, the straight red/yellow/green lines do sometimes briefly appear for maybe one second the first time I use reverse after starting up. IIRC the original setup had buttons at the bottom of the screen for enabling/disabling the guide lines. Is there a way to get one or both of the line options back?

 

I haven't test it on my ST with a Sync 3 but yes on the sync 2 everything worked the same as it did on the sync 1, it even had the color squares still, I know the sync 3 in my ST it lost those squares for the sensors but the guide lines are still there.

if you pull back the wrap around the wires you will see 2 go into some type of antenna type wire coating.

[OverRated]

On 9/8/2023 at 9:30 PM, smr said:

Hi all,

I've sourced the parts aside from the USB Hub, anyone know where I can find one? 

Also, I notice some Fascias have Sync logo on and some don't... take it the ones with are from newer cars?

I don't mind removing the old stereo etc. and fitting the new one but I really don't want to be splicing cables and doing all of the wiring, as brilliant as the OP looks.

So I'm looking at buying a conversion harness instead like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325225779638

Would that work?

No thats the wrong one you need one like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864830276.html

[smr]

53 minutes ago, OverRated said:

No thats the wrong one you need one like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864830276.html

Thanks mate. Will that work fine without any issues? ie. will all steering wheel controls and everything else work fine with it? 

 

[dontpannic]

With regards to parking assistance tools, coming from Sync 1 to Sync 3 I have lost the grey dynamic lines and the green/amber/red lines. I do have the grey shaded blocks that change colours when you get close to an object and I do have the icon of the car in the top right of the screen with the distance markers.

I've tried all sorts of coding options to attempt to get the dynamic lines back - if anyone has any ideas I'd be most grateful but I'm getting used to not having them!

[smr]

Just to confirm... will this harness work for Sync 1 to Sync 3 ?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004864830276.html

Has anyone here actually bought one and know if it's all ok, fully functional.

Would be a pain if I buy it and wait for delivery to find out it doesn't work!

[GeoffP]

On 9/12/2023 at 5:04 PM, dontpannic said:

With regards to parking assistance tools, coming from Sync 1 to Sync 3 I have lost the grey dynamic lines and the green/amber/red lines. I do have the grey shaded blocks that change colours when you get close to an object and I do have the icon of the car in the top right of the screen with the distance markers.

I've tried all sorts of coding options to attempt to get the dynamic lines back - if anyone has any ideas I'd be most grateful but I'm getting used to not having them!

Hi @dontpannic that sounds the same as mine, although I don't have the icon of the car in the top right. I have a '+' in the top left, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

Strangely, the green/amber/red lines do very briefly show up on mine sometimes, but only for a second or two. That leads me to believe there's a setting somewhere that could keep them on. 

[smr]

Anyone know where I can get the USB Hub from please?

[unofix]

9 minutes ago, smr said:

USB Hub

• amazon
• Halfords
• Argos
• Staples Office Supplies
• eBay
• PC World

The list is endless, just search on Google.

[smr]

1 minute ago, unofix said:

• Amazon
• Halfords
• Argos
• Staples Office Supplies
• eBay
• PC World

The list is endless, just search on Google.

The Ford USB Hub for the Sync 3 Upgrade I mean