2016-2018 police suv interceptor general questions

[bmrrwolfe]

ACU=Audio Control Unit so yea the same as ACM.

I swapped the 4" w/o SYNC to and 8" SYNC w/Nav. I just looked at the wire diagrams and I stand corrected, the FCDIM connector #C2123 only has the ICAN bus in it. That means I had to add both the HS & MSCAN to the APIM plug #C2383. It's not hard just make sure you twist the wire pairs. The same power and ground wire is for both plugs.

I can get a pic of the connectors I pinned into if you want. If you look to the right of the steering column kind of behind the Key area you will see a White and Brown plug with wires going into only one side. Very important that if you take the plug top off you must put it back on as if you look inside you will see where this ties the wires all together. The White plug is HSCAN and the Brown in MSCAN.

I would recommend buying a Ford Wire Diagram Manual on Ebay if you going to do this. I can help you but this makes it a lot easier as if you look at mine it has Pencil written all over it. They are $30 at most. I also would find a U pull it place near by and cut all the plugs out with the most wire you can get attached to it. I was lucky to have 4 Explorers at the one near me. You will need the GPS module also if your going to do NAV. This was an easy 4 wire job to.

I'll get some pics when I get a chance as I am pretty busy till Thur. You want pics of just the plugs or the plugs in the Rig?

I appreciate all the info, and any pictures you had to me along the way would be a huge help! (don't worry about rushing to get them, I have plenty of time, as I have just started looking into picking up all the pieces) and I will try to find myself a factory wiring diagram.
I do have a few U-pull it places, but they do not have anything newer then a 2013, but the wiring should be the same, right?
Just curious are you running Sync 2, or Sync 3?

 

[bill32399]

I appreciate all the info, and any pictures you had to me along the way would be a huge help! (don't worry about rushing to get them, I have plenty of time, as I have just started looking into picking up all the pieces) and I will try to find myself a factory wiring diagram.
I do have a few U-pull it places, but they do not have anything newer then a 2013, but the wiring should be the same, right?
Just curious are you running Sync 2, or Sync 3?

Yea wiring is the same, I have quite a bit of 2013 wiring in mine. I am running SYNC 2 because I did not want to pay the SYNC 3 prices and I like the SD Nav. Would be a super easy upgrade to SYNC 3 though if I ever wanted to.

Right now I am rewiring the doors so they have the Auto Up/Down. Passenger is done and just waiting on the motor and switch for the drivers side. I plan to do that this weekend so I can get a pic of the splice points on the CANBUS for you than. I also added PATS in there and found the PATS unit was already in my PIU even though not wired or used. I have everything for IA just don't wanna take the dash off to do the push button install.

 

[bmrrwolfe]

ACU=Audio Control Unit so yea the same as ACM.

I swapped the 4" w/o SYNC to and 8" SYNC w/Nav. I just looked at the wire diagrams and I stand corrected, the FCDIM connector #C2123 only has the ICAN bus in it. That means I had to add both the HS & MSCAN to the APIM plug #C2383. It's not hard just make sure you twist the wire pairs. The same power and ground wire is for both plugs.

I can get a pic of the connectors I pinned into if you want. If you look to the right of the steering column kind of behind the Key area you will see a White and Brown plug with wires going into only one side. Very important that if you take the plug top off you must put it back on as if you look inside you will see where this ties the wires all together. The White plug is HSCAN and the Brown in MSCAN.

I would recommend buying a Ford Wire Diagram Manual on Ebay if you going to do this. I can help you but this makes it a lot easier as if you look at mine it has Pencil written all over it. They are $30 at most. I also would find a U pull it place near by and cut all the plugs out with the most wire you can get attached to it. I was lucky to have 4 Explorers at the one near me. You will need the GPS module also if your going to do NAV. This was an easy 4 wire job to.

I'll get some pics when I get a chance as I am pretty busy till Thur. You want pics of just the plugs or the plugs in the Rig?

Any chance you were able to get some pics?

I'm starting to put together my parts list, and am hoping to get it mostly functioning on the first go around. Thanks!

 

[Volksjager]

Any chance you were able to get some pics?

I'm starting to put together my parts list, and am hoping to get it mostly functioning on the first go around. Thanks!

How much do you think going with the sync system will run?

 

[peterk9]

How much do you think going with the sync system will run?​

It might help if you used a larger font so people can read your replies without thinking they are doing an eye test.

Peter

 

[Volksjager]

It might help if you used a larger font so people can read your replies without thinking they are doing an eye test.

Peter

Im not sure how that happened

 

[16vcabman]

Well, I got a 14 to flip, put leather front seats, console, and have decided to get carpet for it along with pad. It's just like a big tin can inside. Mine has new Good Year RSA tires on it and man it can be noisy at highway speeds. Also buy a scanner that supports Forscan software because most police cars have a lot of features turned off and you can add remote to your vehicle.

 

[ppv18]

For the guys who say you cant Add SYNC to a PIU that does not have it, You can. Its a bit of wiring but it's pretty straight forward. I have done this and it's 100% doable.

would you mind elaborating on this? I've had experts say you can't add sync to non-sync vehicles. Thanks

 

[bill32399]

would you mind elaborating on this? I've had experts say you can't add sync to non-sync vehicles. Thanks

You have a 2017 PIU so it's a bit different. The 2017 has a CGEA 1.3 network in it. I installed it in a 15 that has the CGEA 1.2 network in it. Basically the 1.3 network adds a Gateway module that is the source of all the networks. It also names the ICAN to HS3 and it adds a HS2 network. This is important as the programming is a bit different and you have to use 1.3 network modules if you upgrade them.

But you can add it with both. Mine was a 15 PIU that did not have Bluetooth. I was able to get a wire diagram and found all the wires there to hook up to a SYNC module. If they are telling you it can't be done than they are not experts. I am going to guess that since you have a 17 PIU it probably has the Bluetooth in it. Easiest way to tell is the Microphone above the driver seat near the Sunglass holder. If it has this than its practically plug and play. In your case you would want to add a SYNC 3 module to this PIU.

If you have specific questions let me know.

 

[ppv18]

Easiest way to tell is the Microphone above the driver seat near the Sunglass holder.

Have to double check, previous owner (friend of mine), installed an aftermarket Bluetooth system but I'm not sure if it had the microphone before. I'm not an expert on the electronics and will admit I don't understand everything you're saying. Would you know of anyone I could take my car to or someone to look for?

 

[bill32399]

Have to double check, previous owner (friend of mine), installed an aftermarket Bluetooth system but I'm not sure if it had the microphone before. I'm not an expert on the electronics and will admit I don't understand everything you're saying. Would you know of anyone I could take my car to or someone to look for?

I wouldn't know of anyone you could take it to down there. Most would shy away from it as it's time-consuming wiring and what not. Most places want the quick plug and play option. If you were up here I would be happy to help. The wiring for the APIM is pretty simple if you did not have that already. Just a couple CanBus connections with power and ground and you're up and running. You would need to use a program called Forscan to do all the software changes. Probably good to know this if you want to turn off all the Police mods like Dark Car and stuff in the BCM.

 

[ppv18]

I wouldn't know of anyone you could take it to down there. Most would shy away from it as it's time-consuming wiring and what not. Most places want the quick plug and play option. If you were up here I would be happy to help. The wiring for the APIM is pretty simple if you did not have that already. Just a couple CanBus connections with power and ground and you're up and running. You would need to use a program called Forscan to do all the software changes. Probably good to know this if you want to turn off all the Police mods like Dark Car and stuff in the BCM.

Interesting, would rather have ford tech do the forscan as I don't have a windows computer and I don't think it works on Mac. If I ever work up the courage to actually mess with the car myself then I'll come back to you. Thanks for the help!

 

[bill32399]

Interesting, would rather have ford tech do the forscan as I don't have a windows computer and I don't think it works on Mac. If I ever work up the courage to actually mess with the car myself then I'll come back to you. Thanks for the help!

Yea Ford does not use Forscan. This is an aftermarket thing that is free. Pretty simple program but you can really screw things up if you start messing around.

 

[Agt86]

Hey, I have a 2016 PIU that I would put an offer on but the dealer couldn't tell me if the head unit was SYNC enabled. I looked through all the settings I could find in the head unit and on the speedo cluster, but couldn't find anything that even mentioned SYNC, let alone what version it might have.

Question - is there a definitive way to find out if a 2016-2018 explorer PIU has SYNC enabled? I don't want to buy one only to find out I can't replace it.

At the moment this is the only thing holding me back from buying the interceptor - because, as mentioned I'd like to put a Phoenix aftermarket head unit into it.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

I have a 2018 FPIU with SYNC. If you turn the radio on, and go to the menu, there are selection options that specifically relate to SYNC. Also, if you try to pair your phone to it using Bluetooth, the radio calls itself SYNC. I dont think that would be the case with a non-SYNC radio.
Hope that helps!

 

[peterk9]

You have a 2017 PIU so it's a bit different. The 2017 has a CGEA 1.3 network in it. I installed it in a 15 that has the CGEA 1.2 network in it......................................

I don't know if makes a difference Bill, but according to his profile he has 2018 PIU.

Peter

 

[bill32399]

I don't know if makes a difference Bill, but according to his profile he has 2018 PIU.

Peter

I missed that your right he does have an 18 but still pretty much the same as a 17. Not sure where I got 17 from LOL. If you look at the APIM PINs on a 11-15 CGEA 1.2 plug they are a bit different than a 16-19 with CGEA 1.3 and for good reason. For one the newer APIMs did not have the AV inputs so all those wires are removed. The basics are the same though, that being Power Ground and CAN bus. Adding Sirius and an upgraded ACM adds a few more wires so it works but those are also the same through the years. The AS Built settings are different though as the APIM needs to match the CGEA version it is installed in.

Now if the modules in the Explorer are updated or added you have to use the modules from that network (In most cases APIM, ACM and DSP are excluded since they have AsBuilt setting that can be changed for this). The Newer modules communicate through the GWM whereas the older ones do not and have a different communication path.

An example of upgrading a module that will not work is the IPC. If you take a 16-19 IPC and put it in a 11-15 Explorer it will not work. This is because the CGEA 1.2(11-15) network use the IPC as the source of the ICAN bus and communications routing to the Medium Speed Can. In the 16-19 the GWM is the source of all Buses and routing there for the IPC does not have this ability causing it not to work in an older network.

 

[SEJenkins]

I missed that your right he does have an 18 but still pretty much the same as a 17. Not sure where I got 17 from LOL. If you look at the APIM PINs on a 11-15 CGEA 1.2 plug they are a bit different than a 16-19 with CGEA 1.3 and for good reason. For one the newer APIMs did not have the AV inputs so all those wires are removed. The basics are the same though, that being Power Ground and CAN bus. Adding Sirius and an upgraded ACM adds a few more wires so it works but those are also the same through the years. The AS Built settings are different though as the APIM needs to match the CGEA version it is installed in.

Now if the modules in the Explorer are updated or added you have to use the modules from that network (In most cases APIM, ACM and DSP are excluded since they have AsBuilt setting that can be changed for this). The Newer modules communicate through the GWM whereas the older ones do not and have a different communication path.

An example of upgrading a module that will not work is the IPC. If you take a 16-19 IPC and put it in a 11-15 Explorer it will not work. This is because the CGEA 1.2(11-15) network use the IPC as the source of the ICAN bus and communications routing to the Medium Speed Can. In the 16-19 the GWM is the source of all Buses and routing there for the IPC does not have this ability causing it not to work in an older network.

I am sorry to probably repeat a question, but I have a 2017 Explorer Interceptor model. I bought a SEICANE console for it, but it looks like it needs at least Sync 1, which I don't think it has. What parts do I need to obtain to put Sync 1 into an Interceptor model that didn't come with one at all and is it even possible. Should I take it to Ford dealership or an auto stereo store to get what i need?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I am sorry to probably repeat a question, but I have a 2017 Explorer Interceptor model. I bought a SEICANE console for it, but it looks like it needs at least Sync 1, which I don't think it has. What parts do I need to obtain to put Sync 1 into an Interceptor model that didn't come with one at all and is it even possible. Should I take it to Ford dealership or an auto stereo store to get what i need?

iirc there are sync converdions on places like ebay. never used em before, so not sure on quality etc, but theyre out there! i think there are also sync3 conversions too!

 

[peterk9]

I am sorry to probably repeat a question, but I have a 2017 Explorer Interceptor model. I bought a SEICANE console for it, but it looks like it needs at least Sync 1, which I don't think it has. What parts do I need to obtain to put Sync 1 into an Interceptor model that didn't come with one at all and is it even possible. Should I take it to Ford dealership or an auto stereo store to get what i need?

Welcome to the Forum.
Have a look at this post and the ones that follow;

Adding Sync to base explorer

Hey everyone, I know that when I picked up my base 2012 explorer, I had the option to custom-order one with the SYNC. At the time, everyone on this forum mentioned how much SYNC sucked, so I decided to just pick up the one they had (which had everything I wanted)... Does anyone know if I...

www.explorerforum.com

I don't think that a dealership will do the work required for this. When it comes to modifying vehicles, they usually turn it down from what I've read in other threads/posts.

Peter

 

[bill32399]

I am sorry to probably repeat a question, but I have a 2017 Explorer Interceptor model. I bought a SEICANE console for it, but it looks like it needs at least Sync 1, which I don't think it has. What parts do I need to obtain to put Sync 1 into an Interceptor model that didn't come with one at all and is it even possible. Should I take it to Ford dealership or an auto stereo store to get what i need?

So your thinking Sync 1.1 not Sync 1. Yes it can be installed but I’ve never done that conversion. I used the bigger 52 pin plug so I’m sure it would take some wiring.