Police Interceptor Utility SYNC 3 upgrade

[utilitytristin]

Has anyone been able to do a SYNC 3 conversion from the 4" screen? Has anyone been able to get the USB hub mounted with an adapter, the PIU has a different mounting points for it's USB hubs on the vehicle, they're recessed for police equipment. I can't find a kit with a PIU adapter or find an adapter for the SYNC 3 hub to fit the PIU.

 

[mmorey79]

Has anyone been able to do a SYNC 3 conversion from the 4" screen? Has anyone been able to get the USB hub mounted with an adapter, the PIU has a different mounting points for it's USB hubs on the vehicle, they're recessed for police equipment. I can't find a kit with a PIU adapter or find an adapter for the SYNC 3 hub to fit the PIU.

Don't know the solution to mounting, but assuming you've overcome all the other obstacles (wiring, 8" faceplate, etc) the USB hub just needs the usb cable from the APIM and the "power" plug which is literally just 12v and ground also fed from the APIM connector. You may need some extra APIM pins or just come up with an alternative source to power it, and you may need to buy and hack up a power adapter or get one with a used USB hub. A sync 1 car at least typically has wiring for a hub of some sort from the APIM already, but if you have a PIU without bluetooth it's a whole different ballgame in a lot of ways. Shouldn't be hard to cobble something up especially if you use the "small" sync 3 USB.

 

[utilitytristin]

Don't know the solution to mounting, but assuming you've overcome all the other obstacles (wiring, 8" faceplate, etc) the USB hub just needs the usb cable from the APIM and the "power" plug which is literally just 12v and ground also fed from the APIM connector. You may need some extra APIM pins or just come up with an alternative source to power it, and you may need to buy and hack up a power adapter or get one with a used USB hub. A sync 1 car at least typically has wiring for a hub of some sort from the APIM already, but if you have a PIU without bluetooth it's a whole different ballgame in a lot of ways. Shouldn't be hard to cobble something up especially if you use the "small" sync 3 USB.

My PIU has the AUX enabled, it has Bluetooth and everything. I have SYNC version 2 with the 4" screen.

 

[mmorey79]

My PIU has the AUX enabled, it has Bluetooth and everything. I have SYNC version 2 with the 4" screen.

You can either repurpose the aux wiring or buy the adapter harness then without a problem. It’s just the “non-sync” PIU that add a lot more headaches.

 

[utilitytristin]

You can either repurpose the aux wiring or buy the adapter harness then without a problem. It’s just the “non-sync” PIU that add a lot more headaches.

If you have a link for the harness, could you provide it? I'm probably gonna have to cut the existing bracket to make room for the USB hub or something, not sure what I'd do for that. I'd want to make this as clean as possible.

 

[mmorey79]

If you have a link for the harness, could you provide it? I'm probably gonna have to cut the existing bracket to make room for the USB hub or something, not sure what I'd do for that. I'd want to make this as clean as possible.

Amazon product ASIN B098NGKD6Q there are cheaper options but this is one of the cheapest that has decent reviews. They've gotten down as low as 60 bucks or so on ebay. If you already have a backup cam I think you'll need the backup camera retention harness that plugs into the connector for your video screen now or you can rewire those pins, an example harness would be: Amazon product ASIN B09LM6B7Y4 or you can plug any RCA style backup camera into that spot. If you're willing to move pins to wire yourself the only thing you need is the USB hub 12v plug and usb cable, any of the adapter harnesses can be cut off, or if you get a salvage hub just get the wiring with it. On my two conversions I bought the USB adapter for the explorer and just hard wired it on the fusion since I went with the cheap change pins option anyway I figured it wasn't going to make the car much "worse" to splice in the connector.

 

[utilitytristin]

Amazon product ASIN B098NGKD6Q there are cheaper options but this is one of the cheapest that has decent reviews. They've gotten down as low as 60 bucks or so on ebay. If you already have a backup cam I think you'll need the backup camera retention harness that plugs into the connector for your video screen now or you can rewire those pins, an example harness would be: Amazon product ASIN B09LM6B7Y4 or you can plug any RCA style backup camera into that spot. If you're willing to move pins to wire yourself the only thing you need is the USB hub 12v plug and usb cable, any of the adapter harnesses can be cut off, or if you get a salvage hub just get the wiring with it. On my two conversions I bought the USB adapter for the explorer and just hard wired it on the fusion since I went with the cheap change pins option anyway I figured it wasn't going to make the car much "worse" to splice in the connector.

My backup camera appears on my rear view mirror, I don't think the retention harness would be necessary.