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Installing a FRD04-AUX Adapter for Ford CAN-BUS Factory Radios

NOTE:These instructions can probably be adapted to any Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury vehicle of the same vintage, and for any device that plugs into the AUX port in the back of the factory CAN-BUS radio.

Last winter I purchased my first iPod. I love it, but there was always a problem when I used the FM transmitter I purchase to listen to the iPod through my car radio. I live in Maine, which is not a large radio market, but there was always hissing and popping in the audio from the iPod, and the volume didn’t go high enough. Also, if I drove more than 20 miles, I would need to change the FM band to find one that was clear of 70’s rock, conservative talk radio, or whatever other crap happened to be within range.

This was a serious annoyance when I drive to NYC in April: It was at this point that I made up my mind to find a solution to directly connect my iPod into the factory radio in my Focus. The solution I finally settled on? The FRD04-AUX Auxilary Input adapter for Ford CAN-BUS factory radios.

This is a unit can be had for around $75, and has the added bonus of being compatible with any device with a standard audio output, not just iPods. Here are the other items I used to complete the installation in my 2006 Ford Focus:
- Ford factory radio, already installed in my vehicle (free)
- FRD04-AUX Adapter mentioned above ($70)
- Littlefuse Add-A-Circuit for ATO/ATC Fuses ($12.00)
- RCA to micro stereo adapter ($5)
- About 3 feet of 16 gauge wire
- 3 or 4 wire ties

DISCLAIMER: The following instructions described the installation of this device in my 2006 Ford Focus Wagon and is for information only. Please do your homework on your specific vehicle before installing this, or any similar device. You could void your warranty, blow a fuse, burn out your wiring harness, etc. Please make sure you know what you’re doing.

Prep:
1. Read the instructions that come with the adapter.
2. Disconnect car battery.

Removing the factory radio:
This is relatively easy.
1. Carefully remove the plastic bezel around the radio and heater controls.
2. Disconnect the cigarette lighter port from the back of the bezel. Let the bezel dangle out of the way.
3. You will now see the radio exposed. There are 4 screws, one in each corner of the radio. Carefully remove these with the proper tool, being carfeul not to drop them into the dash somewhere .

4. Pull the radio forward out of the dash once the screws are removed.

Connecting the FRD04-AUX to the radio:
NOTE: The instructions provided with your FRD04-AUX will provide more detailed instructions on this part of the process.
1. Connect the unit’s wiring harness to the radio is easy. Simply plug the appropriate end of the harness into the open port on the back of the radio. It’s the port in the center. The picure below shows the harness plugged in.

2. Feed the wiring harness more-or-less behind the glove-box area.
3. From the glove box connect the other end of the harness to the FRD04-AUX logic unit.
4. Connect the RCA to micro stereo adapter.

Connecting the FRD04-AUX to +12v power source:
1. Connect a wire the to the Add-A-Circuit with enough length to each wherever the FRD04-AUX will eventually reside. This will become the +12v Line. Follow the instructions provided with the Add-A-Circuit for information on how to install fuses in the unit.
2. Connect the Add-A-Circuit to an unused breaker on you passenger compartment fuse panel. I used the moon-roof circuit, as it is unused on my car.
3. Before hard wiring the FRD04-AUX into the circuit, connect the car battery and test the circuit to ensure it is working and providing the appropriate voltage.
4. After power to the circuit is confirmed, run the +12v line to the FRD04-AUX wiring harness and connect using you method of choice (please check FRD04-AUX instructions for the color coding of the +12v line)
5. Add a 7.5 AMP blade fuse into the 2nd fuse port (this is the fuse that will blow if there is something wrong with the AUX unit. NOTE: The picture below shows a 3 AMP fuse installed)

5. Connect the Ground wire from the FRD04-AUX wiring harness to a grounded point behind the dash. I did this by connecting an alligator clip to the ground wire on the harness, then connecting the alligator clip to a ground point, though I would recommend a more solid connection.

Testing and cleanup:
1. Before tucking everything neatly back behind the dash, reconnect the car battery and turn on the radio.
2. Push the “Aux” button on the front of the radio. If the FRD04-AUX is connected properly, you will see a “PIE AUDIO” or “CRYSTAL-LINE” message, plus some other information on the display. If it is not connected properly, the display will read “NO AUX AUDIO”.
3. If things are working, go ahead and hook up your iPod or other audio device and give it a listen. If it is too loud our quite when the volume on the radio is turned all the way up, there is a POT volume adjustment screw on the FRD04-AUX logic unit. (I didn’t feel the need to adjust mine). Be careful here - remember that the volume can also be adjusted from your iPod and you don’t want to over power your speakers.
4. Put the radio back in the dash and re-connect the mounting srcews.
5. Re-connect the cigarette lighter power connection.
6. Using the wire ties, mount the wiring and the FRD04-AUX logic unit neatly under the dash; make sure the logic unit is easily accessible in case you want to adjust the POT or connect another type of adapter into the RCA plugs.
7. Gently replace the radio / heat control bezel.

Rock and Roll baby! It’s done!

It’s a seamless installation and sounds great. My FM transmitter is now nothing more than a convenient iPod cradle and charger.

Recently I purchased an inexpensive IDE to SATA adapter / converter on eBay so I could use a large IDE hard drive from my old computer in my new computer, which had no open IDE connectors.

The unit was only about $5. The only problem is that the unit came with *no* instructions at all. The only information about it was a part number printed on the board - HXSP-2008. After about an hour of trial-and-error, spread out over several days, I finally got it to work.

Here is what I did to get it working in my computer:
- Set the jumper(s) on the IDE drive to “slave”.
- Plug the adapter into the IDE socket on the back of the hard drive. Make sure the pins are properly aligned. It’s easy to to plug this unit in too far to the left or right and miss a couple pins
- Make sure you are using to proper type of SATA cable for your motherboard:
- If you have a SATA 1.0 interface (1.5gb/sec), use a cable meeting this specification.
- If you have a SATA 2.0 interface (3gb/sec), use a cable meeting this specification
- Firmly connect the SATA cable and power connector to the adapter
- Connect the power cable to your IDE drive.
- Turn on your computer and the drive should be recognized.

I bought this unit on eBay because it was about 1/4 the cost of similar units from traditional computer parts vendors. I figured that even if it didn’t work, I would only be out $5 instead of $20. The adapter I bought on eBay also came with a SATA cable, which was a nice touch, though I had to replace it with a SATA 2.0 cable to get it to work in my computer.

I’m providing this information so that others don’t have the same troubles as I did. These instructions may work on units with similar part numbers (such as HXSP-2007, HXSP-2009, etc). It’s likely that they will be helpful in getting other generic / no-name IDE to SATA adapters to work as well.

As always, take all the usual precautions when installing hardware in your system. This is information only; please do your homework and make sure you know what your doing before trying to install this. I’m not responsible if anything goes wrong