The following outlines everything necessary to install the AVIC-D3 w/backup cameras into the Ford Edge with the Audiophile subwoofer.
This does not address maintaining steering wheel controls, or Ipod integration YET.
I must give credit to “Misfit” on the avic411.com forum for helping me to find specific wires on the edge. I believe he’s an installer and has an Edge of his own.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Pioneer’s AVIC-D3 Navigation unit.
You can find them fairly cheaply online. But I chose to by locally in case I ever have a problem with it. Best Buy offered a 4-year warranty for $89. I normally don’t purchase the extended warranties but this seemed like a reasonable deal to protect a sophisticated and relatively expensive unit. Circuit City put the thing on sale for $799 for a few days and I was able to get Best Buy to price match it !!
A backup camera:
I used Kenwood’s CCD-2000. I got it locally at Meyer Emco but you can get it online from a number of places including Crutchfield:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-65Kr0Od6zfo/c...mp;I=113CCD2000
I’m really happy with the camera. It’s small and has a nice picture in the daytime as well as at night.
A dash trim Kit:
I used Scosche’s FD1432B
http://www.scosche.com/press_room.aspx?id=128&year=2007
A wiring harness:
I used Scosche’s FDK11B
http://www.scosche.com/v2/scosche_caraudio...p;ItemID=FDK11B
You can also use metra’s 70-5521
A Ford antenna adapter:
I couldn’t find this locally so I ordered from BrentwoodCarAudio.com, who’s also posted some pics of an install on this forum.
Other stuff:
I used crimp-style butt connectors, zip ties and wire taps from Posi-Tap. You can find these wire taps at Crutchfield:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fTDSZud4j2C/c....asp?i=669PP605
INSTALLATION:
Removing the Dash:
The dash of the Edge removes nicely without any screws. It’s simply a pressure fit. The first time I did it, I used a thin putty knife wrapped with electrical tape to keep from scratching anything. But later on, I got good at removing the dash with just my hands in this position:
Once the dash trim is pulled off, there are a few harnesses for the HVAC keeping it attached. I just left these in-tact and rested the dash as shown here. The wires are long enough:
Use some cloth or paper at the resting point to keep from scratching anything.
Unbolt the 4 screws and the factory radio comes out easily. Remove the 3 wiring harnesses from the radio and pull out the antenna wire.
Mounting the Nav. Antenna:
I mounted mine in the little cove that’s on top of the dash. It fits there perfectly and always has good satellite reception. I just drilled a small hole for the wire. The antenna is off to one side to avoid the "nubs" that protrude down from the dash for that center shelf. Make sure to use the metal backing plate that comes with the nav antenna.
Connecting the Edge’s factory AUX input Jack:
There’s 3 connectors that plugged into the back of your factory radio. But the Scosche and other factory harness kits only have 2 connectors. The unused connector that went to your factory radio is the connector that has the 3 wires that go to the Edge’s factory AUX input located in the arm rest console.
Using tap-in connectors, tap the 3 wires for Left, Right and Common. I didn’t note down the colors of the wires but you can figure them out easily by doing a continuity test between the tapped wire and one of the 3 segments of the audio cable. If you get stuck here, I’ll pull my dash back off and get you the wire colors.
I used the AV1 input wires of the D3 here.
Connecting the Subwoofer:
The Audiophile harnesses come with a separate harness connector for the subwoofer. This connector has 6 wires coming from it (4 for stereo RCA connectors and 2 for remote amp turn on) but the Edge uses only 3 of them (2 for Mono RCA to the Sub and 1 for the amp’s remote turn on).
Use the wires that match up with the factory’s harness. I connected the Left Subwoofer output of the D3 to the RCA connector on the harness. I’m told this is a full mono signal but I’m not 100% convinced yet. Because when I move the balance all the way to the right, I have no bass. So, it’s possible that the output of the D3’s Subwoofer output is Stereo, meaning I’m losing half of the signal. I may decide to use a Y-adapter to combine the Left and Right Sub output of the D3 but I’m trying to find out if this is Ok to do.
If you connect the D3's amp turn on wire directly to the harness, you will notice a rather severe “THUMP” every time you turn on the radio. This is because the factory Edge amp expects a turn on voltage of 5 volts but the AVIC D3 puts out 12volts. This isn’t healthy for the Sub and probably not for the amp either.
Follow these instructions for building a 5v dc voltage regulator.
http://www.sminntech.com/techai.html
http://www.sminntech.com/aiinstall.html
A picture of mine completed is here. I shielded it using shrink tubing from Radio Shack. All of the parts can be found at Radio Shack for just a few dollars:
AVIC-D3 BYPASS
Don’t want the navigation unit to prevent you from entering destinations while you’re moving? Simple !! Follow these instructions to ‘Bypass” this.
http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4670
VSS:
VSS = Vehicle Speed Sensor. You don’t NEED to connect this. But if you do, the Navigation is supposed to be more accurate.
In the Edge, you can find this wire coming from the PCM (Powertrain Control Module), which is under the hood on the passenger side of the engine. It is the purple/orange wire.
Reverse:
You should connect the D3’s reverse wire even if you aren’t using a backup camera. This again is supposed to help accuracy by giving additional information to the Navigation.
A reverse wire can be found in the Edge at the driver’s kick panel, in the large bundle of wires heading towards the rear of the car. Good eyes, good lighting and some patience is necessary here. The wire is Light green/brown and there are plenty of green wires in that bundle. I used a multimeter with a sharp probe to make sure I had the correct one before I tapped it.
Illumination:
In order for the D3 to switch between Daytime and Night time modes, you must connect the illumination wire from the D3 to a wire in the Edge that goes to +12v when the lights are turned on.
There is no illumination wire in the radio harness. So, I used the parking lights wire, which is a purple/white wire in the Smart Junction Box above the driver’s kick panel.
NOTE: If you often turn on your headlights in the daytime but want your Nav to stay in Daytime mode, then you don’t want to connect this wire in this manner. You’ll want to wire up your own switch so that you can override the D3 from switching to Night mode. I’ve left mine connected so that when the headlights are turned on, it automatically goes to Night mode. I’m not sure if I fully like this or not yet. Unfortunately, the D3 does not give the user the ability to manually go to day mode. There actually is an on-screen “button” that allows you to switch between day and night but it does not work as expected. It only changes brightness somewhat, it does not change the background map color between grey and black.
The backup cam:
Installing the backup cam wasn’t difficult but it requires a good bit of time. I mounted the Kenwood camera up under the area where the rear hatch release button is right next to it.
That panel where the rear hatch button is located is removable and makes installation much easier. To remove this panel, you have to open the hatch and pull off the interior trim. The trim will pull off by hand. It’s held on with several cheap plastic push-on connectors. Just keep yanking gently all around the piece and it comes off. Then you’ll see the nuts that hold the panel. Remove the nuts and compress the two plastic “pins” at either end of the panel and it comes out easily.
From there, it’s pretty straightforward to mount the camera and route the wire through the existing harness. It did take me some time to fish the wire through the factory rubber “tube” connecting the hatch to the car. But it’s doable.
I’ll add some additional Finished pics later…
Good luck with your installs and let me know if you have any questions.
Ike
