Replacment Radio For Transit Mk7

[Gerry55]

I have a Carado T345 built on a 2012 Transit Mk 7 Chassis. I would like to replace the Ford 6000CD Radio fitted as standard with one of the after market Double Din, Sat Nav, Bluetooth, DAB Radio units which are widely available on the likes of ebay and Amazon. However, I have noticed that some of these units carry a warning that they will not function with the CAN Bus in the Mk7, others, don't even mention it. I would have thought that the CAN Bus would confine itself to vehicle functionality and let me put in whatever radio I want, but, it seems that this is not the case!

I am sure that there are lots of these units fitted to Transits and other Ford vehicles, perhaps some of you who have done it might point me in the right direction?

[fesspark]

Gerry I have sent you an email with my option if its any use? fesspark

[Robinhood]

I replaced the 6000CD in the Mk7 Transit (2010) with a double DIN combined unit with absolutely no issues. Plug n' Play.

 

AFAIK, there is no (relevant) communication between the Ford unit and the vehicle Canbus on that vintage of Transit (other than vehicle speed signal and reverse signal, neither of which is critical to an aftermarket unit. or indeed the base 6000CD). There may be some power switching logic, but that is negated by the (required) wiring interface for an aftermarket radio.

 

There are details in the Ford BEMM manual re: fitting of aftermarket audio units. It can be downloaded from

 

https://www.etis.ford.com/bemm/bemmAcceptTerms.do?accepted=true

 

...selecting the Transit 2006.5 version

 

...with page 148 onwards being relevant.

 

The only recommendation for aftermarket fit is that the power and ignition signal is taken from specific pins on the Ford supplied, vehicle-mounted Fakra radio connector, but for an aftermarket unit you will need a (cheap) wiring interface kit anyway and that will resolve that issue (most aftermarket radios will have ISO connections which need an adapter to connect to the existing vehicle connector, and these sort out the wiring requirements).

 

Patently, there may be some radios that have some Canbus capability which is not compatible with the Ford system, but it isn't a generic issue, and I can't think what it would be for the general replacement unit.

 

(OTOH, the factory radios in later model Fiat Ducatos are integrated with the Canbus in a way that makes it messy to replace them with an aftermarket unit).

[Gerry55]

Many thanks for your response, very useful information included. Yes, I fail to see why any CAN Bus should want to play with the vehicle radio :-D :-D

 

Thanks again.

[Robinhood]

Gerry55 - 2020-09-01 12:57 PM

 

Many thanks for your response, very useful information included. Yes, I fail to see why any CAN Bus should want to play with the vehicle radio :-D :-D

 

 

...not the 6000CD, but I suspect any optional original-fit navigation device or tacho-incorparating device could use one or both of the CANbus vehicle speed and reverse signals. (after all, why supply the connection if not).

 

On the Ducato, if a factory-fitted radio is present, certain functions normally operated from elsewhere are controlled via the radio. Swapping the radio out for an aftermarket one inhibits those function - setting date/time being one - and requires quite a bit of intervention to sort out. The (Mk7) Transit has no such issues.

[Gerry55]

Perfect, Looking forward to getting stuck into it now that my fears are put to rest. :-D :-D

[Robinhood]

From memory, the Transit dash slot and standard radio isn't Double DIN (a bit larger), so you will also need a fascia adpater, (and possibly a mounting cage if the radio itself doesn't come with one).

 

Also be aware of warnings that the non-main-branded Chinese units are sometimes not DIN but oversized, and may require some effort and trimming to fit.

[Gerry55]

Yes, I've picked up on the oversize issue along the way, The space taken up by my existing Ford 6000CD Radio is 230mm Wide x 120mm High, Most of the units that I've looked at are of that size but I accept that there may be the need for sone sanding and rubbung down.

[Derek Uzzell]

I notice that there are on-line mentions of Transit MK7 radios and CANBUS

 

https://tinyurl.com/y6hgdjre

 

Doubtful that any of the entries would be relevant in this instance though.

[Robinhood]

Interesting, however, that the first hit that search brings up is a post on the Transit Forum about exactly what I also did (replacing the Ford Radio and Travelpilot/Camera combo in my 2010 Hobby with an all-in-one aftermarket unit. My camera was a Pioneer, not a Waeco, though).

 

I don't remember getting any steering wheel controls to work - the radio certainly supported the option, but I simply don't remember trying to install it. The wheel certainly had "Cruise" etc. on it, but I do wonder about whether it had radio controls (because if it had, I would have been tempted to enable them).

 

Whatever; the replies on that thread indicate my experience - that the Canbus is largely irrelevant.

 

I do know that I got the reverse sensing to work by re-using the wiring that had been installed by Hobby to switch the monitor on the Travelpilot, and that was definitely jumped off the reversing light loom (not Canbus).

 

Edited to Add

 

From his latest post, it seems that Gerry is intending to fit a "custom fit" unit designed for Ford installation (rather than a generic unit) . In that case, I wouldn't expect wiring adapters or a Fascia kit to be required - it should be plug n'play (but I do see some references on a quick peruse that there may be a bit of custom wiring required in some circumstances).

 

 

 

[Gerry55]

That's correct, I have been looking at replacement units which are intended to replace the Ford 6000CD Unit, I've not been looking at Double Din units in general.

 

[Robinhood]

Just shows how much I remember.

 

I've found the old invoice from 9 years ago in my emails.

 

I installed a generic-fit double-din unit, and needed a wiring adapter from the Ford Fakra connector to the radio ISO connector. The one I bought specifically implemented the radio steering wheel controls (and I also bought a radio brand specific SWC adapter lead to go with the adapter).

 

So, I did get the SWC to work.

 

The relevant thing, though, is that that adapter is specifically marked as "analogue", so even the SWC commands definitely aren't Canbus (as also confirmed by the Transit forum post referenced above).