Add AUX input for mp3 player or similar to: 2005 stock xlt am/fm/cd player

aaronhahn777 · #1 07-15-2011, 12:06 PM

Hey all.

I'm only an hour new to your forum... but I thought I should add some info that I've discovered thanks to RECONJB's contributions. He posted a similar "how-to" but it only covers the 2000 stock player.

I keep reading about people having difficulty with the 2005 xlt am/fm/cd base model radio. Although the procedure is exactly the same as RECONJB's, the solder points are a bit harder to find... and smaller. But I followed the connection through the board and decided it would be easier to solder from the bottom of the amplifier board - just after the connection to the cd player (rather than the cd board).

So here is the procedure for the 2005 xlt:

CAUTION:
-I am not an electronics expert, so proceed at your own risk
-If static friction in your body causes a spark on the board, it is possible to burnout small capacitors/inductors/etc. It's not a good idea to do this procedure on carpet with socks on... lol. It's best to ground yourself from time to time while working (ie touch the metal backing behind your oven every 5 minutes).
-If you soldering takes several attempts, that's okay (solder can always be removed if you make a mess). However, take breaks between attempts to avoid overheating the adjacent components on the board.

TOOLS REQ:
-solder kit (preferably small)
-philips screwdriver (magnetic makes it easier)
-ford radio removal tool (or 4 skinny screwdrivers and a friend)
-knife (or wire stripper)
-small rotory grinder (optional)

APPROXIMATE TIME FOR INSTALL - 2.0 hrs (that included finding/testing the pin locations, diagnosing the board, and planning my attack for option 1... so it should take like 20 minutes if you are good at soldering)

THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS TO DO THIS... I OPTED FOR THE FIRST OPTION BECAUSE I AM NOT GOOD AT SOLDERING. IT REQUIRES MORE WORK AS IT REQUIRES A BIT OF CUTTING INTO THE RADIO'S METAL BODY. IF YOU HAVE A SMALL SOLDERING KIT (AND YOU ARE GOOD AT IT), SEE THE ITALICIZED INSTRUCTIONS AT THE END OF THIS HOW-TO.

OPTION 1__________________________________

STEP 1
Start by removing the radio from your dash. This is done by simply pushing the ford radio removal tool (two U-shaped pieces of steel) into the holes on the left and right sides of your radio. You should hear a click when pushed all the way in.... then simply bend the tool outwards (like wing flaps) and you can pull the radio out. Remove the wire cluster clip and antenna cable and remove from vehicle.

STEP 2
Flip over the radio and cut out the back of the player where shown. I used a small rotory grinder. Be careful not to damage the board or let metal shavings into the board. I recommend using paper and scotch tape to cover the entire radio except for the location that your are cutting.

(NOTE: THE RADIO IS UPSIDE-DOWN)

A closer look:

STEP 3
Once the metal is cut away, remove a small portion of the clear plastic guard around the 18-PIN CONNECTION. Two of these pins will be soldered to...

Here it is all cut away:

STEP 4
Strip an mp3 cable end and insert it into the radio from the side (this way the wires are wedged in and cannot be pulled off the radio once soldered). If needed, use some tape to ensure it isn't going to move (you will want at least two inches of wire available for soldering). I used a $2 male-male mp3 cable.

STEP 5
Solder to the number two (2) and number three (3) pins (counting only the right ones going top to bottom) as shown below. Then solder the ground wire to the radio body at any location (you could pinch it to the body with a screw too)

Solder points for the LeftOut and RightOut:

All done soldering. And... DON'T FORGET THE GROUND:

Soldered is not the fun part.... took like 15 tries to get it right with my crappy pen style solder iron...

STEP 6
Ensure the solder points are not touching, then tape-off your work.

All taped:

For good measure (didn't want it to catch up while re-installing)

STEP 7
Put your radio back into the vehicle and route the aux cable to your preference. I opted to drill a hole in the top (inside) of the black plastic housing which the airbag keyhole is mounted on. This way I can leave my mp3 player in that slot and coil up the excess wire into that cubby (i'm thinking i might put a retractable reel inside the dash).

Enjoy!!!

To operate, you need to burn a silent cd and run it while you play your mp3 player. I just put a 32minute silent track and set my CD player to "repeat". If you put a non-silent CD on, you will hear your mp3 player and the CD at the same time.

For a link to a silent mp3 file, click here:
http://duramecho.com/Misc/SilentCd/Silence.zip.zip

Props to RECONJB's idea... and cheers to free modifications!

OPTION 2 (requires no cutting - but more difficult soldering)____

OPTION 2 - STEP 2
Use a small screwdriver or pointed edge to simply pry off the top plate to the radio. this is not held in by any screws so just pop it off.

OPTION 2 - STEP 3
Remove four (4) philips screw to release the CD player. Flip the CD player over. The Left out and Right out locations from the CD player are shown here: ( ps. I never soldered to these points as they are quite small... test them with an mp3 player to ensure that they are the correct ones... and don't forget to ground your mp3 wire while testing or it will not work)

A closer look:

OPTION 2 - STEP 4
Solder the left and right wires from an mp3 cable to the locations show
above. Then solder the ground wire to the steel body of the radio wherever is convenient.

Go to step 7 of option 1...

Feel free to contact me if something is not clear

aaron(the dot symbol)b(the dot symbol)hahn( the AT symbol )gmail(the dot symbol)C O M

STL · #2 07-15-2011, 12:42 PM

http://www.fordrangerforum.com/how-s...ock-radio.html

reconjb · #3 07-16-2011, 05:12 AM

Very nice how-to and thanks for posting this up

TLMJared · #4 08-04-2011, 09:44 PM

I used a combination of yours and from the other post for the older ranger on my 2005, I also used these photos from here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Addi...a-Ford-stereo/
The interesting thing is how it works, wiring into the left and right from that location, when i use the aux port it comes through the radio (as in over a radio station) when i unplug the device, i get my radio back like nothing has happened, and my cd player works as well.
for all intensive purposes, its almost like factory

aaronhahn777 · #5 08-09-2011, 11:57 AM

Thanks for your comment. I will have to check and see if I get the sound over radio as well... I usually unplug my device when I switch to radio.

CAUTION!

As I mentioned above in my tutorial about "grounding yourself"... well, I did not heed my own warning. I decided to do the same thing on my wife's 2005 ford escape (6-cd changer). Well.. well... I was being rushed since we were on our way to a BBQ with friends and I was in the middle of the project (this cd changer required more disassembly). Sooo... I dropped a small screw onto the pic-board and I went to pick it up and ... SPARK. In short... only the am/fm works on it now. So I bought her a new Sony with touch screen to buy back my dignity. Just a $312 dollar mistake

99RngrXLT · #6 08-10-2011, 04:06 PM

ouch aaron... that blows man.

olliemarriott · #7 11-17-2012, 06:33 PM

Amazinbg tutorial. I did not want to cut the bottom or solder to a smaller part so I took the entire head unit apart, wired it to the board, re-assembled and now have a 1/8" connector just above the antenna connector...

GLH · #8 11-17-2012, 08:18 PM

Those stock headunits are POS. Why not replace it with a modern headunit that has front and rear aux input, front or rear USB input, lots better sound, 6 way RCA outs, etc. ?

x17x · #9 08-29-2014, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronhahn777

Hey all.

I'm only an hour new to your forum... but I thought I should add some info that I've discovered thanks to RECONJB's contributions. He posted a similar "how-to" but it only covers the 2000 stock player.

I keep reading about people having difficulty with the 2005 xlt am/fm/cd base model radio. Although the procedure is exactly the same as RECONJB's, the solder points are a bit harder to find... and smaller. But I followed the connection through the board and decided it would be easier to solder from the bottom of the amplifier board - just after the connection to the cd player (rather than the cd board).

So here is the procedure for the 2005 xlt:

CAUTION:
-I am not an electronics expert, so proceed at your own risk
-If static friction in your body causes a spark on the board, it is possible to burnout small capacitors/inductors/etc. It's not a good idea to do this procedure on carpet with socks on... lol. It's best to ground yourself from time to time while working (ie touch the metal backing behind your oven every 5 minutes).
-If you soldering takes several attempts, that's okay (solder can always be removed if you make a mess). However, take breaks between attempts to avoid overheating the adjacent components on the board.

TOOLS REQ:
-solder kit (preferably small)
-philips screwdriver (magnetic makes it easier)
-ford radio removal tool (or 4 skinny screwdrivers and a friend)
-knife (or wire stripper)
-small rotory grinder (optional)

APPROXIMATE TIME FOR INSTALL - 2.0 hrs (that included finding/testing the pin locations, diagnosing the board, and planning my attack for option 1... so it should take like 20 minutes if you are good at soldering)

THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS TO DO THIS... I OPTED FOR THE FIRST OPTION BECAUSE I AM NOT GOOD AT SOLDERING. IT REQUIRES MORE WORK AS IT REQUIRES A BIT OF CUTTING INTO THE RADIO'S METAL BODY. IF YOU HAVE A SMALL SOLDERING KIT (AND YOU ARE GOOD AT IT), SEE THE ITALICIZED INSTRUCTIONS AT THE END OF THIS HOW-TO.

OPTION 1__________________________________

STEP 1
Start by removing the radio from your dash. This is done by simply pushing the ford radio removal tool (two U-shaped pieces of steel) into the holes on the left and right sides of your radio. You should hear a click when pushed all the way in.... then simply bend the tool outwards (like wing flaps) and you can pull the radio out. Remove the wire cluster clip and antenna cable and remove from vehicle.

STEP 2
Flip over the radio and cut out the back of the player where shown. I used a small rotory grinder. Be careful not to damage the board or let metal shavings into the board. I recommend using paper and scotch tape to cover the entire radio except for the location that your are cutting.

(NOTE: THE RADIO IS UPSIDE-DOWN)

A closer look:

STEP 3
Once the metal is cut away, remove a small portion of the clear plastic guard around the 18-PIN CONNECTION. Two of these pins will be soldered to...

Here it is all cut away:

STEP 4
Strip an mp3 cable end and insert it into the radio from the side (this way the wires are wedged in and cannot be pulled off the radio once soldered). If needed, use some tape to ensure it isn't going to move (you will want at least two inches of wire available for soldering). I used a $2 male-male mp3 cable.

STEP 5
Solder to the number two (2) and number three (3) pins (counting only the right ones going top to bottom) as shown below. Then solder the ground wire to the radio body at any location (you could pinch it to the body with a screw too)

Solder points for the LeftOut and RightOut:

All done soldering. And... DON'T FORGET THE GROUND:

Soldered is not the fun part.... took like 15 tries to get it right with my crappy pen style solder iron...

STEP 6
Ensure the solder points are not touching, then tape-off your work.

All taped:

For good measure (didn't want it to catch up while re-installing)

STEP 7
Put your radio back into the vehicle and route the aux cable to your preference. I opted to drill a hole in the top (inside) of the black plastic housing which the airbag keyhole is mounted on. This way I can leave my mp3 player in that slot and coil up the excess wire into that cubby (i'm thinking i might put a retractable reel inside the dash).

Enjoy!!!

To operate, you need to burn a silent cd and run it while you play your mp3 player. I just put a 32minute silent track and set my CD player to "repeat". If you put a non-silent CD on, you will hear your mp3 player and the CD at the same time.

For a link to a silent mp3 file, click here:
http://duramecho.com/Misc/SilentCd/Silence.zip.zip

Props to RECONJB's idea... and cheers to free modifications!

OPTION 2 (requires no cutting - but more difficult soldering)____

OPTION 2 - STEP 2
Use a small screwdriver or pointed edge to simply pry off the top plate to the radio. this is not held in by any screws so just pop it off.

OPTION 2 - STEP 3
Remove four (4) philips screw to release the CD player. Flip the CD player over. The Left out and Right out locations from the CD player are shown here: ( ps. I never soldered to these points as they are quite small... test them with an mp3 player to ensure that they are the correct ones... and don't forget to ground your mp3 wire while testing or it will not work)

A closer look:

OPTION 2 - STEP 4
Solder the left and right wires from an mp3 cable to the locations show
above. Then solder the ground wire to the steel body of the radio wherever is convenient.

Go to step 7 of option 1...

Feel free to contact me if something is not clear

aaron(the dot symbol)b(the dot symbol)hahn( the AT symbol )gmail(the dot symbol)C O M

i have this radio and im having a hard time with reconjb's post. do you mind putting the pictures back up? it would be a great help. Thanks

aaronhahn777 · #10 08-30-2014, 12:46 PM

I'll see if I still have the photos. Probably still do
Don't remember how I hosted the photos. So I might need to repost somehow. I'll check back in a bit
On my cell now
Lol

x17x · #11 09-02-2014, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronhahn777

I'll see if I still have the photos. Probably still do
Don't remember how I hosted the photos. So I might need to repost somehow. I'll check back in a bit
On my cell now
Lol

Thanks

aaronhahn777 · #12 09-03-2014, 09:35 AM

In the order they are supposed to be posted (I think). Sorry... can't edit original post and the previous post location is no longer available. Here they are:

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

pic 4

pic 5

pic 6

pic 7

pic 8

pic 9

little embarrassed of my soldering skills now that I look back at the photo. LOL.

tinker000 · #13 09-14-2014, 07:08 PM

I found a better way on Instructables.com http://tinyurl.com/letsad7 I did this this weekend and it overides the radio, Works pretty neat.