At the wrecker when something caught my eye. An OEM nav radio in a 2009 HEV. Didn't know if it worked or really anything but $20 later I have a stock NAV and the bezel. It's the NA6W-4200. Has the 40GB HDD too.





boom

The wiring is pretty much pin compatible. Vin doesn't have to be changed to use it. The sirius antenna can likely be used for GPS as the connectors are just keyed differently but otherwise identical. My unit has a yellow cast, this is likely due to the cold cathode in the bottom of the display. Could be UV damage but I've seen other LCDs fail similarly that weren't in the sun.

What worked right away:
1. HEV screen
2. Steering controls
3. USB/aux input
4. HDD
5. MPG display (both dash and unit)

I didn't test the phone or voice functions and I couldn't test the time because it's only set by GPS. Top screen showed some data but ID3 tags and RDS was missing. Compass can be enabled on both screens. Backup camera is supported if you have one and it's just a matter of setting the as-built.

I quickly found a service manual: https://manualzz.com/doc/42871817/na...nual--no.002f- but not much info on settings. Putting all FFF in 727-01-01 enables all features. There's quite a few.
But alas, this story doesn't have a happy ending. When I played music, the sound was very low and I could only hear it from the front speakers at max volume. Tried like hell to figure out a way to enable the internal amplifier until I looked and realize there isn't one. An amp sits under the seat passenger side. I had also cut connectors off the harness at the junkyard.

The way the "premium" harness goes, all the speakers would run to under the seat so it's quite a bit of wiring even if you took it. Correct me if I'm wrong. BUT what can also be done is to wire a mini amplifier in between the actual speakers. Much simpler than swapping a whole harness. Problem is, the amp(s) themselves would be $50-100, just like an android head unit. With one of those I'd have to figure out how to hook up the steering controls and avoid installing a new GPS antenna. The USB and inputs would also be harder to wire and who knows about the tops screen/compass. Factory unit has possible climate control too.


So not sure what I'm going to do yet because the stock radio is terrible, it sounds like a nasty pair of beats headphones (compressed and too bassy) and I don't see any way to turn off the EQ. But all in all, this is what it takes to upgrade your non-navigation unit to nav.

Now to hook up the HDD and see what's on it. Maybe you can make some free map updates depending on what system they use.

 

Wow! GOOD EYE! Lots to say here so it'll take me a little time to compose it but I've been waiting for someone to go to a yard, pull one of these units and try to hook it up. There was a question about it a few months ago, and if these units are just sitting around waiting to die in the junkyard that's a real shame. It looks like all the speaker outputs on the back are preamped but nothing more, so you'll have to figure out what you want to do next.

It's very cool that maybe it's NOT the Blue pixels but the cathode lamp....and the steering controls work, which I thought would be possible if the wiring was "modular" and just designed to accept whatever options the buyer chose (why have several different harnesses on the column to confuse during assembly when it's just a few wires? was my thinking).

More later, great find and very, very interesting. Love how the service manual calls it the "Brick" even though...it's definitely not dead!

 

I thought someone posted the the last nav map update for these was made around 2013? The GPS antennas were also built into the window frames IIRC..

 

Yup that was me, and the last update is 11.0 / 2019.



The DVDs you get from Ford are apparently burned with a product key that matches the unit in the car, so they are "married." I am unsure (have not tried) if it is possible to defeat the copy protection. I can't risk using my own car as an experiment to take out the HDD, mount it in a Linux box, and try to "tinker" with it, at least right now. I may consider doing something like that just to make a mirror of the drive at some point in the future, since Ford isn't making any more and wrecking yards are not known for treating their electronics with care.

I have to check the wiring diagrams to see the differences between the models when it comes to GPS/NAV/Satellite antennas.

 

"Premium Sound" cars have the subwoofer in the back passenger cargo area and the repair manual says the amplifier is integrated with the SW unit and the signals are actually monitored by the computer to prevent damage to the SW because of poor signal. This is something I haven't investigated at all as mine sounds "good enough" right now. I've already lost part of the upper registers of my hearing, long story, so hearing the very highest insinuations is moot for me.

 

Maybe on 07 and below but I have a plug for GPS antenna at the back. It was not pulling location when it was in the car.

"Premium Sound"

I thought there were 2 levels. First with the 500w sub for the speakers and second with the 2 amps. I've seen the sub amp in the back before, under the passenger side cargo area side panel. I didn't look to see where the actual sub was.

Sneaky sneaky ford.. The HDD is locked with a password. Will have to see if its bypass-able for such an old disk. Otherwise you have to hot swap after booting the unit like in the xbox days.

Drive is Hitachi HEJ425040F9AT so basically F9AT drive. The ata password is readable by HW drive recovery tools but I haven't found a free version that would preserve the password so it can keep working. That doesn't leave many options as all "paid" things are worth 10x more than the unit. Perhaps looking at the various VBF files floating around and disassembling them would help or opening up the unit and trying to dump the flash/eeprom contents.

A hotswap after unlock would require a custom IDE cable that preserves power.

 

So I found a whole thread on similar nav units: https://www.gtrlife.com/forums/topic...itation/page-6

Passwords didn't unlock from USB/Victoria software but I will try in a computer with a real IDE controller. Also need to find a way to boot the unit out of the car and not just to CD player. From what they say at least you don't have to re-lock the drive.


Yet more info on using a donor drive if it does lock again: http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.p...f3ec3&start=20

But I power up the unit and get nothing but the DVD/cd still. It doesn't boot even though I powered B+ and Ignition sense.

 

Yeah, I'm seeing some conflicting information. People say that on a "Fully Loaded 2011 Escape Limited" with SYNC they've got:

Front Left Speaker - 2 Way
Front Right Speaker - 2 Way
Rear Left Speaker - 1 Way
Rear Right Speaker - 1 Way
Subwoofer + Amp
7 "Speakers" total.

This appears to be the configuration on my car as well. I am not aware of any other "better" version than this, just the "base" model.

The Service Manual manual lists the same part number for all 4 door speakers (18808). The 18808s come in at least two flavors, though: 6U5Z-18808 (2 Way) and 9U5Z-18808 (1 Way) and the 2011 Service Manual at Mustangranch does indeed seem to show a 2-Way for the front door.

So technically it's a 7 speaker system with tweeters in the front door speakers and the subwoofer in the back, which the base model would just be the four vanilla speakers and no tweeters or sub. It looks like Ford might have said: "Ok, throw in two tweeters and sub. and call it Premium Sound."

The service manual shows an amplifier under the front passenger seat in addition to the one built into the rear subwoofer assembly. I haven't found any wattages and for what it's worth, lots of people agree with you and think the sound quality even with the "Premium Sound" is crud. Oh well. Maybe I'll think about putting some new speakers in the car and see what I get from that alone, as the stock units are cheap on eBay, no great leap forward in audio tech. It would be nice to verify that the front doors are 2-Way designs (presumably they have their own crossover.) The 2011 Service Manual lists the amp. part number as "18B849 Audio Amplifier." Well, thank you Doctor: check out how many amplifiers ford lists with that base part number:

https://www.oemford.parts/amplifier

All the differences happen in the prefix and the suffix. More than 40 different amplifiers share the 18B849 designation. That helps a lot!

If you put in the year and model (2010 Escape) it gives back:

8A5Z-18B849-E - $373.79

One amplifier. No differences noted for "regular" or "premium" sound. And that's a lot of money for what looks to be a pretty modest amp. And indeed, Lakeland ford says:

"Kit - Amplifier. Radio Amplifier. #2 w/audiophile. #2 w/o audiophile. #2 w/Sony. 11, 14 Speaker AUDIO Receiver. 2007-14. 2010-12. From 12/02/08. From 9/23/08. Rear. ReceiverS AMD AmplifierS. W/audiophile sound #2. W/o audiophile sound #2. W/o bracket. W/O High Performance AUDIO. W/premium sound. W/SONY sound #2. Included with: Rear Speaker with audiophile, Woofer, Woofer assembly."

https://parts.lakelandford.com/p/For...5Z18B849E.html

So they indicate that amplifier as being supplied WITH and WITHOUT "Premium Sound." That makes sense because the Service Manual for the "Brick" you linked to says all the outputs are just preamplified and there is no power amplifier in the head unit.

Now, interesting twist: Crutchfield has a video on replacing the stereo on a 2008-2012 with the NAV screen. They ONLY install new speakers in the FRONT doors and do not mess with any rears, amplifiers or subwoofers. So perhaps the actual config is:

BASE LEVEL:
1 1-way LF Door Speaker
1 1-way RF Door Speaker
1 1-way RF Door Speaker
1 1-way RR Door Speaker
Modest Head Unit
Amplifer under the passenger front seat
That's All Folks!

"PREMIUM SOUND:"
1 6U5Z-18808 (2-way) LF Door Speaker
1 6U5Z-18808 (2-way) RF Door Speaker
1 9U5Z-18808 (1-way) LR Door Speaker
1 9U5Z-18808 (1-way) RR Door Speaker
Same modest head unit
Amplifier under Passenger Front seat
Subwoofer with integrated amplifier.


Maybe the electrical manuals from Motorcraft show more. Since I don't have access to a "base" model it's a little unclear to me.

In any case, it would seem that upgrading the front and rear speakers with better/more sensitive 2-way units everywhere would improve the sound quality while keeping everything else untouched. As long as the amplifier is still OK, that would be an < $200 upgrade, just pop the door panels. Maybe a worthwhile "non-radical" upgrade for me. And if you wanted to go bananas, there are a lot of rockin' amps. available for under $250, you might have to do some work to make it fit into the same space and get the required power to it. Crutchfield does not recommend amping. this car more than 350W.

 

Also, it looks from the Crutchfield video like getting the black, shiny plastic bezel off is a relatively simple job. Hopefully the upper portion is the same. They pick up a lot of dust and no matter how much you clean them, they *always* look dusty because even the tiniest most infinitesimal motes stand out. So you could pop that off and refinish that plastic in the color/finish of your choice pretty cheaply. It's the one thing I really don't like about the interior styling: that shiny black plastic looks great for about 30 seconds after you clean it.

 

I have the base model and I don't appear to have an amplifier. My non nav head unit has an amplifier chip and it has a heat sink. If I had the amp I'd be using the nav unit as is. They are also plentiful at the junkyard. There is talk of a center channel but it's probably other cars.

I don't think the speakers are the problem with the system. It's the stupid EQ that promotes bass, drowns the mids and ignores the highs. Literally all my MP3 music I've been listening to for years sounds "off". Radio sounds "off" too but slightly less, probably because it's pre-compressed.

My thoughts were:
base - no amps
nav - one amp, no sub, 2way speakers
premium - 2 amps, 2 way speakers, sub