Don Ridley Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 (edited) I have a 2016 with the base SYNC 1.1 system and a standard AM/FM radio. I upgraded to an HD radio. I did not activate the SAT radio. Here are the basic steps. This upgrade is rare because most people want SYNC 3 and they upgrade to that technology. I don’t need SYNC 3 but I wanted HD radio after I upgraded my audio system. You only need to change a few settings. The changes outlined below assume you do NOT have SAT radio (this should be true because you could not buy only HD radio w/o SAT). 1. Find a used HD radio (the unit is the ACM, audio control module). They are common and it appears the 2014 to 2017(maybe later) TCs used the exact same units. The firmware in the HD radios did not change so don’t worry about buying a unit from an older or newer model year TC. Old standard ACM part number: DT1T-19C107-AF New HD/SAT radio ACM: DT1T-19C107-CE through CJ 2. Use Forscan to change the as-built data in the ACM to delete SAT radio and add HD radio. 727-01-01 7000 2C00…… change to: F000 2C00 3. Change the APIM configuration to add HD radio and no SAT radio. 7D0-01-01 11A7 8840…….change to: 11A4 F840 4. Change the FCDIM configuration. 7A5-01-01 0222 0008…..change to: 0222 0009 Old ACM, non-HD New HD ACM Edited February 15, 2022 by Don Ridley final edits BSJBSJ and windguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 @Don - congrats on getting your HD radio installed. Nice write-up, thanks for sharing that. What are some of the benefits of having the HD radio over the non-HD version. I see on the LCD you now get the song title. I get that on my plain vanilla radio. My ACM is DT1T-19C107-AE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Ridley Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 (edited) HD radio has better audio quality. Plus there are extra radio stations. There can be two or three stations per FM frequency. Most of the extra stations are niche music. I can hear the sound difference between normal and HD radio but I have a nice sound system. The station ID/song information was affected when I installed the HD radio ACM with an improper configuration. I fixed the configuration for HD stations but now the non-HD stations don't have ID info (I think it called RDS). Some other forums complain about Ford's implementation of station ID in the ACM and how there are problems across the product line. Apparently ACMs after 2018 work better for station ID. I don't know if these 2018 ACMs will work in older Transit Connects. You can find HD ACMs for under $100. Edited February 16, 2022 by Don Ridley windguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Thanks Don, that's interesting. Without those nice sound system upgrades, the HD radio might not be worth my while. Plus the van background noise is pretty noisy, even with the extra sound proofing I added. I think it's slick that you were able to pioneer this radio upgrade, just like the IPC before. Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mhg Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 Don Ridley. Your information is always a big help. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescher Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 I am currently driving my wife's Transit cargo van & I am only driving it for the summer as It gets better mileage than my Nissan Xterra & with gas pieces so high it's cheaper for me to use for work. I drive my personal vehicle for work & get reimbursed for mileage. She will resume after summer & probably won't even turn on the radio. I don't have the phone button radio (Sync version?) & would like to upgrade with either a junk yard factory radio with the phone button or would love to get the 6" screen radio out of the junk yard if it is possible. We currently have the 4" screen w/rear view cam. I am currently working with a Ford parts guy who is to compare parts #s for the modules to see if it's possible. Any thoughts. You seem to know a lot about the ECU & harness situations in these vehicles. All I want is the cheapest sort of Syncing to the unit from my phone so I can hear the caller through the radio speakers. I used to have a 2014 work Escape that had the phone button (Sync?) & I seem to remember being able to do that with it. Sorry I am not familiar with Fords "Sync" features to know what I had. I checked into aftermarket situations & it's $317 for head unit, face plates & harnesses. That's a lot for something that won't get used much after the summer. P.S. Also this vehicle was a lease fleet vehicle with over 220,000 miles when we bought in 2020. It's in good shape as they were all highway miles driving it from Erie, Pa to Texas every month for Marcellus shale work. I pulled the Carafax & they changed the oil & did regular maintenance monthly but if we get 2 more years out of it we'll be happy. I can see that this thing will make 300,000 easily. Built pretty tough if you ask me. Thanx!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Ridley Posted June 19, 2022 Author Share Posted June 19, 2022 Adding SYNC (version 1 or 3) will be complicated and expensive. You would need modules, microphone and wiring harnesses. Even if you source the parts from a junkyard it's likely to cost over $300. Then you would have to figure out the programming (configuration) needed for the modules and buy a Forscan adapter and license ($75). I don't think this is worth the effort when you have an aftermarket option that will be much easier and cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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