MicroHacker Forum

Hello, does anyone know how the MCA knew when to turn on and off?
It turns on (dark screen) when the car is unlocked, then after putting key to ignition position the MCA starts playing and then when the ignition is off and driver door is opened it turns completely off.
I know there is sent msg with ID 285 from IPC with ignition information but there must be something else when the car is locked/door opened.
I no longer have MCA as I have bought Chinese head unit and want to tweak the turning on/off as now it turns on only when key is in second (ignition on) position.

The yellow and red cables are separate. It is necessary to check the connection and cabling from the manufacturer. They are usually easy to connect. Check the connection of the car radio connector. Permanent +12v and 12v with the ignition on...

Everything is connected correctly and works as it should according to manufacturer. But I wanted to create my own acc signal to copy same behaviour as it was on MCA. Currently there is no possibility to listen to music when sitting in a car before putting key into ignition position.

There is no ignition on pin on the quad lock connector right? So it must get the ignition info from CAN.
https://mk4-wiki.denkdose.de/artikel/au ... versorgung

Good luck...
I have an android radio that turns off when the door is opened.
To turn it back on, you have to press the button on the radio again and it plays even when the ignition is off.
I have pins 15 and 16 connected...
Another option is to adjust the power off in the service menu of the radio. The length of radio sleep can be adjusted.

Power pins

pin 11, 12 ---- GND, GROUND Chassis Ground
pin 15 ---- BAT Battery+ (12V direct from Battery).
pin 16 ACC ---- Ignition powered. +12 V with the ignition key is in the ACC or ON position.

Hmm, I must check if mine Mondeo has pin 16 occupied, although the connector of the Android unit is missing that pin.
Which Android do you have that you can freely turn it on? Mine is the MCA look a like.

In mine unit the ACC signal is generated from the CAN module which is located behind the climate control section and I guess it is based on CAN messages rather that ignition from the quadlock as that pin is not occupied in the Android unit counterpart connector.
I was thinking about creating arduino module which connects to CAN and creates it own ACC signal to simulate the same turn on/off behavior as on MCA.

it sends the signal to turn off the radio bcmi, the android will never listen to the car's signal... Perform a normal mechanical disconnection of the radio after turning off the key, or use the cigarette lighter socket, it will turn itself off within 30 minutes and turn off the radio as well....Sometimes when I read how you think about adding nonsensical devices, it made me mad....the same thing is also the heart egr that you were dealing with, just turn it off in the control unit

The radio now turns off after turning off the key, that's what I want to change to have same behavior as MCA, that's why I am asking what controls the turning on/off and waking up the MCA.
Lighter socket, I do not want the radio to be running 30 minutes after I am out of the car but the general idea is good, just need to connect the ACC to some fuse that is live when car is unlocked and dead when the car is locked or few minutes after that but 30 is too much.
Regarding the EGR "just turn it off in the control unit" is not that easy as changing parameter in the CCC I suppose, you have to remove the EGR from PCM maps and flash it.
If you don't understand certain things do not immediately call them nonsensical not everyone wants to have permanent changes in the system, like disabled EGR by flashing the PCM, and with the EGR emulator it is possible to switch back to original EGR if needed.

of course you are right. This forum is intended for discussion and consultation with various proposals...
Regarding the radio:
I have recommended to many to change the original multimedia system.
There were many factors, including a functional can-bus adapter for a fully functional convers+. Supplementing the missing Rx and Tx lines from Canbus
But that's in another forum...
I think the voltage draw in your case will not be high and neither will the load on the battery. If you set shutdown within 30 minutes in the radio menu.
As for the pins on the classic Ford radio connector, as it has been for decades, pin 15 is powered by the battery and no one cares. It's simple, the easiest solution that you can return to the original state after trying it.
The yellow and red cable is a part of all cars and concerns...
When repairing multimedia units at home on the table, it is also often used for permanent activation.
Of course, some Android systems are different.
This also applies to Can-bus adapters for Android radios where no voltage is connected for functionality when used with Convers+.
The seller should have them all posted on the website.

The canbus module works great and there is also support of Convers+ as there are Aux, Nav and Phone menus. Even the climate controls works fine.
The radio itself has function to turn off after 10mins when ignition is off so this is also a solution but I wanted it to be close to MCA as possible.

So I have checked and in my Mondeo pin 16 in the quadlock is not occupied so as I expected the chinese head unit gets ignition information from CAN and waits for message with ID 285 where first byte must be 0x60 (key in second position).
Before I knew that I have created arduino module which I planned to generate my own ACC signal based on the 285 - 1st byte (ignition) and 433 - 6th byte (un/locked car) and it the logic works perfectly but the chinese HU expects 12V on the ACC signal and arduino can only generate 5V which did not suffice so without using some external switch this solution won't work.
This led me to a simpler solution with my already existing arduino module (for DPF regen and turbo boost) and as the MM CAN is not used by any modules anymore (I have also disconnected BT module) I can send the 285 message by myself based on the 433 - 6th byte and 048 - 5th byte (ignition) messages which can be made to wake up the HU same as MCA.