Ford Mondeo Estate - Large chain car audio/spare parts

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Sat 16 Apr 2016 18:54
Ford Mondeo Estate - Large chain car audio/spare parts - S40 Man

I ordered an ex demo stereo head unit (an Alpine) for mk4 mondeo.

On the above co. website it said it was compaitable with my car and gave a lead number. I ordered both- on plugging it in nothing- no power. So I took it back. The unit was OK as it worked in the shop. The guys there said they may need to run a wire from something that comes on with the ingnition or run a line from unused fuse box! I didn't like the sound of that too much so gave the unit back.

It was a very good deal for the stereo (£70) so I did some research on ford forum websites and it transpires you need a special (connects 2 Can Bus compliant lead). I re-ordered the stereo and the new lead (£45 on Amazon).

Plugged the new one in and everything worked fantastic.

My question is; if I can figure out why the stereo wouldn't work the suggested lead from large chain car audio co. why can't they? It took about 30 mins searching to find the answer. I did have the option to pay £30 for fitting but if it is impossible to fit with their own leads that could have been fun or maybe they just improvise some potentially dodgy wiring, Mine runs on all the existing wires with no mods.

Makes you wonder doesn't it?

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Sat 16 Apr 2016 21:46
Ford Mondeo Estate - Large chain car audio/spare parts - Bolt

not all adapter cables work on all cars.in certain cases the adapter lead has to be adapted to the car, which if you had given them the chance may have sorted it out.

I have used adapter cables many a time because the stereo makers were not a one size fits all connections wise, and it is easy to cause a problem if you know very little about cables.

So I dont think they can be blamed for not getting it right

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Sat 16 Apr 2016 21:50
Ford Mondeo Estate - Large chain car audio/spare parts - elekie&a/c doctor

lots of modern cars made over the last 10 years or so do not have an aux power out position on the key .The radio is brought alive from a signal on the can network.When fitting a non standard radio,the unit will not have this facility,so it is required to fit a can power adaptor which brings on line the aux power to light your new radio.The only other option would be to run a new ignition on power source from the fuse box.This can be a bit tricky on many cars.

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Sun 17 Apr 2016 17:48
Ford Mondeo Estate - Large chain car audio/spare parts - S40 Man

You are right, you need a Can Power adaptor. You know that, I now know that too now, my question is why are a major chain selling a stereo head unit with an off the shelf non-compaitable cable? It's bound not to work. That must cause annoyance/inconveneiince for the customer or themselves.

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