[10Terp]

Hi all,

New member here. My wife and I just picked up a really clean 2006 Hybrid with 121k on it for a price that was too good to be true ($200) and to hopefully tide use until our make believe Bronco hopefully gets built at some point. It runs great so far, but has one feature that’s driving me nuts. Between the power outlets by the shifer there’s an Aux In port and I can’t figure out how to use it to save my life. I’m assuming somebody added this at some point. Would anybody have any ideas how this would be usable? It’s got the factory nav head unit with a CD changer.

Thanks!!!

 

[davez26]

My first guess is FM modulated input.
The aux cord transmits to usually very weak FM frequency when 'on' acting like a very small FM station and broadcasting into that frequency.
Were any of the radio presets to a station that had no station?
If course, it also makes sense to ask, does the radio have a 'aux-in' feature?, but that would have been what you tried first.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

 

[10Terp]

My first guess is FM modulated input.
The aux cord transmits to usually very weak FM frequency when 'on' acting like a very small FM station and broadcasting into that frequency.
Were any of the radio presets to a station that had no station?
If course, it also makes sense to ask, does the radio have a 'aux-in' feature?, but that would have been what you tried first.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

Agree that the radio does not have a native aux in. I just pulled the panel off and the power switch is electrical taped together with the aux wires. They all go up into the head unit (at least as far as I can reach my arm up in there).

 

[10Terp]

Mystery solved. Found this buried in the dash. The plastic fuse connector was broken so it wasn’t getting power. The real kicker is it sounds way worse than the Chinese FM transmitter I had been using. Oh well!

 

[bangster]

Yeah those in general are horrible and they only have 2 frequencies to select from. I never have any luck with FM modulators, I either use a tape adapter (which obviously isn't an option with this setup and CD), create a way to use a CD changer input, modify the head unit to disable CD player and use aux input (not easy), or replace it with aftermarket.

Nice find for a great price, and cool that it has the primitive navigation that also has the power flow for the Hybrid. I would want to keep it just for that (more informative than a green car with arrows below it on the dash). At 10x or 20x that price you still could barely get one usually, no matter how much work they might need or if the HVTB is toast or not.

 

[10Terp]

Yeah those in general are horrible and they only have 2 frequencies to select from. I never have any luck with FM modulators, I either use a tape adapter (which obviously isn't an option with this setup and CD), create a way to use a CD changer input, modify the head unit to disable CD player and use aux input (not easy), or replace it with aftermarket.

Nice find for a great price, and cool that it has the primitive navigation that also has the power flow for the Hybrid. I would want to keep it just for that (more informative than a green car with arrows below it on the dash). At 10x or 20x that price you still could barely get one usually, no matter how much work they might need or if the HVTB is toast or not.

We were very lucky to get it at the price we did. My wife and I have an '04 Expedition with 240k miles on it that's getting tired and I just generally don't trust it anymore. We're early Bronco reservation holders, and our plan is to replace the Expedition with the Bronco when it comes. We have friends who are moving across the country (VA -> CO) and when they heard about the issues we were having with the Expedition they offered us this Escape for $200 saying "we never drive it and don't want to deal with moving it, and it should be a lot more reliable than the Expedition." I was a little worried about the HV battery given its age and that the car had sat for a year without being driven. Two cycles of the jump button brought the HV back to life. A few nights ago we put ~80 miles on it and toward the end of the drive the gas engine wouldn't turn off; that has me a tad worried that maybe a battery cooling fan is going out. Time will tell there.