[C17chief]

Pretty well known that most Sync equipped Fords only have 1 USB port despite the Sync unit being capable of 2. I had planned on doing mine up when the weather is a little warmer but got bored this morning and did it now. I will probably go back and change a couple aspects of it and only consider this a temp install.....but I may leave it as is since it works and is hidden and all.

Anyhow for those interested.....

popped off the top part of the console. The sync unit is just fwd of the shifter under where the tray is, on the driver side. Worth noting is the second usb connector isn't bare/easy to spot if you dont know what you are looking for. I was going over it for a good few mins going WTF, there is no 2nd connector on mine despite all the comments that there are 2 ports on the net. Then it occured to me that the open silver connector was the exact same as the black occupied one underneath, so I really got my head down in there as good as possible to see what sort of pin configuration was in that open connector. Low and behold it was the standard usb mini B. Looks like Ford just decided to incorporate it into a wire harness connector.

USB mini B cable plugged in. Clears the surrounding connector part just fine. It's a tight fit getting your hands in there. I have relatively small hands and found next to no room to work with and took an aggravating couple mins to get it plugged in. If you have big ole sausage fingers, you may just want to get someone else to do this bit for you. There really isnt much room down there.

I had planned on using a cable as pictured below to basicly mount a permanent USB port to the fwd wall of the lower hidden console area, but after popping off the top part of the console, an existing factory hole was revealed, so I decided just to make use of that hole for now, and simply used an A type M 2 M adapter to join 2 standard mini B HDD cables together.

top of the console popped back on and everything finished. Test drive hooked up and worked great. If I leave it as is, I will decide on an exact position I would like the drive to sit, then attach some velcro to the bottom of the console as well as the bottom of the hard drive so it will be held in place reasnobly securely yet easily removeable to bring in the house to edit drive content.

Total time..about 10mins including the solid couple mins it took me to realize where exactly the 2nd port was. haha.

 

[RobtRoma]

Nice! Thanks for the writeup. :thumb:

 

[tang]

Nice! I'll have to try this one for myself too. Wonder what Ford was originally planning with the second port?

 

[Breensy]

hey ive been searching all over for a cable like that to mount a usb in my 05, any ideas where to find it?

 

[The J]

http://www.datapro.net/products/usb-pan ... cable.html

Apparently they are called panel-mount cables.

 

[StruckBy99]

What did you do to the HDD to get Sync to recognize it? Ive never had any luck with my portable drive.

Jason

 

[C17chief]

as far as the cables go, I used 2 standard Male A to mini B cables that come with the hard drives, digital cameras, mp3 players, etc and an A type M to M adapter simply cause I had plenty of that stuff laying around.

This is what the adapter looks like:

If you dont happen to have that stuff laying around and you want to make use of that factory hole for an easy more propper install without cutting holes....this is what I would get if you need to buy something......a 24" mini b to mini b cable:

http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-2mb2mb-12gl5.html

Important to note....make sure you get one without those ferrite cores on them as it will not fit through that hole. If you notice, the cable I have plugged into the sync module does have one, which originally I plugged the other cable in and tried that at the console end before realizing the ferrite core wouldnt fit throught he hole.

If you do want to cut and mount a permanent port into the console, here is one of those panel mount cables with mini b end for sync:
http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-2mb-020.html
I would go with 18"

either that mini b to mini b or panel mount cable costs about $15. A little high for a cable, but I couldnt find em much cheaper since they arent your common garden variaty cables given the end combinations. Worth it though.

ohh.....and about the hard drives working...I have used 3 with my Sync over time, no problems with any of em. They do need to be propper fat32 formatted and not NTSC, exFAT, or anything else. Since vista/windows 7, and I would guess maybe apple (I'm not an apple guy so i dont know) doesnt give you the option to format fat32 anymore, there are several small free utilities on the net to do so.

 

[tang]

NTSC/FAT32 might explain why my car refuses to update Sync off my flash drive...

 

[jStape]

Does anyone know if this is possible for non-sync Escapes? Thanks!

 

[C17chief]

Does anyone know if this is possible for non-sync Escapes? Thanks!

Nope. USB is through Sync, not the radio. Not possible unless you buy an aftermarket radio with USB capabilities and run wires from it.

 

[cdstein]

Great write-up...thanks. I cannot wait until the weather is warmer to do this to 2010 limited.

How did you get the top console cover off? I started by trying to pull the chrome shifter bezel off (straight up) but didn't want to pry it / break it. Should I just give'r?

 

[tang]

Great write-up...thanks. I cannot wait until the weather is warmer to do this to 2010 limited.

How did you get the top console cover off? I started by trying to pull the chrome shifter bezel off (straight up) but didn't want to pry it / break it. Should I just give'r?

The pieces that hold the chrome surround off look like tiny teeth. What I did is move the front part up two or three clicks, and then the same with the back two. Repeat until it's completely off. It's a strong piece of plastic. I think I've done it about four times already. First time's always the hardest :lol:

 

[cdstein]

Excellent...thanks.

 

[musicmankeb]

I have a 2005 Mazda Tribute Si, my Factory headunit has a SAT and Aux Mode but where would my USB plug in be?

 

[Onefastbike]

SWEET!
I have just found my first mod!

Thanks! :wave:

 

[LIEscape]

Nice suprise. I'm going to expose this as well - I could get rid of the large car charger that charges my phone today in place of a nice sweet little USB cable. I'm very space challenged in that storage area between my Zune MP3 player and other assorted items that I need quick access to i.e. EZ-pass etc.. Thanks for posting!

 

[ewfarquhar]

Any idea if you can buy another cable from Ford service/repair parts that already has the right size connectors on both ends? Perhaps it would be cost prohibitive knowing the markup they tend to put on their repair parts.

Also, if by chance you want to use the "line in" port, do you have to disconnect the device that's plugged into the USB2 port? From time to time I play a handheld DVD player through the line in port, but line in doesn't work if something's connected to USB1.

 

[C17chief]

Any idea if you can buy another cable from Ford service/repair parts that already has the right size connectors on both ends? Perhaps it would be cost prohibitive knowing the markup they tend to put on their repair parts.

Also, if by chance you want to use the "line in" port, do you have to disconnect the device that's plugged into the USB2 port? From time to time I play a handheld DVD player through the line in port, but line in doesn't work if something's connected to USB1.

1) depends on what you mean by right ends. The end that plugs into sync is a standard mini B just like most portable hard drives and a lot of cameras and such. As for the other end...there really is no right end....depends on what you are plugging in. At either rate, there would be no cable available from Ford as it isnt an option for these vehicles, and USB 2 is supposed to be some sort of service port. Cables in my post should cover you though. I just rigged mine temporarily with 2 typical cables you would get with an external hard drive and such, joining them with a male to male adapter. I linked a different cable if you want to mount an actual USB port. As far as your line in....you dont lose that nor does it affect it or anything else. They are all independant.

 

[ewfarquhar]

1) depends on what you mean by right ends. The end that plugs into sync is a standard mini B just like most portable hard drives and a lot of cameras and such. As for the other end...there really is no right end....depends on what you are plugging in. At either rate, there would be no cable available from Ford as it isnt an option for these vehicles, and USB 2 is supposed to be some sort of service port. Cables in my post should cover you though. I just rigged mine temporarily with 2 typical cables you would get with an external hard drive and such, joining them with a male to male adapter. I linked a different cable if you want to mount an actual USB port. As far as your line in....you dont lose that nor does it affect it or anything else. They are all independant.

Thanks! What I was thinking when I said "right ends" was a USB B Male to USB A Female, thereby giving another standard USB port for flash drives, iPods, etc. I thought perhaps Ford might sell a replacement of what they used to create the original USB-1 port in the front panel. You know they have to have "something" to use when they need to replace a damaged or defective original cable. I just wasn't sure if there were parts that Ford had for their own use that they never made available to the public.

 

[C17chief]

Thanks! What I was thinking when I said "right ends" was a USB B Male to USB A Female, thereby giving another standard USB port for flash drives, iPods, etc. I thought perhaps Ford might sell a replacement of what they used to create the original USB-1 port in the front panel. You know they have to have "something" to use when they need to replace a damaged or defective original cable. I just wasn't sure if there were parts that Ford had for their own use that they never made available to the public.

Oh, I suppose you could, but you would have to do some cutting and drilling to mount the port, so the cable posted on the 1st page would be perfect for that. I dunno if the existing USB port is it's own cable all the way through or if it is worked in to other wire bundles/part of a bigger stretch with other harnesses or not. If it is its own run, one thing is for sure, it will probably cost a lot more then $15 being a dealer part and all.