Ford Fiesta Hacker's Guide - things not in the manual

**vivafoxpro** · March 6th, 2011 11:22 PM

For the source of the "always hot", my candidate was the ignition switch, the control for almost all electric power functions. Getting to it is relatively easy:

I already have the trigger to turn on the blinking light from the previous "auto lock" mod but made a mistake of expecting the 12volts from the radio panel to go away once the car was locked via fob. It stayed "hot" even at lockdown. I planned to have the blinking on when the panel was off and vice versa.

My next candidate was the "position 1" on the key but the disadvantage of this is the light remained blinking until key was inserted and position 1 was selected. Turning on and off was achieved in a lame fashion which I was not satisfied with.

I noticed that when we unlock our FoFi the dome light turns on for some time until we turn the key and start the engine.

This is a good source of signal to stop blinking.

It was late however and all my time consumed by the lock indicator mod. The belt sensor being a lesser priority is set aside for later tinkering. I rest my tools for next weekend where I dissect the dome light circuit and get my desired "turn off" signal.

I already have the diagrams but postpone posting them until I have proven and tested my mod.

The pictures are posted in advance for any of us planning their own projects.

**rogie** · March 7th, 2011 09:37 PM

vow ako sa inyo mga sir. lalo sayo sir vivafoxpro. dami ko natutunan dito.

**vivafoxpro** · March 8th, 2011 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by rogie

vow ako sa inyo mga sir. lalo sayo sir vivafoxpro. dami ko natutunan dito.

Sigurado lang marami tayong DIYers dito. Hindi lang siguro trip magpost ng mga mods nila. Meron din namang forum lurkers gaya nung nangyari sa first FoFi meetup. Totally silent, tapos BULAGA, nasa meetup

Some also have to protect their source of income like those wire color coding sa rear speakers. Oo nga naman, pinagpawisan nila hanapin yung wires tapos gagayahin lang ng karibal na audio shop na walang pagod.

To each his own 'ika nga. Everyone has their own reason. Mine is to give back my own findings in the same way I learn from the experience of others.

"Open source" has a charm and excitement of its own. If we all had this ideal, the world would be far better off.

**hausteam** · March 8th, 2011 05:57 AM

*Vivafoxpro: Thanks for sharing your knowledge bro.

**rogie** · March 8th, 2011 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by vivafoxpro

"Open source" has a charm and excitement of its own. If we all had this ideal, the world would be far better off.

i agree with you sir, "OPEN SOURCE" FTW!

**pista_ni_jon** · March 8th, 2011 02:43 PM

just a thought...

magkakano na kaya ang unit ni sir vivafoxpro lets say na 10km pa lang ang reading ng odo tapos naisaksak na nya lahat ng upgrades nya (electronics/electrical upgrade)? will 700k be justifiable?

ano sa tingin mo sir vivafoxpro?

ano sa tingin nyo fiesta bros?

**vivafoxpro** · March 12th, 2011 10:32 PM

Continuing to look for a positive 12V "signal" as a sign of unlock for my LED lock indicator, I tried to examine the dome light.

I found out the following:

wire 1 is always 12V positive whether locked or not.

wire 3 is always ground (negative) whether locked or not.

wire 2 has an odd behaviour. when the dome light is on it behaves as negative but when turned off it goes up positive 12V when measured together with wire 3.

I was happy at first and planned just to tap the blinking LED to wire 2 and 3 and when you lock, the dome light turns of and lo and behold you got a blinking LED.

Unlocking turns the dome light on and the LED stops blinking.

HOWEVER, after a while the dome light gently fades as it usually does even if the doors are open. Here comes the blinking LED even in an unlocked state.

Fail!

That as a dead end for the desired signal, learned another strange and probably useful and hackable feature of our FoFi. Yes Jon I will replace bulb with some LEDs like you did, in a much invasive fashion, wahehehe

.

Maybe ambient or "mood lighting"?

**vivafoxpro** · March 14th, 2011 02:20 AM

Finally hit paydirt with my lock indicator. I used the side mirror light as the signal to disengage the self blinking LED.

This video is the best I can do. Using bright lights the LED is not visible, so I had to shoot at night. Just try to notice the dome light come on as I unlock using the fob. Too dark to see my hands pressing the fob, but I shot them within the frame. You can vaguely hear locking & unlocking sound.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORTnVmAFoWg"]YouTube - Project of Sat 26 Feb 2011 05:10:30 AM PST[/ame]