sootie007
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Warning this is long to help others out and I am sure things could have been done better and I did some things wrong but its in and working ...... So my audio system in my 2021 XL stripper sounded ok but it had no backup cam in the dash display (its a tiny 2.5 inch screen in the backup mirror instead and I hated the 90's dot matrix display in the radio head. I AM NOT a techie guy . I havent installed a stereo in 30 yrs since it was just 11 wires back then and you were done. I still dont have all the head unit features working but I am really close . I purchased the Metra Faceplate made for the Pioneer 8" radio , Maestro RR2 steering wheel unit and F02 harness - I thought it would all work. I also had some help from bltfrdtgh so kudos to him helping me out . So you have to pick your make , model and steering wheel type, stereo model and serial number and switch functionality off the idata website for flashing the RR2 unit which programs your steering buttons functionality with the Pioneer - issue 1 they didnt have my specific 2021 stripper steering wheel to choose from so I chose the only one there . So you then flash your RR2 unit via usb laptop and your good to go . So you end up cutting off the 4 speaker wire RCA's and solder several other wires which are all color coded and matched up pretty good to the F02 harness. Then you plugin it all in the back of the Pioneer... additionally the USB cable,4 pin black data cable from the pioneer over to the rr2 , and a few other cables color coded over to the RR2 from the F02 harness, antenna (which you need an adapter cable to go from the factory Ford antenna lead to the old school Pioneer antenna lead, microphone .Of the three Ford block cable connectors poking out of my dash I only used the main -largest one. The other two were taped up and stuffed in the void behind the radio. So now that everything is plugged in - in theory you are ready to go . So I stuffed everything in the dash and fired it up praying. It fired up and the radio worked fine, Bluetooth works, Phone etc. B U T only volume up , volume down, mute work on my steering wheel buttons ....none of the phone buttons or station changing buttons on my steering wheel worked.....Your Ford menu buttons on the left side of the steering wheel however still worked . I got through to Idata RR2 tech support people and they told me the 2021 is apparently different and they dont have a solution engineered yet . WTF . At this point 2 days in I am not about to yank it all and send it all back. So I programmed my buttons that were working to dual mode where each switch can do two things if you hold the button down as opposed to momentarily pushing it as a workaround as the tech suggested. The tech said they should have a solution and to keep checking back with them for a new flash or wiring etc. So now I start playing with it and the backup camera doesnt work. My little camera in my rearview mirror still works and the Pioneer screen goes to black when I throw it in reverse . I say screw it I am not going to start ripping into harnesses probing for video signals, +, ground etc . So I bought a $25 Erapta license plate backup camera off Amazon and connected it to the backup tailight + and ground . Ran the wires through the frame, cab floor to the radio and connected the yellow Erapta RCA jack to the brown Pioneer Female RCA backup cam input. Voila it worked ! The picture is decent and the stagnant backup lines helpful. You can disable them apparently by cutting a white wire on the Erapta cable but I chose to leave the lines. So now I notice my USB source is grayed out on the pioneer screen ? When I connect my android phone the "Android Auto App" will not launch or work work AT ALL. I thought the supplied USB cable was probably bad so I pulled the unit out of the dash for the 9th time put a new USB cable in and it still will not work and is grayed out . I have done some reading around the web and apparently as a distracted driving safety feature if you do not have the parking brake set - radio green wire grounded , several people have said that disables the USB port. I DID NOT ground my green wire so tomorrow I will pull the unit out yet again , ground that green wire and see if the port finally comes to life and my Android Auto can then finally work etc. Its not perfect yet, was an absolute pita , but I have a nice 8" backup cam now , NICE sounding system - with the stock speakers , Bluetooth, Phone and hopefully I get that USB port working in a few days after a much needed break from this . Next time I will buy the next higher truck trim level lol.......BTW the 2021 hazard switch does NOT fit properly in the Metra faceplate ...the hole is too small . Pic 6 discard pile - cables you dont use. FordPass still works I can remote start-stop ,lock -unlock with the Pioneer in there so the systems are totally separate apparently in this case.
Sponsored
Last edited:
lol......
