Technical 2007 Ducato- options for aux sound sources?

[richardofswansea]

Hi folks,
I've got a 2007 Ducato with the standard CD Radio (OEM, made for Fiat by Blaupunkt). To play music from an external MP3 player or from my phone I'm currently using an FM transmitter, but the sound isn't great and I'm wondering if there's a neater solution. The device is closely integrated with the van's management system, so I know tweaks may not be straightforward.

If you press the 'CD' button with no CD in the tray, the display says 'AUX'. The Sound System Manual refers to "EXT function (external audio source control)". Both these things suggest it can accept signal from an external or auxilary sound source, but the only option mentioned in the manual is Fiat's own CD changer, fitted by the dealer.

I bought a Blaupunkt Aux adaptor from Ebay. The vendor warned that it wouldn't work with OEM kit, but it was cheap enough to give it a go. It fits nicely into the back of the unit and connects to inputs which are labelled 'AF-R', 'AF-L' and 'AF-ground'. That seems reasonable so far, but there's no sound.

Maybe relevant - probably not; to fit the aux adaptor I have to unplug a large black connector block which only connects to three terminals; 'RC-A', 'RC-B' and ground. Having it unplugged has no effect. I'm guessing it's for the steering wheel remote controls that I don't have.

Youtube shows several people fitting auxilary inputs to old car stereos, but I've looked inside the Ducato unit and it's not at all obvious where the connection would have to be made.

Where next? Does anyone know if there's a trick to getting it to accept sound from an external source? Maybe something needs to be set on the body computer?

Richard

 

[corcai]

Not sure which radio you have but are the aux connections not marked on it:

you will see Aux L, Aux R and Aux Ground marke on here

 

[richardofswansea]

Thanks Corcai, that's a very interesting picture. These radios are obviously not as standard as I'd hoped. Mine is the one that looks like this:



The pinout label looks like this (a lot of it's the same as yours but other pins are different):



I'll try hooking some sound up to the pins on the right hand side and see if that works.

Richard

 

[corcai]

Correct the pins on the right are line in left right and ground in the middle.

 

[richardofswansea]

That worked a treat! I'll get a panel mounted 3.5mm socket to tidy up the wiring, throw out the FM transmitter, and it'll be perfect. Thanks for your help.

For anyone trying something similar - I cut up the Aux adaptor I'd bought so that I could extract the metal connectors, then slid them into position on the existing connector block. They clipped into place perfectly. It is possible to remove the connectors without wrecking the connector block, but needs a specialist tool.

 

[rlast1312]

Not sure which radio you have but are the aux connections not marked on it:

you will see Aux L, Aux R and Aux Ground marke on here

Does anyone know where i can find the correct cables to connect aux in a stereo like the one quoted?

Thank you!