Technical Anyone sucessfully hooked rear speaker upto Uconnect radio?

[aparsonson]

Today I tried to test some cheap rear speakers in my 2017 TA Lounge with the Uconnect radio. The rear door wiring looms don't have a connector for speakers (I already checked)

I disconnected the waterproof connector that goes from the B post into the door. The car's main loom appears to have the speaker wiring (green/green+black on the drivers side and orange/orange+black on the passenger side) I temporarily shoved the speaker wires into the connectors for these and got NOTHING.

The speakers didn't play at all. I checked that the radio now had the fader control (suggested by another user once speakers where connected) which it didnt. I switched it on and off a few times to check if maybe it needed to 'recognise' the rear speakers. Still nothing.

The only thing i can think of would be one of two things:
-something in the correct rear door loom tells the HU to switch on the rears
or
-it's HU firmware specific and to get the rear speakers working I'd need a HU with the correct firmware loaded. The HU has the pins for the rear speakers on the rear plug. Perhaps there's an internal jumper that needs to be changed?

So my question is has anyone been able to get the Uconnect HU working with rear speakers and how did you do it?

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Are you sure the wiring that you found in thr door pillar is connected to the radio at the other end?

 

[aparsonson]

No, with the lockdown I'm not able to get the right tool to get the radio out at the moment. I've looked on EPER though and it seems there's only one part number for the dashboard wiring loom so for now I'm assuming it is hooked up.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

You might get the radio out using two long thin screwdrivers or a couple of thin 50mm nails - anything cylindrical that fits down the two holes to ‘splay’ the retaining clips. Not now, but tomorrow I’ll take mine out and see what’s in the back (2018 uConnect in 4x4 Panda so likely to be the same)

 

[aparsonson]

Thank you, you're a squire an a gentleman sir

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

As promised, I’ve had a look. The wires are so tight behind the radio I could only edge it out a short way (didn’t want to pull more and end up with dash rattles). Unclipping the aerial lead and mini USB next to it let me get these shots of the other plugs. In the photo the other plugs are not fully seated as I did try to unplug them too but without success. They’re back in now
Yes, there *are* wires in place for front and rear speakers, and the diagram on top of the radio confirms this.

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
A couple of pictures from me too.
All four speaker connections are in place on my set but like you I only have front speakers.
Perhaps a reset is required for the set to see the rear speakers

 

[aparsonson]

Firstly, thank you both for your efforts!!! It's VERY much appreciated.

The rear speaker wire colours both match exactly what i saw on the B pillar loom yesterday. A green and green+black wire for drivers side and orange and orange+black for the passenger side.

I also see that both your radio's have different hardware versions but each have the same software version although I'm not sure if this is significant.

So far I can think of four things that might cause the rears not to work:

-As suggested by murphyv perhaps the set needs a reset to recognize the rears.
-There's something in the correct door loom that identifies itself to the set (might be as simple as a resistor)
-the factory speakers might have something on them to identify them to the set although I think this is the least likely
-There is a specific software version that supports 4 speakers and the version I have isn't that.

I hope that Fiat isn't so mean spirited as to use a software version to not allow aftermarket speakers to be added. When i hooked up the rears yesterday I switched the set on and off a few times but didn't reset it. I think I'll give that a go next.

If that doesn't work I might order the correct door looms if they aren't too expensive and see if that does it. Only problem in I checked on EPER and there is about 6 different options for each side with no clarity as to the differences. I might then look for the VIN of a car which has the rear speakers and hope Fiat didn't change anything else on the looms.

#EDIT : So I managed to get the VIN off of a crashed 2013 Lounge on copart with rear speakers fitted. Part numbers in the attachment. I think when our lockdown ends I'm going to order them and test.

 

[R1NGA]

-the factory speakers might have something on them to identify them to the set although I think this is the least likely

I can confirm that a change of rear speakers in the older models that had them as stock (changed to excellent Audison in my case), worked fine, so nothing in the speakers themselves, that's for sure.

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
I'll try loading up the "rears" with 4.7 ohm resistors tomorrow and see what transpires.

 

[murphyv310]

Good news.
Putting 4.7 ohms across each rear speaker outlet on the radio brings on the fader. Even with them removed fader operation remains.
So now to look for rear door cards etc.

 

[aparsonson]

You are a champion sir!:worship: As soon as my local dealer opens up again I'll be in to order the door looms, speakers and door cards.

I wonder why it didn't pop on when i hooked up the speakers although to be fair the connections where a bit 'jerry rigged'. I just shoved the wires into the connector pin holes. I used these cheap Pioneer (4 ohm) speakers so I wonder if they didn't provide quite enough resistance. I'll get hold of some 4.7 ohm resistors to get the fader to come on when I start.

 

[aparsonson]

I've got it to show too! Not sure why it didn't work yesterday but it does now.

It plays through a set of speakers and shows the fader. As soon as our lockdown is lifted this is going to be my next project.

 

[murphyv310]

Brilliant.
So a simple enough modification. I'm considering aftermarket speakers. Used door cards are £45 each in the UK, so no doubt new are expensive.

 

[aparsonson]

Unfortunately for me Panda's aren't very popular in South Africa. Cars are also kept on the road a lot longer than they are in the UK so the supply of second hand parts is almost non existent. If it was a VW, Toyota or Ford I'd have no problem.

I've been buying from the parts manager at my local Fiat/Alfa dealer for years so he always gives me a little bit of a discount so I'm hoping the prices won't be too over the top.

I also thought about aftermarket speakers because the OE rear ones frankly look a bit poor. The problem is I'd have to import adapters and at 20 Pound a pair before shipping they'll be more expensive than a decent set of speakers.

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
Understandable about the logistics in South Africa. I'll hard wire the cables to the loom if its possible and get a decent pair of speakers. Cutting the required holes in the door cards should be straightforward.
I'll post up the job on a new thread once I get round to it in a few weeks with the pro's and con's of doing it this way.
Good luck with your conversion.
Oh and the fader and rear speaker out put reverts to front only after the load is removed from the rears after a few power up cycles.

 

[bimmer]

So would it not work if you solder the resister across the speaker terminals, rather than digging the radio head out of the dash?

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
The head unit only takes 30-seconds to remove. I used a knitting needle cut in two. The resistors were just pushed into the plug, no soldering required for the test.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

bimmer The resistors are not needed when you install speakers. Pretty sure murphyv310 used them *instead* of speakers to ‘load’ the circuit with similar resistance to that of a speaker to demonstrate that the radio shows fader if the rear circuit is not left “open circuit” (so with some sort of ‘load’ between the + and - wires at any point along their length. Easier to do this for demo by popping the radio out rather than pulling door trim panels off).. Also, if you were to wire them *across* the terminals — ie in parallel— you would *reduce* the resistance, which would not be good.
So, ignore the resistors, just add the speakers.
And yes, to remove radio, anything that fits the holes will work - 3mm twist drill bit would do it too. (I used one of the double-pronged tools from previous car, cut in half - it snapped into two as I tried to bend it since only one prong needed on each side for the new radio)

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

My comment on all this is that so far as my ears were concerned, I didn’t notice any difference in the sound between my 2013 4x4 *with* rear speakers and my 2018 without them. From the driver’s seat the sound is very good with the fronts only - which I think are bigger than those (not) fitted in the rear. If you carry rear seat passengers, then of course they will benefit from having speakers too.