Thread: Radio AUX fitting in radio binnacle.

Fitting a Radio Auxiliary input in the radio binnacle.
These instructions worked on my MY07 TDV6 HSE without satnav.
I wanted to run an MP3 player in on the AUX socket but didn’t want to have cables from the AUX socket at the rear of the centre console.
I was worried about getting access to the radio binnacle but a bit of a search on other sites showed this to be easy. I couldn’t find it in the FAQs so I thought it might be a candidate.
What I wanted to end up with an unobtrusive 3.5mm stereo socket in the front of the vehicle but still have the rear socket operational for the ankle biters.
Gather materials. Panel mountable 3.5mm stereo socket (eg Dicksmith P1240), Three core wire. Torx drivers. Hand tools, drill and bits.
Remove the shroud from around the radio binnacle. Carefully lever from the bottom so you don’t scratch the plastic. Make sure you lever directly to the vehicle rear. Swing away from the bottom so that the top disengages last. The shroud has two spring clips at the bottom and two further up and three locating lugs on each side.
Unscrew the three binnacle component pieces starting at the top (Controls, sound system and climate controls) . They have small lips so they lock together. Disconnect the climate control and the hazard units to make more room.
Locate connector C2115, it’s the centre connector. Pins 6, 7 and 8 (Black, Blue and Red) being Ground, Left and Right. Actually I am not sure of the stereo polarity but it didn’t matter to me.
Attach using a method of your choice ( I soldered) the wires to the 3.5mm socket. On the DSE unit the GND was the long connector.
I didn’t want to socket to be noticeable so I located it next to the passenger side 12V socket, slightly higher and to the outside near the mounting screw as there was a little void behind suitable to take the socket.
Run the cable up to the radio. I followed the existing cable loom. Connect to the identified wires on C2115 (again I soldered). All things being equal you can test operation now.
TRAP FOR YOUNG PLAYERS. Mine didn’t work. The rear AUX connection (in my instance and probably standard) is a type that short out the terminals when not in use. Without this feature if the AUX is selected and there is no input there is a slight power hum. You can do three things to overcome this.
a)Use a blank plug in the rear socket.
b)Lever out the unit from the bottom centre and disconnect the plug.
c) What I did (don’t ask why). Take the unit out. Remove the 2 black Torx screws to separate it from the face plate. Remove the silver Torx screw. Lever the PCB ( printed circuit board) out. Carefully separate the black cover of the 3.5mm socket from the base unit using a jewellers screwdriver or similar. This exposes the contacts. Identify the two bridge pieces that short out the contacts when no plug is engaged. Very carefully with very fine cutters remove the bridges. Reassemble. I needed to use a spot of superglue to keep the plug shroud properly in place.
It worked a treat!
More photos to follow.

Ash tray surround removal requires the centre consol to be taken out. Not difficult a but better not to have to.