I upgraded my 2014 Ford Focus SE with a sync 3 conversion kit with an HD radio. I originally had sync 1 without the premium audio setup. I noticed a hiss with beeping that is faint when using the hd radio acm when playing on any input accept AM. It can even be slightly heard when the car is off. It is pretty high pitch and I’ve switched it back to the original acm and the hiss is no more (just some faint white noise, which all my acms are producing). I have also tried a different HD radio acm and it does the same thing. I have also tweaked the acm as-built on forscan to make sure things look right. The apim is also set for HD radio. I don’t know if this problem is because I don’t have the premium audio setup or if the HD radio acm(s) if tried are defected. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Sounds like either a bad antenna base or the config in the ACM is wrong.
The HD radio ACM for the Focus in most cases comes in cars with the Sony DSP, you may need to find the config for one in say a Escape 2013 SEL to look at with As Built Explorer.
It doesn’t seem to make a difference. I had the antenna unplugged with it still making this noise. I even used my as built from my original acm except the hd radio enabled on the asbuilt and no difference. There must be a compatibility issue with the hd radio acms that I have. They are meant for the Focus.
There can be beeping in the mix when using certain inputs like the android auto and fm inputs. One of the acms is from 2013 and the other from 2018, both having the same noise issue.
Where did you get the adapter harness from which was used for the conversion?
The “hiss” you’re hearing could also be EMF/RFI.
I got it from 4d Tech a year ago. It’s weird that the original acm doesn’t do this. I also moved the cables around and unplugged certain cables and that also didn’t do anything.
Looking at parts for the Focus, you have 2 possible antenna bases, usually the one for SAT radio is required for HD since those are powered with a built in amplifier.
The Escape had two different HD radios, one was from 2013-early 2015, CJ5T-19C107-CB to CK with 2015-2019 being CJ5T-19C107-GA
HD radio was offered on the Focus ST & the Ti
https://www.focusst.org/threads/selecting-sub-stations-on-the-hd-radio.6367/
Part number is CM5T-19C107-KA - KG
https://lkqonline.com/2012-ford-focus-radio-audio/-hDn4Pnc3PK/-i~382883894
This is the one I have, with this information from a scan today on Forscan:
ACM- Audio Control Module
Part number: CM5T-19C107-KE
Calibration level: CM5T-19C107-KE (latest known: CM5T-19C107-KG)
Strategy : CM5T-140099-NA
Calibration: CM5T-14D100-KE
I have one of those models, from what I see. Also, I’m not sure why the one in Strategy and Calibration are what they say. The original acm is CM5T-19C107-JG.
For now, I have decided to get a CM5T-19C107-KC module refurbished and “like new” with a new chip on eBay. I will see if that may be a fix since my HD radio ACM could be defective. https://www.ebay.com/itm/286223115501
Strategy and calibration pretty much equals in PC terms driver &firmware.
Same physical unit with -KG firmware in it would be CM5T-19C107-KG, you can raise the firmware/calibration level using IDS or ForScan 2.4.x with a paid license.
Alrighty. Thanks for the assistance! I will get back soon and report if this new acm I bought will make a difference.
I got the new hd radio acm. The beeping is gone but the same faint background noise is still present. Could there be something specific I need to change in my AsBuilt in the ACM or APIM. I have set it on both to hd radio and apim gen2 with it on non dsp.
If you disable HD radio via the button on the screen (not ForScan) and tune to the same station do you have the hiss?
btw I’m referring to the base station, freq-1 on HD not freq-2, -3 etc, this is the only way to get a 1 for 1.
I have tried that and it doesn’t make a difference. The noise is present on fm, bluetooth, cd, and xm but not AM. I even unhooked the antenna and everything but the power connection and also changed the ground connection to a different place on the chassis. Since it’s high pitched, I’m still not ruling out interference but this is always going on, even when the car is off. I did try ferrite beads on the acm power cable too but that hasn’t done anything either.
OK lets go down the symptoms.
- just pressing the on button without starting the car you have the hiss? That rules out any fans, the alternator or any other modules.
- you’re treating this like its a “radio” and its not, it has logic in it to control what it does so you get into a possible compatibility issue with other modules in the car
- some of Ford’s models use a DACMC to inject fake engine noise (eg the Focus ST & the Mustang) while others get cancelling frequencies (Ford calls this Automatic Noice Control) to hide certain sounds (eg the eCVT on the CMax, Fusion Hybrid)
- You get it even with the antenna unhooked, per chance have you tried a different antenna base? The hiss may be due to unit not getting enough out of the antenna, remember one side of the antenna cabling is a ground.
- Does your car have an aux BlueTooth receiver in it? The 2013-2019 Escape does from the factory on all trims, its possible that you have an issue there, if your car has one that’s incompatible or maybe its not used with an HD radio ACM.
- Have you search on the Focus forums for someone that did the same mod?
About the antenna connection, I did notice some minor additional white noise when the fm antenna was connected in the old acm on all inputs except AM (like the hd radio acm), and then when taken out, the noise is gone. So, it may be the antenna base after all that may be effecting the hd radio acm. For now, I may need to see if the connections are proper before I jump the gun on ordering the antenna base oem part.
It’s weird that it still makes noise when there is no antenna connected though, or does it need the ground from the antenna for the entire acm to work properly?
You could probably pick up the base from a JY pretty cheaply, place local to me they’re like $6.
For the does it need the antenna ground question, you’d need someone that knows the internal electrical schematics of the ACM and its components.
Yeah, I’m gonna be getting a replacement since I also notice on the radio signal strength hidden setting on sync 3 display, the signal is always below 40 dbuv/m and half the time down to around 2 dbuv/m, even when the signal should be great, in the 50s to 80s dbuv/m. I saw online the acceptable reading should be 40 dbuv/m or above. So, if I am able to get a stronger signal on analog and the hd radio acm is still doing it’s thing with the background noise, I’m gonna stick with the analog fm acm. I wanted to move to hd because of the constant popping noises on fm when my siganl should be solid. Once I replace the antenna base, and the signal numbers are up to what they should be, then I’ll be more then happy to stick with the analog fm acm. I will update in a few days and will see if that will be a solution for me. Thanks warlock12118 for your help!
I got the new antenna base. I did get rid of most of the minor white noise on the regular acm but did nothing to the hd radio acm that has to do with the high pitch background noise. The signal numbers are still in the 30s and low 40s dbuv, but the fm signals sound fine, with the hd signals performing well on the hd radio acm. It’s of course just the high pitch noise that is still present. Should I just declare that it’s a compatibility issue since these were meant for the Focus with the dsp?
Had the antenna cable replaced to improve the analog signal.
Since I have tried so many things to fix this problem with no solution for over a year now, I’ll have to say it’s a compatibility issue.
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