klm42 said:

Ducatiboy,

Just to clarify, will the "flashing" technique work if the orange/white lead is tied into the parking light wire instead of the illumination wire? Thanks in advance for your help.

If that wire is normally ground and when you turn the parking lights (or headlights) on it goes to 12V, then yes, it will work.

ducatiboy said:

klm42 said:

Ducatiboy,

Just to clarify, will the "flashing" technique work if the orange/white lead is tied into the parking light wire instead of the illumination wire? Thanks in advance for your help.

If that wire is normally ground and when you turn the parking lights (or headlights) on it goes to 12V, then yes, it will work.

Thanks for the quick response. Since I'm new to all of this, is there anything specific I should tell my installer to look for or should I just have him tie the orange/white lead into the parking light wire no matter what since I'm pretty sure the car doesn't have an illumination wire? Also, how can I tell if it goes to 12v? Thanks again for all of your help as I just want to make sure the process is done correctly. 8)

klm42 said:

Thanks for the quick response. Since I'm new to all of this, is there anything specific I should tell my installer to look for

Just don't let them talk you into grounding the parking brake wire all the time. They can connect the parking brake wire correctly, but if you use your emergency brake, then it will ruin the headlight flashing (while the parking brake is on). So either have them connect the parking brake and don't use it or leave it disconnected (but if you leave it disconnected, if you don't flash your lights then you won't have a bunch of functions which are normally reserved for when your parking brake wire is grounded (parking brake is on).

Also some installers think they shouldn't connect the VSS wire for this bypass to work, that's nonsense. If he can hook into it, great, if not, then it cause he can't find it, not cause he wants your flashing trick to work. It can be connected correctly and this will still work.

klm42 said:

should I just have him tie the orange/white lead into the parking light wire no matter what since I'm pretty sure the car doesn't have an illumination wire?

Are you sure? Is your installer sure? A lot of times there is something on the radio wiring harness. As long as the parking light wire you speak of goes to 12V when the lights are on and ground when the lights are off. Some car's wiring might need a relay or something, but any installer, knowing you need 12V with the lights on and ground (or floating) when it's off should be able to figure out something. And when I say ground or floating when the lights are off, it can be just disconnected from 12V when the lights are off, you don't actively have to ground the wire, I believe that there is an internal pull down in the Z1.

klm42 said:

Also, how can I tell if it goes to 12v? Thanks again for all of your help as I just want to make sure the process is done correctly. 8)

You would need a volt meter and/or the wiring diagram of the vehicle. Or knowledge of the car's workings. How can you tell if it's hooked up correctly? There is a "diagnostic" screen which lists the Illumination wire status. It will change when you turn the lights on and off. It will also get dimmer, but that's hard to see in bright daylights.

ducatiboy said:

You would need a volt meter and/or the wiring diagram of the vehicle. Or knowledge of the car's workings. How can you tell if it's hooked up correctly? There is a "diagnostic" screen which lists the Illumination wire status. It will change when you turn the lights on and off. It will also get dimmer, but that's hard to see in bright daylights.

The navigation screen background also goes from white to black when the dimmer is active.

Ok, I am too a newbie. I've been reading your posts and need some clarification.

I have the Z1 with the following:

-06 Ford Explorer limited ( every bell and whistle less nav- hence the Z1 :) )
-Parking brake on per Z1 connection status screen ( I get the boot up improper connection of the parking brake)

-Illumination is off ( never comes on)

How would I bypass this with this set up to allow all functions to work? I am assuming based on what I have been reading that the headlight flashing will not work....

The previous post was mine.


My apologies if this question has already been answered. The whole this is very frustrating....especially when trying to use NAVTRAFFIC....I mean, who disables getting traffic events when driving?

I just ordered ducatiboy's flasher mod but have not installed it yet. What I would like to know is what happens to the timing if you leave the car in acc mode and never start the car? the reason I ask is because my car is a hybrid and its start procedure powers up everything instantly, there is no on-off-on routine with the radio as when you turn the key to start in a regular car. Will the timing in my car be off so much that the flasher circuit won't work?

hey ducati, does your mod work on AVH units? specifically the new pioneer avhp6800dvd? I think this unit is basically the z1 without the nav and hard drive.

Anonymous said:

I just ordered ducatiboy's flasher mod but have not installed it yet. What I would like to know is what happens to the timing if you leave the car in acc mode and never start the car? the reason I ask is because my car is a hybrid and its start procedure powers up everything instantly, there is no on-off-on routine with the radio as when you turn the key to start in a regular car. Will the timing in my car be off so much that the flasher circuit won't work?

You are running my circuit off the same switched 12v wire the radio is powered off of. If that gets energized with 12V the radio boots up, so does my circuit. If you crank over the engine and that signal goes back to ground (like on a normal car) the radio sees the drop in voltage and shuts down and so does my circuit. Then when the cranking is over, the radio and my circuit boot up again.

What you describe for your hybrid seems even better, the unit doesn't boot for a second and then reboot. Your car will power up when you start it, the radio will boot up and so will my circuit. If your car never cuts off that 12V line, they will both continue to remain powered up... no problem.

Basically my circuit and the Z1 are powered off the same 12V line. When that's on, they are both on. When that goes away momentarily, they both reboot at the same time. It all works very well. You shouldn't worry.

sonnieeee said:

hey ducati, does your mod work on AVH units? specifically the new pioneer avhp6800dvd? I think this unit is basically the z1 without the nav and hard drive.

I don't know, you want to buy me one to play with? :)

Actually all smart assed comments asside, I really don't know anything about those units. Can you bypass them by flashing your lights? If so, I might buy one just to play with.

Thanks for the reply about the hybrid I can't wait to get my flasher. hopefully Ill have everything installed by friday.

Steve, I don't know if you noticed it or not, but our Aviators have a THIRD power suppy....it's hot only when cranking. So you have one that's hot in on and off, one that's hot in acc and on, and one that's hot when cranking. I wonder what Ford had in mind for that?

No I didn't notice that. Not sure what that would be used for.