What was good for the front is good for the back - I'm talking LEDs!

 My last post was all about upgrading visibility up front in the headlights.  I figured, why not check out the back? 👀 But seriously, why have I waited 6 years to do this!?  Out back there are 4 lights per side.

Reverse LED: AUXITO LED, 2600 Lumens, 6000K White, Back Up Lamp, Pack of 2 ~$15

Turn Signal LED: AUXITO 3157 LED Bulb Amber, Pack of 2 ~$20

Stop LED: AUXITO 3157 LED Bulbs Red for Brake Lights, Pack of 2 ~$20

Side Marker LED  CanBus Error Free 194 Amber LED for Side Marker $11 

**note these are polarity sensitive so double check them

Getting the rear lenses out is really simple, pull out the lower carpet block, and untwist the plastic nut, there is also a 2nd one up and back from that one - amazing how 2 screwnuts hold this in place - there is another stabby part that is pressure fit toward the front of the light, just used a screwdriver to pop it out

if you haven't seen behind these lights, it's DIRTY back there! all the water drainage, leaves, etc. are in there - clean it out!

one simple plug in back, push the tab and it comes right out 👏

here's a comparison of the old bulbs vs the LEDs

needless to say, even in daylight you can see which side is the LED and which is OEM

LED reverse light left and OEM on right... it's a no brainer!!! Even in daytime!!

and here's everything done out back, not the brake lights are not on, just as running lights

needless to say - even in daylight, these new LEDs are PHENOMENAL!!

Two big thumbs up!!  👍👍

Headlight upgrades across the board - worth it!

After my last post, and a few weeks of driving, while I liked the LEDs they just didn't have a long-term benefit that I was hoping for.  I opted to return them and went for an insane update.  With all the rain in NorCal, the nights have felt darker than usual, maybe it's just my old eyes 😆

Here's the upgrade list that I used to update ALL bulbs in the headlight, believe it or not there are 4 modifiable light sources in there.  

Left to Right: Amber Turn Signal, Green Turning Light,
Red Headlight, Amber Marker Light

PSA: the links are through Amazon, helps me pay for blogging, hosting, etc.  Please turn off your adblock to see the parts that are used.

Auxito seems to have the best list of all lights that can be upgraded, I did a mix of lights, some due to cost, but it's a great list!  
I'll breakdown the replacements, and let's start with the easy ones - the side marker lights!
These are a pretty common 194 LED replacement.  The implementation in the headlight is interesting as the bulb holder aligns with contacts in the actual headlamp, so you can just swap bulbs and snap the holder back in place.

this squigly thing is the side marker bulb holder

you can see the 194 bulb and the contacts on the holder

quick comparison of 194 vs LED size

swapped in the LED

standard incandescent bulb

new LED bulb, much brighter!

Next up, let's go for broke with the Headlights.  Yes these are expensive, but the OSRAM XENARC Night Breaker Laser D3S LEDs are insanely bright! 

very pricey, but extremely bright HIDs from OSRAM

crazy bright, even at dusk!

up next - the PSX24W bulb is really deep in there!

The next light was the most challenging of the bunch, the turning/directional lights are a size I've never worked with previously.  This makes it part of the challenge.  The PSX24W LED socket has two tabs that you push in and the socket is removed.  The big problem with the headlights is that you cannot get your hands in there, at least I couldn't fit my hands.  I opted to use some curved pliers for a while, but ended up snaping off the tabs which let me remove the socket - at least I could swap the bulbs now!

check out that bulb compared to the LED - HUGE difference!

Lastly, let's swap out the turn signal bulbs.  These are sometimes touchy due to a fast flash issue where resistors may be needed.  In this case, I bought the AUXITO CANBUS anti-flash LEDs, and they work perfectly!  On initial startup they'll fast flash for about 3-5 blinks, but then settle in to a regular flash time sequence.

All in, it's not a cheap upgrade at around $225, but dang the light output is PHENOMENAL!!! and still cheaper than aftermarket headlights.  Two big thumbs up!

Upgraded to Diode Dynamics SLF LED Fog Lights

The guys at Diode Dynamics are awesome - not only do they have great products, they stand behind them!  We recently had one of our older LED bulbs die out, so we did an RMA and since they no longer produced those lights, they sent us the latest SLF model LED - and wow are they great!

 

 

here's one of the new LEDs - excellent packaging and plugs right into the fog light socket!

Here's the simple removal/install process... I used to think you had to pull the bumper off these cars, but if you carefully use a flat screwdriver - it pops the fog light fascia off the bumper and all you need is a Torx-30 screwdriver to remove 3 screws!

 

Old LED on top, new setup on the bottom - very slick setup!

the trick to the front section coming off was to put a thin screwdriver in between the bumper and the fascia section for the foglight, you have to check a few locations but once you press down and pop the clips, pull toward the front of the car and it will pop out.

carefully popping off the fascia exposes the lens and 3 screws

3 simple screws and the lens comes right out 

just unplug the old bulb, and add the new LED - and screw/snap it all back together

Light output is excellent and now we have fogs again!  Highly recommended! 

Replacing the D3S HID bulbs in the Ford Focus ST

One of our ST's headlights went out last week, huge difference in light output when one of your HIDs goes out...  So I was on the hunt for a good D3S (the size) replacement...

The stock HID ballast in the ST3 are Osram 35W, so that's already good (as compared to older 25W versions)  There are the usual HID replacement parts, and boy can they be expensive!

One of the top rated bulbs is the OSRAM XENARC Night Breaker Laser D3S rated at 4600K

  

But holy smokes, $170+ for a pair of bulbs!  Surely there must be something better!  I was determined to find a GOOD set of HID for cheaper, and has great light output!

I found the RCP - D3S6 - (A Pair) D3S/ D3R 6000K Xenon HID Replacement Bulb Diamond White Metal Stents Base 12V Car Headlight Lamps Head Lights 35W for a whopping $27

If you know the HID Kelvin color chart, 4.6K from the Osram is a decent HID coloring (as shown below) to see well, if you go too low you're yellow (good for fog lights), and if you go too high - well, you turn into ricer purple, heck I've even seen some guys go to 30,000K and it's HULK green!

Here's the replacement process I used... took me about 20 minutes to do both sides:

    

only 2 screws need to be removed, arrows below

once the screws are out, gently rock the headlight around - you'll know when it comes free - just don't forget to pull the plug that connects to the light - there's a small clip underneath, the tab slides away from the headlight and the clip should pull right out - on the bottom of the headlight you'll see the HID igniter (note the 35W)

pull the rubber cover off the back of the headlight where the HID is located, pretty easy two little tabs available - just give them a tug...  then you'll see the internals where the bulb is connected

I used a flat screwdriver to gently pop off the plug - note the orientation of the bulb

To remove the bulb, there's a twist-lock tab between the bulb and the headlight socket - twist it counter-clockwise (only about a 1/2 in. is all that's needed) and the bulb comes out EASILY.

Here's the OEM HID bulb with the twist-lock collar attached, has a blue igniter - it's an OSRAM XENARC D3S HID Xenon Headlight bulb 66340 - 4.3K color - actually a pretty nice OEM bulb!  About $48/side.

 

NOTE: DO NOT TOUCH THE NEW BULB WITH YOUR HANDS, USE GLOVES!

You have to remove that black twist-lock connector - it's just pressure fit and slides off with a little wiggling.  Note the orientation of the collar as it can fit on the new bulb in a few different angles.  If you can see in the photo above, the open left side of the collar aligns with the plug on the HID bulb.

Below, you can seee the new RCP D3S6 D3S/ D3R 6000K Xenon HID Replacement Bulb has a white ignitor and I've attached the collar.

 

Here's the new bulb installed - just reverse the process and you're done!

Definitely a whiter light than OEM (6K vs 4.3K)

I'll have to do some night pics but so far these lights have not dissapointed at all for only $13 per bulb!  Enjoy!

mounted the DVC Kicker (finally)

I finally got a free afternoon to put the Kicker sub back into the car - it's been so 'empty' without this low-end sound...  but ran out of time, still need to run the power wire to the amp!

Focus ST T-Shirts n-stuff

I've started designing some shirts and stuff for the ST crew - simple design, based on the newer body style '15-up What do you think?

https://www.redbubble.com/people/Toadster88/portfolio

Ford Sync 3 version 3.0 18025 is out!

It's official now, if you waited for the Ford update - it's now available at http://owner.ford.com

What most Apple CarPlay folks are waiting for is the integration of Waze

Also, if you're pre-2017 you'll need the USB upgrade in the center console to work with the Apple CarPlay or Android Auto features for ~ $60 and it's a simple update!

*UNOFFICIAL* SYNC 3 Version 3 update BUILD 17276 is OUT

If you liked my last thread on Ford SYNC 3 Version 3.0 - this is even better!  A new build!

Nav Version

Mirror: Here

Non-Nav Version 
Mirror: Here 

(Follow official pdf instructions below) Installation instructions: 
1. Download. 
2. Unzip onto desktop. 
3. Grab a USB Flash Drive, 32GB minimum. 

4. Format the drive to exFAT.

5. Put the extracted files inside the flash drive. 
6. Turn car on. Turn bluetooth off, just in case(optional). Or master reset before beginning.
7. It might take 5 mins for Updating System Software message to pop up, then 19 mins to install from there on

Depending on the Ford model, it might reboot automatically after installation is complete, if navigation maps don't come back don't worry turn off/on the car again.

*OFFICIAL UPDATE v2.3.10 --> OWNER.FORD.COM*

**CAUTION:There are FOUR versions to this update, MY 16 Nav/Non-Nav, and MY 17 Nav/Non-Nav, a single file will not work for both years! Even if they appear identical, use the one for your model year! You risk damaging APIM and/or Gracenotes and possibly other things**

***FOR INSTALLATION TO GO FLAWLESSLY THE FIRST TIME, USE MIN. 32GB USB DRIVE WITH 3.0 SPEED FOR BEST RESULTS.***

Mirror links:North America: (Follow pdf attachments at the bottom for instructions)
Official link to MY 16 w/Nav: HereOfficial link to MY 17 w/Nav: Here

USB Step 1 PDF
USB Step 2 PDF
USB Step 3 PDF

USB Upgrade to SYNC3 Version 3.0

Well, if you're like me - you love the Ford Sync 3 interface - while it's not perfect, it's pretty darned good!  Carplay is a nice update but if you've updated to IOS 11 - you'll notice some weird things going on - but guess what!? If you don't want to wait for the WiFi update - you can install SYNC 3 Version 3.0 using a USB drive!

There are new features for CarPlay with 

IOS11 https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/23/carplay-ios-11/

1. New Nav Icon. 
2. Fixed keyboard
3. added symbol $
4. MUCH faster interface smoother, snappier
5. Support for new apps

**disclaimer - do this at your own risk! not my fault if it goes belly up!**

Installation instructions: 1. Download. 2. Unzip. 3. Grab a USB Flash Drive, 4GB is fine. 4. Format the drive to either exFAT or FAT32. 5. Put the extracted files inside the flash drive. 6. Turn car on. 7. Plug in car and enjoy!!


***** Note that depending on your USB device it might take up to 10 minutes for the stereo to show "Updating System"... *****

The USB in the car is NOT USB 3 therefore read speed is limited, so if you don't see anything, DO NOT unplug - just wait.... 

There are two versions to update your particular SYNC 3 system
Navigation 
Non-Navigation



found this over at http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90236&fref=gc&dti=935473876561093