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Lockpick Grounding Problem


Norton
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Not sure if this is the "right/best" forum in which to post the info, but wanted save others the hassle I went through this weekend when adding a Freedom In Motion Sync Lockpick to the Shelby...


Following an otherwise uneventful install, the Rear Camera feed was garbled and unreadable. Note the black & white, double image that was also flickering on the screen. (Those aren't scratches on the screen. They're part of the flickering captured via still photo. Those are, however, fingerprints on the screen, which bothers me to no end, but that's another story.)

20151012_144254_zpszpgiiqna.jpg


After confirming all the connections were good, we tried swapping out the

- camera, including its wires to the Lockpick

- Lockpick itself

- Lockpick wiring harness


None of this had any effect, leaving me with little choice but to connect the Rear Camera via the Aux Camera input. Although this worked, it required navigating on-screen menus to activate the Rear Camera, rather than having it come on automatically when shifting into reverse. This also left me wondering if my head unit was defective or if the Sync 4.4 update had somehow bricked the ability to add a Rear Camera.


Consult with Coastal Electronic Technologies today suggested a possible Rear Camera (only) ground problem, caused by a Lockpick-INTERNAL relay. Recommended COA was to externally ground an Orange wire with Black Stripe that routes to the Head Unit via a connection at which the wire becomes Green with Black Stripe. (I realize this in not at all intuitive, but I cannot emphasize enough the importance of grounding the RIGHT Orange wire with Black Stripe, since there's also one that routes +12V power to the Rear Camera. Grounding that one would be BAD, for obvious reasons.)


After multi-meter readings seemed to confirm the theory, I installed a vampire tap on the Orange wire with Black Stripe (that routes to the Head Unit via a connection at which the wire becomes Green with Black Stripe) and grounded the other end. This SOLVED THE PROBLEM. The unit and all its capabilities are now fully functional. Shortly after we provided this feedback to Coastal Electronic Technologies, they called back to apologize for the difficulty and thank us for discovering a widespread problem (their QC missed) with a specific relay on circuit boards used in multiple units. I don't know how far/wide the defective units have propagated, but we tried three separate ones and Coastal Electronic Technologies obviously had another defective one in their inventory.


If you experience a similar problem with your Lockpick, you may want to explore this issue before wasting a lot of time repeating the steps we took. Good luck!

Edited by Norton
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Some people are apparently lucky enough to get this installation right the first time. Plug and play, so they say. Not always so. At least it wasn't for me. It was damn difficult, maybe because I have large hands ;). Fortunately, Lockpick has an ace tech who will, if you work with him, get you through the tough problems. You need to be able to have it ready and apart when calling him (or have your own installer call him). Be really nice to him. Don't take any frustration out on him. His name is Carlos, (321) 574-5645.

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Some people are apparently lucky enough to get this installation right the first time. Plug and play, so they say. Not always so. At least it wasn't for me. It was damn difficult, maybe because I have large hands ;). Fortunately, Lockpick has an ace tech who will, if you work with him, get you through the tough problems. You need to be able to have it ready and apart when calling him (or have your own installer call him). Be really nice to him. Don't take any frustration out on him. His name is Carlos, (321) 574-5645.

Carlos was, in fact, the person with whom we consulted at Coastal. My only complaint was his reluctance to admit the problem until confronted with incontrovertible proof of it. Given the time, effort, and money spent installing the system, I'd have preferred not to serve as somewhat of a guinea pig. FWIW, my install would have been uneventful (i.e., plug & play), had the unit not been defective.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been pondering doing doing this mod myself on my 2014. A couple questions.

Did you do a license plate camera.

Were the instructions with camera and Lockpick adequate to disassemble the console and screeen console etc.

Was there any loss of function in the sync system.

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Did you do a license plate camera?

Yes. I'm not sure of the specific make/model, but I got my setup through Mustang Manny and Andy at 12V Solutions in Las Vegas. (I considered shopping for it through traditional Internet outlets but, having seen their setups on other vehicles, I knew what I wanted.) Please pardon the car's lack of cleanliness at the time, but here are photos of the front and rear cameras...

FRONT
20151014_185043_resized_zpskwxv6abe.jpg
REAR
20151014_185154_resized_zps6fazlgkc.jpg
Were the instructions with camera and Lockpick adequate to disassemble the console and screeen console etc.?
While descriptive of the Lockpick itself, associated wiring, and the setup process, I didn't find the instructions particularly descriptive of the required dash disassembly. Thankfully, YouTube offers a number of tutorials including:
Was there any loss of function in the sync system?
None was advertised and, more importantly, I have yet to find any.
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Thanks for comprehensive information and more importantly your experience with the equipment. This is particularily important as we share a common model car. I would love to hear your technique for getting the bugs removed. I too have a similar problem. There has has got to be something better than the individulal bug/toothbrush method.

The front camera is very clean installation. I read somewhere the Lockpick mod caused the startup snake logo on sync screen to no longer display. Did that happen with your install.

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Thanks for comprehensive information and more importantly your experience with the equipment. This is particularily important as we share a common model car. I would love to hear your technique for getting the bugs removed. I too have a similar problem. There has has got to be something better than the individulal bug/toothbrush method.

The front camera is very clean installation. I read somewhere the Lockpick mod caused the startup snake logo on sync screen to no longer display. Did that happen with your install.

You're welcome! One of the things I like best about online forums is the ability to share info/experiences. (FWIW, I'm still looking for something better than the individual bug/toothbrush method too!)

 

My startup logo was/is completely unaffected by the Lockpick install. In fact, I've seen NOTHING different in how the system functions/responds, aside from the addition of camera functionality.

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