LostTheEdge Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 I purchased my 2008 Edge SEL in April 2011. It had everything I wanted except for navigation. After reading a little bit online and digging around I determined that it was possible to do this upgrade without spending a ton of money. The entire process took me an entire year, but I finally have navigation in my car. The bulk of that time was spent trying to find the correct head unit on ebay, as they seem to be rather rare. There might be other units that will work, but I just didn't want to risk it, I wanted to use a model that was known to work for my model of car. What I have learned is that the radios in the Edge's are very complex system with many variables that make it difficult to find a clear answer on exactly what you need to move from the stock radio system to the navigation. I am going to try and spell out exactly what parts you need and what process you will need to go through to perform this upgrade. My car is a 2008 Ford Edge SEL AWD with Sync, Sirus, and the 8 button steering wheel controls (with Vol+, Vol-, Tune+, Tune-, Sync, Media, Hangup, and Ok buttons). The stock radio is a non-audiophile (no subwoofer, non-JBL), 6 disc changer unit. First off you are going to need the following parts: 2008 compatible navigation head unit: 8T4T-18K931-BA This head unit has the chrome bezels around the knobs on the radio that match what was currently in my car. Apparently the earlier models do not have the chrome (2007). GPS add on antenna: 8G1Z-10E893-B This is the GPS antenna that connects to the head unit and allows you to receive the satellite signals for GPS. Navigation map disc: This can be ordered off of ebay.com or if you are "clever" you might find it via alternate means. Once you have the head unit you will need to have it programmed for your vehicle. Call up United Radio at 800-448-0944 and speak to Dan or Ron. Both are extremely knowledge about this process and helped me a great deal, taking the time to answer all of my questions along the way. Additionally, if you don't have the GPS antenna you can purchase it from them directly, although it can be found cheaper on Amazon.com ($66 versus $80, but I don't mind sending a few bucks United's way). United Radio will send you a form to fill out indicating all the features of your current car as well as your vehicles VIN number. They will program the radio for you and turn it around very quickly. Programming is $75 plus shipping. I had the radio back in my hands within the week. They do offer next day shipping if you are willing to pay for it. Installing the radio is rather simple. Pull the fascia off from around the radio. Starting at the bottom use a flat head screw driver and pull the bottom of the fascia towards you. Once on the left and once on the right. Once it is loose just pull it towards you and the entire piece will come off. Don't pull it too hard as the AC controls are still attached, but there is enough slack to move it easily out of the way. This will expose the radio and the four screws that secure the radio to the dashboard. Remove those four screws and pull the radio straight out. It might feel like it is stuck but you just need to give it a gentle tug and it will come out. Disconnect all of the current connections on the stock radio (there should be two connections and one antenna connection). You are now ready to install the GPS antenna and the new navigation radio. At the top of the dashboard there is a small square area on top with a hole to the left. This is where I mounted the GPS antenna. I routed the wire down the hole and to the rear of where the radio is. I used a zip tie to secure the antenna in place. Inside the dashboard hole where the old radio was there is a connector that is secured to a metal brace at the back. Pull that cable out and remove the cover off the plug. The inside of the plug is red, but it has a small cover over it that is quickly removed. You should now have all the connections required to connect the new navigation radio (the two connections from the old radio, the new smaller connection you just uncovered, the GPS antenna connection, and the FM/AM antenna connection from the old radio). Connect all the new connections to the radio. The GPS antenna wire has a a mounting clip on it that can fit into the hole left by the third connector on the metal cross brace. Make sure that all your connectors are connected correctly and you should reverse the steps above to secure the radio in the opening. Make sure the little rubber nub at the back of the radio goes into the support hole at the back of the opening otherwise the radio tilts at angle. Because my car had sync there was an additional step required that I did not perform myself. Attached is a PDF that Ron at United Radio sent me that makes Sync work with the new radio. You have to cut wires in the current wire harness and reroute them around the new navigation radio. I decided not to perform these steps myself but opted to have a radio shop do them for me. Please note that until you have this performed the Sync button on the steering wheel will not work. Additionally, the "Ok" button on the steering wheel no longer has any function once you install the navigation radio. You have two options available 1) replace the buttons with a set of buttons from a navigation equipped car or 2) just live with it. Option one is a bit tricky because the part number for the buttons is the same for both cars (at least this is what I was able to determine). The option suggested to me by Ron was to find a car with navigation and get the VIN, then give the VIN to the Ford Dealer and tell them to order the steering wheel buttons based on that VIN number. I personally opted for option 2. I never really used the Ok button anyways, so I don't miss it. I hope this clears up the mystery regarding upgrading a stock radio to the navigation radio. I know going into this process I was a bit confused with all the options and the lack of clear information available on how this process works. Let me know if you have any questions or need any clarification on the process. 2008-10 Edge-MKX SWC Wiring.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordGuru Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 so realisitically, with my 2010 edge limited with 6CD/MP3 Premium II system with sub and amp i dont have to have the installation kit from united radio? because EVERY time i talk to anyone at united radio they say i cant upgrade to the clarion hdd nav head unit WITHOUT their kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dali555 Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 YOU are upgrading to an aftermarket Clarion unit... so they are correct about you having to get the harness... this guy did a factory unit... so no need for the harness.... so realisitically, with my 2010 edge limited with 6CD/MP3 Premium II system with sub and amp i dont have to have the installation kit from united radio? because EVERY time i talk to anyone at united radio they say i cant upgrade to the clarion hdd nav head unit WITHOUT their kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordGuru Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 YOU are upgrading to an aftermarket Clarion unit... so they are correct about you having to get the harness... this guy did a factory unit... so no need for the harness.... i'm upgrading to the factory unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostTheEdge Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 i'm upgrading to the factory unit I seem to recall Ron mentioning something about the 2010 units being a bit more difficult to work with. So there might be some truth to that. I have a good degree of faith in the guys at United Radio, as they knew the answers to all of my questions (bearing in mind that I had already been researching this entire process for almost a year). If they say you need the installation kit, then you probably need it. Sync is the thing that makes this all so complex. On my car, Sync bypassed the stock non-navigation radio; however with the navigation radio installed you have to route the wires for the Sync through the radio and that turns around and passes the signal to the Sync APIM. (At least this is how the radio installer explained it to me.) Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKXJames Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 Is there any stereo that upgrades and maintains function of sync and thx sound in 2011 mkx?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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