Ok, sorry for the misinformation!

Jason

 

OK so unfortunately my skid steer Olga fell sick yesterday with a major oil leak so whilst we await a friend with a trailer to take her to the "hospital" (and hoping for no more snow) I have some time on my hands for some of the mods I outlined above.

First on the list is adding to the OEM reverse lights which are a joke. So I want to install an LED pod like on my Touaregs connected to the backup lights and mounted either right or left of the tow hitch. Alas, since all signals to the reverse lights are digital that is not going to work. So then someone suggested connecting them to the (blue) reverse light wire on the tow wiring bundle/connector. Alas once again the Porsche engineers (and VDub) have that one covered as well as the circuit will not energize unless its under load - meaning unless you actually have a trailer connected. Discussing this with a friend, he pointed me to:

http://www.ncs-systems.com/car-elect...-park-one.html

This will provide me with an analog 12v signal that I can connect to my LED pod. The Macan isn't mentioned on their list of approved vehicles, but I was assured by their Tech folks it would work. Price is reasonable at 39 Pounds as it's from the UK. There's supposed to be an App with specific install instructions that I'm waiting for a pointer to unless it comes as part of the kit. Stay tuned.

siberian

The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow

 

That's an interesting product. I'm guessing they have a way around the 0-6mph signal range? If that's something one can bypass or alter, that little, cheap box has all sorts of applications.

 

They have a whole range of products and I believe one of them addresses the very one you mention. Very quick turn around and (normal) shipping was 13.50 Pounds (maybe 20 bucks or so).

siberian

The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow

 

So whilst I await clarification as to which install file to download as the Macan isn't listed I can answer DJREZ4's question below.

To get an idea I downloaded instructions for a 2011 and later Cayenne (I'm venturing a guess that this is closer to the Macan than a Cayman or 911).

The instructions states that the CAN Bus bundle is located behind the driver's side kick panel. The bundle contains all kinds colored wires of course, but for the purpose I need I only have 5 wires to worry about.

* Blue wire going to the low CAN Bus voltage,

* White going to the high CAN Bus voltage,

* Black going to ground (will extend with a brown wire to keep it VDub/Porsche/Audi consistent),

* Red wire going to SWITCHED 12v supply with a 5 amp fuse

and finally a

* Purple wire which is my signal when the box IDs reverse and transforms that from digital to analog 12 v. There is also a small LED light with different colors identifying correct and incorrect signal detection.

I will see if I can find a bundle closer to the rear so I don't have run that much wire.

As to your question: the purple wire is a speed dependent output. It provides 12 v continuously while below 6mph. The orange wire (which my config does not have or call for) provides 12 v between speeds of 1 to 6mph.

As soon as I hear back from them I'll confirm that the install procedure is similar to the Cayenne or if not to what Porsche model to use. It was soooooo much simpler on my 2008 Touareg...

siberian

The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow

 

Correction seems the CAN Hi wire color is Green or Orange/Green and the CAN LOW is Orange/BROWN. Need to confirm with them again if the rest works. Stay tuned

siberian

 

Siberian,

if you search for CAN wires closer to the back - have a look at the PDC ECU (located directly behind the right panel in the trunk) and the connector to the backup camera (same area, sitting close to the right rear light).

I was able to locate CAN wires there while retrofitting my OEM backup cam (PDC ECU was already there).

CAN HIGH = orange/violet
CAN LOW = orange/brown

Switched 12V is also available at camera connector inside (Kl 30 = violett, Kl 31 = brown)

Cheers
Ray

 

Here is the reply and connections required:

Macan is MLBEvo platform, same as a range of other VAG vehicles. CAN HI will be one of the colours that I advised - some MLBEvo cars CAN HI is Green on others it is Green / Orange, there is no rhyme or reason why VAG do not use the same colour across all models. You can connect wherever you like as long as it it is to the Comfort Bus, however, VAG also use the same colour wires on some models for their diagnostic CAN which does not feature live data - if you connect 'mid-harness', you could be on the diagnostic spur. The reason we guide installation to the front door harness is that there are always modules inside the doors that use the Comfort CAN.

Manufacturers are prone to changing the design of their vehicles, hence we only offer generalised installation assistance due to this issue.



RED <- Switched 12V
BLACK <- Ground (0V)
WHITE <- CAN HI
BLUE <- CAN LO

PURPLE -> 12V+ Reverse Engaged

What year is your Macan Rainer? Is the camera connection analog or digital?

siberian

The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow

 

My Macan is MY17.

The camera video connection itself is an analogue coax cable running from the connector behind the panel right hand side in the trunk into the PCM4 system for the video signal (2 additional PINs in existing connector). This was the cumbersome part inside the car.

This adds to the 4 cables mentioned already (CAN HIGH, LOW, 12V, Ground) going inside the cam.

(Funny enough, the cam itself has totally different cable colors (it's an Audi part) but this is only confusing when you do a retrofit and those can only be seen when you remove the rear bumber and take a closer look at the cam and its connector)

 

Coax? I was wondering who was still using the stuff Thanx for your reply!

Did you take any pics whilst you were doing the retrofit (specifically of the wire bundles)? When I installed the cameras on our Touaregs (I changed HUs) I just ran RF signals from the tail to the front as I didn't want to run the wires. The Tx/Rx components are cheap, work well and are sold on eBay and elsewhere. I case of the V8 Touareg since it was using an RGB signal and I wasn't going to spend the time and money to get a 12v converter, I just added another camera, swapping out one of the license plate lights (it came with it's own LED light) and left the OEM one in place.

siberian

The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow

 

I did not pay much attention on pics, but this is rather easy to explain:

1. You need a different OEM cable set which runs behind the bumper. It contains the connector and cables to the camera so you don't need much explanation or do any self-cabling there. This bundle connects the PDC and Camera and has a connection point inside the car, below the right tail light.
2. At the inside connector, you need to retrofit 4 PINs / cables, (switched +12V from fuse box in the trunk, CAN wires I pointed out above). I can easily access it and take pictures, but it just shows a connector w/ cable bundle where 4 cables are now extra...
3. Last not least you need to run the OEM video coax cable to the PCM in the front. Good it already has PINs attached at the PCM side, so you just need to put those PINs into the correct connector slot. One reason to go for OEM coax - easy install into the PCM. Different slots for PCM4 vs PCM 3.1 btw..
4. Coding of the PDC is required of course afterwards (no coding of PCM required)
5. Needless to say, you have to cut a proper hole into the bumper. It is marked at the inside which helps a little... ;-)

Thus, what you need is 2 OEM cable sets (bumper, video coax) and a little bit of extra wire plus some extra PINs to fit into the connector as well as into the fuse box.

All in all it cost me around 250 USD (used Audi camera plus the 2 new cable sets), rest was DIY.

If anybody wants to go for the same mod, I can share the part numbers and wiring details.
For coding - guess one should use Piwis, not sure about the other gadgets around.

 

Thank you so much for your detailed description. Actually my goal is much simpler.

I already have the camera, what I need is to intercept a CAN BUS or 12v signal when the car is in reverse.

The objective is that the useless reverse lights up here are constantly covered with snow and mud and even if they weren't their only purpose is to tell the car behind you're in reverse. They don't actually illuminate anything. Thus what I want is to modify it the same as on my Touaregs. I've got a 6 LED light pod that I will install on the right or left side of the tow hitch to be active when the car is in reverse. I bought this handy box from Canm8.com which converts a PCM signal into 12v, so just need to find the right color wire and bundle for the wires.

To be sure I actually tap into the Convenience bus and not the maintenance one they suggested to tap into it on the driver's side kick panel. That's too far from where I need the voltage. So I am looking for a location in the trunk of the car to do this (thus the Orange/Violet and Orange/Brown cables). Need to find the color of the switched 12v.

Again thank you!

siberian

The best long distance runners eat raw meat, run naked and sleep in the snow