Ford Dash Display (FDIM) controller

Description

Easy-to-build DIY controller for your Ford USA vehicle that enables top dash display to show some useful information when stock head unit is removed.

Full source code and assembly instructions are published on GitHub. Ready-made devices are tested on ~10 Ford Escapes and Mercury Mariners in Russia. May support other Ford vehicles with FDIM display, volunteers are welcome.

Functionality

- display current speed, RPM, engine temperature, tires pressure, tires temperature, current time
- configurable display units (km/miles for speed, Celsius/Fahrenheit for temperatures, psi/bars/kPa for pressure, 12h/24h for clock)
- full functionality offered with aftermarket head unit (with no other modules using dash display)
- support for CAN-enabled aftermarket head units (may require minor additional power wiring)
- very early preliminary support for stock head units
- semi-configurable display layout for different head unit types
- configuration made on the fly via serial terminal

Files

can-clock-17-09.zip

Gerber files (latest version always on GitHub)

Zip Archive - 3.10 kB - 10/20/2017 at 08:07

Download

Components

1 × Arduino Pro Micro with non-soldered pins https://aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=arduino+pro+micro

1 × CAN bus controller (MCP 2515 based) https://aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=mcp2515+controller

1 × RTC clock module (DS 3231 based) https://aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=ds3231+raspberry

1 × 5 volts voltage regulator 7805 or similar with wide temperature range and thick heatsink.

1 × Male pin headers straight (2.54mm pitch) You will need the following pieces: one 7 pins, one 4 pins, two 3 pins, two 2 pins, one 1 pin

Project Logs

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Project presentation video
p1ne • 10/13/2017 at 17:46 • 0 comments

Hey, presentation video is added here
Very preliminary support for ESP32 added
p1ne • 10/05/2017 at 15:51 • 0 comments

As a next step of FDIM controller evolution I'm trying to use ESP32 board as its heart. That should allow to read and write some cool text info as track names or navigation hints - and get this data via WiFi link or Bluetooth connection. Code compiles, but may need modification to Sodaq_DS3231 library - inclusion of pgmspace.h should be surrounded by ESP32 macro check (exactly as in can-clock.ino file)

Reverse engineered headlights status in Ford CAN

p1ne • 09/28/2017 at 10:21 • 0 comments

Recently reverse engineered headlights status in MS CAN messages. Already used in my other CAN project - CAN relay. But also can be used for this controller.

Status	CAN ID	b0	b1	b4	b5
Off	3C3	14	0	1	1
Low Beam	3C3	14	39	1	1
Autolamp	3C3	14	2	1	1
Autolamp (night)	3C3	14	3B	1	1
Marker light	3C3	14	1	1	1
High beam	3C3	16	1	1	1

Messages frequency - 0.2-1 Hz

Or, more meaningful by bits

Marker lights	bit 0 of byte b1 - 0 - off, 1 - on	.......M
Low beam	bits 3,4,5 of byte b1 - 000 - off, 111 - on	..LLL...
Autolamp	bit 1 of byte b1 - 0 - off, 1 - on	......A.
High beam	bit 1 of byte b0 - 0 - off, 1 - on	......H.

b0	b1
000101H0	00LLL0AM

Ford Dash Controller @ Moscow Mini Maker Faire
p1ne • 09/25/2017 at 13:08 • 0 comments

On September 9th I've made a workshop "How to build DIY automotive electronics" at Moscow Mini Maker Faire. Been the only workshop with 16+ audience rating. Try to find me - should be easy even for non-Russian speakers :). Maybe next time I need to have more hacking rather than DIY audience, dunno. If you host car hacking conference and want me to talk on it - contact me :)

Slides are evolved version of Mail.ru DIY meetup talk. Updated English slides are coming soon.

View all 4 project logs

Build Instructions

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Discussions

galvinalmer wrote 04/13/2023 at 23:04

There has been a great deal of value to me in my involvement with the project. Would like to share it with the sprinter van expediting team so they can also read it and implement something new.

Are you sure? yes | no

Manu wrote 10/05/2017 at 20:06

Hi, great project!

Did your experimentation with esp32 CAN work? I tried it for a similar project: https://hackaday.io/project/27439-smart-car-radio but ended with Arduino for ease of use

Are you sure? yes | no

p1ne wrote 10/18/2017 at 15:46

Hi Manu,

Not yet, I'm polishing the code to make it work on ESP32. One of the early controller versions used ESP8266 for WiFi and getting text to print. But later I simplified the schematics. ESP32 may be interesting thing to experiment on, but it's the matter of free time :)

I saw your project btw, cool one :)

Are you sure? yes | no

Ford Dash Display (FDIM) controller

Description

Files

can-clock-17-09.zip

Components

Project Logs

Collapse

Project presentation video

Very preliminary support for ESP32 added

Reverse engineered headlights status in Ford CAN

Ford Dash Controller @ Moscow Mini Maker Faire

Build Instructions

Collapse

Discussions

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