Bought the Vais SiriusXM internal kit; anybody else installed one of these?

[KenT]

I mount my XM antenna on the front center of the roof 1/2 inch above the windshield. The antenna wire can be fitted nicely behind the windshield with a credit card and it becomes COMPLETELY invisible. Run the antenna wire through the joint between the A pillar and front fender, then behind the door weather stripping, then thru a conveniently placed, factory cut, slit in the door weather strip midway down the door to under the dash.

Result, a completely invisible antenna wire WITHOUT having to disassemble and reassemble anything!

Sponsored

 

[KenT]

Re my previous reply, I am adding pix to show my antenna wire run at critical areas.

 

[KenT]

Forgot to attach one pix.

 

[Justin says...]

My dealer had this kit installed in my 23 Mav Lariat hybrid. Antennae was mounted on the roof just behind the stock radio antennae. The wire for the antennae comes out of the third brake light hole, runs behind the third brake light and up to the roof. Works off the factory radio as an added audio source.

Good to hear and thanks for the reply. Could I bother you for a picture of that antenna routing?

 

[KenT]

Good to hear and thanks for the reply. Could I bother you for a picture of that antenna routing?

See post above.

 

[KenT]

Good to hear and thanks for the reply. Could I bother you for a picture of that antenna routing?

Won’t that require lowering the headliner? Same procedure as for the air bag recall. Read some of the horror stories on this site about the condition of their Maverick after taking it in for the air bag recall. There is another way that requires no disassembly. See my post above.

 

[Justin says...]

Won’t that require lowering the headliner? Same procedure as for the air bag recall. Read some of the horror stories on this site about the condition of their Maverick after taking it in for the air bag recall. There is another way that requires no disassembly. See my post above.

I see how yours is run and that's likely what I'll do but I'm just really curious how the other guy has his ran. Sounds to me like it would have to drop the headliner which is more of a task than I'm up for.

 

[KenT]

If you are going through the task of dropping the headliner, then while you have access to it you might as well replace the stock antenna, part MCPZ18936B, with the antenna for the Lariat Lux, part MCPZ18936C. According the the pictures on the parts website, both antennae have three pigtail connector. According to the Maverick wiring diagram, one connector is for AM, the second is for FM, and the third is for both GPS and XM radio. So there should be a wire under the headliner to carry the XM signal to the radio. At the radio end, connect the wire now used only for GPS to the XM radio. (An adopter may be required). You will lose the compass direction signal in the gauges. If you want to keep both, an antenna splitter will be needed. There is one in the Ford parts catalog, but it is specified for vehicles with factory XM; maybe it could be adopted to use here. There are other splitters at Amazon that might work.

Of course, all this assumes that the information in the parts catalog and wiring diagram is accurate, and that my inferences from them are correct. Only dropping the headliner will reveal the truth. I for one don’t want to run that risk. So I have rounded my antenna as pictured above.

For reference, I have attached relevant pages from the parts catalog and wiring diagram.

 

[KenT]

Improved scans of the wiring diagram, and a scan of the rear cab wiring showing location of the antenna wire and connector. The connector on the end of the cab wiring seems to match the connector on the end of the antenna.

 

[KenT]

If you decide to go route of dropping the headliner and replacing the antenna, you will need an adopter. Attached is a picture previously published in this website of the connections to the Maverick radio headend. The XM signal runs thru the blue connector. The grey wire ends in a Fakra female connector. The XM antenna in the Vais kit ends with a female SMB plug and connects to a male SMB jack in the SXV300 tuner included in the Vias kit, as shown in the XM tuner installation guide attached. So to connect one to the other, you need a male Fakra to female SMB adopter. Amazon has one at https://www.amazon.com/Anina-Connector-Satellite-Receiver-Vehicles/dp/B0C42VF4S3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=AR57WZR7DDP9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vCrttRhX5ZsjeqBeIP6Uc0ROkqn1cVANbnHdyIkdrQ5sjDZNK8kOb6PKgTqhVY6BRqhuY9l1ECrrl8OA96P0-uf_XOeJV2dP6HudhtQ47K2YugyXqKmFWED2Fs2vuE8KcV4-kEai9DXYcGZjkVExRx_lUdpAzv8zWpL3I4J_mPxn1larBWSXg-8q9cLoFaT0NlIX4wIVSUVuCKDo9JYwv4Nq6J-fzB1G07eTwr_-uDM.jmg4AlimWapx3p2yzG45u_PWGKbeKB3XD4gGxunyLhA&dib_tag=se&keywords=fakra+antenna+adapter&qid=1705903714&sprefix=Fakra+,aps,182&sr=8-4&th=1
see photo of page attached.

With this info, if anyone wants to try this route to connect XM antenna to Vias, I would love to hear how it works. This is the closest you can possibly get to a factory installation. If you see an error before trying, please inform me.

One still might want to include a splitter so the GPS signal can be connected to the headend, as well as connecting the XM to the Vias, but I have not researched this yet. The wiring diagram suggest that that is what the Ford antenna splitter part is for, but I have not found any more info on that.

 

[Justin says...]

@KenT Thanks for all your research and ideas for the SiriusXM installation. I finally got a chance to install my Vais kit and I'm pretty much done. I say pretty much because the device is installed, but the antenna routing - I'm a little undecided about it. But that's ok as I can readjust it anytime.

For those who just want to see how the installation went, here you go!

To power the kit, 4 wires need a home. Two go to CONSTANT 12V and two go to ground. Fuse #24 is a constant 12v in the passenger side kick panel. I am not happy with my "Add-a-Circuit" as it is too bulky. It works for now, but I will replace it with a "Pre-Wired Fuse" ASAP. Use a body control module bolt for the grounds.

This will be where the unit lives. It's under the orange area. There is plenty of space in there and it's easily accessible. There are only 3 plugs you need to pull over to this area. Power harness, USB input cable, and the antenna wire.

Here are the 2 main devices.

I Velcro'd them together.

Fish your wires through and connect them. I opted to wrap the whole thing in foam tape just in case it was to rattle around in there.

Home Sweet Home. See how I left the port accessible on the back? That's because from time to time there might be firmware updates. This way it's easy to access.

Snug as a bug.

Antenna routing. Here is the excess. Upper right corner of the passenger footwell.

Antenna wire through door jam on its way to the corner of the windshield. I may re-route this at a later date. Today I just wanted to get it working.

Time will tell if this is a good method.

The nightmare. This was the most difficult part of the entire install. I'm not sure what's going on with this trim piece but it doesn't budge at all. For now, the wire just had to go around it. I'll dig into this at a later time.

My choice of antenna placement. You do you, but for now I'm going to keep it here.

Hey, it works! I now have SiriusXM on my list of inputs! Very cool!

Works! So that's it. Now I just have to hide all this USB stuff (my Android Auto wireless connector and SiriusXM USB connector). My idea is to plug them into a USB hub behind the console then just have 1 USB device plugged into the front. That should clean it up.

Here's where I got mine in case you want to do the same.

 

[KenT]

@Justin, thanks for the info and pix. My goal is to replace my RoadyBT XM receiver with the Vias Tech. It is a multi-step process to switch the Maverick Bluetooth connection from iPhone to Roady and back again; it just CANNOT be done safely while driving. Until recently there was no Vias to fit the Maverick. But before I spend $360.00 on the Vias, I want to know if I can do it myself without sending it to an installation shop. To do it myself, I want to remove as few panels as possible. I cannot find anywhere on the web a complete installation manual for the Vias, so I have a number of questions, and some suggestions:

*I think it looks more like a factory installation to center the antenna above the windshield, rather than place it next to the rain gutter. You never see a factory antenna off the vehicle roof center line. But if it works for you…

*Why do you not start the antenna run from the windshield to the cabin thru the gap between A pillar and fender, and by-pass that part of the windshield sealing that you cannot loosen?

*You have a pix of the antenna cable run into the door, but where are you exiting the door to the cabin? Why not exit at the gap between the two ends of the weatherstrip, which clearly shows in your pix, right next to the black door connector. That way, there will be less flexing of the wire every time you open or close the door, because it will be partially recessed into the strip.

* Looks like you installed the Vias GSR box and Sirius tuner in the right side of the center console. Did you consider any other space to put those boxes? How difficult is it to remove that panel on the console? Any tips for doing that?

*You say four wires need a home. I see a red, yellow, green and blue leaving the Vias GSR box. But you do not have a picture of the fuse box with those wires connected, or at least I cannot see where they are connected on your pix. Can you update the pix, or highlight in the pix of the fuse box where the red, yellow, green and blue wires from the Vias GSR are connected to the fuse box.

*Do the two power wires have to be connected to different power points, or can both be connected to the same power point? If different points, do they have different fuse ratings? I don’t see any reason why the two ground wires have to be connected to different points, since they are both going to ground.

*Do you have to connect the power wires to constant power? Seems like then you would have to turn off the XM every time you turn off the ignition, or there would be a constant power drain. If that happens, do you intend to connect instead to switched power?

*What is the difference in purpose between the gray and brown USB connection plugs in the Vias GSR box?

*Does the wire between the GSR unit and Maverick USB port have a USB-A or USB-C jack?

*Does the system display the album cover art?

Sponsored