The "how to disable the data link to Ford" thread

[Tomster]

Haven't seen it in person, and it looks fine on my land boat (admittedly an SUV size car). I was more referring to the disabling of the Ford monitoring for insurance reasons.

No its disabling for privacy reasons. Insurance is the concern of some and one of mine, but not included to that topic.

Edited to add:
What right does anyone have to monitor my driving unless I specifically consent?

Another edit:
So where does it end? Is it ok to have law enforcement or any other agency monitor and be able to have a lookback?
I submit to anyone here that if Ford is monitoring driving habits and conditions, whether you enroll in Ford Pass or not, that data is surely being stored, most likely categorized by your VIN number. If you were ever involved in an accident or incident, any lawyer worth his weight in salt would get a court order to obtain that information.

Again, back to my point, its my privacy. Nobody has the right to monitor or store my driving data without my express consent.

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[HoosierDaddy]

You like the shark fin antenna? I think its hideous. It belongs on an SUV.

Other than people influenced by opinions, I can see lots of people liking either one better, if for no other reason than shark week is a thing and low profile week isn't. I predict future posts claiming the shark fin helps to counteract unwanted yaw.

 

[Tomster]

Other than people influenced by opinions, I can see lots of people liking either one better, if for no other reason than shark week is a thing and low profile week isn't. I predict future posts claiming the shark fin helps to counteract unwanted yaw.

Sure, and to each their own. I respect that. Whatever floats your boat.

My perception of the shark fin antenna is that the original design of the car had the low profile antenna. For the sake of reception (and probably cost savings) they decided to go with a single multifunction antenna as opposed to an array of segregated antennas for each system

And besides, I think the low profile looks better anyway.

 

[Tomster]

Hey man, I'm just trying to compliment your workmanship.

On the point of consent, I guarantee you did. It's likely somewhrre in all the documentation you didn't read closely enough at purchase. They bury things like this in legalese on purpose. It's like software EULA's, do you read fully through those every time, and at every update after? It's a bullshit policy, but in no way unique to Ford.

Prove lack of consent, and you can take legal action (I think it would fall under an illegal wiretap). But iff it was lack of due diligence, you're just guilty of the same negligence as everyone else. Yeah, it sucks that you practically need a law degree to buy a pack of gum, but them's the Brembo's.

Its ok man, its all part of the discussion. We are good.

 

[DPGT]

Hey gents I got a Text from my salesman telling me they want me to bring mine in to hook me up to Ford pass.
Since I really don’t want it just decline and pull fuse? I’m going low profile now that i cant stop looking at this thing. I’d leave it if it was smaller and thinner. Now it just looks huge.

need to get the Raptor and the R done as well.

 

[ice445]

Hey gents I got a Text from my salesman telling me they want me to bring mine in to hook me up to Ford pass.
Since I really don’t want it just decline and pull fuse? I’m going low profile now that i cant stop looking at this thing. I’d leave it if it was smaller and thinner. Now it just looks huge.

need to get the Raptor and the R done as well.

He gets a straight commission if you sign up. You can just ignore it, or you can help him out and immediately disable it.

 

[Tomster]

I just verified functionality today. TCU is still dead, and my GPS/SAT radio is working fine with the low profile antenna.

Remove the two side trim pieces that go along rear window. Carefully pull headliner down so you can find the two magnets that hold the headliner up. Seperate the magnets from the roof to give you room to work. Be careful not to crease the headliner. There is a double barreled blue connector at the end of the shark antenna lead. Disconnect it. Use a 10mm long wrench or low profile socket wrench to undo the bolt on the installed shark antenna. Loosen it most of the way. Gently pry shark antenna out of mounting hole in roof. Use a tool that won't scratch.

once antenna has been removed, carefully remove the blue double barreled connector at the end of the shark antenna. The metal portion of the connector should not be touched. You are interested in salvaging the double barreled blue plastic connector. You will see the connector is fragile, so take your time.

Remove the pea green plastic connector from the low profile antenna and discard it. You won't ever need it again, so don't worry about damaging it. Install the salvaged blue double barreled plastic connector onto the low profile antenna lead as shown in the attached photo. Make sure you put the lead into the correct barrel of the blue plastic connector. You don't want to take a chance on damaging that connector again.

Take the low profile antenna lead and put it in the hole in the roof, slide the lead all the way in, lightly push the antenna into place, and it will gently snap into position.

Go back into the car, pull the headliner down like you did before, and connect the antenna lead to the harness. Next take a torque wrench and set it for 62 in. lbs. Thats inch pounds, not foot pounds. Torque the antenna mounting bolt to spec and thats it..... no more shark antenna.

 

[The Chairman]

He gets a straight commission if you sign up. You can just ignore it, or you can help him out and immediately disable it.

Yes, he get a commission and you get 42,000 points to spend. You can disable after you spend your points.

 

[Tomster]

Hey gents I got a Text from my salesman telling me they want me to bring mine in to hook me up to Ford pass.
Since I really don’t want it just decline and pull fuse? I’m going low profile now that i cant stop looking at this thing. I’d leave it if it was smaller and thinner. Now it just looks huge.

need to get the Raptor and the R done as well.

Yes, the more you look at the shark antenna on this car, it makes me think of a really hot chick with a big honking nose or something.... the shark antenna just doesn't look right.

No offense to those who have significant others with big honking noses. People around here (especially the 350 section) seem to be delicate and fragile lately. Apologies in advance.

 

[Tomster]

The photo of the connector in post #201 above is not available. The very slight differences are OEM proprietary and you cannot obtain that exact connector. However, there is an alternate connector made by the same company that will work. The only difference between the two is that the two small flanges on the OEM connector (the C version) is is not present on the generic version (the Z version). I have ordered the Z version from Mouser and will probably have them in a few days. The differences are moot because the snap lock portion of the connector keeps the orientation correct when joined with the harness of the vehicle.

If anyone is interested in the antenna swap, I would be happy to send you one of these connectors. Let me know via PM

.

 

[Jmeo]

So.... it looks like us job 1 owners can just unplug the cellular antennas from the module on the rear wall of the trunk.

 

[Tomster]

That's kind of hilarious. Does that antenna only go to the module though?

It probably goes to a splitter. I would guess that this would disable the cellular portion. I have come to find that the car will seek out a wifi connection of available.

 

[Tomster]

And it has a good enough NIC to auto resolve any open connections I assume. Have you seen the movie Christine by chance? We're not too far off from cars being sophisticated enough to experience jealousy.

I'm serious. I had the cellular disabled and when it came across a wifi connection, ET phoned home.

 

[The Chairman]

Would disconnect before the splitter at the blue circle:

I disconnected both wires after the splitter and pulled them though the body when I removed the rear cover.

Tom: Do you have one of these on each side (Cell antennas). They are below the side marker lights, right next to the muffler:

 

[Tomster]

Would disconnect before the splitter at the blue circle:

I disconnected both wires after the splitter and pulled them though the body when I removed the rear cover.

Tom: Do you have one of these on each side (Cell antennas). They are below the side marker lights, right next to the muffler:

My car is in the shop again due to poor quality control.

When I get it back I plan to investigate. My theory is that I don't. When I disconnected my shark antenna there was zero connectivity until the car was near a wifi hotspot.

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