Ford-GPS-Module

Interfacing with commonly found GPS module via CAN BUS inside Ford vehicles.

Background

Many newer ( 2010+ ) Ford models come equipped with a GPS Module, this is often the case regardless of trim level or additional upgrades ( navigation units ). Through the CANBUS of the vehicle, you can read the GPS data from this module and use it for various applications, such as tracking; or use the module standalone and integrate into another project. It is great because it comes as an all in one package: Enclosure, GPS SOC, GPS Antenna, Power Regulation, etc...

Hardware

You can find the standalone module second-hand for quite cheap on markets like eBay, or they can be pulled from scrap vehicles in wrecking yards. The GPS module is under the dashboard on the passenger side ( behind the airbag ) Make sure to also cut the wiring harness to save yourself the effort of needing to build your own cable/connector.

Common markings I've seen for this module are:
MAANAT0256
BQWSG
BQWSA

Teardown

See more images in the docs folder.

Pinout

#   CABLE COLOR     PIN

1   RED/GREY        VBAT
2   ORANGE/GREY     CANH
3   ORANGE/PURPLE   CANL
4   N/A             NC
5   N/A             NC
6   BLACK/BLUE      GND
             

Interface / Operation

The module is interconnected to the rest of the vehicle using CANBUS over the MS-CAN ( Medium Speed ) interface at a speed of 125kbps.

The module will automatically go to sleep if there is no CAN activity, so a periodic ( 1 sec ) ping or message will keep the module awake.

You can power the module with power source ranging from ( ~5-15V ).

Example

Using your microcontroller of choice ( Arduino, ESP32, etc...) and a CAN Transciever it is very easy to read the GPS Data that is sent over CAN Messages.

Here is an example of reading the GPS data from the CAN Messages:

TODO

• implement the function to unpack/decode the CAN Frame as described in the OpenDBC table.

References

Decoding Ford CANBUS: https://github.com/commaai/opendbc/blob/master/ford_cgea1_2_ptcan_2011.dbc#L1446