GUIDE: Adding Factory Bluetooth - Step by Step

[piccarp27]

This guide shows how to retrofit a factory Hands-Free Module (HFM) into a Dodge Journey that did not originally come with Bluetooth. This method allows you to install HFM without replacing the entire wiring harness.

 

The cost of the project is dependent on how much of the required parts/tools you already own but the estimated cost is $200-400 USD.

 

Instead of swapping the full interior harness (which is extremely time-consuming), this method uses a custom-built extender harness that plugs in between the factory radio connector and the radio itself. This allows you to integrate the HFM cleanly while leaving all factory wiring untouched. If you ever want to revert the modification, you can simply remove the harness.

 

To my knowledge, this is one of the only documented methods of successfully adding factory Bluetooth to a non-equipped Journey without doing a full harness swap. Most discussions online conclude that it’s either not possible or not worth the effort. The only other example I found involved replacing the entire interior wiring harness from a donor vehicle, with little documentation of the actual process. For this, I chose not to add the hands-free buttons to the wheel as it would cause unnecessary complications. The uconnect touchscreen still has redundant controls for the hands-free functions.

 

This method is far more practical and can be completed in a few hours once everything is prepared. I personally did it in four hours.

 

 

NOTE: This guide has diagrams/images which may not be visible in the future. Here is a Google Drive link with all diagrams and relevant files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sKNHlbZhQnC4bLcq930cgLBoLtlHTxa6?usp=sharing

 

and in case that's gone, here is an Imgur backup (I recommend checking the Drive link first): https://imgur.com/a/I2SpCL7

 

 

 

Background:

About a year ago, I got a 2012 Journey SE from a family member. The car has been great overall, but the base 4.3" Uconnect system is obviously dated. For a while I had a Carpuride CarPlay unit mounted on the dashboard, but I was always frustrated with the messy wires and sound quality.

 

I am aware that ~$150 units exist that replace your Uconnect radio with a CarPlay system, but to be honest I really don’t want a borderline-dropshipped Android radio from China replacing a core Dodge function. I also suspect these units are not calibrated to adjust the sound for the cabin, meaning they won’t sound as good as the Uconnect radio.

 

Later on, I upgraded to an RB5 8.4" Uconnect system from a 2016 Journey Crossroad. That upgrade worked perfectly, including GPS and SiriusXM after adding a roof-mounted antenna. However, the one thing still missing was factory Bluetooth.

 

After looking into it, I found that most people said retrofitting the factory hands-free system wasn’t possible because the wiring isn’t present in vehicles that didn’t come with it. Rather than accept that, I went through the Journey circuit diagrams myself and found that it is possible; you just have to add the missing connections manually.

 

This guide is the result of that process.

 

 

 

 

Before You Start:

 

This tutorial assumes you are comfortable with:

 

-basic soldering

-reading pinouts / wiring diagrams

-working around vehicle electronics

 

 

It is not necessarily intended as a beginner guide, but I’ve included as much detail as possible to make the process clear. For reference, I personally completed this with no prior automotive wiring experience; just the power of patience and being careful.

 

 

What You’re Actually Building:

What you’re creating is a plug and play bridge harness for the main 22-pin radio connector, with an additional branch that connects to the Hands-Free Module.

 

The factory setup normally has a single 22-pin connector that plugs directly into the back of the radio and then a separate cable running from the electric system to the HFM module which is usually located in the driver-side footwell. Since vehicles without Bluetooth don’t have the wiring for the HFM, those connections simply don’t exist.

 

This modification works by inserting a custom extender harness in between:

One end plugs into the radio

The other end plugs into the car’s original 22-pin connector

 

Instead of just passing everything straight through, this harness breaks out specific wires and routes them to a separate HFM connector. Those wires are:

 

-audio signals

-CAN bus communication

-power and ground

 

So electrically, you are:

-passing through all unrelated wires unchanged

-intercepting only the circuits needed for the HFM

-sharing those circuits between the radio and the HFM where required

 

The end result is a three-way harness:

 

Car →

Your custom bridge harness →

Radio

    and then a split off to the ↘ HFM

 

No factory wires are cut or modified. Everything is handled within this intermediate harness.

 

FIGURE 1:

 

 

IMPORTANT:

For picking out which hands-free module to buy for this project, know that there were many revisions over the years. I highly recommend getting a later revision such as 68342289AA or 68342289AC. I went with 68342289AA pulled from a 2019 vehicle. Getting an early model is risky because hardware issues caused connection bugs. In addition, you'll want to get the module reflashed. Uncle Sam Autos on ebay sells these later modules with the reflashing already applied so it's super easy to get access to one. Reflashing is important because software corruption and bloat can also cause these units to have connection issues. Getting the reflash ensure you have the newest firmware for these units plus a clean slate to prevent issues.

 

 

 

What you'll need:

-A hands-free module (recommend a reflashed later revision like 68342289AA and 68342289AC)

 

-Three Metra 70-6522 pigtail connectors (Each Metra 70-6522 pigtail only includes 11 populated terminals, and 2 on each are different sizes (the power and ground). Since the radio connector requires 22 pins, you’ll need to buy three pigtails and harvest the extra terminals using a depinning tool and combine the pins all into one connector).

 

-Depinning kit mentioned above

-One Metra 71-6524 pigtail connector

 

-The 22-pin hands-free module connector pigtail (note: this is not the same as the radio unit pigtails needed). I got mine from a salvage website but if you cannot find it, the connector number is a “11392”. I found this Toyota connector online which is the exact same although I recommend to find a pigtail version that has the wires coming out of it. https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~housing~connector~f~90980-11392.html

 

-Soldering iron

- 1/8" 3:1 heat-shrink tubing to cover your solder joints. A heat gun is recommended for applying the needed heat. I tried using a lighter but it was hopeless.

 

-A microphone. The Journeys usually use a microphone mounted in the mirror. You just need any 3.5mm electret condenser microphone. I went with a Zalman ZM-MIC1. Make sure the cable length is more than long enough to run it. The Zalman wire is long enough. Note that the Zalman mic is intended for shirt clips so your voice won’t be very loud and you’ll have to talk loudly. Other OEM solutions are: the Journey auto-dimming mirror with microphones which requires a 12v power tap, the Dart/Ram manual dim mirror with microphones, or Mopar standalone microphones.

 

-Torx T20 screwdriver

-Trim removal tool (optional and I find it to not be necessary)

-Zip ties or another tool to secure the HFM to the car.

 

-An OBDLink EX or MX and AlfaOBD for programming the car. If your car is a 2018 or newer, you might need an SGW bypass. Do research about this if your car is a 2018 or newer.

-Patience

 

 

 

 

CREATING THE HARNESS:

 

The first order of business is to create the extender cable for the main 22-pin connector. You'll need to take two of the three Metra 70-6522 connectors and harvest the pins into the third connector. Note, on these connectors, you put your depinning tool in from the back where the wires go into the connector. Once you have a full 22-pin connector, look at the keying on the top. See the two hollow boxes? You'll need to cut them clean off all the way. I achieved this by using an Xacto knife. These are keyed for older Chrysler vehicles and a version for newer vehicles doesn't exist (as there isn't a need for them besides this project). Next, you'll need to solder the complete Metra 70-6522 connector wires to the Metra 71-6524 connector wires. For now, you'll only be connecting the wires that are unrelated to the hands-free system.

 

 

 

 

Here are the list of pins in the 22-pin radio wire harness that do not play a role in the hands-free system and should be soldered together at this time (meaning soldered from one pigtail to the other. Make sure you match the correct wire on both sides to prevent any issues! Because you’re making an extender harness where both ends face outwards, you’ll have to line them up by opposites. Meaning, the top right pin on one connector goes to the top left of another. I’ve illustrated this in the diagram below): 

 

Pins: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. These pins are unrelated to the hands-free module and can simply be passed through the extender harness.

 

FIGURE 2:

 

FIGURE 3:

 

FIGURE 4:

 

 

 

Before soldering the wires together, make sure to slide heat shrink tubing through so you can use it to close up the wire splice. Make sure you solder the correct wires from both connectors! You can find many videos online which show how to easily do the solder jobs.

 

So just to write it out for you: the pins on the main radio 22-pin connector that should NOT be soldered at this step (the ones that are needed for the HFM mod) are: 1, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17

Once you finish this, you can use a multimeter to do a continuity check and make sure you used the right pin wires on both connectors and that your solders are solid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now comes the tricky part: you’re going to take the HFM pigtail connector and make a three-way splice with the rest of the wires on the radio Metra extender harness you’ve been working on.

 

NOTE: The pin number on the HFM connector end does not correspond with the pin number on the radio end.

 

FIGURE 5:

 

FIGURE 6:

 

Here are the pins you should start with:

PASS RDO AUD LT: HFM Pin 8 solders to Radio Pin 14

PASS RDO AUD RT: HFM Pin 9 solders to Radio Pin 13

PASS RDO AUD REF: HFM Pin 10 solders to Radio Pin 15

CAN BUS + : HFM Pin 14 solders to Radio Pin 6

CAN BUS - : HFM Pin 4 solders to Radio Pin 17

BATT FEED + : HFM Pin 1 solders to Radio Pin 12 (WARNING: THIS IS ALWAYS HOT EVEN WHEN THE CAR IS OFF)

GROUND: HFM Pin 22 solders to Radio Pin 1

 

For improved clarity, here is a table:

Function        HFM Pin    Radio Pin

--------------------------------------------------

Audio Left         8          14

Audio Right        9          13

Audio Reference    10         15

CAN Bus +          14         6

CAN Bus -          4          17

Battery Feed       1          12

Ground             22         1

 

You MUST twist all the CAN BUS + and – wires together to prevent Electro-Magnetic Interference.

 

Also, twist the audio wires around the AUD REF wire. I used electrical tape to hold the wires together and then secured the electrical tape with zip ties so that it would not slide in hot weather.

 

 

Next, the microphone needs to be connected to the HFM connector. Using my Zalman ZM-MIC1 as the example but it shouldn’t vary too much for you unless you’re using an OEM solution. Cut the 3.5mm jack end off the microphone and get to the bare wires. When you expose the wires, you’ll need to wire them to specific wires on the HFM pigtail. Note: I’m referring to the HFM pigtail, not the big Metra radio extender.

 

The circuit diagrams imply that the auto-dimming mirror on the factory Bluetooth-equipped Journeys have two microphones rather than one. For this, I’ve only bought the one microphone that I plan to clip to the headliner edge near the top of the windshield.

 

Solder the MIC IN + wire from your cut open microphone cable to HFM Pin 16.

Solder the MIC IN – wire from your cut open microphone cable to HFM Pin 17.

 

As with audio and CAN bus, twist the mic cables around each other.

 

Once all of the pins and wires I’ve mentioned are all wired in and the solder joints are covered with heat-shrink tubing, you’re ready to go! If you have any other exposed wires on the HFM pigtail, you can de-pin and remove them or safely block them off or de-pin and remove them. Because I only installed one microphone, the two pins for Mic 2 were left over.

 

 

 

 

 

INSTALLATION:

 

To install what you’ve created, go to your car and use a trim removal tool or similar (you can technically even use a flat-head screwdriver to get under the silver trim lines in the Journey cabin. You can find videos online on how to pop these off and remove them. Here is a video showing that process (you only need to pop the trims off, remove the climate control panel, and slide the radio out. The screen can stay where it is): https://youtu.be/9PUQvJ_jxyo?si=VIG8AiJxBMpy7_sl

 

Because the Journey you’re doing this mod on never had the Hands Free Module, the mini-USB port that connects the USB hub in the center console will be plugged right into the back of the radio. You will not need to connect the mini-USB port into the HFM so that port on the HFM can be left blank.

 

Unplug the large 22-pin connector that runs into the radio and plug in your two Metra connectors as the bridge between them. One Metra end plugs into the radio and the other plugs into the car’s connector that used to go to your radio.

 

Now you should have all three ends of your custom three-way harness connected to the car.

 

 

 

You can run the small microphone through the holes in the side of the radio compartment. It is very easy to do this if you remove the glovebox. You can find videos online of how to do this. Simply open your glovebox and push the tabs on either side inwards which releases the glovebox. Then you can slide the retaining cable off and remove the glovebox. Assuming you’re in a left-hand drive vehicle, when you stick your head into the cavity where the glovebox was and look to your left, you’ll see the holes in the metal which lead straight to the radio unit compartment. Pull your microphone through there and you can find areas near the a-pillar trim where the mic and wire can come out and run up the a-pillar. Then clip it to where you’d like. I connected mine to the headliner edge near the rear-view mirror.

 

Note that with these small electret condenser mics, hitting bumps on the road will drown out your voice. If you can find a way to soften the connection point where it clips to your car, you’ll get better results with voice. This isn’t the biggest issue in the world as it even happens from factory-microphone setups on some cars.

 

Next, you’ll have to find a place near the radio unit where you can attach the HFM. I found the best place to install it was behind the screen above the radio. In the video I linked above, watch the step where the screen is removed. Once the screen is removed, you can place the HFM in the back left corner and feed the HFM wire from the bridge up to it. Then you can wedge the HFM in and secure it down with zip ties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROGRAMMING YOUR CAR FOR HANDS-FREE:

 

Once you get to this point, everything should be all good! You can put your radio back in and put the dashboard back together. The last thing you need to do is program the car so it knows you installed a hands-free module.

 

Plug your OBDLink into the OBD port located in the driver-side footwell. I prefer the Windows version of AlfaOBD as it offers more features so I use the OBDLink EX which is the wired version. The OBDLink MX+ is the wireless version which I know people prefer for the Android version of AlfaOBD.

 

Set the car to RUN/ON without starting the engine. Once you plug into the car and have AlfaOBD opened, connect to the Body Computer, then select the “Active Diagnostics” tab at the top. Once you’re there, go to the bottom of the giant drop-down box options and find “car configuration change”. On the bottom of the screen, there is a blank box and then a drop-down box underneath it. The top, blank box is actually a search. Search for “hands” and three config settings will appear relating to the hands-free module. Select each one and set them to “Enabled” “Yes” or any other similar affirming term.

 

Note that AlfaOBD can be buggy when selecting settings you’ve searched for. For example, if you search “hands” and select the first search result, it might select the second one and so on. To get around this, just click and hold instead and then drag your mouse up until the first option becomes highlighted and then release.

 

Once all three hands-free options are set, unplug from the car, turn it off, and get out of the car. Lock the doors and let the car rest uninterrupted for a few minutes. When you get back in, start the car and Bluetooth should be present! If a code is required for Bluetooth, it’s most likely 0000.

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by piccarp27
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