Sirius Satellite Radio on Canadian Outies - SOLUTION (Updated June 25)

Okay after investing an insane amount of time and a few bucks to have Sirius Satellite Radio play through my factory Nav unit (just like our US brothers and sisters) I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news first - the MMCS communicates with the satellite tuner via the CAN Bus.  This is a very slick communication protocol that has been around since the mid-80's but is just now being adopted en masse by car manufacturers and in fact is mandatory for 2008 and beyond.diagnostic testing.  Why is this bad news?  Because the tuner itself must be CAN compliant which there are zero, nada, none available with the exception of late model Chrysler vehicles.

So I ordered a Chrysler tuner for an 07 Magnum to see if I could figure out a way to get it to work.  My reserach into Chrysler's CAN communication protocol discovered it was not proprietary - GREAT news!  (Some manufacturers have opted for proprietary communication protocol on the CAN Bus).  CAN communciates by sending digital 1's and 0's over twisted pair wiring - it is very simplistic.  There is a tonnes of info available on the net about CAN decoding on Chrysler and in particular SIRIUS decoding!

So I was feeling extremely optimistic at this point that I would be able to get this to work.  Got the tuner and antenna all wired up, (already had my CAN Bus activated for Sirius so the option now shows up on my head unit), turn the key on, push MODE button, select SIRIUS and..........


NADA - Antenna Error Detected!  WTF?!?!?

Did some more research and discovered the Chrysler signal is actually decoded backwards on the Chrysler CAN Bus.  DAMN.

So, the only way to get this to work is to actually get a hold of a Factory SIRIUS tuner, run it through a tool called a "data logger" which will display all the data bits the MMCS uses and then compare them the the Chrylser data.  Once this information is known, a software interface could be written to get the data rearranged into a format the MMCS can use.

I am not a programmer and I've taken this as far as I can so if anyone else is interested in pursuing this option, PM me and I can share what I know.

BTW, Chrysler did take back their tuner they so kindly "lent" me for the weekend.

Alright, so what is the good news?

The Mitsubishi factory tuner (Part # 8701A103) will be available in July, despite what Mitsubish Canada officially is saying.  It is bloody expensive though.  The best price I could find is $950 Cdn!!!!!!  I also found a supplier in Japan - pricing is 113,000 Yen ($938) so the NA dealer price is pretty good.  You will also need to find a "friendly" dealer who will change the option coding on your CAN Bus to recognize SIRIUS.

And for anyone thinking they'll just wait for an aftermarket solution like "SiriusConnect" or what have you, most auto manufacturers that have Sirius agreements also get exclusive rights to manufacture the tuner so looks like we are SOL there as well.
 
So, in the end if you are looking for a cost effective install solution that looks great, check out BoldyGoingNowhere's very cool installation here:

How about the prospect of buying the OEM Sirius tuner from Mitsu?

The OEM tuner is the one that is $900 or so.  I have edited the post to include the part number - thanks rc.

Sounds like you have some good connections with dealers in your area ... I'm (eventually) planning on building a CAN bus sniffer for my 08 Lancer.  Do you have any way of obtaining information on mitsubishi's CAN protocol/data?  I guess it'd be the raw specifications for what the scan tools use to make it easier to reverse engineer the data on the line.

Also, you mentioned you were able to get your MMCS reprogrammed to unhide the Sirius option -- was this done entirely thru CAN?  Do you have any idea of what other 'hidden' options might be present in MMCS accessible only thru CAN?  Things like unlocking the hard drive (assuming its locked -- I pulled it and couldn't read anything off the disk), showing DVDs while moving... or (non MMCS) disabling DRLs?

Thanks!

rdenis, thanks for the mention. I am waiting for the antenna modulator adapter to get here then I will open it back up and tie the power into the radio and hook up the adapter.
 
I also want to get better pics of the satelite display. You can see it just fine and its easier to adjust than having it up by the mirror which is how my other vehicles are and the scrolling isnt in your field of vision when driving.  I also got a remote which is even better, it fits in the cubby on the left by the door.
 
I also looked at other units at radio shack, you definately dont want one with the connections coming out the bottom.
 
Its too bad it has to be such a PITA and or  expensive to get sirius to work with the head unit in Canada.

This should be pinned also

quote:

ORIGINAL: rdenis

The OEM tuner is the one that is $900 or so.  I have edited the post to include the part number - thanks rc.

Can I purchase part 8701A103 from any U.S. dealership? I feel bumbed that being an early adopter excludes me from having Sirius.

I dont know if this was brought up yet or not. If you do crack the sat radio barrier and get it to work, can you subscribe and get the stations being in canada? Is sat radio offered there?

Sirius and XM have been available in Canada for a couple of years now.  There is less incentive to go with US programming now as the play lineups are almost identical.

You can actually order the tuner from a Canadian dealership - just give them the part number.  You need to do this as it won't show up in the Canadian system as an available part unless they input the part number.  Also, since all dealerships in North America are linked you can get your Canadian dealer to search US dealer inventory for the radio as they are not expecting availablity until the end of July.  I managed to have my dealer locate one in Florida a couple of weeks ago and it is no problem getting them to transfer it up here (although I am still waiting for it to arrive - LOL!).

quote:

ORIGINAL: rdenis

You can actually order the tuner from a Canadian dealership - just give them the part number.  You need to do this as it won't show up in the Canadian system as an available part unless they input the part number.  Also, since all dealerships in North America are linked you can get your Canadian dealer to search US dealer inventory for the radio as they are not expecting availablity until the end of July.  I managed to have my dealer locate one in Florida a couple of weeks ago and it is no problem getting them to transfer it up here (although I am still waiting for it to arrive - LOL!).

Does the kit come with an antenna or is the antenna already built in with an XLS? All Outlanders are built in Japan so the Canadian ones should be all pre-wired for Sirius since all U.S. ones are. I have a feeling it should be a plug and play affair as I also have a 2005 Dodge SRT-4 and picked up a used RB1 Navigation unit from an American Grand Cherokee and a Chrysler Sirius kit from a U.S. dealer (weren't available in Canada) and installed it all together without requiring anything from the dealer. This kit also required the VIN number to activate and even with a Canadian VIN there were no issues. The whole thing about the CAN bus is that as soon as you hook up a different accessory it communitates with and tells the ecu that its there. When I plugged in my RB1 the display immediately changed from a Jeep logo on startup to a dodge one with no changes made by me as the car's ecu tells the deck that it is hooked up to a Dodge so the display changes accordingly. I believe it should be the same for the Outlander.

UPDATE - my months' long quest has ended - in SUCCESS!!  Woo hoo, I now have Sirius satellite radio in my Canadian XLS playing through my Canadian XLS head unit!  And Mitsubishi Canada said it couldn't be done.... shame, shame!
 
I know some of you newbie Yanks are like WTF - trust me this has been a painful pursuit but in the end us Canucks in the frozen north at long last can claim the same freedom you have enjoyed for so long.  Okay maybe that is a wee bit over the top but let's just say I am now very happy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: rdenis

UPDATE - my months' long quest has ended - in SUCCESS!!  Woo hoo, I now have Sirius satellite radio in my Canadian XLS playing through my Canadian XLS head unit!  And Mitsubishi Canada said it couldn't be done.... shame, shame!

I know some of you newbie Yanks are like WTF - trust me this has been a painful pursuit but in the end us Canucks in the frozen north at long last can claim the same freedom you have enjoyed for so long.  Okay maybe that is a wee bit over the top but let's just say I am now very happy.

Details please.

Can you please let us know the required accessories?

Given all the sh*t I had to go through to get this to work properly the solution is insanely simple.  A few easy steps:

1)  Get dealer to change option coding on MMCS to recognize Sirius - its is the SATR option that needs to be ENABLED.
2)  Order tuner part number 8701A103
3)  Wait for the cows to come home.
4)  Buy Sirius antenna from anywhere Sirius is sold.
5)  Cows are home?  Good, connect tuner to Sirius antenna and plug in connector C-111 which is behind the glove box and usually taped up near the right fender.
6)  Activate and don't enjoy 6 free months because you are Canadian.  UPDATE - Actually you need to register with a US address and you will get six months free - you don't need your VIN just specify you purchased an Outie!

The reason I put the option coding change first is that technically Mits Canada and Sirius Canada do not have a licensing agreement for 2007.  Sirius Canada will be available on certain 08 models inlcuding the Outie.  Your dealer may or may not be aware of this and may balk at changing citing this reason.  Anyway, that is the official Mits Canada stance so YMMV.  UPDATE - looks like the licensing agreement is not in place yet as you can only activate this radio on a US account.

Glove box removal is located in this thread.

Where did you mount the antenna?

Its in the center glove box for now.

How much did you pay for the tuner?  Mitsubishi in Calgary wants $1363.49 CDN which is outrageous for a Sirius tuner.

Dealer cost (which is a bit of a misnomer) is about $1150.  $1363 is retail.  Tell your dealer you can get it out of the US for $776 USD.  The problem is the pricing assigend by Mits NA is not necessarily the final pricing when these things become available in the mass market.
 
My dealer gave it to me for about the CDN dollar equivalent of the the US pricing but only because he recognized I was taking all the risk in seeing that it worked - if it didn't work I was SOL the better part of a grand.
 
I have no idea where the final pricing will wind up on these once they are available - my own guess is the pricing is not going to change much given how small the NA market is.  I think this is the best time to talk your delaer into giving it to you for less than a grand.