Car Stereos: 2004 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer, wireless fm transmitters, rear seat entertainment system

Question
Brian,
Recently you answered a question involving an adapter for an mp3 player for the 2004 EB Expedition. You said this PIE adapter wouldn't work for an Expedition with a rear entertainment system which I have. I bought my wife and IPod for Christmas and I want to plug it in to the system, if possible. We like to travel and this is one of the best vehicles I have ever owner for a comfortable ride. the rear DVD player is great for kids when their board. Can I get an adapter for the IPod that will "plug in" and will it allow me to use the movie features on the IPod?

Answer
Hi Don,

I'm not completely familiar with the rear seat entertainment system in the Expedition.  Does yours include a set of A/V input jacks; possibly located on the overhead module itself?  Many after-market and factory systems include such jacks; they're meant to be used with an external video source, like a video game system.  

If you have the jacks available, then you can purchase an adapter that connects to your iPod's docking connector and converts it to a set of RCA A/V plugs--a 3-plug set that's typically yellow, red and white.  This would let you plug the iPod directly into the video system, and you should be able to play the audio through the vehicle's audio system just like you'd listen to a DVD movie.

If you don't have the jacks, there's no other way to get a video signal to the overhead screen, so you wouldn't be able to use the video features of the iPod.  You might be able to find an adapter that will let you play iPod audio through the car stereo, though; at the very least, you could use a universal "hardwired" FM modulator device.  This is something similar to the wide assortment of wireless FM transmitters that are available for use with iPods; a hardwired system works better than the wireless transmitters, though, because it feeds the audio signal directly into the factory radio's antenna plug, while simultaneously blocking the regular FM antenna signal, so there's no outside interference.

Hope this helps!

Brian