2010 Fabia CAN Headaches (Dance>RNS315)

Hello.

This is my first post here but I’ve spent the past week browsing. I’ve been a VW guy since I started driving but I’m used to older stuff without CANBUS.

My girlfriend has a 2010 Mk2 Fabia Scout (1.6TDI, canny thing) which came with the ‘DANCE’ radio. I recently treated her to a nice AMUNSDEN+ RNS315 unit I found on Marketplace for a decent price so she can connect her phone and play her music.

Physically fitting the stereo is a delight on the Fabia but that’s where my joy ended. The CANBUS system obviously doesn’t talk to the unit as it should. It does not turn on or off with the ignition and when it is turned on it will turn off after 30 minutes. In addition, the clock is wrong but I couldn’t care so much about that.

From what I can tell, the car is CAN1.6 and it needs CAN2.0. The car has a basic LCD speedo cluster, no maxidot, no steering wheel controls.

I had this issue on a Mk5 Golf I owned in 2010 which was solved with a replacement CAN gateway and a bit of coding. Assumed it would be the same here but it is my understanding the gateway is otherwise integrated into a different unit in the Fabia and therefore can’t be changed.

I’d previously switched the 12v socket to an ignition live to power a dash cam and her old god awful FM adapter thing. Thought I’d be able to do the same for the stereo but then it just asks for the code each time.

I then bought this CAN adapter on eBay which I’ve gone to fit tonight but it does sod all. Wasn’t really sure what I was looking for but this claimed to solve it, although it also basically says “if it doesn’t work it’s not our fault” - there seems to be various styles of decoder and so many of the cables are Quadlock to ISO for fitting aftermarket head units rather than retrofitting another OEM version.

My head is battered. This should’ve been such a simple task but this CANBUS situation is such a headache. I miss the ease of swapping the red and yellow on the standard ISO cable, but here we are.

Can someone please give me some guidance on what I need?

Thank you!

Edited 13 June, 202513 Jun by addms
Added additional info