Steering Wheel Controls (Non-stock)

Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
Well, years after I set out to complete this project, I finally have a working D.I.C. and now radio control from the steering wheel. My SS was a 1SS package and didn't include any of these features.

It all started a few years back where I installed the steering wheel and clockspring and got the Driver Information Center working through the steering wheel buttons. Since then, I have had no use of the radio controls on the steering wheel because I still had a stock radio.

Now that I've installed a Clarion Nav, I've managed to also get the steering wheel controls to work it with the help of an adapter from Axxess. Unfortunately, my radio only supports 7 functions from the steering wheel, so one button is not used.

I would love to be able to tell you exactly what wires need to go where, but I lost the wiring diagram that was given to me by the first person to actually complete the D.I.C. project. As for parts and a general overview, I will try to put an article together.

I had a good clean version of this file, and I can't find it... if anyone has access to this, please let me know:

View attachment 17607
 

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The_Roadie

Lifetime VIP Donor
Member
Nov 19, 2011
9,957
Portland, OR
I've got clean PDFs of the schematics. Will look this weekend. Very cool, if you didn't have it all from the factory.
 

Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
Thank you kind sir!

I will compose an article about this... or do you think I should just add it to the D.I.C. article?

Is there another one of these pages that has the diagram for the radio controls? I thought this one had it, but I guess I was wrong.
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
Jman423 said:
Thank you kind sir!

I will compose an article about this... or do you think I should just add it to the D.I.C. article?

Is there another one of these pages that has the diagram for the radio controls? I thought this one had it, but I guess I was wrong.

What about it as an add-on to the D.I.C. article? That way the other article can be used if someone just wants to do the D.I.C.
 

Shownmyss

Member
Jun 11, 2012
16
I upgraded my 07 1SS steering wheel and clockspring to a 3SS. I now have working DIC but no radio controls. I am using an aftermarket Sony radio with an Axxess ASWC-1 steering control module. The Axxess instructions said to use A1 at the radio plug to the pink wire of the Axxess. Is there any additional wiring needed?
 

Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
Shownmyss said:
I upgraded my 07 1SS steering wheel and clockspring to a 3SS. I now have working DIC but no radio controls. I am using an aftermarket Sony radio with an Axxess ASWC-1 steering control module. The Axxess instructions said to use A1 at the radio plug to the pink wire of the Axxess. Is there any additional wiring needed?

This was pretty tricky on mine. I never got it to work the way it should, but here is what I did... The wire that goes into the clockspring and feeds through all of the buttons needs to be grounded on side and fed into the steering wheel control interface on the other side. Each button introduces a different resistance value and the interface reads that. The other tricky part was programming. I had to manually program all of the functions instead of letting the interface learn the buttons. From there, the same wiring and interface has worked with both of my aftermarket radios (Clarion & JVC).
 

Shownmyss

Member
Jun 11, 2012
16
Im guessing your talking about the pink wire B3 off the clockspring or maybe the green wire A12? Are you cutting both wires at the clockspring or are you splicing into them? Did you ground pink wire B3 and connect the Axxess module to green wire A12?
 

Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
Shownmyss said:
Im guessing your talking about the pink wire B3 off the clockspring or maybe the green wire A12? Are you cutting both wires at the clockspring or are you splicing into them? Did you ground pink wire B3 and connect the Axxess module to green wire A12?

Clockspring: Pink to chassis ground, green to the input wire on the axxess interface

The problem is, I don't know which wire it was on the interface that I used. I remember it wasn't the one the manual suggested. After that, I had to manually program the unit. The instructions are pretty decent outlining that process.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
So now that I've upgraded my steering wheel, I've been trying to get my radio controls to work as well. I was given a PAC SWI-PS unit, that didn't work properly. As soon as it was plugged in, it wanted to steadily increase the volume. Once I reset it, it stopped, but then would not go into programming mode. :no:

Hopped online and bought the newer model, the SWI-RC, but it wouldn't accept the button programming. It would assign 1 function to all 8 buttons, either Volume Up, Source, or Mute. :mad:

I'm looking into alternatives, and the only ones i see are the Access ASWC-1, which has the best reviews, although my personal experience with any Metra/Axxess products has been crappy.

Is anyone else using any other products out there? My inquiring mind would love to know! :yes:

Clockspring: Pink to chassis ground, green to the input wire on the axxess interface

I looked at the wiring diagrams, and the pink wire is supposed to go to a 12V reference from the BCM. I tapped into the white wire going to the rear wiper switch, since it's on the same circuit. I'm curious what would happen, if anything, if I grounded the pink wire. There's already a dedicated ground wire from the clock spring, which has the DIC buttons and lighting working properly.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
OK, so due to my bad experiences with Metra/Axxess products, I ended up going with the PAC SWI-CP5 interface, which got the job done. It cost slightly more, at about $60 when all was said and done, but it has a lot of cool extra features.

20160914_175719.jpg


It does have the ability to detect the vehicle and radio brands, and self program. But your vehicle setup needs to be stock, meaning you needed to have the steering wheel controls and wiring in place already, since this can read the Class II data bus.

You can also connect the device to your Android/Apple mobile device and program it with their free app. My phone is messed up from my constant rooting and modding, so the app wouldn't connect to the device.

You can also download their free application for your PC, which is the route I initially went with. Going through the wizard, will program the standard button controls, nice and easy.

CP5-1.jpg


You can either be shown the different dip switch combination to set on the hardware, or have the computer set the programming. I went with the computer version...

CP5-2.jpg

CP5-3.jpg

CP5-4.jpg


But what fun is that? You can reassign the button commands, save the config files for quick and easy changes, and the coolest part, you can assign 2 functions per button, with short press and long presses. :2thumbsup:

CP5-5.jpg


These are the default settings, based on the vehicle and radio brand selected from earlier.

CP5-6.jpg



After a few tweaks and changes, just because...

CP5-6a.jpg



And then you update the device.
CP5-6b.jpg


Then it tells you how to hook up the wiring, which is a weak point, because if you've modded your vehicle, like I have, this setup won't work. In my case, the pink wire which is the input for the clock spring has to be the 12V reference signal from the BCM, and the green output wire, is considered the 12V analog signal, which connects to the light green wire on the CP5 harness.

CP5-7.jpg



Programming through the PC didn't work for me, the device didn't seem to be powering up properly when hooked up to the truck, or on my test bench. Had 12V, Ground and Accessory. Before throwing up my hands and sending it back for a refund, I saw the "Submit a Ticket" on the Support tab last night. Figured what could that hurt. Had a response back from them by 8:30 am this morning, and another one from a second person by 10am. Both guys asked me for some additional info, and they were able to tell me what I needed to do to get things back on track.

Since I modded my vehicle, I needed to manually program the buttons. Change the dip switch combination, hook everything up, and assign the buttons by hand. Took me about 10 minutes, because I started reading from the wrong column of the chart about halfway down, and I had to start over. :dunce:

I'll play with these settings for a few days, see how I like them. I didn't use all of the features, because I never use them anyway, but may go back and reprogram them just because I can :cool:
 

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