SWI control issues

Riktar

Original poster
Member
Sep 1, 2017
43
Neosho, WI
As a final present for the Trailblazer (As well as me of course) and because the power switch on the factory radio is getting REALLY flaky I put in a Dual XDCPA9BT double din radio.

I picked up the PAC RP5-GM11 Wiring Interface to make for an easy(?) install.

After getting everything wired up I had a sucessful first turn on of the radio. Everything works pretty much as it should except for the steering wheel controls. I made sure I had the selector set to 7 on the interface (Dual actually recomends the Pac interfaces for their radios and confirmed setting the selector to 7) and I can see the LED flashing on the PAC unit whenever I press one of the wheel controls. I reset the pac twice and still no joy. Heck I even picked a Dual model that has the SWI female plug so I could just make this a "plug in" affair.

Anybody else ever run into this?
 

Riktar

Original poster
Member
Sep 1, 2017
43
Neosho, WI
One other thought I had on this from looking at the RP5-GM11 wires is the additional blue/yellow wire for connecting to the SWI.

I have tried looking online for a wiring diagram that reveals which (color) wire is on the factory side of the wire harness so I can try connecting the blue/yellow wire directly to that and just unplug the 3.5mm plug altogether.

So far no luck. Any chance someone here has run into this and identified which wire is the signal carrier for the steering wheel controls on the factory plug or harness?
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,660
Tampa Bay Area, FL
I think that's part of the signal on the data bus, not a dedicated wire. That may be why you're not having any luck tracking it down.
 

Riktar

Original poster
Member
Sep 1, 2017
43
Neosho, WI
Thanks for the reply! I have filed a report ticket to PAC audio to see what they say. I will report back with the results, positive or negative.
 

Riktar

Original poster
Member
Sep 1, 2017
43
Neosho, WI
I REALLY hate following up with this since it makes me look, well,

DUMB.

I talked to a tech support guy at PAC who gave me a number of things to try starting with asking me if I was SURE the power was off and nothing was hooked up to the PAC box before I turned the selector switch to the appropriate setting. I was sure I did that first but wouldn't want to bet my life on it.

The second thing he suggested was making a FULL 360 turn of the selector switch to make sure I was feeling the detents or steps on the switch.

The third thing would have been getting the Fluke out and checking the resistance values on the tip of the 3.5mm plug foir the SWI. Without going into complete detail, this would determine if the problem was with the PAC unit or the radio I bought.

And so I began my diagnostics.

Step one was to drop the glove box. Yes Virginia, I was smart enough to recognise I had the room and the slack in the cable harness to put the PAC control unit just inside of the glove box area.

As it turns out that may have been the only smart thing I did in all this.

So I unplug all 3 connectors that I plugged in for the installation. By the way, 3 is a very important number.....

And yes, I did have the main plug in the "With Amplifier" as opposed to the "Non amplified" port. Not that it made much of a difference.

So I carefully turn the selector 360 degrees back to number 7.

Now as I am starting to plug the box back I decided to "unfurl" the wire looms a bit to allow for more slack and easier plugging in of the box. Ans I notice this TEENY WEENY little 4 pin plug that is square in shape compared to the other inline connectors. And I think "Huh?" I wonder what that is for.

And as I look over the box carefully I see the TEENY WEENY port it plugs into with the GIANT letters above it that say...

SWI

UGH.

I won't go on. You get the idea...... :bonk:
 

Riktar

Original poster
Member
Sep 1, 2017
43
Neosho, WI
Yup yup. Everything is fine and as it should be now.

With the exception of my ego. But as they say, time heals all..... :wink:
 
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