I am in desperate need of help with my F*%#ing Steering Wheel Controls! This thing is really pissing me off, ok here's the problem: I had an Alpine 9833 Deck installed in my 95 T/A in 2004, the person who installed told me that unless I had $100 to spend on an interface, I would not have use of my steering wheel controls with the alpine deck, I said "it was cool, I really didn't need them!"
Well, now I'm doing alot of upgrades to the interior and one of those things is getting the Steering wheel controls to work! I had purchased some steering wheel controls in Black from a 2001 Camaro, I picked up some new bulbs to switch out on the controls, and I picked up the PAC SWIX kit.

Well, nothing works! No illumination, No working controls! I hooked up the PAC's the way it is supposed to be with the green wire from the interface going to the Drk blue wire in pin 14, well it powers and I get to the initial programming stage after programming the version (1 for Pontiacs) and I push the mode button and then hold down the button on the steering wheel....the light on the right never comes on and it seems to time out and after the 7 sec the left programming light turns off.

Now I have read all the forums about this subject that there is here and on LS1.com, and there are no answers to this question! I am not a complete retard, and I do have enough knowledge about electrical equipment to know what to do, but I am stumped! It is like there is NO power or anything running to those Steering Wheel Controls and I have even pulled the Airbag, pulled the underside of the dash and followed the wires from the Steering wheel to the connection of the deck, and I have found nothing wrong!

Can anybody assist me with this problem?? Please.......

......I really don't want it to be Sledgehammer Time!!!

Thanks
Justin

 

double check the directions. i have done several of these in various f-body cars. Sounds kinda goofy but have you tried setting it up to program for a 2001 camaro since the steering wheel controls are from a 2001 Camaro. I would call GM and see if the SW controls are the problem. Just because it plugs in doesn't mean that it is necessarily compatable.

 

Thanks for your input, I am going to try that in the morning, I've called a local Pontiac Dealership as well as GM Directly, and all they said was that I should take the car to an authorized GM Shop and have them "evaluate" my car! Inquired about the price, and it could range from $100 - $500, so yeah....**** on that!

I could still use some more input on this! Anybody at all??

I'll let you know if I had any success with getting this to work

 

Don't overlook the simple stuff - have you checked the 1-amp STG WHL CNTRL fuse? There are two of them - #3 is for the control illumination and #13 is for the control function.

If the fuse is okay, check the connector near the base of the steering column. It's a 4-pin connector with yellow, dark blue, gray with black, and black wires. The yellow wire is the power supply for the controls - check it with a test light or multimeter. The dark blue is your signal wire to the head unit. The gray with black and black wires are power and ground for the control illumination.

 

Unless I am a complete moron and not seeing it, I think our cars are different! If your talking about the fuse panel on the side of the dash near the drivers door, then yeah...I don't have any 1-amp fuses that are designated for the STG WHL CNTRL. In my slot #3 is a 25-amp HVAC and in #13 is a 5-amp IP DIMMER and they both test fine!

As far as the connection, I will probably take a multimeter to the 4-pin connector later on today.

I really do appreciate all of your guys help on this! I think I am just frustrated, and when that happens, things sometimes gets overlooked!

 

I don't have a schematic for a 95 so I was referencing the 98-02 manual. I'm not surprised that the fuse isn't in the same position but I am surprised that there isn't a specific fuse for the controls. I wonder why they would add that only in later models?

That means it's possible that the connector has different color wires as well. You may need to do some searching around to find it. I have an earlier service manual at home that I can check tonight if things really don't match up.

 

i have the same problem you have... and i looked in the manual and there are no fuses that say they would be for the controls... except the power options maybe, but since my PL's and PW's work i'm guessing that fuse is ok lol

 

I finally got my hands on a wiring schematic for my 95 T/A thanks to Ron over at LS1.com, and it seems that the power for the Steering Wheel Controls runs to the Radio Fuse #17 which is a 15 amp fuse and is the Yellow wire.

I am going to check it tomorrow and see if that is where my problem lies, considering that there seems to be no power going to those controls, no illumination, no response from the buttons.

Let me know if you need the schematic, I can e-mail it to ya!

 

ill check mine out today.. and if i see anything ill tell ya too

 

Please post if you get the control working and specific problems / solutions. I have just bought a new head unit for my daily driver so I'm going to move the Kenwood into the T/A (I wanted a MP3 player for my DD since I'm in it quite a bit to and from work). Are there any issues with having a power antenna with an aftermarket unit?

My factory unit in the T/A has got to the point that it will not play CD's and won't always eject them either. Time for some reliable tunes!

 

power antenna and aftermarket unit isnt a problem at all just hook the wire up in the harness and bam power antenna

 

man for some reason... and for some reason it just all of a sudden hit me... but my steering wheel controls still light up lol
i looked at that last night and about flipped when i noticed lol
but i still dont know why they arent working for the radio...

 

Shame, I'm having the same problem with my SWI-PS today. the weird thing is, when I plugged my atock radio in, the steering wheel controls work. I checked the Steering Whell Control cable (dark blue) on the stock radio with a multimeter, and each button pushed registered a different voltage.

When I unhooked stock radio, wired the SWI-PS up using verison #1, ground to ground, Power to ignition, and soldered Green interface to Dark blue SWC cable, the SWI-PS wouldn't program any buttons, and the multimeter came up with nothing.

 

Well, I got relocated with my job so my ride to work went from 45mins to about 10mins so I have sold mydaily driver. The JVC KD-PDR30 that I had in the DD is now going into the T/A. Have I overlooked anything on my shopping list for the reaplcement (retaining steering wheel controls)?

- JVC KD-PDR30 Receiver
- PAC SWI-X
- New faceplate / mount (possibly from MAPtech enterprises, 93-02 flushmount)
- Wiring harness adapter (Thanks for reminding me WhiteBird00!!)

 

Also...wiring harness adapter (so you don't have to butcher the factory connector) and an antenna adapter (because GM uses a smaller than standard connector).

 

I added that to the list! Thanks!

 

I tried to pull the factory head unit out earlier this week and can't get it out far enough for access to the plug on the rear of the factory unit. Is the factory harness long enough to pull it out and get to the rear of the head unit? Just wondering before I go out and crawl under the dash to see what is holding it (since there is sooooo much room to work under the dash ).

 

Sometimes the harness or antenna cable gets caught on the dash. Some wiggling and pulling should get it free. There is enough slack in the harness to pull the radio clear of the dash although the antenna cable usually has to be unplugged before you can get it too far out.

 

You guys sure you're getting a clean connection from the car to the PAC thing? I have an SWI-X in my car, and it's working out great. What I did was find a wire in the adapter harness that I didn't need (there was one for a mute button or some nonsense) and move it to the correct spot in the adapter harness connector so that I didn't have to cut the GM harness at all...this guaranteed me that it has a nice clean connection to the steering wheel controls.

Short of that, all you can do is make sure power is getting to the buttons, and then make sure the voltage on the wire from them is changing when you press them. They continue to work on the RAP circuit too (when you turn the key off and the stereo doesn't turn off until you open the door or wait like 10 or 15 minutes...however long it is).

There should be NO difference from a TA to a Camaro electronically, just the color of the buttons. If power is getting to them and a signal isn't getting out, they must be broken.

Where are you guys mounting the IR emitters for your PAC SWI-X's? Pics?

 

Thanks Whitebird... the harness was caught behind the 'tab' that held the factory radio (has since been cut out to make room for the new radio).

I just tried to pull the connector apart to move a pin like Mike454SS recommended but wasn't able to get one fo the spare pins out. I was scared that I would screw the harness up trying to get it apart .