I did a search.... but the forums search function sucks sometime

Anyway I was just wondering if anyone has posted a DIY for the steering wheel controller from PAC. TIA guys.

 

The instructions with the PAC do a good job of telling you what to do.

 

Yes they do. Did mine last week.

 

I'll give it a shot, I'm just not too good when it comes to wiring audio equipment. I was hoping it would just requiring plugging in (like the PAC unit used to add RCA inputs to the SAT connection on the stock Bose HU) but kind of got discouraged when I read the part about wiring resistors.

 

Resistors are not much different than wires. You can crimp them on with butt connectors or you can solder. Obviously the solder is preferred. Your hesitation is understandable but like most things it all comes down to matching shapes and colors.

 

I hate reading resistor coloe bands. I cheated and used the multimeter.

 

Haha, yeah I was looking at them trying to figure out which was which and couldn't tell. Thanks for the tip on the multimeter.

Ok last few questions for you guys (which I hope doesn't sound stupid).

I think connecting the ground and switched +12V I should be ok once I figure out what color on the stock connectors that is. What I'm not sure about is what to connect the white wire on the PAC unit to. It says connect to the vehicle SWC wire but on the vehicle application guide, the "Pin number and Color" colomn is blank. And my last question is when I connect the resistors to the Green and red wire and I connect the other ends to the white wire, do I need to make sure that the two resistor ends are not touching or can I just splice them all at the same spot?

Ok I hope all these questions don't make sound too much like an idiot, I just want to try and get it all right the first time. Thanks again Gilley and Meatshackle for chiming in with help.

 

The two resistors will, in effect, be touching at the ends that connect to the white wire. I found it easier to clip some of the leads of the resistors, connect a short piece of wire on each end of the resistors, and then connect the other end of the short pieces of the wires where they need to go. Then you can connect the ends of the resistors that belong together to the white wire a lot easier.

 

Thanks for another tip Gilley, you definitely cleared up the question I had. If all goes well and I get my car back on Monday I'll attempt to install the D1 and the PAC unit.

Last questions (I hope)
1. The white wire only connects to the resistors that are spliced to the green and red wires located on the car's connector.

2. Can I connect the ground for the PAC and D1 to the black ground on the car's connector or do I need to actually ground it to the chassis?

Also is this a correct way to splice in the resistors (found it on anothere forum)

 

I made a "Y" out of mine.

Using this ^

The top left was green
The top right was red
The bottom is the white

Straight to the wires with either butt connectors or solder to the wire. That curly Q splicing looks messed up to me but I'm no expert.

 

Was there a picture in your post? I couldn't see one, but I'll look into butt connectors. I have a bunch in the garage. So you just cut the green wire and attached both ends to one side of the resistor and then attatched the other end of the resistor to the white wire (and repeated with the red wire)

Thanks again Meatshackle you guys are awesome for taking the time to fully explain this out.

 

No pic, just pointing towards the Y.

When you say both ends of the green you lost me.

 

oh i just meant do you cut the green wire and then connect both sides of the cut wire to one end of the resistor. or did you end up having one part of the green wire not connected to anything

 

I cut the green and red wires about an inch from the oem steering wheel connector (white plug) that is no longer used. Then attach the non-connector ends to the diodes.

 

Like Meatshackle said, it's done like a "Y". I connected mine the same way that rhe did except I added short pieces of wire to each end of the resistor to make it easier to splice them in, especially where they both join the white wire.

after you cut the green and red wires, there will be nothing connected to the short ends coming out the the OEM connector. Leave some wire on there to rejoin the red and green wires if you want to return the car to stock some day.