Kenwood DNX9960 and Axxess ASWC

[sandy_dr]

Hi all,

I purchased a Kenwood double din unit to go in my Explorer and am a bit lost with the installation.

Car: 2006 Ford Explorer 4.0 EB
New head unit: Kenwood DNX 9960
Steering interface: ASWC
Aftermarket Wiring harness: Metra 70-5521

The unit is installed all works ok, except for the steering wheel control unit. I really do not understand the wiring diagram. So far, I have connected the following

Black wire – Connected ok
Red wire – Connected ok
Brown Kenwood connector 3.5mm to Blue / Yellow on Kenwood ok

It is after this point that I am really lost and have no ideas on what to do with the rest of the wires.

In addition, from the harness wire marked ‘dimming’ I have connected to the matching color wire on the ford pin, but the unit does not dim.

The Axxess website talks about blue / white on Pin 19 and grey / yellow on pin 18. However on the aftermarket harness, there isn’t even a pin on 19. And on pin 18 on the ford side, the pin color is brown. Really confused on this one….

I made the purchase in the USA, but am installing it in the DR, where their is not a lot of support (Kenwood is not sold in this country, but it the only DD unit I am aware off that uses Garmin maps, which are the only ones that work here).

In addition for any readers who buy US products but live in Latin America, note the following: Kenwood USA told me I need to buy an additional unit from a Latin American country to be able to use maps from outside of the USA/Canada on this unit. This is not true, I got hold of a garmin based map for the DR and it loaded first time without any issues using the SD card.

Appreciate any help

Sandy

 

[sandy_dr]

Update:

Heard back from Metra and I need to place a resistor on the brown ASWC kenwood wire for programming to work. If anyone needs pics of the install to help them, please let me know.

Sandy

 

[L8 APEX]

With the Kenwood you want to run the ASWI-JACK. That is what I used on my DNX7140 and 09 with sync. I only have vol up down and I programmed the seek down for mute. The seek would not work correctly on the Kenwood. I had to connect the jack to the vehicle side of the harness. The steering wheel controls are just resistor values. The Jack learns the values and sends the kenwood a signal based on how you program it.

 

[sandy_dr]

Hi Apex,
Once I had the resistor on, the programming worked perfectly inc. volume, seek and source. All ok now!
Thanks

 

[jorgimbo]

Resistor value

Hi sandy, I installed almost the same configuration that you,and i live on the DR also, the kenwood dnx6960 on my ford explorer 06 Limited, and I have the same problem with the steering wheel control, so I want to know the value of that Resistor, and i also want to know where should I install the resistor...Thanks

 

[sandy_dr]

You need a 12kohm resistor for programming only. Place the resistor in line between the blue/yellow wire from your Kenwood radio and the Brown wire from the ASWC. Play around with the buttons to make sure it is doing what it should do, once the programming procedure is finished, remove the resistor and reconnect the brown and blue/yellow wire. Worked first time for me. Good luck.

 

[jorgimbo]

Thanks for the info...I will try it and let you know how everything evolved..that 12 KΩ Resistor can be found in any electronic store Right?

 

[sandy_dr]

I walked in to a local pc / tv repair shop and they pulled one off an old circuit board and gave it to me.

 

[naeem]

thnx sandy 12 KΩ Resistor works with kenwood