OEM Steering Wheel Control Upgrade?

[Huntsman06]

Hi all,

I was poking around a junkyard for various things for my dad's Tacoma (which I didn't find. sad day) and I came across a 2003 mountaineer with the better steering wheel controls for a whopping $4 per switch. I currently just have the cruise control buttons in my Explorer and I picked them up hoping I could upgrade to the new switches.

According to this thread: (Is 03 Explorer Prewired for Radio controls on Steering Wheel?)

My 04 XLT is pre-wired for those better controls. I have the OEM radio (6CD changer) so I was expecting everything to just plug in and just work. That thread mentions a plug behind the radio that I have seen many times and its plugged in. I was always told it was for steering controls I didn't have.

Anyway, the new switches don't work. Now it is partly my fault for not getting all the wiring harness at the yard (that is not my picture btw, thanks google!) because the truck at the yard had an un-popped airbag which made me chicken out and not wrestle the wheel too much; Unplugged the switches and left the rest.

That being said, the switch on the right (so the HVAC and music controls) plugs in all just fine. Lights up with the dash, all is great. But no response. No music controls, I have manual HVAC anyway so those buttons don't do anything obviously, and they don't even work as cruise buttons when I tried. They turn on but that's it. The switch on the left has a slightly smaller connector for some reason and I cannot plug in (again, my bad for not getting the wiring harness at the yard). So I cannot verify if the 2nd switch works, does the same thing, or maybe fixes all my problems.

I'm not really bummed since I spent a whole $8 on the switches and I'm sure I could go back for the wires and be out for less than $5, but I'm curious why they wouldn't work in my Explorer. Aside from that one thread I listed earlier (which is for a 2003 but I can't imagine the 04 changes much if at all) I cannot find anyone who has really messed with these switches in a gen 3. I would consider just getting the harness and trying risking a few more dollars, but I'm still scared of screwing with the airbag.

Any thoughts (or instructions to properly remove enough of the wheel to get to the controls w/o messing with the airbag) would be appreciated.

 

[LukeDouglas]

Is it possible to install this on a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

yes you can do it, it'll fit, but not sure if it will work electrically, you may want to see where wires lead etc, and compare that to yours, or find a wiring schematic

 

[Stynx]

Swapping out those switches is stupid easy. Try it and see - the worst that happens is you have to switch back.

 

[LukeDouglas]

Swapping out those switches is stupid easy. Try it and see - the worst that happens is you have to switch back.

'stupid easy'? I'm a computer guy, not a car guy. I do know how to turn the switch and put it into 'D'.

I guess before I purchase a entertainment replacement that I need to find out what wiring needs to be available for the steering controls. I'm assuming there has to be wires from the entertainment system to the steering wheel controls.

 

[Stynx]

'stupid easy'? I'm a computer guy, not a car guy. I do know how to turn the switch and put it into 'D'.

I guess before I purchase a entertainment replacement that I need to find out what wiring needs to be available for the steering controls. I'm assuming there has to be wires from the entertainment system to the steering wheel controls.

There are videos about how to do it. A couple of screws come out, you remove the cover with the air bag and the screws and connectors to the switch are right there. Easier than replacing the entertainment system. As mentioned above, it might already be wired to use them. If it is, swapping the switches is the fastest way to find out.

 

[J_C]

Look for a second connector under the airbag, otherwise I expect you'll have to fish a wiring harness up to it, and have a radio with the harness socket to match, too.

Don't forget to disconnect the battery and wait a few minutes for the airbag's capacitor to discharge before removing it.

 

[LukeDouglas]

There are videos about how to do it. A couple of screws come out, you remove the cover with the air bag and the screws and connectors to the switch are right there. Easier than replacing the entertainment system. As mentioned above, it might already be wired to use them. If it is, swapping the switches is the fastest way to find out.

I was wanting to get a more modern entertainment system with Sirius XM, backup camera and phone. Adding the ability to manage it via the steering wheel would be great. But it looks like I will need to do some hardcore research to get my ducks in a row before I make the plunge.

 

[Huntsman06]

So I know I’m reviving an old thread but I actually had a small update about this and wanted to share for anyone who may be interested.

So as mentioned got the switches years ago and plugged them in and they didn’t work—as previously mentioned. I recently have purchased a 2nd vehicle so the explorer has become a bit of a toy for me so I figured I’d tackle this again. I went to a junkyard this past week and found another explorer with the controls and this time I took out the airbag and got out the actual harness that connects to the steering wheel to the car. I didn’t get a picture of this unfortunately but this harness has 4 ends.

1) goes into the steering wheels main connector
2 and 3) go to the steering control buttons themselves
4) 3 pin connector that go the airbag? Idk what these do but I agree with others opinions that you should disconnect the battery before messing with it.

The interesting thing is this harness has identical pin counts that the harness in my explorer already has—one switch has 3 pins, the other has 4 pins. The only difference is the color of the wires. Using the “new” harness with the new switches and it does indeed work perfectly. The harness also can be removed without taking off the steering wheel which makes it dead easy.

You just need a screwedriver/something pointy to remove two plastic covers on the steering column that reveals 2 bolts holding the airbag (which is attached to the trim/ford logo piece). Lookup how to remove the airbag and you’ll find better instructions to get it out—it’s dead easy though.

Once the airbag is out it is dangling by some wires. I suggest you just gingerly hold it out of the way of the controls that are held in with just 2 Phillips screws each. It was easier for me to hold the airbag then try to remove the additional connectors to fully remove it. The wiring harness you have to fish out of/into some cable management channels but it comes out quite easily and isn’t in there all that tight. I did find the new harness was oddly shorter so it was a bit more of a tight fit to have it in place and plug in but it was okay and I didn’t feel it stressed the wires more than I’m comfortable with.

And now you’re done! Cruise control will work all correctly on the left switches and the right switch does music control fine, my explorer has manual climate controls so the temperature and fan buttons don’t do anything but they do light up and cause no issues.

Anyone who wants OEM style volume controls on the wheel I would recommend this. Go to a junkyard and get the switches and matching harness for just a few bucks and you can easily install it in under an hour.

Only thing I will caution is that there its a “aux” harness that goes into the stock ford headunit that you need connected for this to work—or so I’m told, I didn’t remove my headunit verify this plug was required. My explorer originally came with the base headunit with 1 cd which did not have the connector but the plug was stuffed behind the radio so when I later upgraded to a 6CD OEM headunit then extra plug then had the matching connector to plug in. It may be wise to take off the radio bezel and pull the radio to comfirm you do have that connector and that it’s actually plugged in. I’m unsure how it would work with an aftermarket headunit but imagine there are/were kits to retain steering controls that you would probably need if you did this swap.