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Just swapped out the radio on a 95 Bonneville with steering wheel controls. New radio works great - with an ipod adapter. Now trying to get the steering wheel controls operating.

When I disconnected the old radio, there were just two connections - the antenna plug, and the large pin with perhaps 18 slots in two rows.

There was also a smaller plug-in slot in the back - looks like 9 pins - that had nothing connected to it on the old radio. (The steering wheel controls look pretty good, thought is would be good to know how to test this unit).

Anyone know if the steering wheel controls plug into this empty module on the back of the radio? There was no harness there to plug in, so its possible that the prior owner yanked it. Anyone know what kind of pin this takes, and how it connects up to the controls in the steering wheel?

Or, does the large 18-slot pin connect the remote steering wheel controls?

Any help much appreciated.

The 9 pin slot has nothing to do with the steering wheel controls and there is not supposed to be anything connected to it. The steering wheel controls are connected through the large 20 pin connector.

If you are looking at the connector, the wire(s) for the steering wheel controls are on the top row. More specifically they are a Green and Light green wire. I know for certain it is one or both of these wires that are for the steering wheel controls.

I have heard that it is not uncommon for the steering wheel controls to stop working on the 92-95 Bonnevilles, not sure of the exact cause; maybe someone else can chime in. So essentially what I think is there is nothing wrong with the wiring harness. Something else is causing the problem.

The steering wheel controls are resistors. When the input to the radio sees a certain resistance, it performs a certain function. It is 1 wire that this info is carried on. (2 technically, there has to be a ground). There is a fuse and the SIR coil that are in the circuit.

This is for the 99, so the info isn't correct for you vintage, but you get the gist of the functions.

I have a '95 with non-working steering wheel controls and have read elsewhere on this site that the problem is the rubber pins that push down on the micro-switches underneath the buttons deteriorates so that they no longer make contact with the micro-switches. Supposedly, they can be repaired with toothpicks but I have yet to summon up the fortitude to take my steering wheel apart. I've thought about getting a set of switches at the junkyard, trying to fix them, and then swapping them with the ones on my car.

That said, if you've swapped out your OEM radio with an aftermarket unit, the steering wheel controls won't work anyway because the aftermarket radios lack the necessary circuitry.

human wrote:That said, if you've swapped out your OEM radio with an aftermarket unit, the steering wheel controls won't work anyway because the aftermarket radios lack the necessary circuitry.

That said, a device is made that takes the steering wheel control signal and converts it to IR, so it will run a aftermarket receiver.

Hello,

I actually got my steering wheel controls down to repair them. Their mechanics are quite simple.
The huge buttons work more or less like rockers and press on small rubber rods, themselves kept in a cylindrical passage.
These rods then push on the micro-switches that are soldered on a very simple PCB board.

In my case the rods became almost liquid, lets say they looked like heavy molasses and therefore were not be able to perform their function any more (they would just deform under pressure instead of transferring it).
When I extracted them I had to be careful because they would stick to the wall of their guides and it was a pain to clean up.
Then I cut tooth-picks to the approximative length, using the whole assembly and feeling how they would press the micro switches to adjust to the right size.
Two years later, it all still work fine.

I used a post from this forum to get inspiration but I am unable to find it back right now.

sonoma_zr2 wrote:

human wrote:That said, if you've swapped out your OEM radio with an aftermarket unit, the steering wheel controls won't work anyway because the aftermarket radios lack the necessary circuitry.

That said, a device is made that takes the steering wheel control signal and converts it to IR, so it will run a aftermarket receiver.

Where can these be found?

I believe that's the PAC Audio SWI-X that you're looking for.

I believe it's the PAC Audio SWI-X that you're looking for.