[williaml99]

Greetings all and thanks. Reading these threads has been a big help.

Install is done and one goal is not met. I am happy with what I have so far.

2010 Nissan Frontier LE long bed Crew cab.
Pioneer AVH4200NEX installed. Sounds Great. Integrates with my android just fine.
Using OEM antenna for XM, all good.
Installed and programmed Metra Axxess ASWC-1, latest firmware and confirmed with tech support wiring and programming good. Talked to support twice. They were responsive and seemed very confident. I am 66 years old and have been in tech my whole career. So have some level of understanding.
Did Bluetooth bypass.
Volume up does seek back and volume down does volume up. I tried reversing wires before I called in. That just reversed the wrong results to different controls. Support said all I could do at this point was clean the controls on the steering column. I told them that they worked fine on the OEM setup. They said the OEM setup had much greater tolerance for resistance anomalies from dirty controls. I guess that is possible.

My hope is some of you with experience can give me some feedback.

1. What is your opinion?
2. How do I get to the controls to clean them safely?

Thanks
Bill

 

[xOttox]

What wiring harness did you use? I have the same exact setup and am working just fine.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[williaml99]

I used The one from Cruthfield. Thanks. I am from Iowa so I suppose a lot of humidity could take its toll on the steering wheel controls. At least we know it can work from your experience.

 

[williaml99]

Can anyone tell me what the proper procedure is to get to the contacts for volume up and the rest so I can clean them with some contact spray. I don't want to experiment. with airbags involved. Thanks.

 

[xOttox]

I ask because I used a metra harness and had trouble. When I switched to a custom harness based a Subaru pinout I had no problems at all. Here my write up.

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/showthread.php?t=328722

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[williaml99]

Thanks, appreciate very much.

 

[Mfed]

I had nothing but trouble with 3 different Axxess units and eventually switched out for a PAC unit which has worked flawlessly for over a year (both connected using the same customized Metra harness). I have a Pioneer 4100NEX so pretty much the same setup as you. I think the Axxess stuff is less forgiving of resistance anomalies in the splice points. The PAC unit is manually programmed only, no auto programming option, and I think that helps as well, but that's just a guess.

The Axxess directions describe how to manually program the unit as well, which might help in your case (didn't in mine...) - they should have been included with the unit but if you don't have them you can download them from their web site.

 

[raine]

Greetings all and thanks. Reading these threads has been a big help.

Install is done and one goal is not met. I am happy with what I have so far.

2010 Nissan Frontier LE long bed Crew cab.
Pioneer AVH4200NEX installed. Sounds Great. Integrates with my android just fine.
Using OEM antenna for XM, all good.
Installed and programmed Metra Axxess ASWC-1, latest firmware and confirmed with tech support wiring and programming good. Talked to support twice. They were responsive and seemed very confident. I am 66 years old and have been in tech my whole career. So have some level of understanding.
Did Bluetooth bypass.
Volume up does seek back and volume down does volume up. I tried reversing wires before I called in. That just reversed the wrong results to different controls. Support said all I could do at this point was clean the controls on the steering column. I told them that they worked fine on the OEM setup. They said the OEM setup had much greater tolerance for resistance anomalies from dirty controls. I guess that is possible.

My hope is some of you with experience can give me some feedback.

1. What is your opinion?
2. How do I get to the controls to clean them safely?

Thanks
Bill

I don't think it's "dirty controls"... that sounds like a deflection. But I also don't think there's a problem with your ASWC-1... but I do have to ask, did you use a 16-pin harness or a 20-pin? If you used the stock Metra 70-7552 without modding it, that might be an issue.

That said, did you at least try changing the button defaults through programming? Depending on the actual head unit (and the output signals it produces for the ASWC-1) some head units have the controls mapped straight out the gate, and some head units have the controls a little off using the defaults. There's a USB port on the ASWC-1 specifically for this, just connect a compatible mobile device, open the Axxess programming app, and you should be able to reconfig the defaults for each control on the steering wheel to do what it's supposed to do.

I'll add my personal $0.02 and say that I installed ASWC-1's in 6 different vehicles over the last 2 years, all with zero hardware issues.

 

[williaml99]

Thanks Mfed and raine
Mfed
This is a very interesting reply. Since at this point I don't truly know what it would take to clean the controls except $200 at local dealer. I think I am interested in trying the PAC unit. The metro is were I can get to it without pulling the dash again so a question. I believe i only used 4 wires. Two wires for the resistor control matrix and ACC 12V plus ground and grounding one of the wires from the OEM harness. In this case any chance I can use the same wires for the PAC?

raine

I used Scosche NN03B and watched the video on youtube explaining all the wires on the new radio. It all made sense when I wired it together.
I also used MicroBypass. Support manually had me step though the programming and auto programmed as well. They said the results prove the wiring was good. He also asked me what color and pin about all the connections and was as satisfied as can be without being here that wiring was good. Right or wrong, it is what they said. I upgraded the firmware plus tried the soft ware to program. The software did not help because it does not allow you to change volume up or down and that is where the problem was. I am with you on the controls as the Nissan guys said they never have issues with them on OEM stuff. I do believe in my searching on the web that a couple of threads said the resistance was fixed after cleaning. Im just not sure what kind of a job it would be to get to. I would not shoot cleaner in through the controls because it probably would not get to where it needs to be and might get to where it should not be. (Air bag).

Not sure what I will do next. It is hilarious how I am a creature of habit. I hit the controls going down the road out of habit and end up changing sources instead of turning up the volume.

I really appreciate these excellent replies.

Thanks again.

 

[inov8]

I have to fundamentally agree with raine.

Here is a resistance chart for the audio steering wheel switches:
Pin 16
Seek_down - 165 ohms
Volume_down - 652 ohms
Mode / End - 0 ohms
Pin 20
Seek_up - 165 ohms
Volume_up - 652 ohms
Phone / Send - 0 ohms
All measurements are with respect to pin 17.

Volume_up and Volume_down signals are output to the receiver on separate wires; therefore a resistance error would not result in confusing those 2 functions, as the friendly Axxess "expert" claimed to you.

That said, I have helped other CF members who experienced erratic switch operation because the switch contacts required cleaning. Though not a trivial project, it can be done. Age alone should not be a barrier; I am a decade older than you and I did it .

Refer to this set of images:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d00bbpnk05ortuo/Frontier steering switch images.jpg?dl=1

Step 1
Release the air bag assembly. There is an access hole in the bottom of the steering wheel trim surround. The release bail is less than 3/4" from the surface, so don't use a long screwdriver to push it. The eraser end of a pencil works just fine. The center section of the steering wheel, which houses the driver air bag, will eject toward you when released (that's what the springs are for). Use one hand to limit it's travel when released.

Step 2
Don't disconnect or remove the air bag assembly. Just hold it with one hand a few inches back, or hang it with tape while removing the switch retaining screws (one each for audio and cruise control switch assemblies) and connectors. Pull the switch assemblies straight back to release the retaining pawls without breaking them. Take a photo before removing the switches so you will not forget how the switch and horn (green) wire harnesses were routed.
Now tape the air bag center section temporarily in place while you work on the switches.

Step3
Remove the back cover from the audio switch (black plastic box in the photo). It is held in place with 4 plastic tabs.
When you operate a switch, a metal plunger moves and bridges two gold plated tracks on a printed circuit board, which act as the switch contacts (refer to images).

Step 4
Clean the tip of the plungers and printer circuit conductors within the "circles" with ordinary rubbing alcohol and an eraser (a white ink eraser works best).

Step 5
Reverse all previous steps. don't forget to reconnect the horn wire. Just push the air bag assembly all the way in and it will latch.

 

[inov8]

After everything was put back together . . . . Pioneer receiver with backup camera & Bluetooth phone interface, installed in a 2011 with Pathfinder backlit steering wheel switches.

 

[Mfed]

I called Axxess support several times over the course of my issues and their explanation was always the same - it's a resistance issue. The only way to ensure the unit would work would be to solder the relevant wires into my stock harness, and I wasn't willing to cut into the harness on my brand new 700-mile truck, or do anything that I couldn't put back to stock if necessary, especially since I hadn't seen/read/researched anyone else who used Posi-Taps (which I used), or even standard crappy T-splices, having these issues with the unit. And I can safely say that my issue had nothing to do with dirty switch contacts since the truck only had 700 miles on it when I installed the first Axxess unit. For whatever reason the Axxess stuff just didn't want to play nice with my truck.

The PAC unit wires up exactly the same way as the Axxess unit, then you just program it manually. If you have easy access to your Axxess (see what I did there? ) then you should have no trouble wiring the PAC in its place and getting it set up. After installation it takes about 5 minutes to program, unless you mess up a step, then you have to start again. But once it's programmed it's done, or at least mine is - as I mentioned before it hasn't hiccuped even once since I installed it well over a year ago, maybe going on 2 years...somewhere in there... I keep mine fairly accessible as well just in case (I had to futz with the Axxess units all the time so I was paranoid about the same with the PAC...) but I haven't touched it since the install. Plus it's less expensive than the Axxess. For me it was the solution to my months-long steering control issues, maybe it would work for you too. Might be worth a shot.

 

[williaml99]

To all

You are blowing me away with incredibly useful information. Thanks.

inov8

I will keep your pictures and hope I do not have to use them. The pics of your car, Awesome.

Now i have a news flash to share.

I previously had done my programming with a windows program on an old MS surface tablet. This time I used and android app and it seemed quite a bit better. It only interacted with the controls in a very crude way. I could get volume down to be volume down or volume up by programming seek? The other buttons were uncontrollable. I was getting tired and reset the device (did that many times) as a last shot. low and behold Volume up and down worked, the two phone buttons PTT button changed sources and the hang up button did nothing. The seek buttons (two on bottom) changed presets when on radio. I took a quick shot at making the phone buttons work without success yet. I came in and looked through the paper manual of the radio to see if it supported the commands. Could not find so will pursue on line. I think I may outlast this problem. Cant thank you enough for the great responses.

 

[raine]

To all

You are blowing me away with incredibly useful information. Thanks.

inov8

I will keep your pictures and hope I do not have to use them. The pics of your car, Awesome.

Now i have a news flash to share.

I previously had done my programming with a windows program on an old MS surface tablet. This time I used and android app and it seemed quite a bit better. It only interacted with the controls in a very crude way. I could get volume down to be volume down or volume up by programming seek? The other buttons were uncontrollable. I was getting tired and reset the device (did that many times) as a last shot. low and behold Volume up and down worked, the two phone buttons PTT button changed sources and the hang up button did nothing. The seek buttons (two on bottom) changed presets when on radio. I took a quick shot at making the phone buttons work without success yet. I came in and looked through the paper manual of the radio to see if it supported the commands. Could not find so will pursue on line. I think I may outlast this problem. Cant thank you enough for the great responses.

Good to hear... like I said, some head units have the controls a little off using the defaults. Just keep notes when you change settings in the app, makes it a lot easier to keep track of what function maps to what button and before you know it, with a little more time you'll get the mapping spot on.