I have a 2009 Ford F150 XLT Crew Cab that I purchased about 3 months ago. I assumed the buttons on the steering wheel that control cruise control, radio, etc didn't illuminate and then I was reading through the manual and found there is a specific fuse for these to illuminate. My fuse looked good, but I replaced anyways and they still don't light up. Should I just replace the modules (switch panels is what I think they're called) or is there something else I can try? I don't drive the truck often, but was driving the other night and couldn't see how to turn on the cruise control and that's what got me looking in to this. Any advise is appreciated.

 

as is do the buttons work for their individual functions?

 

May sound silly, but are they clean?? The backlighting has to shine through. Dirty/greasy fingers over time may be the issue. Again, my sound crazy, but sometimes it's the simplest things. Good luck!

 

Yes, the buttons are fully functional right now...just no illumination.
They are cleaned and are the only lights that don't illuminate. The ones on the dash all do as well as the door buttons work and illuminate.

 

I am curious what fuse number you found that is designated to provide the steering wheel backlights? Is it on the interior kick panel or under the hood?

 

It's fuse #80 and Under the Hood fuse box.

 

I finally found the part numbers for this, but they're more than I want to pay right now. SW-6619 is the left side (cruise control) panel. SW-6568 is the right side (radio/SYNC) panel. I'm wondering if I pull these out, can I just replace the bulbs in them? The panels are $65-$85 a piece so it's worth trying to replace just the bulb in my opinion, but I'm not sure which bulb. Does anyone have any idea what bulb these take?

 

On my 13, I opened the one on the right side of the wheel, all I saw was a board with a lot of soldering and I believe some very small LEDS. I only spent like 30 bucks for mine from a dealer, dont know why yours are more expensive.

 

Just following up to let everyone know what I found out on this. I took it to my mechanic and he traced it down to a faulty smart junction box. I didn't understand all he was telling me, but there was a blown circuit and fuse and when they replaced the fuse, the new one blew as well. Just under $500 in parts and labor to repair. He did say that most of what the smart junction box was configured to run were not accessories my truck was running. It's just shorting out the illumination on my steering wheel and nothing else. Sounds pretty odd but I've used this mechanic for over 10 years and he's always done right by me so I trust his findings.