Steering Wheel Stereo Controls Whacky
01-17-2016, 05:06 PM
#41
My truck is doing the same thing.
Found I could temporarily fix the problem by turning the volume all the way down then turning the volume back to a normal level from the steering wheel key pad. Don't know why, but this seems to reset the switch and everything starts working properly again. May last a day, may last a week. A couple of times I had to do this twice.
Plan to replace the switch myself, if this does not fix it, then it will go to the dealer under warranty.
Found I could temporarily fix the problem by turning the volume all the way down then turning the volume back to a normal level from the steering wheel key pad. Don't know why, but this seems to reset the switch and everything starts working properly again. May last a day, may last a week. A couple of times I had to do this twice.
Plan to replace the switch myself, if this does not fix it, then it will go to the dealer under warranty.
01-17-2016, 05:22 PM
#42
My truck is doing the same thing.
Found I could temporarily fix the problem by turning the volume all the way down then turning the volume back to a normal level from the steering wheel key pad. Don't know why, but this seems to reset the switch and everything starts working properly again. May last a day, may last a week. A couple of times I had to do this twice.
Plan to replace the switch myself, if this does not fix it, then it will go to the dealer under warranty.
Found I could temporarily fix the problem by turning the volume all the way down then turning the volume back to a normal level from the steering wheel key pad. Don't know why, but this seems to reset the switch and everything starts working properly again. May last a day, may last a week. A couple of times I had to do this twice.
Plan to replace the switch myself, if this does not fix it, then it will go to the dealer under warranty.
01-17-2016, 08:39 PM
#44
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Yup, checked mine today, and the phone button does not work. I'll probably put the old switch back in when I change the clockspring.
And everything else worked fine today, so mine might be somewhat temperature dependent also.
And everything else worked fine today, so mine might be somewhat temperature dependent also.
02-06-2016, 01:49 PM
#45
A few weeks in and all works fine with my pack swap. Not a single issue.
For those with the same problem, might be worth a switch pack for $20. Easy to swap out. Next logical step if that doesn't work seems to be the clock spring.
For those with the same problem, might be worth a switch pack for $20. Easy to swap out. Next logical step if that doesn't work seems to be the clock spring.
02-12-2016, 08:26 AM
#48
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I have the replacement clock spring and I'll take some pics when I replace it. Right now my switches are working perfectly, so I'm just waiting until they start acting up before I replace it so that I have better confidence that the clock spring fixed it.
02-26-2016, 11:04 AM
#49
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Last night the switches started acting up again. The outside temp was 55F, so I'm not so sure how temperature dependent the issue is. Anyway, I figured now is as good a time as any to replace the clockspring and see what happens. Of course the switches worked fine this morning before I started. I took a few pictures of the process as requested. So here it is:
First step was to disconnect the battery and remove the air bag. There is a good video on the first page of this thread, so I won't go into excruciating detail on that. Once the air bag is removed, this is what you will see.
I looked at it for a while, trying to figure out how to install the wheel puller. The three holes that look like the places to thread in your bolts don't appear to be threaded, and are actually the places where the mounting posts from the airbag engage. I finally decided to remove the steering wheel mounting bolt (T50 Torx screw), and to my surprise the wheel came right off. No puller needed. You do need to unplug the connector at the 12 o'clock position before you actually remove the wheel.
This is what you are looking at with the wheel removed.
Next I removed the lower dash panel below the wheel (9/32 socket), as well as the plastic cover around the column (7/32 socket). I'm not sure if the lower dash panel really needed to be removed, but no biggie to get it out of the way just in case. Both of these items use 3 mounting screws each, and then you need to pry the plastic snaps apart. Here is what it looks like at this stage.
The clockspring can now be removed after disconnecting the plug in lower left and removing the two T15 Torx screws at the 7 & 1 o'clock positions.
Installing the new clockspring is done by simply reversing the above steps. The new clockspring comes with a white plastic "pin" that keeps it from rotating until you get it installed. I left that in until I had the steering wheel re-installed and was ready to put the airbag on.
Lastly I put my old switch pack in, since the one I bought on my first attempt to fix this issue is slightly different than original (the phone button on the bottom didn't work, and had an "OK" that served no function). The whole process took about 1-1/2 hrs, and a good part of that was spent trying to figure out how to install the wheel puller, and I also spent about 20 minutes searching for the old switch pack. Hopefully these instructions will help someone in the future. I can see this easily being a less than 1 hour job.
And although it is very premature, so far everything is working properly. I'll report back after I have confidence that this fixes everything, or if the issue reappears.
First step was to disconnect the battery and remove the air bag. There is a good video on the first page of this thread, so I won't go into excruciating detail on that. Once the air bag is removed, this is what you will see.
I looked at it for a while, trying to figure out how to install the wheel puller. The three holes that look like the places to thread in your bolts don't appear to be threaded, and are actually the places where the mounting posts from the airbag engage. I finally decided to remove the steering wheel mounting bolt (T50 Torx screw), and to my surprise the wheel came right off. No puller needed. You do need to unplug the connector at the 12 o'clock position before you actually remove the wheel.
This is what you are looking at with the wheel removed.
Next I removed the lower dash panel below the wheel (9/32 socket), as well as the plastic cover around the column (7/32 socket). I'm not sure if the lower dash panel really needed to be removed, but no biggie to get it out of the way just in case. Both of these items use 3 mounting screws each, and then you need to pry the plastic snaps apart. Here is what it looks like at this stage.
The clockspring can now be removed after disconnecting the plug in lower left and removing the two T15 Torx screws at the 7 & 1 o'clock positions.
Installing the new clockspring is done by simply reversing the above steps. The new clockspring comes with a white plastic "pin" that keeps it from rotating until you get it installed. I left that in until I had the steering wheel re-installed and was ready to put the airbag on.
Lastly I put my old switch pack in, since the one I bought on my first attempt to fix this issue is slightly different than original (the phone button on the bottom didn't work, and had an "OK" that served no function). The whole process took about 1-1/2 hrs, and a good part of that was spent trying to figure out how to install the wheel puller, and I also spent about 20 minutes searching for the old switch pack. Hopefully these instructions will help someone in the future. I can see this easily being a less than 1 hour job.
And although it is very premature, so far everything is working properly. I'll report back after I have confidence that this fixes everything, or if the issue reappears.
02-26-2016, 03:36 PM
#50
Senior Member
Thanks for the write up. I swapped out my steering wheel awhile back and could not believe how easy it was. I should note it is always a good idea to make sure the steering wheel is straight before pulling not that it is a big issue on the F150 since it is hex shaped and not splined but it is a good habit.