Hi y'all,

Haven't been posting here for a while.

I have an intermittent problem with my steering wheel audio controls - it seems to go away (sometimes) when the car warms up. The steering wheel controls don't work at all especially on cool mornings. I've noticed that if I pull the entire assembly towards me with my fingers the control will kick in 9 times out of 10.

Is the fix as simple as replacing the switch? Is this something I can do myself if I get the part from Acura?

Thanks for any advice anyone can provide.

 

^^

Any ideas? Someone here must've had this problem...

 

i've had that problem forever man. the thing with mines is that it'll work if i slightly turn my steering wheel a bit to the left or right while driving. it sucks but i aint spending cash on trying to buy a new one. other than that do a search if you can find any info.

 

I've read some posts about the up/down volume buttons changing the radio station or CD track... This doesn't happen for me.... When I have the problem, the buttons don't work at all.

What's strange is that I can usually get everything to work fine by pulling the assembly towards me and then using the controls as you normally would. Stranger still is that everything usually works fine when the car warms up... But I've been having this problem more and more lately.

 

My steering controls only work when i turn the steering wheel slightly to the left. Does anyone know how to fix this???
be nice, i dont only want to use it while rounding corners haha.

_ts

 

maybe take it apart and clean it?

 

theres a (i dont know the name of it) plate in your steering wheel that has contacts on it... it just makes it to where theres no wires to be tangled when your steering the wheel. kind of like a goose neck on a bmx bike for the brakes.. no matter how many times you turn your handlebar you will always have use of your brake. damn i wish i could remember what that thing was called. it would explain the whole thing.

 

But officer...I was just trying to change the station!

 

hahaha!!

but yeah sometimes when turning i want to turn the volume up, and it changes the track/channel...i am like wait wtf! "I want volume!!! not track change!!"

 

isnt it a gyro?

 

Bump. Same problem here. Anyone have a fix???

 

Yes sur !!! I have this same problem

 

I bought a 99 3.0CL this past weekend and still am waiting for delivery. Anyone need/want steering column parts off the thing? The thread that was open about this was closed today because "it belongs in the black market section" but when i asked about it I was not allowed to post it... Sooo any parts needed? the car has 52k miles on it.

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176470

Thats the link to the closed thread. Will open a new one in the Black Market section soon...

 

i have similar problem, when i turn the wheel about 2/3 left or right it works but only then. I have an aftermarket HU now, so i don't know how i will test if it acutally works or not (so i can get the aftermarket infared blaster to make it work w/ new HU)

 

yea heres the exact part for that i found in a different forum. http://www.pfyc.com/store/merchant.m...&AFFIL=froogle

 

thanks for that, but a much bigger hurdle at the moment is getting my steering wheel audio controls to work, considering that I'm way outa warranty (152,000 second owner)

 

This is not the part. This is a part that acts as an interface for after-market head units.

As for the steering wheel control issue, the parts are a sliding contact plate mounted to the column and contact tabs mounted to the back side of the wheel. The contact tabs slide across/around the plate in specific tracks as the wheel is turned.

The problem is that the wheel spends most of its time centered. This causes corrosion and miss-shaping to occure on the contact tabs at that position.

By pulling on the control, you are forcing the contact tabs to touch the oposing plate surface. Hense making contact were it has been lost.

With warmth comes expansion. The tabs will touch as the parts are pushed together by thermal expansion. And when the car is cold, the tabs don't make contact at all due to the corrosion or miss-allignment of the tabs in conjunction to the contact plate.

As for buttons doing the wrong function, that is due to miss-alignment of the tabs to the plate. The plate has specific contact tracks where the tabs touch. If a tab is bent, it will touch the plate in the wrong track. This makes the Volume UP change the channel, that sort of thing.

You would have to remove the air bag and steering wheel to gain access to the tabs and the plate. This could be a very complicated process. Be careful when dealing with airbags.

I had the same issue, but I replaced my head unit and it has its own remote. So my audio controls do nothing at this point. I could buy the interface like from the link above, but it ain't worth the effort to me. I already have the IR remote for the head unit.

Good luck.

 

MMMMMMMMMMM Gyros

 

a well put response. I am just afraid I'll get down to the copper plate and either mess up my steering, or mess up my cruise buttons too.

 

The radio controls are on the outer rings. they get flexed more than the cruise buttons. That is why the cruise buttons work and the others don''t. Mine was the same way.

 

tell you what, I'll take mine apart if you do ;-)

 

My radio has its own remote, and my cruise works so nah. I need not do such a thing. Good luck though.

 

are you going to remove the steering wheel controls altogether? or did you leave them there but it serves no purpose?

 

lets brainstrorm, is there any way we can get the buttons to send a signal by circumventing the copper ring contacts? The question is, when you install one of these aftermarket IR blasters is it intercepting the wire and using that to send commands (which means a broken one would now work) or is it getting the signal AFTER the copper ring dealeo?

 

Mine is still on the wheel. It just does nothing, And I don't pay any attention to it. As for the devices, they take the signal from the bottom end of the column so if your controls are damaged, the device will not work. I did consider attatching the IR remote to my wheel, but screw that, when I am at the river I can be outside the car and turn it up or change the track/station. My Airwave has a remote too. haha, my car is turning into my living room. I have more remotes than a Best Buy at Christmas time.

 

thats what i call I.C.E