steering wheel remote project

[95gto]

I just put a new head unit in less than a month ago, and I miss my steering wheel controls already. The headunit came with a remote, rather large for a stereo remote, and I was planning on integrating it with the steering wheel remote, without using a swi-x. I know peripheral makes an adapter, but I don't want to use it, I am iso-mounting my radio so I don't have a spot to mount the emitter that comes with it. My thought was to shave down the board of the new remote and tie the buttons on the wheel remote to the contacts on the board of the new remote. I would just drill a small hole on the side of the side of the wheel remote housing for the IR emitter. This would put the new remote in with the steering wheel controls, but it should control the new radio. I am just curious if anyone has tried this, and if so how did it turn out.

[95gto]

Here is an update: Apparently the stock remote uses a ten wire setup to run all six buttons and the leds, so there is a good amount of contact sharing with regard to the buttons. The good news is that the remote I am using does some contact sharing as well. The only downside is that unless I break connecting traces on the factory remote circuit board, which I don't want to do, my button assignment will have to change from my original desired layout. Since I want the ability to undo what I am doing, I have laid my buttons out differently. To make room for the new remote circuit board I am simply umplugging the old main board. I will make most of my connections at the jumper harness that goes from the old main board to the button/led board. Then I just have to tap into power and step it down to 3V. And then drill the small mounting hole for the ir-emitter in the backside of the remote housing. If anyone wants the details of the wire layout I can give it to them. I would post my button assignment but I think the contact sharing of my remote will not be the same as other remotes of a different brand. Basically, you would have to compare the shared mitsubishi contacts to the shared contacts of your remote and assign buttons accordingly.

[Jerggy13]

you know the remote only has one wire going into the back of the headunit....right?

[95gto]

Yeah, I know. I am integrating my kenwood's wireless remote to the steering buttons. That is why I have to drill a hole in the back of the mounting enclosure for the ir-emitter, the clear led looking thing on the end of the remote. Basically I will make it so the steering buttons connect the contacts on the kenwood remote and use a stepped down 12V to power it. In the end the remote will use wireless ir transmission to control the radio, like it was intended. Its a similar concept to the PAC SWIX. I just won't have an emitter thats visible on my dash and I won't have to deal any of the frustration of installing and programming a swix. It will also be completely reverseable, so no harm done if I don't like it. I was planning on swapping the leds in the steering control and cleaning up the buttons, so I thought I would do this while I was in there. I am basically making a custom interface using stuff I already have and spending just a little more time than using a swix. Free mod basically.

[zanesville3000gt]

you know the remote only has one wire going into the back of the headunit....right?


so does that mean that you can simply wire that wire into something on the head unit and then be able to use the steering wheel controls??



sorry to jump on your thread bub. I apologize for that.

[95gto]

Nope. The easy way is to buy a SWIX universal factory remote integrator. The install requires that you mount an ir emitter near the aftermarket headunit and program each button's function. The good news is that the wire that provides the factory remote signal that you need for the SWIX is right behind your radio, so you can do the bulk of the install right behind the radio.

[zanesville3000gt]

how much does a SWIX or whatever that is cost? and where can I get one of those at?