Steering wheel radio controls for 99 T/A

**blackTA6585** · 01-02-2006, 01:44 PM

I've got a 99 T/A and the leds on the steering wheel are out on one side, does anybody know how to change the light on it, i dont know if the plastic button just pulls off but I dont want to break it. But if anybody knows it would be greatly appreciated because it looks funny with just one side glowing. Also I dont have the stock radio so my buttons dont even work with the radio I have in it and I have heard about something you can buy to make it work with a different radio but I dont know what it is, if anybody knows what I'm talking about or how to make it work please let me know thanks.

**White Rascal** · 01-02-2006, 02:59 PM

If your HU uses an infrared remote control you can use the PAC SWI-X Steering Wheel Interface to keep the use of your controls.

**stangslayer98** · 01-02-2006, 03:01 PM

samething happened to me, one side doesnt light up

**TransAmMan** · 01-02-2006, 03:41 PM

whoa ... both of mine are out. I wasn't even aware they lighted up hahaha. I would defintely like to know how to change out the lights in them.

**MadSeason** · 01-06-2006, 04:32 AM

I haven't had to do this yet but it might be in the owners manual, I'll do some digging

**gbarrkansas** · 01-06-2006, 04:33 AM

This guy shows how to change the light bulb.

doghouse.2y.net/gtp/steeringcontrols/

**MadSeason** · 01-06-2006, 04:36 AM

Originally Posted by gbarrkansas

This guy shows how to change the light bulb.

doghouse.2y.net/gtp/steeringcontrols/

i shall dig no more, thanks

**TransAmMan** · 01-06-2006, 04:49 AM

" Tools used:

Pair of sidecutters
Pair of needle nose plires
A Jewelers screwdriver (flatbladed)
A sharp pointed scribe
One Cinnamon Toast Crunch Breakfast bar
One low wattage soldering iron (unavailable for pic) "

LOL. I laughed pretty hard when I read that. Thats extremely infomotive I'm glad you posted that. I'll have to do this in the spring. I just don't know of anyone that owns a soderning iron.

**blackTA6585** · 01-06-2006, 10:52 AM

Yeah same here on the soderning iron. Thanks for the replies I'm going to go work on it.

**99WS6MAN** · 02-02-2006, 10:46 AM

The page isnt coming up ... does anyone know what exactly has to be done .... thanks in advance for you help

**peterlawl84** · 02-03-2006, 05:44 PM

wish i knew about that link. i just bought a new one and replaced mine a few years back. just had to removed i believe two bolts that held the airbag unit in place and then you can unplug the buttons and pop the unit out.

**itsyasoldier** · 02-08-2006, 03:52 AM

I have The optional steering wheel conroller for my 2000 ss to control my clarion flip out touch screen. All that it is, is a module that has a wire that you mount somewhere close to the stereo. On the end of the wire is a little thing that looks like the bulb on the end of a remote. It sends the signal to the stereo......but what sucks about it is that it doesnt always want to work. if the sun shines on it or its not pointed directly at the stereo it wont work. Oh yeah it is also 80.00 plus installation so i will let you decide if it is worth the money or not.

**99WS6MAN** · 02-08-2006, 08:09 AM

I love my steering wheel controls and is the reason I havent installed an aftermarket deck .... so do you have any pic of your system "itsyasoldier"? Really intrested in what you have done ...

**itsyasoldier** · 02-08-2006, 08:14 AM

Here are some pics of my system.

**99WS6MAN** · 02-08-2006, 08:41 AM

Do you have any pics of the steering wheel controls? Do you still use the ones that are on the steering wheel?

Thanks in advance for your pics ....

MArk

**itsyasoldier** · 02-08-2006, 08:46 AM

Yes you use the stock controls on the steering wheel. How it works is its like a remote device that hooks up to the back of your new head unit. Then you mount the sensor somewhere close to the head unit. It looks like the glass thing on the end of a remote. I mounted mine next to my parking brake lever. Sorry I dont have any pics.

**TheDoc** · 02-09-2006, 10:54 PM

About two years ago I wrote up an extensive tutorial on how to replace the stupid light bulbs with LEDs that will last about 10 times longer. And I changed mine to blue while I was at it.

Let me see if I can find a link to the thread.

**TheDoc** · 02-09-2006, 11:01 PM

Ugh, it looks like the old archives must have been purged or something... Here's a link to the install pictures I took as I was doing it. Sorry I have to space this out but I'm not up to 10 posts yet and can't post URLs (LAME!)

www . theplanetgallifrey . net /gallery/index.php?spgmGal=2004/09272004_swcontrols#?

**TheDoc** · 02-09-2006, 11:08 PM

Here's a quick rundown of how to get to the controls (believe me, it's MUCH easier to take the airbag off and slack up the wires than to squeeze your fingers behind the control to pop it out.

Thanks to mods . firebirdv6 . com for this.

"13.How do I replace burnt out LEDs in the steering wheel controls? (Alan)
First, disable the airbag by pulling the fuse and disconnecting the battery. There are 2 big allen head screws in the back of the steering wheel that hold the air bag in. Just loosen them up until the airbag will come out. The screws will not come out of the back. Once you get the airbag removed, you'll see the wiring harness. Pull the wiring harness out of the little groove that it is in to give you some slack. Pop the button cluster out and disconnect the harness. If you need to, you can reinstall the airbag and connect everything back up (except the radio buttons) so that you can drive the car. Don't panic about taking the airbag out - it's no biggie."

There were links to the airbag being removed that linked back to LS1.com but apparently they don't exist anymore either. It's really a simple procedure, but you definitely want to be careful.

**TheDoc** · 02-09-2006, 11:13 PM

And sure enough, Google's cache comes through!! Check it out.

TheDoc 05-10-2004 03:09 AM
Steering Wheel Radio Control LED Swap

So I decided that since one of my steering wheel radio control lights had gone out and because I just installed a shiny new Sony CDX-M9905 head unit, it seemed that it might be neat for my steering wheel radio controls to match the pretty blue color of the M9905.

Since I had no blue condom to put over the old incandescent bulb and because I never wanted to desolder and resolder these things again, I decided to research what it would take to do an LED swap for the incandescent bulbs.

After doing much research here on the forums and on LEDs and voltages, I decided to undertake the project.

I have a '98 Trans Am, and my steering wheel radio controls have the indentations in them. They are slightly different PCB-wise than the newer versions I've seen pictures of.

In order to bring the 12V feed down into the required 3.7-4.5V of the LEDs, I needed to step the voltage down. Doing some basic Ohm's Law calculations, I discovered I would need a 470-ohm, 1/4 watt resistor inbetween the positive feed and the LED. This brings the voltage to approximately 4V, which is within operating range of this particular LED.

Once I had that figured out I was ready to start. Steps below.

Parts Used:

Soldering Iron with fine pointed tip
Desoldering tool
Good silver-core solder
Pair of needlenose pliers or a small crescent wrench

2 x Hi-Bright LEDs (I used Radio Shack 276-316 Blue, 3.7V, 20mA, 2600mcd)
2 x 470ohm 1/4watt resistors (Radio Shack 271-1317, pack of 5)

As I go through these steps, I am assuming you have read this thread first:

(doesn't exist anymore)

Basic Steps:

1. Find the appropriate color LED you want to replace the bulb with.
2. Do an ohm's law calculation to figure out what size resistor you need for the 12V feed.
3. Pull the Airbag fuse then remove the airbag using a 5/32" hex wrench.
4. Slack up the wires going to the steering wheel radio control by pulling them out of the channels they're stuffed into.
5. Using a screwdriver, pop the control out of the steering wheel.
6. Snap apart the control, then unscrew the tiny hex screw in the top corner of the PCB.
7. De-solder the old bulb and discard
8. Figure out which hole on the board represents positive and which represents ground. (see pics below)
9. Solder the resistor into the positive hole on the PCB
10. Solder the cathode (short side) of the LED to the PCB
11. Solder together the remaining leads of the resistor and LED.
12. Take to vehicle and test. If you get no light you probably soldered the LED on the board backwards. I had that problem on both sides because they're not mirror images of each other.
13. Reassemble unit and snap back into vehicle.
14. Drink a beer, then repeat steps 4-13 for the other side.
15. Drink another beer and stuff the steering wheel radio control wires into the channels at the bottom and on the sides of the steering wheel.
16. Re-bolt the airbag to the steering wheel and reconnect the fuse.
17. Enjoy!

Total time required: Approx 2-4 hours, depending on your soldering skill and whether or not you choose to remove the airbag to give yourself some slack on the radio control wires. I would highly suggest doing so; it made it a lot less hassle to remove and replace the airbag than it would have been to tug and fuss with a wire that's too short.

Some pictures are here, with various before and after shots, along with shots of the PCB during stages of soldering for both left and right sides. Also included are pics of the final result and a comparison to the head unit and dash lights. Larger versions available upon request.