Player1

Hi all. I'm wondering if anyone knows if a 2003+ Accord or TSX steering wheel would fit on a Civic. I'm guessing yes as the same aftermarket steering wheels will fit on all 3 cars (but can someone reassure me? )

Anyway, the purpose behind this is I like the shape and feel of the Accord/TSX steering wheel and I may want to use the audio controls for something. In particular to control my hyperblinker's speed (yeah... riceness... Flame away) or to control the volume on a stereo. I'm guessing the stock one doesn't have that capability? Well, you experts tell me.

All I know is I'd have to change the resistance in my blinker (got a potentiometer in there right now). But does anyone know how many wires come out of the steering wheel audio controls and what do the wires do?

mos_skeeto

No idea to all your questions but just to offer another solution, check out the decks with a steering wheel mount. I know pioneer makes a few and I'm sure I saw at least one in the member's rides.

blue03civic

^ yo i kno i can buy remotes like that from somewhere separately do you kno where?

LudlamTheory

theres a company (cant remember who) that sells interfaces for steering wheel remotes to convert them to use with aftermarket radios. it has a box you hide that learns the codes from your radio's remote.

slick

iTrader: (6)

i think its PAC that makes one, SWI-X is the model i believe.
for it to work, your aftermarket radio has to have a wireless remote, the swi-x has an infrared sensor that learns functions from your remote. it costs like $60-$70.

MrWong

iTrader: (4)

To put a Tsx wheel in your Civic is going to be near impossible, esp if you want to control your Headunit.

You can get away with aux. lighting controls, but controling the hu is going to be damn near impossible. You would have to some how splice wires from your headunit control panel into the steering wheel, that requires alot of technical skill, time and patience.

However if you just want a straight swap, it is probally do able. I would swap it and use the buttons to operate the cruise control, as well as aux. lighting.

Player1

Yeah, I would definitely use the cruise control buttons. And yeah, I realize that using the audio controls for the headunit would be tough. But I've got other uses for it. Just gotta take some electrical engineering courses first. heh.

And thanks all for the info on the remotes... Unfortunately that's not what I'm looking for. I plan on putting a wireless internet connection on my car sometime tho with ethernet ports for a laptop but that's currently below my ability. I want to put embedded systems in my car eventually. Just do a search on PC104 or PC/104 for an idea. Those are some tiny little computers. Or www.5speedpc.com or www.cappuccinopc.com.

WhiteRabbit

the audio controls are definitely impossible. but beware the control switches in there. you may need some sort of gating system or something else that has a big technical name that i dont understand well to get the output you want. here is what I mean:

take our stock civic steering wheel buttons. three buttons, speed up, slow down, and cancel. there are only two wires for all three buttons! pushing speed up sends signal down one wire. pushing speed down sends signal through the other wire. pushing cancel sends signal through BOTH wires!

its very possible that honda has done the same thing with the TSX steering wheel controls, so even for controling aux lighting, definitely brush up on your EE. ive seen circuit scematics on how to control 8 functions using only three wires, but i lost hte paper long ago, and ill never find the book again at my local library (check yours out, you might be surprised!)

I dont remember how to translate it to analog, but i know it can be done using basic circuit elements!

mos_skeeto

I hope you don't mind me derailing the thread but...

When I put my remote aroudn the area of the wheel there is no way that the infrared can hit the deck. If this SWI-X is on the steering wheel, how does the infrared reach the deck?

MrWong

iTrader: (4)

Use mirrors to reflect the beam.....just kidding, I am not sure.

slick

iTrader: (6)

i believe its a wired infrared sensor and can be placed anywhere.
however, the infrared sensor is used just to learn functions from the wireless remote of the deck, after its done with it job, its no longer needed.

justplainbad

iTrader: (1)

The SWI-X is a module that hooks into the wires comming off of the buttons on the steering wheel, and then it has a remote IR repeter eye that is like 2-3 feet long comming off of the box which has to be mounted in the line of sight of the Stereo. Also, direct dsunlight does affect the eye, I've had occasions (Mostly on motorcycles) in which we has to build a sort of canopy system to block out the light.

WhiteRabbit

and its designed to work with proprietary systems. it wont work for hondas because there is no data in. these are installed at the radio itself!

there are no steering wheel controls in our hondas in the center console.

its not physically possibkle to do with a PAC thing..... not to say that it is impossible at all! but it will require hacking into a remote and hiding it somewhere, and using the stock buttons as extensions.

I actually did this using my cruise control buttons for awhile, but I was unable to make it sturdy enough to last very long, and had to pull it out.

but the PAC device just wont work. unless its analog. and i dont think it is.....

luciferi

Yes the accord/tsx wheel will work factory or aftermarket radios. The steering wheel controls will work an aftermarket radio with a PAC SWIX. For either, wiring through the cable reel needs to be modified or better yet replaced with a modified accord(tsx cable reel will cost way more because of being from japan instead of the US) cable reel.

The factory civic radio will most likely work for vol+, vol-, and seek. Pin 3 is for the remote, the radio diagram may even show this. Insert wire into slot 3 and test through resistors to ground. If so, the resistors in the accord switches may have to be changed to match the civic radio. The accord has more functions than the previous radios. If the radio will not work, any factory double din will work and again the resistors may have to be changed.

The civic factory steering wheel looks pretty close to the CRV, so you may be able to add the remote switch from an Ody like I did to my CRV. The Ody switch has the proper resistors for the double din radios and civic(if it works). If you remove the airbag, you will be able to see whether or not there is a spot on the left that matches the cruise switch mounting on the
right. If it has the spot on the left it the remote should bolt on with its bracket. The cable reel will need to be modified.

The cruise control buttons can also be used through a few relays and resistors to control a factory or aftermarket(with PAC SWIX) radio.

I currently have an MDX wheel with audio remote and cruise swithes controlling 6 functions of an Eclipse deck through a SWIX. I have an 03 accord coupe wheel sitting here but have not found a coupe airbag yet.

luciferi

How to add for a CRVhttp://www.gocrvclub.org/showthread....t=audio+remote


How to modify cruise switches http://www.gocrvclub.org/showthread....control+remote

Silversleeper

iTrader: (5)

So, does this mean that I can fit a TL steering wheel in my Civic? Cuz I happen to have one laying around, and I like the perforated leather on it.

luciferi

The TL will work but you will need a TL or MDX airbag along with it.

WhiteRabbit

luciferi, perhaps you could clear up a few things that were unclear in those links you gave us:

#1: is the SWIX device run from analog or data bus input? I dont see how this could possibly work if it were data bus, which the SWIX model I've installed seemed to run off of.

#2 did he run new wires from teh steering wheel to teh module? i dont believe our civics have extra function wires running from the wheel down, so any data, whether its a single data bus wire or each individual analog output from each switch on the radio remotewould need a wire going. it seemed like he fixed this by using the horn honk wire, but still, thats one wire versus three needed for three functions on the factory radio remote!

#3: whats the deal with PIN3 for hte factory radio? it seems that radio was already able to have remote controls via pin 3, and I dont believe our radios have that ability. or do they?

#4, you suggest that this is capable of being done afterall in our civics, but your post suggests that you have accomplished this seemingly impossible feat in a CRV, which apparently has different circumstances than our civics on reference to the steering wheel and the stock radio. have you seen this done to a 7th generation civic at all, or was this infact done to a 7th gen civic that you own? or is this a CRV thing that youve decided is applicable to our vehicles?

great scematic about the modification of the cruise control BTW, its definitely alot simpler than the way I was doing it!

luciferi

1 SWIX will work with multiple type of steering wheel formats. The hondas are simply different resistances to control functions. I have used them on fords, bmws, GM/chevy/hummer, and hondas. I used one on a F-250 to translate the cruise control switches resistances to control a Clarion VRX935. The swix learns the resistance from pressing the remote button and then you assign an IR code to that resistance. This is only needed for aftermarket radios.

2 Those write ups are mine, I go by k24 rd6 on the crv forums. The remote has two wires, ground and signal. You add one wire into the cable reel for the remote ground; eliminate a redundant wire for the horn and use it for the signal from the remote to the radio or SWIX. The ground wire can be eliminated by grounding the the steering shaft, leaving you with only one wire through the cable reel. It will work by just grounding the remote inside the steering wheel, but when turning operation is intermittent.

3 Pin 3 is where the radio remote connects to on all Hondas with the new radio plug. All Honda radios are basically the same with different faces so most have the remote capability regardless of whether it is offered on a particular model car. I have not tested the Civic radio but am pretty sure it is capable.

4 I did it on a CRV with the CRV stock radio. The CRV, Civic and RSX are all basically the same. Wiring through the cable reel will be the same. If it works on a crv it will work on a civic. The only thing that would prevent you from adding a control to your stock wheel is if the mounting spot is not there. Do you have a pic of the stock steering wheel without the airbag?

If you are really interested, you can come down to so cal and I will test the stock civic radio for functions.

WhiteRabbit

this is probbaly what has me most confused:

in our civics, the cruise control remote is a three wire remote. ground one, and that leaves you with two wires.

the horn has a redundant wire, i remember seeing that in there, you literally disconnect it form both sides to use that through for signal?

that still leaves an extra wire needed to transmit data through?

how do you control three buttons through one wire? the cruise control switches in our civics are just that.... switches!

luciferi

All 3 audio remote switches are wired in series on one wire. Each switch has a different resistor.

The cruise works differently, One wire comes from horn or horn relay to provide 12v to switch. 2 wires run from switch through cable reel to cruise module, accel and deaccel. The cancel switch just provides 12v on both wires. The horn 12v comes from unenergized relay or horn so when wire is grounded the horn will honk.

WhiteRabbit

is the SWIX capable of learning only three different resistances? or can you theoretically add like seven buttons with different resistances, provided they are correct resistances?

luciferi

The SWIX can learn 12 functions. If using resistor method, it might be limited to eight. The pac website has a resistance calculator to help figure resistor values custom installations. The calculator only calculates for 8 resistors.

WhiteRabbit

so then, theoretically, using the spare horn wire in our steering wheels, we cna attach an 8 button device to the steering wheel and use those to control just about anything in the car?

thats a pretty neat concept!

LudlamTheory

mr scuba steve sir, we so have to experiment on that. i dont even use my cruise control....

whats an swix run for?

LudlamTheory

70 at crutchfield,
52 bucks here:
http://store.autotoys.com/cgi-bin/wf...duct/View/SWIX

luciferi

control anything IR(infrared) based. If you want to control something other than an IR device you will need something that translates resistance into a contact closure I am not sure who makes one. Xantech makes an IR controlled piece with 6 relays that could be used to control anything; it is very expensive though.

An swix will run $50-$80 depending on retailer.

LudlamTheory

how expensive?

luciferi

Retail is about $400, cost is a little over $200 for the xantech piece

LudlamTheory

www.controleverything.com steve...
computer relay controllers, for whenever you do your puter