2010 Ford Fusion SEL Steering Wheel Control Wiring Help

4130 Views 13 Replies 4 Participants Last post by dudewuzu, 2 mo ago

perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · Mar 8, 2022

My Fusion is a 2010 SEL w/ Sony Premium Sound w/o Nav. I have replaced my factory head unit with an aftermarket JVC KD-X370BTS headunit. I am using the harness that came with my PAC RP4-FD11 SWC interface. I have the headunit wired in and working through all my speakers after I unplugged my Sync module behind the center console.

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So that all is fine. But I have not been able to get the Voice, Phone or Ok steering wheel buttons to trigger anything in the head unit.

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I could not find an appropriate wiring diagram for my car's SWC, but the instructions that came with my interface said that if those buttons didn't work by default they would need to be spliced into the interface from the steering column wiring. They give a general instruction to cut wires in pin 4 and 6 or pin 5 and 15 (in either case usually the Blue wire w/ Orange stripe and the White wire w/ Violet stripe) and splice them into pins 4 and 11 of the interface wiring. I found neither of those pin numbers for the steering column wiring lined up in my car with the description in the instructions, but there was a Blue/Orange wire and a White/Violet wire. So I jumped head first and cut those wires and connected them into the interface wiring. But I still have no functionality from those 3 buttons.

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So, what I know is I get 3.7ish Volts from the Blue/Orange wire to ground. I get nothing from the White/Violet wire, but that connects to the Black wire on the interface which I assumed was ground so that would make sense. I have continuity between the splice points. I get 3.7ish Volts between the Blue/Orange splice point steering wheel side and the White/Violet splice point interface side. That again make sense if the Black wire is ground I would expect that the meter would read a voltage there. The opposite, W/V steering side to B/O interface side read nothing. Again if Black is ground this makes sense.

But none of this either clarifies whether I've spliced the correct wires or, if so, why I still have no functionality from those 3 buttons. So if anyone has any insight on this I would greatly appreciate it. If you have a diagram and can explain what I did wrong that would be amazing!

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bangster

· #2 · Mar 8, 2022

Sounds like you have it probably wired up correctly. I think that if you used the white/violet wire that is the other side of the connector going towards the steering wheel, it is blue/white coming off the connector towards the ACM and APIM. Blue/orange wire from car to black wire to RP4-FD11 (it is actually the positive side of SWC2), and the blue/white (I guess as long as you connected to the white/violet wire going to the steering wheel, you can use that...) to the green/white wire to the RP4-FD11.

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bangster

· #3 · Mar 8, 2022

Where the connector is (C218A):

Connector and wiring (only pins required for this, so zoomed into connector):

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 8, 2022

bangster said:
Sounds like you have it probably wired up correctly. I think that if you used the white/violet wire that is the other side of the connector going towards the steering wheel, it is blue/white coming off the connector towards the ACM and APIM. Blue/orange wire from car to black wire to RP4-FD11 (it is actually the positive side of SWC2), and the blue/white (I guess as long as you connected to the white/violet wire going to the steering wheel, you can use that...) to the green/white wire to the RP4-FD11.

Actually I have it wired opposite: B/O to W/G and W/V to Black. So it sounds like from what you said if I switch the wires it should work correct? B/O to Black and W/V to W/G?

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 9, 2022

I switched the wires just to test and no joy. In fact that caused all my SWC buttons to stop working. I assume the W/V wire's additional voltage/resistance interfered with the controls that were working.

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bbf2530

· #6 · Mar 9, 2022

Hi pd. I am not an audiophile/electronics tech expert. However, others who have replaced their head units on 1st gen Fusions have needed to use an adapter harness for the steering wheel controls to operate correctly. I am not sure it can be done without an adapter harness.

If I recall correctly, they are made by Metra, Scosche etc., among others.

Take a look here: Steering wheel audio control adapters

And here: Ford steering wheel controls adapter - Google Search

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

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bangster

· #7 · Mar 9, 2022

I am wondering about the white/violet wire, the only white/violet in the circuit should be in the steering wheel side of the clock spring. You don't have a blue/white wire from that connector in pin 4?

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 9, 2022

I've returned the wires to the way I had before (B/O to W/G & W/V to Ground) and left the steering wheel exposed so I can return to it if I learn something new. I'm thinking something seems off about the diagram bangster posted compared to my wiring. I'm assuming that diagram is for a 2012 Fusion. But when I test the B/O and W/V individually, each cut without them being connected to anything but the C218A connector (or the equivalent connector for my car) I get voltage from the W/V and nothing from the B/O. With my multimeter's + probe connected to the W/V and - probe to the car chassis for ground I get 5V. Now if as the diagram shows the B/O is + side of the circuit to W/V - side of the circuit, why would the W/V have a voltage when both wires are cut, connected to nothing but the connector? I would expect nothing from both when both are cut. It makes me think the W/V in my car is part of a different circuit. If someone has a diagram that is specifically for my car (2010 Ford Fusion SEL w/Sony Premium Sound w/Sync w/oNavigation) maybe it could clear this up.

I also assume the white green wire on the interface is specifically there for analog signals from the steering wheel, because I realized that the pin it is connected to on the car harness side connects to nothing on the factory harness, which is why it's having me splice from the steering column to it. I'm sure if I can figure out the correct + and - wires for those buttons it should work. Unless my buttons are fried or my headunit just doesn't accept SWC for it's voice dial, phone answer/reject and select functions. But I doubt that last one.

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bangster

· #9 · Mar 9, 2022

That is for a 2010, and it isn't different for a 2012 either. I think you have the wrong wires, and calling the black one to the adapter ground is also not correct.

On the two wires from that section of the steering wheel, there should be no voltage. You should use a VOM in ohms mode and see a different resistance value for each different press of the button.

With no buttons pressed, you should have 2012.2 ohms
With Voice pressed you should have 51.1 ohms
With Phone pressed you should have 508.1 ohms
With Ok pressed you should have 334.1 ohms

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 9, 2022

bbf2530 said:
Hi pd. I am not an audiophile/electronics tech expert. However, others who have replaced their head units on 1st gen Fusions have needed to use an adapter harness for the steering wheel controls to operate correctly. I am not sure it can be done without an adapter harness.

If I recall correctly, they are made by Metra, Scosche etc., among others.

Take a look here: Steering wheel audio control adapters

And here: Ford steering wheel controls adapter - Google Search

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

I'm using a PAC Interface for this. Thanks for trying to help though! 👍

bangster said:
I am wondering about the white/violet wire, the only white/violet in the circuit should be in the steering wheel side of the clock spring. You don't have a blue/white wire from that connector in pin 4?

Yes that's another reason I wonder about the diagram. There is a B/W wire on the same connector, but also a W/V wire. And the B/W wire connects to ground on the factory harness, so theoretically the buttons would work if I simply had the B/O wire connected to the G/W of the interface because that would complete the circuit. Unless I should be looking for a different color for the positive side of those 3 buttons... this is why I'm confused. 😅

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 9, 2022

bangster said:
That is for a 2010, and it isn't different for a 2012 either. I think you have the wrong wires, and calling the black one to the adapter ground is also not correct.

On the two wires from that section of the steering wheel, there should be no voltage. You should use a VOM in ohms mode and see a different resistance value for each different press of the button.

If you look at my picture of the interface the black wire literally says ground on it.

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 9, 2022

and yes exactly, the voltage reading of W/V shouldn't be happening if they are both one circuit.

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perfectlydiverse

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 9, 2022 (Edited)

and if you look at my picture of the connector you see that the B/W wire is pin 1 and pin 5. B/O is pin 3. W/V is pin 12 or 14... I'll have to check that one.

Edit: B/W is pin 1, pin 5 AND 13. W/V is pin 14.

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dudewuzu

· #14 · 2 mo ago

perfectlydiverse said:
I've returned the wires to the way I had before (B/O to W/G & W/V to Ground) and left the steering wheel exposed so I can return to it if I learn something new. I'm thinking something seems off about the diagram bangster posted compared to my wiring. I'm assuming that diagram is for a 2012 Fusion. But when I test the B/O and W/V individually, each cut without them being connected to anything but the C218A connector (or the equivalent connector for my car) I get voltage from the W/V and nothing from the B/O. With my multimeter's + probe connected to the W/V and - probe to the car chassis for ground I get 5V. Now if as the diagram shows the B/O is + side of the circuit to W/V - side of the circuit, why would the W/V have a voltage when both wires are cut, connected to nothing but the connector? I would expect nothing from both when both are cut. It makes me think the W/V in my car is part of a different circuit. If someone has a diagram that is specifically for my car (2010 Ford Fusion SEL w/Sony Premium Sound w/Sync w/oNavigation) maybe it could clear this up. I also assume the white green wire on the interface is specifically there for analog signals from the steering wheel, because I realized that the pin it is connected to on the car harness side connects to nothing on the factory harness, which is why it's having me splice from the steering column to it. I'm sure if I can figure out the correct + and - wires for those buttons it should work. Unless my buttons are fried or my headunit just doesn't accept SWC for it's voice dial, phone answer/reject and select functions. But I doubt that last one.

I’m having the same issues I bought the same wiring harness,I have the left side steering wheel controls but not the right side. I have a 2010 Ford Fusion sel Sony system, audio works and unit works but trying to figure out the steering wheel controls. Did you figure it out? This if my first time wiring stuff too

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