So, at first I would like you to excuse my bad english. It is not my native language and I don't use it much. Some of the names and words will be translated via Google translate, so bear that in mind. Second thing is that this post will be full of url links. They all lead to my own website, feel free to download and distribute the images as you like. But users with internet data limit beware! These images are kinda big (~1MB each).
I'll try to teach you how to solder, how to crimp and finally how to wire up the radio controls.
At first you will need some tools. Besides screwdrivers and ratchet with some sockets to take out ICS, undo the steering wheel and steering column cover, you will need:
Nippers, stripping pliers, crimping pliers
Soldering gun, solder, flux - or better liquid flux
Heat-shrink tubes
Textile tape and maybe electrical tape
Zip-ties (cable-ties)
I don't know how to call them (in Czech electrical slang we call them beggars), but avoid using these at all cost:
Don't use these!
The liquid flux can be either bought or made using isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol / rubbing alcohol / denaturated alcohol) and crushed solid flux. Nice tutorial is here:
Youtube link
If you don't know how to solder, these images will show you how to do it. It is simple and pretty straightforward.
1. Strip about 1 cm of each wire and put piece (longer than stripped part) of heat-shrink tube on one end.
2. Twist both stripped parts together.
3. Add few drops of liquid flux to the joint.
4. Solder the wires together by heating the joint with the solder gun and pushing the end of solder to the joint. That way will the solder fill the joint completely. You will hear the isopropanol compound of liquid flux evaporate as you heat up the joint. That's normal.
5. Drag the heat-shrink tube over soldered joint and heat it with lighter.
Pretty easy, huh? Now if you need to split one wire into two wires, you must follow different approach.
1. Start by stripping all the wires.
2. Twist two wires together and put piece of heat-shrink tube on the separate wire.
3. Now twist the double-wire with separate wire together and apply flux.
4. Solder.
5. Drag the heat-shrink tube over the joint and heat it with lighter.
This approach is most useful when you need to split one wire into two of them. Like if you need to light up two same bulbs from one wire. But if you need to "steal" a current from wire you cut, like you will be doing in powering the illumination on steering wheel controls, you should better solder the wires this way:
1. Strip all the wires. Notice the new wire should be stripped more, let's say 2cm.
2. Drag the heat-shrink tube over one end of "original" wire and twist these two ends together.
3. Now add the new wire to the joint.
4. Solder.
5. Apply heat-shrink tube.
So I hope now you can solder like a pro. Now I'll show you how to crimp connectors to the wire. You will need it to crimp the contacts for black 4-pin connector and 2 contacts for green 26-pin ICS connector.
1. Strip appropriate length of the wire. It should be 1-2mm longer than crimping part for bare wire of used contact. On the image (from top to bottom) you can see FAST-ON connectors 4.8mm, 6.3mm, mini-ISO (Micro Timer) and ISO (Junior Timer) contacts.
2. Crimp the part of contact for bare wire using crimping pliers.
3. So it looks like this.
4. Now crimp the part of contact for insulation used for securing the wire in case of random pulling so it looks like this.
If you lack the crimping tool for miniature contact like Micro Timer, you can use the nippers to crimp. Be gentle, don't cut the contact in half.
1. Strip appropriate length of wire again.
2. "Crimp" it in many spots, so the wire holds in place tightly.
3. Now use crimping pliers for the insulated part.
4. Finished product.
Now you have all the knowledge to succesfully wire the radio controls.
So how does it look like in your car? I am almost sure you lack the required connector and all wiring. The original wiring in car should look like this:
Image 1
Image 2
It is wired through the hole under the screw and goes on to the ICS.
Wiring
The connector looks like this:
Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4
The original wire colors are:
- ORANGE-BLACK - goes to ICS green connector pin no. 2. If you have navigation unit in your trunk, this wire will be already in green connector in place, so you will have to solder new wire to the existing one.
- PINK - goes to ICS green connector pin no. 16.
- PINK-BLACK - goes to ICS green connector pin no. 18.
- BLACK - this one is earthed. You can buy eye terminal, crimp it on the cable and screw it in some hole (where located) under the dashboard.
The pins are pushed inside the connector -
image. The order is the same as in the list above!
The connector and pins you need are the ones pkr wrote in post above me. I found a set on eBay for US $10 shipped to EU.
It is:
- 1pc 174966-2 - connector housing
- 4pcs 173681-1 - receptacles
eBay listing is
HERE
Now you need to disassemble the green connector that goes to ICS:
This is the connector you will be working with.
1. Cut the cable tie.
2. Push the locking mechanism away so it looks like
this.
3. Pull the inside out.
In this case pins
1,2,3,7,8,9,10 from one side and pins
15,16,18,20 and 22 are populated. Your case may be different but you get the point. Pins that are the most important are
16 and 18.
I've done my homework and searched for the used pins. It was a pain to find them, but I found them. You should use pins:
- 2-1411550-1 for cross-section of wire 0.2-0.5mm2
- 2-1411551-1 for cross-section of wire 0.5-0.75mm2
If you have pin 2 populated in the green connector, you will need two new pins. If not, you will need three. I haven't found them on eBay, but international suppliers like RS-Online, DigiKey or Mouser may be the way to go.
After crimping the wires just push the pins in appropriate holes in the housing and reassemble the connector in reverse order. Use the zip tie to secure the harness to connector.
Finally use the textile tape to neatly wrap the finished harness, so it will look like original wiring. The electrical tape can be used to wrap the wires each 20-30cm with 1-2 turn. So the wraping with textile tape becomes easier in next step.
I hope I've written everything needed for succesful connection of steering wheel radio controls. If you need any other advice, just post here and I will answer as soon as possible.
