theblue

thats great news. So did you get the PAC to get your steering wheel controls working?

Spect2K3

I brought it to circuit city to have them do it because it looks REALLY complicated to do. They wanted to charge nearly $150. That is also not guaranteed to work b/c they lectured me that these things usually dont and after it is all setup, if it doesn't work, I can't return it to crutchfield and they won't be responsible - i'll live without the steering wheel controls if I have to, thats crazy! - that is unless somebody knows a better way to do this, I gotta draw the line somewhere

theblue

$150! wow.. Maybe you should try getting quotes from some audio shops who actually want your business. Okay, I just did a search on the PAC install, heres a link.

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...&highlight=pac

ahh, just realized it was for an alpine HU.

binhbinh

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61713

any of you guys tried that?

Spect2K3

Nice info, i'm gonna have to give that a shot tomorrow. I love the unit, but I would prefer an 05 if I couldn't use these controls. As i'm sure most of us can agree, the controls are not exactly cosmetic, so to have them there for no reason would lead me to buying a new steering wheel!

sraudio

I sell those Steering wheel adapters for 79.95 dollars and no extra install when I am installing the radio. they make them for certain Kenwoods,sonys.pioneers,alpines as well. The radio also needs to be ready for an external wired remote otherwise you have to use the universal part and that one is hit or miss

Spect2K3

Well between binhbinh's link to the customtacos website and what crutchfield has to say about it, I am interested to know if this can really be done without having to buy any additional parts. What do you guys think?

Direct Quote From Crutchfield:

Compatible with Factory Steering Wheel Radio Controls: Through the special E-iSERV website from Eclipse, you can download software that enables factory steering wheel remote operation of the CD3000. This software can be burned to a CD-R and imported into the receiver. Two wires (brown/black and brown) in the supplied wiring harness need to be connected to factory wiring in order for steering wheel remote commands can operate. To take advantage of the optional wired remote capability of this unit, you must have a vehicle with steering wheel radio controls. Note: Depending upon the vehicle's make and model, not all downloaded material may be compatible with steering wheel remote functions.

PghtC

I am pretty sure it will work.

Go for it.

Spect2K3

alright, i'll give it a shot then!

theblue

hey this is what i was saying earlier . I'm looking forward to see if this works, good luck.

Spect2K3

So real quick, just to clarify. This method:

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61713

There should be no need for the 'non-existent' downloadable software off of the e-iserv website? Just hook those wires up correctly and the SW controls and the HU will work together in sync properly?

I'm just reviewing everything in my head before I do it tomorrow and that is the roadblock in front of me. If it doesn't work, and I don't know that it will, I am going to try installing the swi-ecl part. HOPEFULLy, the first method will work!

PghtC

He didn't need the software. Doesn't mean you won't, but try it without first and see.

Spect2K3

Yea, afterall, I don't believe that there IS software...i've looked and there is really nothing out there. I'm trying this today! Wish me luck!

PghtC

good luck

Spect2K3

Well the secret is out, scion tc and an eclipse cd3000 are compatible with the steering wheel controls without an adapter. All it takes is 1 resistor, and a little knowledge about wiring. After 3 hours of work today and a few phone calls to eclipse and crutchfield, I was able to get the steering wheel controls working beautifully without the pac swi-ecl. This is awesome and I didn't have to go through the hassle of the adapter. So you all go get your eclipse aftermarket HUs and hook those steering wheel controls right up. NICE!

The thread on customtacos was not all that useful because it was not a tC and the wiring is a bit more detailed than it let on.

PghtC

so you should write a little how to... :D

Spect2K3

I wish I could, but a friend of mine is the one who really did it. I'm not all that knowledgable about these sort of electronics. I just want to get the word around that it CAN be done. So when all of the professional installers say no, you can say that their wrong and its really not all that hard. All you have to do is know which wires to tap into, and from there, simply trial and error with a few wires. At first, my up/down arrows controled the volume and the volume controlls operated the up/down arrows. Obviously, I just switched those two. The mode button required a call to eclipse and they told me exactly which wire to tap into (they were first telling me that it wasn't possible to do what i did, lol).

PghtC

hmmm.... at least can you list the proper wire connections/colors?

Spect2K3

Maybe i'll try to take a look tomorrow and open her back up. Quite honestly, it was a lot of trial and error, but I can take a look to see exactly where it is. Point is though, it does work and I (as an unknowledgable person when it comes to wiring), was able to do it, so that definitely means that anyone else can with probably a lot more ease than I did. A call to scion, crutchfield, or eclipse could all be helpful enough to even guide a dummy through this.

PghtC

Yeah, I was thinking about an Eclipse head unit, but I want to know how to wire up the steering wheel controls instead of tryingg to talk to everyone on the phone to get it right.

So whatever help you can provide, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks.