I have read in another forum that a resistor or diode must be installed on the PAC (honda/pioneer) interface somewhere for the MODE button to work.

By the way, I noticed a lot of you guys were asking for a DIY guide. I would check out the following page:

S'pore Honda Civic FD Club :: View topic - Steering wheel audio controls

^scroll to bottom

They have nice pictures that should make the pin instalation precedure very clear. *PLEASE NOTE* these guides are written for the CIVIC! The basic precedure is the same though. However I dont knwo if the pin numbers or wire colors form the civic are the same as for the fit. I would use the pins described in this thread.

 

Ok, I've followed this post and it doesnt sound too bad, the only piece of information not answered in this thread is which of the 3/4 pins from the cable reel connect to pins 5/16 on the back of the audio unit?

ie. is it 3 -> 5, and 4 ->16? or the other way around, the civic DIY doesnt help as the audio unit is different, can the OP or anyone else answer this?


Is there a DIY anywhere that describes the removal of the stock HU?
Also, is there a Honda service manual for the 09/10 Fit? I cant find it anywhere.

 

Im not sure that it matters which wire from the steering reel you connect to which pin on the headunit. When you press a button on the steering wheel it simply registers as a change in resistance across the the two pins. I didnt pay attention to them when I wired mine up, I suppose I could have just gotten lucky.

Here is a guide for removing the stereo:

http://www.bernardiparts.com/Images/...r_AII39879.pdf

The electronic service manual can be found somewhere in this thread. I think you have to download a torrent of it and view it using Internet Explorer.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...available.html

 

hmmm can anyone confirm this is the case?

also, are the pins on both sides (cable reel and audio unit) the same size?? can you just re-use the pins from the old cruise control harness?

 

Except that...

1) this thread is a GE thread, your image and item seem to be for the GD (although the underlying equipment you used could probably be easily adapted for the GE)

2) this thread is about installing the steering wheel audio controls in order to control the stock HU.

Your response, while an interesting solution, is in no way relevant to this specific topic, and only seems to be a way for you to increase traffic to help sell your item.

 

post edited. Back to topic.

 

Can anyone advise where to obtain the necessary pins for the cable reel harness connector? I would really like to have them on hand before I disassemble the steering wheel. Thanks!

 

I used the pins from the original harness that was attached to cruise buttons. Just pop off the top piece of the connector and you can pull the pins out.

 

Cool - thanks a bunch for the response jcuecker.

 

hmm, you may have to use an exacto knife to cut them out. I think this is what i actualy had to end up doing. Most of the honda plugs that are like this just pop open and the pins can be removed/inserted.

I ended up with small two inch segments with the pins at the end. I used wire crimps to connect them to the 2.5' long wires that run over tot he stereo.

 

Thanks again for the response jcuecker... I was able to remove the pins from the original cruise control connector. I wound up snipping the original wire connected to the pin, and then soldering it to my new cable harness.

The issue I am running into now is that with the new pins inserted into the head unit's connector, it cannot reconnect to the head unit (seems like the 2 new pins are blocking it/impinging somehow). If I remove the pins, I can easily re-seat the connector - but with them inserted, it does not re-seat. I tried orienting them in 2 different ways, with the same results. I am kind of at a loss...

 

After re-reading clunker's original post - it sounds like the head unit connector requires different pins. Anyone have a suggestion as to where I could locate the proper pins for it? Thanks...

 

Wound up ordering the harness per JJIN's earlier post. How about a freaking standard on pins throughout the car?!

 

okay I have the steering controls, and I wanted to see the back of the HU before I go with the installation of the steering controls, according to the service manual, I need to remove this panel to get to the HU, but I cannot, for the love of God, remove that lower panel as the manual instructs me to do...

According to the service manual:


However, nothing I do would make this panel come off! On top of everything, there is so little space to put my hand into, so it makes it all the more difficult.

I also found this in another manual:

this seems to be better, but I do not have the "trim tool" it says.

How did you guys remove this panel off?

 

marche,
Harbor Freight has a set of trim tools "5 piece auto trim and molding tool set", p/n 67021 for $7.99. Two of the tool have hooked ends similar to what you show. The panel popped off really easily for me this way.

 

nice saw it. will try to order it soon. also found it on ebay for $10 shipped.

 

Ugh, I would really love to do this, but I think it's a bit over my skill level. I really miss this feature from my previous car. Maybe if someone does some more step by step DIY pics in an actual Fit and I might try it.

 

Based on Clunker’s original post, I decided to take on this installation myself on my 2010 Fit Sport with automatic transmission. I was successful, but a little more information would have made this project a lot easier. What follows is a description of how I did the installation, and some of the problems I ran into along the way. I don’t cover every detail of the install here. I relied heavily on the official Honda Fit 2009-2010 Service Manual, which can be purchased new from Helm. I got mine on eBay for $60 including shipping. Among other things, the service manual told me how to safely remove the steering wheel airbag without getting killed, proper torque value for the steering wheel bolt, wire colors and connector pinouts, how to remove the various covers and panels without breaking them, etc.

I performed this mod on my own car. Any changes you perform on your car as a result of reading this post are at your own risk. Neither I nor this forum are liable for any malfunctions, errors, or damage. Think carefully about what you would do if you broke a connector or triggered an airbag!

I did the project in three stages: steering wheel, then the audio unit, and finally the steering column. I didn’t do it all at once because of the hang-ups I encountered, and because this car is my wife’s daily driver.

Note 1: I always disconnected the battery (negative first, then positive) before doing any of the work. I didn’t want to short anything out. This is especially important when removing the airbag from the steering wheel. The Honda service manual says to wait at least 3 minutes after disconnecting the battery before starting work.

Note 2: Having to apply much force when mating or demating a connector probably means you are doing it wrong.

Note 3: The steering wheel airbag connector has a spring loaded lock. The method for disconnecting and reconnecting this connector may not be obvious. These are the directions from the service manual. Text in [] is my clarification.

Disconnecting: To release the lock, pull the spring-loaded sleeve [back] toward the stop while holding the opposite half of the connector. Then pull the connector halves apart. Be sure to pull on the sleeve and not on the connector.

Connecting: To reconnect, hold the pawl-side connector, and press on the back of the sleeve-side connector in the direction shown [in towards the other connector half]. As the two connector halves are pressed together, the sleeve is pushed back by the pawl. Do not touch the sleeve.

Note 4: The audio unit connector is a little different, too. Per the manual: When you disconnect audio unit connector A, while pushing the tab, pull the lever up and disconnect the connector.

So here goes:

1. Steering wheel:
I removed the airbag on the steering wheel first. I popped off the access panel on the underside of the steering wheel and disconnected the yellow airbag and black horn connectors, then removed the two bolts securing the airbag to the steering wheel. This requires a Torx T30 bit. The bolts have a thread-locking compound on them, and I was unable to break them loose using a T30 screwdriver. I had to buy a T30 bit to use with a socket wrench to get a little more leverage.

After removing the airbag, I removed the steering wheel bolt. To remove the steering wheel, I initially borrowed a steering wheel puller from AutoZone. This puller didn’t work for two reasons: first, the kit didn’t include the required M8x1.25 puller bolts (it only had SAE bolts), and second, the puller bolt holes on the Fit steering wheel are pretty widely spaced and the slots in the puller weren’t long enough. I returned the kit and borrowed one from Advance Auto Parts. It had the right bolts and longer slots. The head on its push rod was too large to fit in the hole in the steering wheel formerly occupied by the steering wheel bolt, so I placed a 10mm, ½” drive socket on the head of the push bolt to push against the steering column. The steering wheel popped right off. See this link: http://cl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771649 for a similar steering wheel removal on an Acura.

Steering wheel disassembly was pretty straightforward. Nearly every screw has to be removed to get the old cruise control switch assembly out, and the new switch assembly with audio controls in. Reassembly was a little tougher, but I just took it slow and didn’t force anything. If you have to force it, you’re probably doing it wrong.

Steering wheel reinstallation was easy enough. I used a torque wrench to tighten the steering wheel bolt to the recommended 29 lbf-ft. I didn’t replace the Torx bolts when reinstalling the airbag (service manual says to do it), but probably will at some point.

2. Audio Unit:
Removing the audio unit was the most difficult part of the whole project. I removed the “dashboard center lower cover” using the hooked tool from the Harbor Freight #67021 trim removal tool set. It came off easily.

I had to use a Philips screwdriver with a 6-inch shaft to reach the audio unit mounting bolt. A 4-inch shaft screwdriver wouldn’t quite reach. An 8mm, ¼-inch drive socket might have worked better, but I didn’t have a 6-inch extension for my set. A 3/8-inch drive socket wouldn’t fit into the hole. When I loosened the bolt, it fell off the screwdriver and I failed to catch it. I thought it would just fall onto the console below, but instead it fell into the space inside the console under the dash. I was later able to get a mirror under the dash to look in behind the console and grab the bolt with a magnet tool.

Removing the audio unit took lots of patience, accompanied by a fair dose of fear. I was convinced I was going to break the plastic before the clips started to come loose. I used a lot of masking tape to protect the panel around the audio unit and covered the screwdriver blade with several layers of tape also. To pry the audio unit out, I used the largest slotted blade screwdriver that would fit into the slot next to the glove compartment, and mostly pulled straight forward, with no twisting. Once it started to come loose, I used the various tools in the trim removal tool set to help it along.

In a previous post, JJIN suggested that you could possibly use the contacts from an aftermarket connector to populate the audio unit mating connector. Nice idea, but it DOESN’T WORK. I bought a Scosche HA11RB connector for this purpose. I removed two contacts from it and soldered them to 48-inch long 22 ga. wires to route over to the steering wheel. 24 ga. wire would have worked fine – I just happened to have plenty of 22 ga. available. When I tried to install these contacts into the audio connector in the Fit, they wouldn’t seat.

What followed was month-long search to find an actual Honda connector. This connector is too new for any cars equipped with it to be showing up in any of my area junkyards. I eventually found a salvage yard in Georgia that was willing to cut a connector off a harness from a 2008 Accord for $20.

When I got the connector and removed a contact, it was indeed different than the ones in the Scosche connector. I’ve looked at pictures of the equivalent Metra 71-1729 connector, and it looks identical to the Scosche.

To get the contacts out of the sacrificial connector, I first had to carefully pry up on the black panel on one face of the connector. I used a small screwdriver to push in and up on the black tabs on the sides of the connector. I only had to raise the panel a little bit. I soldered the wires on these contacts to 48-inch long 22-ga. wires (again). I pried up the black panel on the connector in the Fit, and inserted the contacts into it (16+, 5-). I knew they would fit, but it was still a relief to have them snap into place.

When I tried to mate the connector to the audio unit, it wouIdn’t go. After some head scratching, I finally noticed that I hadn’t pushed the black panel back in after inserting the contacts. After pushing the panel back into place, the connector mated right up. I’m not sure what would happen if you tried to insert the contacts into the connector upside down. Probably nothing, but I’d hate to get one jammed in there.

After mating the connector to the audio unit, I zip-tied the two new wires to the audio wire harness in a couple of places and routed them down through the dash, trying to keep them away from any sharp edges. I then popped the audio unit back into the dash.

When I reinstalled the audio unit mounting bolt, I was really afraid of losing the bolt again. I taped it to the screwdriver so it wouldn’t fall off.

3. Steering Column:
The upper and lower column covers came off easily. I also removed the “driver’s dashboard undercover” to get better access for securing the new wires to harnesses. I made the new wires really long – 48 inches – to make sure they didn’t end up too short after routing.

I cannibalized the old cruise control switch assembly for the two contacts required for the cable reel mating connector. I used a small screwdriver to carefully pry up on each side of the connector to unclip the lock assembly on the connector before attempting to remove the contacts. The contacts were hard to get out. I pushed two small safety pins into the front of the connector on either side of the contact to pry up on the latch holding the contact in while wiggling and pulling on the wire on the back side. Maybe there’s a better way, but with a little patience the contacts came out. They are not the same as the ones on the audio connector, by the way. I left about two inches of wire attached to the contacts.

I routed the wires coming from the audio unit temporarily up the steering column to the cable reel mating connector, holding them in place with masking tape. I cut them to length, and then undid my temporary wire routing so I could get the wires down by the floor under the steering wheel. I soldered and shrink-tubed the cut-to-length harness wires to the wires on the contacts right there in the car. I then rerouted the wires up the steering column. I inserting the contacts into the cable reel mating connector (8+, 7-), mated the connector, then zip-tied the wires to the steering column wire harness. I also zip-tied the wires to harnesses under the dash in a few places for support. I made sure to leave a service loop to allow the steering column to be tilted and telescoped without pulling on the wires. I put the column covers and driver’s dashboard undercover back on, and that pretty much finished the project.

The controls work great. My wife loves it.

I still have 16 contacts left over from the OEM Honda audio connector available for sale. I’m asking $3.00 US cash (includes postage) for a pair of contacts. If you’d rather not send cash, I’d take PayPal. It would be $3.30 to cover the $0.30 PayPal fee. I’m not trying to make money on this, just recoup the cost of what I paid for the connector. Wire colors will be random. PM me if you are interested.

 

Thanks for the interesting discussion, especially Silver Sport for your very detailed post. There's a chance I'll want to contact you about getting some pins for that connector.

I'm going through something similar - trying to get the OEM cruise switches installed in my 2010 base Fit. I have the Rostra cruise kit working, but I'm going to need to do some additional wiring to get the wheel switches in there, which I think will have to include installing the sport cable reel. Read more about that here if you like.

Basically I'm wondering if any of you who have opened up the Sport steering column can tell me a couple of things:

1) where the wires that control the instrument illumination for the wheel switches come from, and

2) where I can source 5v or less from the steering column area so I don't have to run the kit's full 12v through the cable reel, which seems like a very bad idea.

If any of you have any info (or what I'd really like is electrical schematics for the steering column area!) that would be very helpful.

Thanks!

 

hi clunker and silver. can you please check out my thread and see if my cable real connections are OK?