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Purchased a aftermarket steering wheel and in hopes of installing it and getting everything right, all I have left to do is figure out how to power up the leds on the wheel, I have tried numerous powers in hope that it’ll light up, but nothing
can anyone please help
What year is your car? Does the wheel come with any instructions? I assume you checked every available pin coming from the clock spring if there is no +12v then you'll need a clock spring with more wires.
2012 Lexus isf
I have all my powers there, but say when I disconnect the cruise control and use that for a power, there’s a voltage drop which drops from 12v to 4v, which seems to me there’s a high resistance coming from the steering wheel
Means that pin is a low current data/switch line not power. You could remove the clock spring and tape an extra wire along the same path as the original spiral but there is a risk of it failing and tangling.
Check this out. Ideally you'd get a ribbon cable with more wires and put it into the original housing. Of course it would be much better to attempt this on a spare part.
Is there any other alternative of making the leds work?
If I were to remove the ribbon, I’d have to open it up and add another wire to it, which in itself sounds risky, but can I just purchase a new ribbon?
If you remove the ribbon, it's unlikely it will work again. Just ask a few folks here who have had to buy a new clockspring because it was impossible to get it properly rewound AND work.
If you do not have dynamic cruise control installed, there is a free pin on the clockspring. It has a beige wire attached to the clockspring at the back side and connects to pin 7 there. On the steering wheel side where the switches and cruise control connect, it shows up as pin 1 on the cruise control connector. If you order repair part 82998-24290, you'll get the pin for that connector with a pigtail on it. Then you'll need to connect the beige wire on the other side of the clockspring to a switched 12v source. Finally, connect your LEDs up to the pigtail and you're all good.
I did something very similar when I put 2011 steering wheel switches on my car to move the sport button off the dash and on the steering wheel. Not rocket science if you know wiring and some basic electronics.
WARNING - if you remove the clockspring and it comes apart on you, you might need to buy a new unit. To avoid this, put painter's tape over the unit to hold it together should you need to remove it from the steering wheel. That's how I got mine off and back on safely.
Also - there are no IG or B+ sources directly connected to the spiral cable. Even the horn uses the Body Electrical Area Network to operate, so there's no direct voltage for it either. Checked everything there. No direct power you could tap safely.
Last edited by lobuxracer; Apr 18, 2022 at 02:10 AM.
Installing aftermarket steering wheel HELP!!!
