In order to retain your vehicles factory installed Steering wheel controls, you will need some sort of adapter to convert your vehicles button information over to a usable signal your aftermarket radio can use to determine what buttons you are pressing on the steering wheel!
In some cases, that is a Radio Pro module that supports SWC or by using a module like our SWI-CP2.
The SWI-CP2 is a standalone universal steering wheel control adapter that, as previously described, will convert the button information to your radio to allow them to work on the new radio you are installing.
The SWI-CP2 can look a little daunting at first glance once its pulled out and you are looking at the lengthy harness with quite a number of wires. Luckily, you wouldn't be using all of them at once. You will only use certain wires depending on the vehicle you are installing them in.
In this article, we will be giving you a general description of what the wiring from the CP2 functions are in hopes to better understand what you are doing and how your vehicle communicates these functions through our module, then to the new radio. This guide will have some fancy terminology in it for those inclined but when mentioned are just informational and not pertinent to the install.
You should be using the MECP reccomended military splice method when tapping into wires on the OEM vehicle harness.
SWI-CP2 Main Wiring Harness (11 Pin)
The SWI-CP2's main 11pin harness has 10 wires pinned to it. We will go over each wire that is available and the function that it provides. Remember, you will only connect wires to your vehicle that the wiring guide lists for you. If the wire is not listed in the wiring guide, that wire from the SWI-CP2 is not used whatsoever. The order of the wiring colors below are not the same order seen across the SWI-CP2's main harness connector.
Yellow
The Yellow wire is used to provide a constant 12V DC input from the battery. This wire is always connected in any installation. This allows the module to always be looking for a turn on request from other wires we will discuss later on.
This wire typically can connect to the same solid yellow wire you are wiring to your aftermarket radio harness.
Red
The Red wire is a 12V DC input that is activated only when the key is turned to ACC/Ignition and while the vehicle is running. This wire is one of the ways the module is turned on and off. In this method, we are simply using 12V DC to turn on and off the radio.
This wire typically will connect to the same solid red wire you are wiring to your aftermarket radio harness ONLY IF YOUR DIAGRAM SHOWS TO CONNECT IT.
Black
There are two Black wires that are pinned into the same pinhole on the connector for the CP2. They are essentially the exact same wire. Ground is the connection that directly ties to the negative terminal on the battery. At least One of the wires is always connected in any installation. There are times the two ground wires will be wired to two separate places on your OEM wiring harness if you have a vehicle that has a traditional resistive based steering wheel control setup. The second black wire is to complete the circuit for the steering wheel controls so that the module can read the button presses..
This wire typically will connect to the same solid black wire you are wiring to your aftermarket radio harness.
White
The solid white wire is the first of 3 analog resistive-based wires that can accept input from the vehicle. The resistive-based steering wheel controls essentially change resistance when a specific button is pressed. We use this wire to look at the resistances of the buttons and send them to the module to be deciphered for the aftermarket radio. You would also have to connect the previously discussed secondary black wire from the SWI-CP2's harness to another pin in the vehicles OEM harness where the wire guide describes.
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is connected or not.
White/Black
The White/Black wire is the second of 3 analog resistive-based wires that can accept input from the vehicle. We use this wire to look at the resistances of the buttons and send them to the module to be deciphered for the aftermarket radio. This wire is at times used in tandem with the solid white and white/red wires to complete an entire vehicle's steering wheel control circuit to make them properly operate with the aftermarket radio. You would also have to connect the previously discussed secondary black wire from the SWI-CP2's harness to another pin in the vehicles OEM harness where the wire guide describes.
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is connected or not.
White/Red
The White/Red wire is the last of the 3 analog resistive-based wires that can accept input from the vehicle. We use this wire to look at the resistances of the buttons and send them to the module to be deciphered for the aftermarket radio. The only difference between this analog input wire and the others are that the white/red is the only analog input that can accept resistance values above 10KOhms such as in Hyundai and KIA vehicles. This wire is at times used in tandem with the solid white and white/black wires to complete an entire vehicle's steering wheel control circuit to make them properly operate with the aftermarket radio. You would also have to connect the previously discussed secondary black wire from the SWI-CP2's harness to another pin in the vehicles OEM harness where the wire guide describes.
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is connected or not.
Light Green
The Light Green wire is the 12V DC input wire for vehicles such as older GM's where the voltage changed across the steering wheel control circuit depending on the button that is pressed on the steering wheel. This type of steering wheel control setup is very similar to that of a "resistive-based" steering wheel control setup but uses a voltage drop across the circuit to determine what buttons are being pressed on the steering wheel. We advise taking a look at the installation notes when you are using this wire to see if you have to tie a separate 12V wire into the OEM wiring so the light green wire has a voltage to analyze.
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is connected or not.
Pink
The Pink wire is the LAN, MSCAN, SWCAN, and LSFT communication wire. In a majority of installations, you will only need 12V power (yellow) and ground (black) for these steering wheel control system types. In these situations, data for turning on and off the unit and most times the button data itself from the steering wheel is communicated to the module across this wire. It can be the reason your module is not turning on. Simply put, this wire talks over the data system in the vehicle to work the magic on your aftermarket radio!
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is connected or not.
Purple
The Purple wire is the LIN BUS, IBUS, Class 2, and Serial communication wires. In a majority of installations, you will only need 12V power (yellow) and ground (black) for these steering wheel control system types but it is not uncommon to see more wires from the CP2 used.. In these situations, data for turning on and off the unit and most times the button data itself from the steering wheel is communicated to the module across this wire. It can be the reason your module is not turning on. Simply put, this wire talks over the data system in the vehicle to work the magic on your aftermarket radio, just a little differently than the pink wire input can handle.
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is connected or not.
Red/White
The Red/White wire is a 12V accessory OUTPUT that is activated once the module is turned on. This wire is only used in applications where either the Pink or Purple wire is used to turn on the module over vehicle data. This wire is given to you in cases of vehicles that do not have a 12V accessory switched wire behind the radio. You can connect this wire to your aftermarket radios solid Red wire ONLY if you do not have an accessory source behind the radio. If you are using this wire, it is only enough to power the radio on. It should NOT be used to power anything else other than the radio or a single relay.
WARNING: If you connect this wire to a 12V Source such as the vehicle's accessory wire, the module will stop responding until you remove the red/white wire from the wire supplying 12V or if left unchanged can cause damage to the module. This wire is only a 12V output and will cause the module to malfunction if it is fed 12V.
Refer to the wiring guide to determine if this wire is available to be connected or not.
SWI-CP2 SWC Output Harness (5 Pin)
The SWI-CP2's secondary connector is the 5-Pin connector with the 3.5mm(Audio Jack) connector on it alongside the Blue/Yellow and Brown wires. Not all versions of the SWI-CP2 have the brown wire on the 5-pin harness. These are the communication wires for the aftermarket radio from the SWI-CP2. Your radio should offer a corresponding set of wires or a 3.5mm connector for usage with steering wheel controls. We will go over these connections now.
Connections between the SWI-CP2 and the Radio
There are various methods that aftermarket radio manufacturers use to allow connection for Steering Wheel Control modules such as the SWI-CP2. Typicaly it is by our Blue/Yellow wire OR the 3.5mm Jack. We have a few photos below with some guidance for each connection type!
3.5mm Connection Types
Typically the 3.5 connection on the radio will be pretty obvious. It is usually labeled SWC, SWI, Steering Wheel, W/R, Remote, etc. Below we have a Sony radio that uses the 3.5mm connection into the blue port that is stamped with the word "remote" above it. Simply connect our 3.5mm Connector to this port and you are done.
Some radios like the HEIGH10 have the 3.5mm connection on a harness from the main radio unit like you see in the photo below. Simply connect to this port and you are all done!
These are typically the only two ways you see the 3.5mm connections being made with aftermarket radios.
Blue/Yellow to Radios with a Blue/Yellow wire
Some radio manufacturers are able to accomplish all communication between the SWI-CP2 via a single wire. This is typically denoted in the user manual of the aftermarket radio. The Aftermarket radio harness will have the Blue/Yellow SWC wire in it or in some newer model radios, the wire is protruding from the housing of the radio.
Kenwoods, JVC's, and the GX-3800 all use the Blue/Yellow wire among other radios of this type.
We've circled the example of this below.
Blue/Yellow to Analog SWC wires (Key and SWC wires)
Recently, a lot of manufacturers have included a new means of connections to aftermarket radios for our SWI-CP2. These are radios that do not have the traditional 3.5mm input or the Blue/Yellow communication wires. They instead have a set of three wires. These wires are labeled various names but typically are labeled some kind of "Key" "SWC" or "SWC KEY" wires. Typically there is a 1, a 2, and a ground wire followed by the labeled name such as "Key 1, Key 2, and Key Ground."
These types are just as easy to connect as it would be the previous method using the Blue/Yellow.
In this case, we are only going to be using the SWC/Key 1 Wire. The SWI-CP2's Blue/Yellow will connect to the SWC/Key1 Wire only. You would not use the SWC/Key2 or the SWC/Key Ground. Tape these two wires up and disregard them. Do not connect the SWC/Key Ground to ground at all. It will cause inoperative controls.
Once you have done this, you will need to change your radio type to PIONEER/OTHER in the wiring guide.
This will give a different set of dipswitches on the smaller 4-bank of dipswitches.
Finishing Up!
Once you have completed the wiring and dipswitch-setup of your SWI-CP2, its time to turn the key on and test everything. When the key is turned on with no SWC buttons being pressed, the module should have a solid red status light. When a button on the Steering wheel is pressed, the module should flash green then return back to red once you let go.
If instructions state that manual programming is required, refer to this article.
If you have purchased a no-name brand or any radio that utilizes the SWC/Key 1,2,Ground wires, refer to the radio's included manual for instructions on how to map the buttons on the wheel to the radio. You will not need to reprogram the SWI-CP2 as it should be pre-programmed unless your vehicle requires the CP2 to be manually programmed. Refer to this article for more information.
If your module does not turn solid red on power up or is flashing a sequence of red/amber or red/green, look over the installation steps from the beginning in case you missed something. If it still is not working, contact technical support for assistance. Please be ready to perform some tests with a multimeter.
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