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SWI-JACK Review

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MrSo0h0o
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SWI-JACK Review

Post by MrSo0h0o »

Hey guys i just installed my PAC SWI-JACK in my car today. For those of you who dont know what this is, it is a steering wheel control interface made specifically for JVC, Alpine, Clarion, and Kenwood units. i have a Kenwood Excelon DDX 8017 double din unit.

The install itself was quite easy. The unit has about 10-12 wires but you only use a few. For Toyota's, it is as simple as +12v switched wire, ground, and the interface wire(white) that is wired in series with a 150 ohm resistor.

Before i got out into the car, i prepped the SWI-JACK unit. I coiled up all the unnecessary wires, stripped the +12v switched, ground and input wire going to the kenwood unit, along with soldering the resistor to the white interface wire-This was run off another wire tapped into the white interface wire.

I took it outside and i took longer than expected because silly me miswired a few things. Basically, i just tapped into my already existing +12v switched and ground. You have to find the 20 pin harness for the steering wheel controls. This is easy as there is only one 20 pin connector and it has only 3 wires connected to it(the three wires you have to tap into).

Once you find that harness, tap into each wire: pin 6 gets grounded(just run an extra wire to the pre-existing ground), pin 7 is wired directly to the white interface wire, and pin 8 is connected to the white interface wire with the resistor in series. On the other side of the unit, there are 2 wires coming out. One is a plug(for those aftermarket units that have a port that you can directly plug into) and a blue/yellow striped wire. All you do is connect this to your steering wheel control wire from the headunit.

Tada! All the wiring that is necessary is done! On to programming this thing:

The reason i took so long is because i miswired a few things. I accidentally wired pin 6 to the white interface with the resistor, and pin 8 to ground. I also accidentally wired the blue/yellow wire to the headunits blue/white wire by accident(stupid lighting lol) I had to call up PAC to notice my own mistakes lol.

Back to programming:

The instructions make it more difficult than it really is. Simply put, set the radio knob on the unit to the corresponding headunit that you have. There are only 5 choices so you really cant go wrong. Secondly, it is a series of turn ignition on/off, pushing the program button, and pushing the steering wheel controls:

In my case, I wanted to assign 5 buttons. The directions show 8 or 9 different commands. I wanted vol up, vol down, track left, track right, and source. You have to program the unit in the order they show. For me, vol up and vol down were commands 1 and 2, respectively. command 3 was mute, which i do not have, so to skip it, you simply press and hold and the release the program button on the unit. The unit will notify you that it has learned the command by showing a steady LED. I continued on to track right and track left, which were commands 4 and 5, respectively. command 6 was something else i did not use so again i skipped that by pressing the program button. command 7 was source which i have, so i set that up also. Note: When programming, you have to do this within 7 seconds between each other or the unit will think you are done programming and will save your settings, in which case you will have to redo the programming from scratch. I had to do this a few times for i needed a few times to get the hang of the timing.

The only issue i have with this is that the response time of the buttons are not instantaneous, like OEM headunit. You have to hold it for a millisecond or two longer. This is quickly resolved after using it for 20 mins.

Any questions?
smoker
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Post by smoker »

those are nice, ive installed a handful of those.
cargodz
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Post by cargodz »

Yes they are nice and as you stated far less complicated then what they appear at first.
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JeremyC
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Post by JeremyC »

I have one like it in my car, but I don't use it much because of the delay.

So your saying if I use it more the delay will go away, or I just won't notice it?
MrSo0h0o
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Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:58 pm
Location: Whitestone, NY

Post by MrSo0h0o »

JeremyC wrote:I have one like it in my car, but I don't use it much because of the delay.
So your saying if I use it more the delay will go away, or I just won't notice it?
i meant you would just get used to it. ive been using it for a couple of days now and its not too bothersome..
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jonnyb
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Post by jonnyb »

is this delay common with the SWI pieces? even the SWI-X?
MrSo0h0o
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Location: Whitestone, NY

Post by MrSo0h0o »

i believe so.. i think its just the fact that the signal has to run from the steering wheel controls, through the PAC module, to the head unit.. its not instantaneous like OEM
conga617
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Post by conga617 »

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