Larry J

Hello to all,

I realize this is a long winded previously discussed topic. However, here is a fresh development that many may find very exciting! Have you ever looked for a steering wheel control interface for your third gen with no success? Do you have the steering wheel controls pictured below? This may be the most important read of your day.

I have successfully prototyped an interface that is smoothly and seamlessly communicating from this steering wheel below. This works with both Pioneer and Sony aftermarket radios with wired remote inputs. This input being the 1/8" (3mm) jack.

This has been in development for over a year. Currently the prototype is installed in my personal 1988 GTA. I am happy to make a production run of these if there is enough interest to keep the price reasonable. It is about the same size as most later model SWC units. It fits in the dash or radio pod neatly.

So, if your interested in using your factory steering wheel radio controls with an aftermarket modern radio, send me a message with your contact info. I will keep records of all who may be interested and go from there. Obviously the more interest we have in this, the faster it can / may progress.

Please feel free to ask questions here on this thread and I will be happy to respond them as soon as possible. I would like everyone to benefit from the questions so we can take this journey together.

Happy driving everyone.

89 GTA 355

89 GTA with Alpine radio w/remote 3.5 jack.
How does your prototype work?

Larry J

My interface connects to the two wire plug from the steering column harness that was plugged in to the back of the factory radio. It also connects to 12V power, ground and has an 1/8" plug to the aftermarket radio wired input. The signal from the horn pad is received and decoded by a microcontroller. It then applies the necessary signal output through the 1/8" stereo jack to the aftermarket radio. The incoming coded signal is nothing industry standard (at least that I have found) so it does not have a name. I call it GM / Pontiac proprietary. Even the tech support folks at PAC and AXXES had no idea what GM was thinking during that era.

Thanks!

89 GTA 355

So do you have these available for sale? If so how much? Are there any tests that need to be run on the horn pad/column turn signal switch? I'm not sure if my setup is working correctly. I'm interested in one of these if it will work correctly.
Thanks!

Larry J

I would like to make a production run of them if there is enough interest. That would keep the cost down. At this moment the prototype is working with no changes required on the car or steering wheel assuming you have the above pictured horn pad and it it is working properly. If you still have the factory radio, confirm that it still responds and works with your horn pad connected. If you don't have it, check the signal wires (two, usually orange and gray) with Voltmeter. You should have 5 Volts orange to gray, at rest with everything powered up. Then when you press / hold any of the buttons, the Voltage should change / jump around.

So you are the first one to speak up and say you want one. Great! This is a start.

89 GTA 355

Are you saying to measure the voltage between the orange wire and the black/tan wire from the 5 pin harness? I don't recall having a tan wire.. are you at the radio harness or the horn pad ?
Thanks, appreciate your assistance!

Larry J

These wires are on a plug at the back of the factory radio. Mine had a separate plug just for those two wires.

Florida GTA

So what's the status with these? I wouldn't mind ordering one as well as my PAC system only works when the engine is off. Start the car and the controls become intermittent.

Larry J

Hello,

The status is this: The prototype is finished and operational. I would need many orders to produce and sell them at a fair cost. When I say fair I mean about $150 ea. This would require a few dozen at least to be produced in a production run.

PAC and others use completely different 1994'ish and later protocols that are easily adapted to thousands of vehicles across decades of technology. So their price can be a little lower of course as they will sell very high volumes of their adapters.

This adapter is compatible with an older protocol proprietary to GM / Pontiac that has never been supported by PAC and others.

So far you are the second person interested and I thank you for that.

Big&BadGTA

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This, the coolest thing I read on the internet in 2024