Steering wheel swap gone wrong...

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Tpc575

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Upgrading my ‘14 basic rubber Tradesman wheel to the heated leather Laramie wheel with audio controls. Watched the videos, followed the steps. Got parts from a ‘13 donor truck. All seemed to go well. Turned the truck on and windshield wipers came on. Messed with the switch and no response. Blinkers don’t respond either. Checked audio controls that are in the wheel and no response either. Any ideas what I got wrong? Thanks in advance!
UPDATE: checked wiring (again) and found the plug for the blinker/wiper switch not fully seated so that is resolved. However, the audio controls still aren’t working.
 
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1500ram12

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I'd pull the airbag back off and double check the wiring. Make sure everything is seated properly and nothing is pinched.

What year truck is the steering wheel off of?


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman
1990 5.9L 12v Cummins W250
 

tron67j

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For the audio controls, sounds like the clock spring was not reinstalled properly. Not sure how to fix, you may want to buy a new one and install. Hopefully someone else who had similar problems responds with better fix. Good luck.
 
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Tpc575

Tpc575

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Updated original post. The parts came out of a ‘13 Laramie 2500 crew.
 

jawzs2

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Don't you need to enable remote steering wheel switches in the BCM for the audio controls to work. I had to enable them in my son's 2012, used AlfaOBD. Not sure if 2013 is the same. You may want to browse thru the AlfaOBD thread in the 4th Gen DIY section.
 
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Tpc575

Tpc575

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Don't you need to enable remote steering wheel switches in the BCM for the audio controls to work. I had to enable them in my son's 2012, used AlfaOBD. Not sure if 2013 is the same. You may want to browse thru the AlfaOBD thread in the 4th Gen DIY section.
It’s possible but every video I’ve seen looks plug and play.
 

1500ram12

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It’s possible but every video I’ve seen looks plug and play.

It is at least in the 13+ for steering wheel controls. As mentioned earlier it's possible that the clock spring was messed up during removal. They are fairly sensitive. But am not sure if it would effect the windshield wipers.

One way to test the clock spring (if I remember right) is try and set the cruise control. If it won't set then you have a bad clock spring. If it came with one. Assuming it did. If yes, you can reuse your original but if you ever want to add the heated steering wheel function you'd have to get the correct one.


2018 2500 6.4L Hemi Tradesman
1990 5.9L 12v Cummins W250
 

misfit77

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My 14 express was plug and play.

I have the cheap radio that plays mp3 and xm....5.4?

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Ricks Ram

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Did you remove or replace your clockspring when you did the installation? The audio controls will work with both the non heated and heated wheel clockspring, just trying to narrow down whatever may be going on. As stated the radio controls should work plug and play. There are no codes needed on the 13 up 4th gen trucks. If the clockspring was damaged when you installed the new wheel you would most likely have other issues besides just the audio controls not working such as a check engine,ABS and airbag warning light ect. I suppose it is possible that there was a problem with the clockspring but as long as you didn't over rotate it and didn't install the steering wheel incorrectly and smash the plastic nub that fits through hole in the steering wheel it would be pretty hard to damage the clockspring by just changing the steering wheel. The clockspring could definitely cause this issue and may have had an issue before you installed the wheel but it would be a long shot. Check and see if All the other functions for the other steering wheel controls function properly, cruise,voice command, Bluetooth, gear up and down ect. The heated wheel will have an extra white connector that is not used in your application and won't fit it your current clockspring so that can't be the issue. If it were me I would pull the wheel and pull the front cover and rear cover off and start checking the harness for any damage to the harness and check all the connectors and pins just to try to rull that out as the problem as much as possible before you start changing any other parts. The clocksprings aren't cheap and I don't recommend buying a used one as they have been over rotated and damaged in many cases. You can also check for DTC codes if you have the Alfa tool to possibly narrow down the problem before you start throwing parts at it.

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