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Steering wheel controls not recognized

Mike

I have connected all connections as indicated by the instructions. When I try to learn the steering wheel controls, nothing is recognized as an input. I have read several other forums and have also tried using one of the SWC wires on the factory harness of the car and connecting it to pin 9 of the CANBUS for the radio. Nothing works.

Also, the hazard flasher button locks/unlocks the car and the door lock/unlock button has no function.

This is a surprise install for my daughter and I’m running out of time. Please help! Thank you!

Leo

Mike
Hi Mike,

Thanks for your post and for sharing the details of your setup — that really helps us understand the situation.

Here are a few suggestions to help resolve the issues you’re experiencing:

Steering Wheel Control (SWC) not responding:
Even though your vehicle uses a CANBUS decoder, the factory harness behind the original screen usually includes analog SWC wires (Key1, Key2, and GND).
If manual learning isn’t working despite wiring as instructed, it’s worth double-checking the Key1 and GND connections. A photo of your SWC wiring would be really helpful for us to verify if anything is off.
Door Lock & Hazard Button behavior:
The issue where the hazard button locks/unlocks the car but the door lock button doesn’t work is typically due to different button panel pinouts.
Ford uses several panel versions with different connectors, and some require an extra adapter cable. Just let us know your order number and we’ll make sure to send the correct patch cable.
CANBUS and ACC Power:
Since the unit powers on correctly with ACC, your CANBUS decoder is working as expected — no changes needed here.

And by the way, it’s genuinely touching that you’re setting this up as a surprise for your daughter — she’s lucky to have such a thoughtful dad. Let us know if you need anything else — we’re happy to assist further!

Best regards,
Leo

Mike

I have tried a few different ways to wire this in now, based on other posts. On the last two pictures, I believe the wires I needed to use from the car were the BLU/WHT and the GRY/YEL? Do those get connected to KEY1 and KEY2?

Forgive the wiring picture, it will get cleaned up and connections secured once it is all operating as it should.

Leo

Mike

Did you cut the original factory harness on your vehicle side?
I’d recommend disconnecting from the CANBUS side instead — that way you can leave the original factory wires intact, which is safer and makes troubleshooting easier.

As shown below, here’s a sample diagram for reference only:

Example after connection：

Mike

I reconnected everything just as you pictured and it still will not learn. The controls light up on the steering wheel, but it will not go into a learn state when pressing anything on the controls screen.

Leo

Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks again for your update.

Based on the wiring diagram we shared earlier, once the harness is connected properly, the unit should be able to enter SWC (steering wheel control) learning mode without issue. This method has worked successfully for several other Ford Focus users on our forum, and we’ve verified it through our own testing as well.

Since your setup still doesn’t respond even after following the diagram, and the steering wheel buttons light up but don’t register, we suspect there may be an issue with the factory wiring, such as a broken or unresponsive AD signal line.

We recommend temporarily reinstalling the original radio to test whether the steering wheel buttons still function. This will help confirm whether the vehicle’s wiring is intact.

If possible, feel free to share a clear photo of the factory harness connector — we’d be happy to assist with further analysis.

Mike

When selecting a command to learn on the new radio, before pressing the desired SWC button, is the radio supposed to display anything? I cannot get a video to load, otherwise I would show that.

All the SWC functions worked previously to install of this radio.

Leo

Mike
Login to see the link
Please check out this video – it simulates how the head unit screen responds during the steering wheel button learning process, as if installed in the car.

Mike

Perfect! That’s what I was expecting to happen, but the button on the head unit only stays highlighted while you are touching it. It never goes beyond that point so I cannot even try a SWC function.

Leo

Mike
Thanks for the update!

Please make sure you’re following the correct procedure for learning steering wheel buttons:

✅ Press and hold the physical steering wheel button first (do not release),
✅ Then tap the corresponding function on the head unit screen,
➡️ The button should stay highlighted and show that the function is learned. Only then you can release the steering wheel button.

From your message, it seems you may be tapping the screen button first and then pressing the steering wheel button — that won’t trigger the learning process.

Please try again using the correct order, and if it still doesn’t work, feel free to share a photo or short video so we can help further.