Jeff Heyerman
Veteran Member
I just tested this today, and thought some might be interested. I have been looking for a device to interface between the steering wheel controls (on my originally equipped with double din Premium VI 2002 Jetta) and my aftermarket radio (Kenwood KDC-X993).
I had heard of some issues with response lag with the PAC system and didn't like that I had to buy both the CANBUS interface and an aftermarket radio specific box. I was excited to learn that Axxess brought out a single interface (the ASWC) that works with many different cars and many different radios. It "learns" which car and radio it is connected to. When I found out this product existed I went to their website, www.axxessinterface.com where to my dismay I found that 2002+ VWs are not compatible (I found this strange since Audis were reported as compatible, and I figured they used the same CANBUS system). After speaking with tech support I learned that the volume control would in fact work, but not track control. There was some limitation that would be corrected later and I could then upgrade the ASWC via USB (it is update-able). So I decided to give it a shot. I tested it today and both the volume and channel controls work! And there is no lag is response.
All you need is the AWSC, and a steering wheel control remote equipped aftermarket radio.
Hook pink wire of ASWC to pin 9 of the radio harness (CANBUS +)
Hook blue/pink wire of ASWC to pin 10 of the radio harness (CANBUS -)
Hook red of ASWC to whatever 12V switched you are using (fuse panel for me)
Hook black of ASWC to ground
Connect remote out to steering wheel control input of radio
Again, this is for cars with the 2 x 8 pin + 2 x 12 pin bay connector/originally equipped with Premium VI/Monsoon double-din radios
Turn key on, LED on ASWC starts flashing rapidly. Press up volume until led stops flashing. Wait for solid red LED and you are good to go. Key has to be in "ON" position for steering wheel controls to work - I guess otherwise CANBUS is not sending...
I found the ASWC for ~$50 online. To interface with the radio harness in the car I used an inexpensive "dumb" aftermarket harness (jut connector + wires). I moved the pins from the left front speaker locations to the CANBUS locations to avoid having to tap/splice the CANBUS wires. Just made it cleaner and I don't need the speaker outs as I am using low level signals to go to an amp...
Cheers,
Jeff
I had heard of some issues with response lag with the PAC system and didn't like that I had to buy both the CANBUS interface and an aftermarket radio specific box. I was excited to learn that Axxess brought out a single interface (the ASWC) that works with many different cars and many different radios. It "learns" which car and radio it is connected to. When I found out this product existed I went to their website, www.axxessinterface.com where to my dismay I found that 2002+ VWs are not compatible (I found this strange since Audis were reported as compatible, and I figured they used the same CANBUS system). After speaking with tech support I learned that the volume control would in fact work, but not track control. There was some limitation that would be corrected later and I could then upgrade the ASWC via USB (it is update-able). So I decided to give it a shot. I tested it today and both the volume and channel controls work! And there is no lag is response.
All you need is the AWSC, and a steering wheel control remote equipped aftermarket radio.
Hook pink wire of ASWC to pin 9 of the radio harness (CANBUS +)
Hook blue/pink wire of ASWC to pin 10 of the radio harness (CANBUS -)
Hook red of ASWC to whatever 12V switched you are using (fuse panel for me)
Hook black of ASWC to ground
Connect remote out to steering wheel control input of radio
Again, this is for cars with the 2 x 8 pin + 2 x 12 pin bay connector/originally equipped with Premium VI/Monsoon double-din radios
Turn key on, LED on ASWC starts flashing rapidly. Press up volume until led stops flashing. Wait for solid red LED and you are good to go. Key has to be in "ON" position for steering wheel controls to work - I guess otherwise CANBUS is not sending...
I found the ASWC for ~$50 online. To interface with the radio harness in the car I used an inexpensive "dumb" aftermarket harness (jut connector + wires). I moved the pins from the left front speaker locations to the CANBUS locations to avoid having to tap/splice the CANBUS wires. Just made it cleaner and I don't need the speaker outs as I am using low level signals to go to an amp...
Cheers,
Jeff
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