PAC SWI-JACK Steering Wheel Remote Interface

by PAC

Product Features

• Allows you to control select Alpine, Clarion, JVC, and Kenwood stereos with your factory steering wheel controls
• Splicing required

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000P7CD44
• Item model number: SWI-JACK
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446 in Automotive (See Top 100 in Automotive)
  • #3 in Automotive > Interior Accessories > Steering Wheels & Accessories > Steering Accessories

Product Description

INFRARED LEARNING REMOTE CAN VIRTUALLY LEARN ALL AFTERMARKET RADIOS' WIRELESS INFRARED REMOTE SIGNALS CONVERTS THE SIGNALS GENERATED BY THE FACTORY REMOTE LOCATION CONTROLS INTO INFRARED SIGNALS RETAINS THE STEERING WHEEL HEATER & AIR CONTROL BUTTONS ON ALL GM VEHICLES SIMPLE 3-WIRE HOOK-UP STEP-BY-STEP PROGRAMMING WITH LED CONFIRMATION NON-VOLATILE MEMORY WILL NOT LOSE PROGRAMMING EVEN WHEN POWER IS DISCONNECTED ALPINE UNIVERSAL STEERING WHEEL RADIO INTERFACE

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works "OK"; slow response, July 7, 2008

By 

Tor Slettnes (SF Bay Area, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

I installed this last week in my 2004 Toyota Sienna, together with a Kenwood KDC-X492 receiver and a KCA-BT200 Bluetooth interface, since my factory stereo did not include Bluetooth support. So far it works "OK", albeit with a couple of quirks.

* If you push any of the steering wheel controls right after powering on your car, it becomes unresponsive for several minutes. I believe this puts the unit into some sort of programming mode (as if you were pressing the "programming" button on the box itself) - but I am not about to open my dash again to look at the unit in order to find out. I'll learn to give it 4-5 seconds of startup time before interfering with its inner workings.

* The steering wheel buttons are not quite as sensitive as they were with the factory stereo. It takes a fraction of a second before a push is registered, and also it seems that it takes a little time for a release is registered as well. The result is that controlling the volume, for instance, is a bit more tricky than it used to be for me: It takes about 1/2 second before the volume changes - and then it changes fast! I also have to release it slightly before it reaches the desired level.

A couple of other things worth noting:

* There are several SWI (steering wheel interface) models out there; this one is for use with JVC, Alpine, Clarion or Kenwood head units (hence, "JACK"). For a Pioneer or Sony you would use the SWI-PS instead, and for Eclipse you would use SWI-ECL2. (Though note that if you are getting an Eclipse head unit for a Toyota or Honda, you do not need a SWI adapter. Simply hook the factory control wire directly into the Eclipse unit, and download firmware for your car from e-iserv.jp).

* If you have not already bought your aftermarket head unit, check out the "Steering Wheel Interface Programming Guide" on pac-audio.com in order to determine which brands offer the best match for the steering wheel buttons in your car. I actually ended up with the Kenwood unit for this reason; I was first going to get a Pioneer DEH-P7000BT, but with the latter, the "up/down" buttons on my steering wheel would be "seeking" in tuner mode rather than selecting the next/previous preset channel.

* The SWI does not come with car-specific harness adapters. This means that you MAY have to do some manual wiring (soldering, cutting/splicing, etc.) onto your factory harness. In my case I was able to get away without such damage: I had some 22-gauge hookup wire available that fit snugly into the (female) connector in the factory harness; I just soldered that onto the end of the required SWI-JACK wires. Also, you will need to solder (or crimp, etc.) some of the wires to ground and VCC (+12V), which you can best do by sharing the corresponding solder points for your aftermarket stereo.

* In either case, you may want to follow specific instructions for your car found at the pac-audio.com website, rather than the included (very generic, massive, and confusing) printed material included with the kit.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works Well, but Installation is a NIGHTMARE!, December 27, 2010

By 

E. Martinez "ericmtz" (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: PAC SWI-JACK Steering Wheel Remote Interface (Automotive)

I've installed a few stereos and interfaces in my day, but I have never run into such terrible instructions as this product has. The product comes with directions, then a little card saying to get online for vehicle-specific directions. And they seem to contradict each other!

The product also includes a variety of resistors for the installation. However, NOWHERE in the included materials do they identify the resistors. I had to get on a Crutchfield website in order to find out which resistor was which.

I installed this item and a head unit together. The head unit took me about 1/2 hour, including wiring the harness. This SWI JACK took me hours just to figure it out, get online to multiple websites, look through differing instructional documents, etc.

When it was finally installed, the programming is also very poorly explained. I eventually figured it out AND, the product works well and does what it says it will do. I'm glad to have purchased it, but I can imagine that a lot of people will give up on the installation.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PAC SWIJACK Steering Wheel Remote Interface, January 28, 2009

By 

Joshua J. Mocarski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PAC SWI-JACK Steering Wheel Remote Interface (Automotive)

Installing the device was fairly painless as long as you have patience and knowledge when it comes to car audio. Cut a few wires and press a few buttons and you're done. I thought it was so easy that I would do it again to save the money other places will charge to do it for you.