Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
I have power to the ECU and I've checked the circuit of the element within the wheel and that is fine. I have tried to check the power on the output side of the ECU but with the whole lot sitting on the dining room table it wasn't powered up so assume the switch won't close to give me continuity through the ECU. I must admit to being in above my head a bit. I get so far and then the brain kicks in and it all goes wrong. The wallpaper pattern you sent is very unusual but not on topic so I'll have to ignore it. (thanks but a bit lost now tbh)FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
1st Dec 2016 10:55 pm
gvw
Member Since: 16 Jan 2012
Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 872
The wheel switch isn't just a normally open contact - I think you need to have it fitted to the car to test.
1st Dec 2016 11:13 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
I'll try testing in situ when I get back from having my new wheels fitted.FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
1st Dec 2016 11:26 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
Having spent all weekend away from the subject I felt ready to jump back in. This time I stripped the wheel down but tested the continuity whilst plugged in to the clock spring. I have a feed from the clock spring and to the ECU when checking between red and brown in the image. When I test the current at the feed to the switch I find I seem to have a small reading reading between yellow and green. A higher reading between blue and yellow and a small reading again between blue and green. In all these connections I get an off the dial reading if I depress the HSW switch which drops back to previous readings when released. I get no reading between the two outer black wires to the element when the switch is on or off.
To say I'm confused again is an understatement. Anyone suggest what I may have found or not as the case may be?
FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
5th Dec 2016 11:45 am
gvw
Member Since: 16 Jan 2012
Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 872
Put your meter onto resistance.
Unplug the connector that goes top the wheel and check between the 2 outer wires that go to the wheel - IIRC this is the heating element, and between the 2 inner wires which IIRC is the sensor.
You should be able to warm up or cool down the wheel and the sensor resistance should change.
When playing with mine I remember the voltages to the switch were not obvious.
5th Dec 2016 1:37 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
I have continuity on the two outer wires but I haven't checked the resistance of the inner cables yet.FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
5th Dec 2016 1:51 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
Ok I've checked that there is a circuit on the outer wires (ie the element) which there is. I also have a circuit on the inner wires too. I have a circuit also from the inner to outer which I didn't expect. The inner wires are a thermistor heat sensor to switch the circuit on/off to maintain a consistent temperature which I didn't think would be connected to the element.FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
5th Dec 2016 2:17 pm
gvw
Member Since: 16 Jan 2012
Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 872
Did you get the resistance values - although I wouldn't expect a short circuit, more likely an open circuit if it was at fault
Yes there is a link between the 2 as can be seen on the back of the PCB.
It sounds like the wheel is OK - you could put a fused 12v supply onto it to prove it if you like - the resistance of the sensor will change.
You say you've proved there's power onto the ECU so not a power problem.
What's left -
A possible faulty ECU
A possible faulty wheel switch or the connector onto it
Here's where you could do with some spare bits to eliminate by trial & error
Could the heated switch have been apart at any time (perhaps to change the fascia) and not put back correctly?
5th Dec 2016 2:56 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
I should point out that the switchgear came with the wheel and I returned my old switches to the forum member on here as he was chopping his D4 in. He had the heated wheel working on his 2012MY with these switches and they have the chrome tips whereas my original wheel didn't. I have had the front of the HSW switch apart to check all was good but it was a PCB with a couple of buttons which acted upon the PCB and a prism to carry the light from an LED to the switch symbol. Nothing seemed burnt or broken within the switch. I did have the wheel up to temp after I pushed the power feed all the way home on the back of the clock spring and drove about 5 mins to Tesco with the Mrs. I had a huge grin on my face. It worked perfectly. Coming back I had nothing!! I think the wheel is good but as you say the ECU may be faulty having worked for a few mins, seems like bad luck if it packed up straight away. When I check for a circuit from the power into the ECU and any of the leads exiting from the ECU it shows continuity, this is whilst connected to the car. The switch has no effect when activated. I suppose I should strip the switch down and just check it over again.FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
5th Dec 2016 3:12 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
Ok so I've stripped the switch a little further than last time and have removed the rubber/gel cover which the two small plastic buttons act against. I didn't take this off last time. I discovered the two buttons act on two small raised rubber bumps which make a connection on the PCB behind. One of the bumps has a copper contact but the other doesn't. If this has fallen out when I looked last time I don't know how. The PCB has two circular switch points but the gel cover only connects one of the two. seems strange to have these on the PCB and one is redundant so assume that could be something going against me.
PCB in HSW switch
Gel cover- note the copper connector appears in only one place.
Outer part of switch with two buttons which come into contact with gel
.FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
5th Dec 2016 3:49 pm
gvw
Member Since: 16 Jan 2012
Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 872
Strange
Does the copper connector look original or something that's been made to try and improve the contact when the switch is closed.
Unfortunately I don't have a spare switch to check
Have you tried to carefully short across the contact - take care not to short across to any other metal or contacts.
5th Dec 2016 6:04 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
It looks original as all the other switches in this block have the same contacts within them. I can't believe it's the problem as it has worked and suddenly didn't without me disturbing the switch. I did open up the switch but didn't remove the white rubbery/gel membrane with the contact in. You can see the contact on the left but not on the right. The PCB has two contacts and the switch has two white plastic buttons which press against the rubber membrane which contacts with the PCB but only on one side??? Seems very strange that it would do nothing when they've gone to all the trouble of making it with twin contacts. As I say, I can't believe it's got anything to do with it unless someone at Tesco had it apart whilst I was in there with the wife. I've put a wanted ad up on the site to see if anyone has an ECU or switch so I can try them out (Bought them) without the wife knowing just how much it's beginning to cost as well as how much isn't getting done at home because of the time spent mucking about with something that really shouldn't be this hard.FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
5th Dec 2016 6:15 pm
gvw
Member Since: 16 Jan 2012
Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 872
Yes as others have found, myself included the heated steering wheel mod is not always straight forward.
I ended up buying 3 setups before I worked out where I was going wrong
The rubber keypads are a pig - I've seen them on access control where the buttons are intermittent.
A silicon lubricant helped in my instance but not sure of yours.
5th Dec 2016 6:24 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
Ok, found something here which may be an answer.
I checked I had a feed at the clock spring both in and out but never actually measured the voltage. I saw movement in the needle and assumed that I had power. I've been over it in more detail this morning and find I have 12v going into the CS and 12v coming out. I attached needles to the probes to allow me to check continuity through the insulation of the wires to see if there was somewhere where it came to a stop. Upon checking the output from the CS I have 12v but when checked at the wires which plug into the CS output it's only 1v!
I've attempted to clean the contacts in Isopropyl Alcohol but no change. Are the small 2 pin socket/plugs available? I am happy to splice a new one in if I can get one.
Any ideas what they are called or if / where?
Thanks for any pointers.
Huw
FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
6th Dec 2016 1:03 pm
fisherman
Member Since: 16 Jan 2007
Location: Hornchurch Essex
Posts: 1789
Just been to have a further fiddle and have discovered that there is in fact 12v at the red cable coming out of the connector from the CS. I assumed earth was the brown return wire but when I earth on the steering column it shoots up to 12v. The return (the brown cable) I assume must be reduced because the circuit takes in the heater element? I'm getting confused again now tbh. I have no clue how the switching works so have guessed that there is no open circuit until switched as I would normally expect. Jeez this is doing my head in.
Any thoughts on what else to try?FFRR 2017 4.4SDV8 Autobiography. Cost so much I must be mad!
D4 HSE 2012 Like a second wife, more expensive but goes better! I almost cried this time!
D3 HSE 2006 (Almost 8 years together, true love)
Land Cruiser VX 1994 11 years together, wife cried when I p/ex'd for my D3
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