Member Since: 14 Jul 2012
Location: surrey
Posts: 109
Switch pack variations -heated steering wheel
All - i bought a hsw, turned out to be a 2016 and the d4 is a 2013.
Have procured the older ecu from a member, and another member very kindly sent me some correct age switch pack pcb's so i set about trying to retro fit into the wheel last night as an Xmas pressie for Mrs JB !
Question - is the switch pack plastic body different on the earlier wheel in terms of the hsw ecu connection? It seems it (i wanted to keep the piano black if poss as its grown on me......).
Also, does the ecu retaining clip need modifying/chopping as well as its much bigger than the later one.
Thanks
22nd Dec 2021 12:11 pm
jonnyboy54321
Member Since: 14 Jul 2012
Location: surrey
Posts: 109
Have answered my own question by stripping down the original wheel the car came with, the connection for the heated wheel on the rh switch pack always looks the same - its the ecu in my possession which isn't correct.
22nd Dec 2021 5:20 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
Hi, really interested in your experience here as I’m trying to do exactly the same upgrade to my MY 2013. After a lot of searching (including contacting LR directly, who claimed it simply wasn’t possible!) I was still unsure whether the switches pre/post 2014 were actually different. Your discovery that they are the same is really useful!!
If you don’t mind, I’ve got two questions I hope you might help with:
1: How can you tell (eg from a photo on eBay) whether an ECU is an early or late one? Do the boards look different or is the connector different?
2: Did your car have the loom connector for the HSW clock spring already fitted? I’ve seen posts here saying it’s there but taped up, whereas LR (whose advice I’m now taking with a pinch of salt!) suggested cars without HSW had a different loom.
Thanks again for posting your experience, what I thought would be a simple mod has been driving me nuts!
27th Dec 2021 11:54 am
nigethecat
Member Since: 11 Sep 2016
Location: Marnoch
Posts: 4146
The answer to question 2 is that the wiring is there if you have one of the higher spec models (HSE, SE) but may not be there on a lower spec. It’s not hard to find if you look under the steering wheel (left hand side) with the cowls removed. I found it easily enough on my 2015 HSE…I want to see the sweets before I get into your windowless van... I'm not stupid!
Corris Grey D4 Commercial SE 2016
Zermatt Sliver 2007 D3 SE manual (gone)
Indus Silver D4 HSE 2015 (gone)
Bonatti Grey D3 HSE 2006 (gone)
White D3 S (LHD) 2007 (gone)
Firenze Red D4 HSE 2014 (gone)
Black RRS 3.6TDV8 2008 (gone)
Rusty Green Defender 110 1997 (gone)
Black FL2 HSE 2013 (gone)
27th Dec 2021 2:21 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
Thanks Nige! Mine’s an HSE so good news there.
Finding the right ECU seems to be the final hurdle. I THINK (from scanning eBay photos) that the first 2 digits of the serial number on the sticker on the switch unit are the year of manufacture, but I’m not certain as many sellers don’t include a picture of that or know what car it came out of. And I have no idea what the two ECUs look like outside of the switch.
Who’d have thought this could be such a minefield? And LR have no idea!
27th Dec 2021 2:30 pm
jonnyboy54321
Member Since: 14 Jul 2012
Location: surrey
Posts: 109
My car is a gs spec and the wiring was there, wrapped in foam, ready to plug into the heated steering wheel clock spring which i have.
Not found an ecu of the correct vintage yet:(
30th Dec 2021 6:42 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
They seem to be like rocking horse poo. If I ever find one I’ll post pics of every label and connector on it!
Another thing I’m not sure about - according to the wiring diagram the ECU plugs into the wheel, the clock spring, and the switch unit. I assume that means I need to source a switch unit with all the switches I need (phone and voice control included). And further assume that also has to be pre-2014?
30th Dec 2021 6:54 pm
jonnyboy54321
Member Since: 14 Jul 2012
Location: surrey
Posts: 109
not sure - both the 2013 original steering wheel, and the upgraded 2016 one have the socket on the switch pack. If you wish to upgrade the switch packs you can change the pcb's, easy.
5th Jan 2022 10:46 am
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
Well I just found a 2016 wheel complete with switches and clock spring for about what I’d pay for the wheel and the spring anyway so it’s now waiting in the garage for me to have some time to play with it. I’ll give it a dry run but I suspect I’m now in the same situation as you JB, in that I’ll need to find the old spec ECU somewhere!
5th Jan 2022 8:47 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
Success!!
Well after trying in vain to find the right ECU I found another heated wheel for sale from a 2013 car, which still had its ECU attached. Meant splashing out on a second wheel, but I couldn’t find any other way to get the ECU. It came from a Range Rover Sport, but that’s fine.
I also needed a right hand switch pack, which I also got from a 2013 RRS. Plugging the ECU into that, and re-using my original LH switch pack and original loom all works perfectly.
For information, the old ECU has 3 connectors: one to the wheel, one to the RH switch pack, one to the clock spring. The later one has a fourth, which plugs into a connector that comes out of the loom near the connector for the LH switch pack. That connector is NOT there pre 2014. I also found that if you plug the 2014 wheel switch packs into an older car it seems to disable the paddle shifts.
Hope this helps somebody, I’ll try to upload a photo of the correct pre-2014 ECU. Now to enjoy warm fingers at last!
Last edited by scarecrow on 27th Feb 2022 11:27 pm. Edited 1 time in total
26th Feb 2022 2:35 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
Pre-2013 ECU
26th Feb 2022 2:40 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
This also means I have a spare heated wheel and associated switch packs (including paddles) for a 2016 car which I don’t need, probably going onto the For Sale section soon…
26th Feb 2022 2:42 pm
jonnyboy54321
Member Since: 14 Jul 2012
Location: surrey
Posts: 109
Pleased for you and slightly irritated lol.
Sadly the numbers on that ECU don't seem too helpful.
Search continues...
26th Feb 2022 3:06 pm
scarecrow
Member Since: 14 Dec 2019
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 49
I just kept looking at photos of wheels for sale till I found one where I could see the ECU wires poking out. No luck at all finding the part on its own
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