Electrical, steering wheel buttons not working

Tiny
CHRISTINAPHRAMPUS
  • MEMBER
  • 2016 CHEVROLET SONIC
  • 1.4L
  • 4 CYL
  • TURBO
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 60,000 MILES
Every button on the right side of my steering wheel (the radio stuff) doesn't work
The left side with the cruise control works, but not that.
My radio shows the display, but not the temperature for some reason, and when my back up camera comes on, only one line shows instead of the whole grid.

I've already checked my fuses, and turned my car off.
Sunday, August 23rd, 2020 AT 4:40 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
I suspect each of these are different issues as it is unlikely that all these would be tied together. Due to the steering wheel buttons being the header of this post, let's address that one here and then we need to start a new post for the other issues. The only reason is, so that others can find the solutions to those issues if they are having the same thing. They simply won't find it here on this post as they won't know to look under this heading for those other issues.

I suspect the steering wheel buttons not working is most likely the switch or the clock spring that is under the steering wheel that transfers the electrical signal past the steering wheel.

Here is a guide on this that will explain it in a little more detail. Basically this is a component that allows the electrical signal to stay in contact but also allow the steering wheel to spin. If you had actual wires connecting them then they would get wrapped up around the column and be damaged.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-airbag-clock-spring

Let me know what questions you have and we can go from there. Thanks
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Sunday, August 23rd, 2020 AT 5:40 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,334 POSTS
Because of the design, you need to have the can bus system scanned. CAN stands for computer area network. The system uses a few wires to connect several modules. I attached a pic below and highlighted the wires I'm referring to. The problem could be a breakdown of the CAN or the body control module or even the switches.

Here is a video that shows how it's done:

https://youtu.be/InIlnsjOVFA

If there is an issue with a module or the wiring, this should identify where it is.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Take care,
Joe
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Sunday, August 23rd, 2020 AT 5:43 PM

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