[fenwick458]

Thinking about it. Ther red/black is permanent live not ign live. The instructions I followed for fitting my MFSW said to use this wire on the back of the headlight switch.

is the steering wheel not lit up all the time?

 

[Leon-and-vicky]

Hi I've bought a van with the mfsw in but hasn't been wired up. What 2 wires do I need to wire up to get it to work?or is there anyone in the south wales area that could do it for me and il pay them? Thanks in advance

 

[kalamath]

I have a 2012 Caravelle with a 510 head unit. I already have the MFD. I have the steering wheel buttons just need to take the wheel apart - not looking to replace the wheel as it has the space for the buttons. Already have the VCDS software - id there anything else I should be aware of (do I need the repair leads etc?

Sorry if these questions have already been asked but after reading through the different posts there seems to be different solutions for each model.

Cheers

 

[triffic]

Here's a quick update to this thread, as one of the links has changed.

I've just done mine, and most of the above was spot on. For my 2013 van, a Mk6 Golf style MFSW wheel worked well - part number 3C8 419 091 C - which you can get with just the MFSW controls or with the DSG paddles as well if you want. With that wheel the original airbag fitted no problem.

The loom from airbag to steering column needed replacing, and 3C8 971 584 F was the part needed, but check carefully as there are at least a half a dozen variants of this part - with a different letter at the end - and you (obviously) need the one with exactly the right connector types.

The guide that I followed was this one (which is the one listed earlier, but they have changed the domain name):

http://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=54171

Yeah, I know, it's for a Polo, but the only real differences I found were wire colours - the pin locations all worked fine for me.

The main wiring difference on mine was that the wire on the BCM (white plug T73b, pin17) was blue/green and not violet/white.

As an alternative to taking a power supply wire for the steering wheel slip ring (T41, pin9) from the lighting switch, I used the existing supply for the Cruise Control on the same connector (T41, pin28) which on mine was a blue/black wire. The advantage of this is that it's an ignition switched supply which already has an appropriate fuse (Fuse SC9, 5A) and it requires no fancy cable routing - it simply loops round behind connector T41 on the back of the slip ring. The disadvantage over a permanent supply is that the controls stop working when you turn the ignition off - for me that is not an issue! However, if your van did not have CC from the factory there will probably be no such wire and no fuse at SC9.

Coding changes were minimal (I think I made 2 coding changes as referred to in the Polo article, plus the change for "push to talk" which does nothing for me, as I don't have factory bluetooth). I bought the wheel with DSG gear change paddles and these worked with no coding changes at all. The right "up" and "down" MFSW buttons call up the basic DIS display but that is minimal - it just gives basic MPG, range and trip data. I don't think it's possible to get anything more than this without a Highline instrument cluster upgrade.

If you're costing this up for a DIY job, don't forget the outrageous cost of the tiny airbag loom - mine cost me a shade under £50, UK retail. The wheel itself was £160 including shipping from Germany, so total budget including the 2 repair wires was roughly £220.

It took me a whole, long day - but I work slowly so that I (usually) don't break things. There's nothing fundamentally difficult but there are quite a lot of trim bits to remove/replace - it's not a job I would want to have to hurry...

 

[Fishd]

Am I right in thinking that if I do all of this but don't yet fit the two extra wires, that everything should work with the exception of the right hand buttons controlling the trip computer?

I'm trying to work out if there's an issue somewhere, I've not yet fitted the wires but running short on time so refitted everything and coded the wheel... but the horn doesn't work, the MFSW buttons don't light up and the left hand buttons won't control the stereo.

It's a bit of a dumb question I know, but before I proceed to strip the dashboard bits I want to make sure all of the stuff I've bought is working properly.

 

[triffic]

I think what you're seeing is pretty much what you should expect without the 2 wires.

Once you've made the change to the airbag loom the horn should change to operate via LINbus, but that will be dead until you fit the wire that supplies power to the controller. All of the buttons work off LINbus, so they should all be dead at the moment. Not sure about the lighting, but I doubt that's your biggest issue anyway for now.

Unfortunately I don't ~think~ you can get the horn back by reversing the coding changes, but it may be worth a try. [Edit - just realised your current situation is only a temporary delay and you're going on to fit the 2 wires anyway, so forget that bit!].

 

[Fishd]

Thanks Triffic... will just have to wait for some daylight to strip the dashboard then.

Think I've read elsewhere the suggestion that without coding that you need the old airbag loom for the horn to work, guess that'll be tied into the extra two clock spring wires as well.

Will let you know how I get on tomorrow.

 

[triffic]

If yours already has Cruise Control, taking the power off the supply to that saves a bit of effort.

 

[Fishd]

Yeah, had Cruise retrofitted a few months back so will try to use that thanks.


EDIT: Where did you end up routing Pin 10? Reading the article you linked it suggests there might be something on the lower RHD a-panel?
I'll do more Googling.

 

[triffic]

Pin 10 on the slip ring connector goes to pin 17 on T73B on the BCM (J519). It's much easier to access on a T5 than on a Polo if the linked article is to be believed!

Pin 17 is visible here:

 

[Fishd]

Cool, thanks again. Yeah, seems the BCM is in a much easier to reach location on the RHD T5.

 

[Fishd]

Well, that could have gone better...

... I forgot to use the most important tool in my toolbox - patience.

Now I have no working MFSW buttons, no cruise control, my electric mirrors have packed in and the drivers side switch for the passenger electric window no longer works - although the drivers window is fine and the passenger window works from the passenger switch.

Anyway, I think that's called "properly screwing the pooch".

Need to breathe, relax and then strip the lot on the driveway - I suspect I've botched a soldered joint and hopefully not blown the BCM.

 

[triffic]

Yeah - as I said earlier, it's not really a job you can hurry! It sounds to me like you're on the right pin on the BCM (because that's where the LINbus connection for the driver's side door control unit links in and that's not working properly now). So I would suspect that you may have the other end of that wire - at the slip ring connector - on the wrong contact?

Let me know if you need more photos - in addition to the one above showing T73b I've got one of the slip ring connector after wiring completed, so you can get a visual check of whether the pins you're on are the right ones...

 

[Fishd]

Ok, so taking it easy this time. I've slept well and I've enough, but not too much, caffeine in my blood so I'm trying again.

I've discovered that I'd mixed up pins 9 & 10 on connector T41 as suggest above by triffic, and now I've got them the right way around my electric Windows and mirrors appears to be back to normal and I'm not getting any errors out of the Cen Elec module on VCDS so I appear to have had a lucky escape there. Still no lights or function from the MFSW itself though.

Next to check the power connection is actually connected then try swapping the buttons out. Th buttons were brand new. So shouldn't be an issue but I've a spare set currently I can use to confirm.

 

[Fishd]

Right, think I've discovered where I've gone wrong - my van didn't come factory fitted with cruise control, it was a retrofit so it seems that there's no +12v going to pin 28.

My error seems to have come from the following:

1. Lack of patience
2. Assuming that because i had CC and that there was a wire in Pin 28 that the rest of the wiring would exist

When I followed through my troubleshooting I wondered if it could be that I'd blown a fuse at SC9. Looking at SC9 is see not only is there no fuse, there's no cable to support a fuse should I want to fiit one. Then I thought that if I'm dirty hacking at my cabling to jumper stuff in that wasn't there originally, then it's likely that the guys who fitted my cruise control did similar. God help me trying to track down electrical faults in future. Anyway, this likely why I've not blown my BCM apart when I thought I'd stuffed +12v down a linbus connection.

So, reckon I just need to run a spur from the light switch as per normal mode hack and I should be golden.

Triffic is totally right. This is an achievable job to do yourself but allow plenty of time, think everything through FIRST and approach logically and methodically... like always

 

[triffic]

Well that's a bit weird! Ok whoever hacked your CC may have got the 12V from somewhere unconventional, but according to the circuit diagram (for my year/model, of course - I've got a 2013 140, not a 180) that 12V ~must~ end up on pin 28 - no matter where it came from!

Oh well - if it works I guess they must have changed the pin assignments at some point.

BTW, I think you would have been Ok with the LINbus mis-wire anyway. I'm pretty sure that both CANbus and LINbus are designed to work in "hostile" conditions, so you can put +12V or short to earth on any of the signal wires and nothing should go bang or catch fire - though obviously the data bus will stop working until the bad connection is removed. I'm not recommending anyone does it, but I think it's accounted for in the design.

If you're at all worried about using the "recommended" hack on the back of the light switch because it's live all the time, there is also an ignition switched supply there as well. I chose not to use it - partly because I had pin 28 to rely on and that was a shorter distance, but also partly because the light switch circuit is fused at a much higher rating than I wanted, so I would have to have put an inline fuse somewhere under the dash.

 

[Fishd]

Am now confused. Tried temporarily connecting the 12v feed to the steering wheel to the 12v line on the light switch but that caused VCDS to freak out. Each time I tried to program the mfsw setting it'd drop me to a menu and log an error in the BCM.

I've looked at the pin outs for T41 here and it shows the 12v feed being on pin 11 not 9 but I already have a wire in that slot!?

 

[triffic]

I've looked at the pin outs for T41 here and it shows the 12v feed being on pin 11 not 9 but I already have a wire in that slot!?

Although it's dated 2010, that connection diagram is for a pre-facelift - the connections on J519 are completely wrong for it to be for a facelift.

I don't have access to the circuit diagrams right now, but I'm certain I checked them before I did my wiring and Pin 9 is correct (on my van) as the supply for the MFSW module on the slip ring connector.

 

[Fishd]

I'm becoming a dab hand at removing / refitting VW steering wheels and surrounding trim.

Anyway, I triple checked everything today. I've got pin 10 on T41 going off to pin 17 on the white plug of the BCM and pin 9 is heading off towards the light switch. I've got cruise control back (I'd jumpered to pin 26 on t41 instead of 28) and my electric windows are all working again but still no reason why the wheel doesn't function.

Thinking I'm going to turn it over to a professional and see what they say unless anyone has any ideas?

 

[triffic]

One thing that would be worth checking (because I have seen a report of it as a problem in another thread): Take a very close look with a mirror at the pins in the black socket that points inwards/downwards in the centre of the MFSW and which the black plug on the airbag loom plugs into. I've seen in another thread of a situation where one or more of the pins gets pushed upwards into the socket assembly and so does not make contact with the connector on the loom.

Unfortunately it is not at all easy to see this, because of the angle at which it is mounted.