Arrow Keys on Left Side of Wheel Wonky, Cruise button stops working

[StodgyBarley]

Hi Everyone! I noticed on my 2016 Expedition (after getting a car wash last summer) that my arrow keys on the left side of my steering wheel became very wonky and inconsistent. The OK stopped working and the up button became the down button. It corrected itself after a week or two but sometimes reverts back to that condition or even worse. In fact, sometimes the cruise control button stops working which could be a huge problem as we have a 25 hour drive in our future at Christmas.

It's been a week without rainfall and the buttons are working fine again, including cruise. Just wondering if anyone has had any issues with is and the cost of a potential fix? Thanks!!

 

[sixsix]

My 2015 does the same thing. Must be a loose connection some where.

 

[jkayca]

Sounds like the clock spring has gone bad.

 

[StodgyBarley]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I noticed that if I keep pushing the buttons when it stops working, it seems to come back at this point.

 

[StodgyBarley]

Sounds like the clock spring has gone bad.

I that an expensive fix? I'm not mechanically inclined at all... sorry for the ignorance. It does seem to work if I keep pushing the buttons at this point... when it stops working that it is. But I have no idea how much a clock spring could cost to fix. Thanks again everyone!

 

[marlinpruett]

I bought replacement buttons ( switches) off ebay and replaced the ones not working.
They were very reasonable in price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-NEW-Ri...2Z-9C888-AB-/183826203353?hash=item2acce542d9
Do a search

 

[turtle019]

@StodgyBarley were you ever able to get this fixed? Mine started doing it on the right side buttons today. Most of the buttons don't work. Some of the arrows do but they go the wrong direction. Sounds like a similar problem to yours

 

[Matt Ostrem]

All my steering wheel controls just went out on my 2015 but the horn still works. Anyone know if I should replace the clock spring or just the switches themselves?

Thanks

 

[turtle019]

All buttons on both switch packs? Do the buttons do the wrong thing or nothing at all?
Mine is still intermittent RH side only. I've logged the PIDs in Forscan while it was acting up and some of the arrow keys read as the wrong button and some of the other buttons do not register at all. The problem comes and goes. I haven't been driving enough lately to do anything about it, but I'm planning on replacing the switches. I can't be sure that it's the switches and not the click spring, but I figure that's where I'll start
In your case the clock spring seems more likely. What are the odds that both switch packs would independently fail at the same time?
Could also check the fuses for the SCCM. I think that might be fuse 23 and 24? I don't think either of those fuses are exclusively SCCM, so you would probably notice other issues as well if it were the fuse.

 

[Matt Ostrem]

Both at same time does seem odd. I also don't have an air bag light on and the horn still works so I'm thinking something is getting through the clock spring. I'll check the fuses you mentioned.

 

[cptncmmndo]

I think it's the clock spring. I have the same issue. The buttons go haywire. For example, the up button acts like the left button, the left button does whatever it feels like and the right and bottom just won't work.

I have found when this happen that if I smack the plastic piece just behind the steering wheel under the steering column a few times, the problem goes away immediately. That's what leads me to believe it's the clock spring.

 

[turtle019]

Well that's certainly interesting. I tried your suggestion and gave the bottom of the steering column a few good hits and the buttons started working again. I never would have thought to hit there. Perhaps I need to investigate more before I start throwing parts at it.

 

[Matt Ostrem]

Update: Tried the above suggestion of hitting the column with negative results. Replaced the clock spring, very easy job, and all is now well.

 

[Richard Nall]

I just finished an 1100 mile trip in my 2016 Limited and the cruise control switches drove me crazy. It seems that if you press them enough times they will function, but hardly ever on the first try. Can anyone expound on what a clock spring is?

 

[Yupster Dog]

Can anyone expound on what a clock spring is?

If you put "clock spring" in the search box top right of this page a lot of info comes up on the subject.

 

[Anthony DeVor]

I just finished an 1100 mile trip in my 2016 Limited and the cruise control switches drove me crazy. It seems that if you press them enough times they will function, but hardly ever on the first try. Can anyone expound on what a clock spring is?

A clock spring is in short a spool of wire wound in a circle that connects the steering wheel buttons to the vehicle so the wires don’t pinch or twist and break when turning the wheel


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OGBobbyJohnson]

any fix? my left side started acting up