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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 57 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 54 found the following review helpful:
 Works "OK"; slow response Jul 07, 2008
By Tor Slettnes
I installed this last week in my 2004 Toyota Sienna, together with a Kenwood KDC-X492 receiver and a KCA-BT200 Bluetooth interface, since my factory stereo did not include Bluetooth support. So far it works "OK", albeit with a couple of quirks.
* If you push any of the steering wheel controls right after powering on your car, it becomes unresponsive for several minutes. I believe this puts the unit into some sort of programming mode (as if you were pressing the "programming" button on the box itself) - but I am not about to open my dash again to look at the unit in order to find out. I'll learn to give it 4-5 seconds of startup time before interfering with its inner workings.
* The steering wheel buttons are not quite as sensitive as they were with the factory stereo. It takes a fraction of a second before a push is registered, and also it seems that it takes a little time for a release is registered as well. The result is that controlling the volume, for instance, is a bit more tricky than it used to be for me: It takes about 1/2 second before the volume changes - and then it changes fast! I also have to release it slightly before it reaches the desired level.
A couple of other things worth noting:
* There are several SWI (steering wheel interface) models out there; this one is for use with JVC, Alpine, Clarion or Kenwood head units (hence, "JACK"). For a Pioneer or Sony you would use the SWI-PS instead, and for Eclipse you would use SWI-ECL2. (Though note that if you are getting an Eclipse head unit for a Toyota or Honda, you do not need a SWI adapter. Simply hook the factory control wire directly into the Eclipse unit, and download firmware for your car from e-iserv.jp).
* If you have not already bought your aftermarket head unit, check out the "Steering Wheel Interface Programming Guide" on pac-audio.com in order to determine which brands offer the best match for the steering wheel buttons in your car. I actually ended up with the Kenwood unit for this reason; I was first going to get a Pioneer DEH-P7000BT, but with the latter, the "up/down" buttons on my steering wheel would be "seeking" in tuner mode rather than selecting the next/previous preset channel.
* The SWI does not come with car-specific harness adapters. This means that you MAY have to do some manual wiring (soldering, cutting/splicing, etc.) onto your factory harness. In my case I was able to get away without such damage: I had some 22-gauge hookup wire available that fit snugly into the (female) connector in the factory harness; I just soldered that onto the end of the required SWI-JACK wires. Also, you will need to solder (or crimp, etc.) some of the wires to ground and VCC (+12V), which you can best do by sharing the corresponding solder points for your aftermarket stereo.
* In either case, you may want to follow specific instructions for your car found at the pac-audio.com website, rather than the included (very generic, massive, and confusing) printed material included with the kit.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Works Well, but Installation is a NIGHTMARE! Dec 27, 2010
By E. Martinez
"ericmtz"
I've installed a few stereos and interfaces in my day, but I have never run into such terrible instructions as this product has. The product comes with directions, then a little card saying to get online for vehicle-specific directions. And they seem to contradict each other!
The product also includes a variety of resistors for the installation. However, NOWHERE in the included materials do they identify the resistors. I had to get on a Crutchfield website in order to find out which resistor was which.
I installed this item and a head unit together. The head unit took me about 1/2 hour, including wiring the harness. This SWI JACK took me hours just to figure it out, get online to multiple websites, look through differing instructional documents, etc.
When it was finally installed, the programming is also very poorly explained. I eventually figured it out AND, the product works well and does what it says it will do. I'm glad to have purchased it, but I can imagine that a lot of people will give up on the installation.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 PAC SWIJACK Steering Wheel Remote Interface Jan 29, 2009
By Joshua J. Mocarski
Installing the device was fairly painless as long as you have patience and knowledge when it comes to car audio. Cut a few wires and press a few buttons and you're done. I thought it was so easy that I would do it again to save the money other places will charge to do it for you.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
GOOD Oct 25, 2010
By David E. Vest
"dave"
it works pretty good. it has they same reaction time as the stock steering wheel controls.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Slow response, unreliable. There is a better choice. Feb 10, 2011
By Timothy A Wojtyniak
On my Mercury Milan with a JVC stereo I found this to respond slowly - when it worked at all. The first one was DOA, the second worked for a while. The setup was tedious, following a tedious install which required identifying and connecting small resistors.
I was ready to forgo the steering wheel controls until I tried Metra's Axxess ASWC. Poor instructions, but good tech support and a fantastic product that responds to commands quickly and programs itself.
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