Oh yes, your eyes don't deceive you...
And I figured I'd share how to do this with you guys. Now I didn't take pics of the whole process, because honestly, I didn't think it was gonna work... But I didn't snap shots of the things I can't explain. And this is my first write up, so take it easy, lol, and ask whatever questions you need. So I hope that's good enough. Only function that is missing is that due to the difference in our Smart Entry Controller Unit, it doesn't auto off after 30 mins, but that's it. Here we go...
THINGS YOU'LL NEED...
1. A Heated Steering Wheel. I would say from a Maxima/I35 2002-2003(04 for I35). I'm not sure about the Q45.
AND NOTE: Your QX4 should have the I35/Q45 style steering wheel with the chrome emblem, otherwise I can't guarantee this will work. At the least, you'd need the steering wheel, cruise and radio buttons, and back cover if you have the full wood wrapped version.
2. A Heated Steering Wheel Switch from the above mentioned vehicles, with harness and pigtails attached
3. A clockspring from the above mentioned vehicles
4. A spare clockspring from a donor QX4, just incase
5. A standard auto relay
6. A plug in harness for that relay. Not needed, but makes things hella easier
7. A pulse latching relay controller. I'll explain later
8. A drill, and small drillbits. Not required, but once again, makes things hella easier
9. A soldering iron, resin, and decent soldering skills...
10. Various tools to remove the cover over the shifter, the vent covers, radio cover, wire stripping and connecting, and just being all around handy
You may also want to have an FSM from your donor Maxima/I35 for the wire schem for the heated steering wheel, but I will include a picture with all the connections necessary to your QX4 and relay and relay controller
Now, I'll start with the hard part first, creating the combo clockspring...
First from the donor clockspring, cut the harness with the purple and orange wires, that is the heated steering wheel harness. Set it aside.
Disassemble the donor clockspring. All you need from it is the spiral cable inside, so you can go to town. Once open, simply cut the spiral cable out and remove it... done. That is what you'll use to run the heated steering signal. Although you'll only need 2 leads, for the sake of ease, you'll combine the entire cable into the QX4 clockspring
Now the hard part. Take your spare clockspring and CAREFULLY open it up. Note that there is an identical spiral cable inside. Now if you look at the top cover, you'll notice a wire harness coming out and a clip on cover. if you turn it over, there is a small, slim space. This is where you will tuck the front end of the spiral cable for the heated steering wheel. Now this is when the drill comes in handy. I drilled 2 small holes to run the heated steering wheel harness wires individually to the inside of the top cover. Now you'll pick 2 leads of the donor spiral cable to work with. I cut back the others a little bit to make the distinction. Now you'll need to solder each wire to each lead. As you're doing this, you'll burn away the insulation, as it's very thin, so you don't need to attempt to strip it. Once that was done, I wrapped each with a piece of electrical tape, and pushed the cable tightly into that spot. Done, now for the rear.
The rear connection is a little different due to the clearance in the bottom cover. Cut off about 3 inches of the other end of your spiral cable. don't worry though, cause there's more than enough. Now look through the end of the bottom cover. There is a very, VERY small space. Not big enough to fit a wire through, and the harness is unsafe to drill around. But 2 of the spiral cable leads can fit. You should get the idea now. Trace what two leads you used for the front end, and solder each to the leads you cut off and put them through the small space and tuck the spiral cable in the small space. Done
Now carefully wind the cables together. Try to wind them tightly. Don't be alarmed if the donor cable kinks. Just gently put it in the assembly, just don't tightly kink and bend it. Once you close the assembly, spin it 3 times in the opposite direction you wound it, and then 1 and a half times back. Now it's centered, and as long as you didn't feel any resistance, you're good. Now with the combined clockspring together, you shou have the heated steering wheel harness sticking out through the holes you drilled in the front, and the two spiral cable leads out the back. Time to take it to the car and get to work... Continued in the next post.
