Steering Wheel Phone/Audio Control Stopped Working

[oldoutboardjim]

Recently the left steering wheel control stopped working; specifically the left & right buttons. This occurred when I actuated the buttons while the steering wheel was upside down (while waiting in line at the car wash). Something inside the switch apparently has moved, as the buttons do not feel right; i.e.: they actuate very hard.
I looked up a YouTube video, and it appears that you need to pull the airbag to access the switch. I'm kinda chicken about messing with the airbag, but otherwise it appears to be a pretty simple replacement. Besides, the replacement switch assembly is less than $15.
Anyone have any experience and guidance regarding this? I'd hate to ruin the airbag; I'd hate even more to have the airbag explode in my face!

 

[alexrex20]

It's pretty simple and very low risk in terms of blowing the airbag in your face. Disconnect the battery (just the negative terminal is fine). Pull the airbag fuse. Fusebox layouts and locations changed in 2016 so you'll have to look it up for your model year. Once you have the horn/bumper cover off, simply disconnect the airbag connector. It's yellow; you can't miss it.

 

[maestromaestro]

I haven't removed airbags in the FiST, but I have done that quite a few times in my other cars. The general advice is to disconnect the battery first. The airbags are typically secured by a couple of screws; the trigger requires power to set it off - so, with no battery, it won't go kaboom.

That, and not having to deal with flushing the error codes from the CPU afterwards. (This tells you that I have done it with the power on in a few instances...)

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Recently the left steering wheel control stopped working; specifically the left & right buttons. This occurred when I actuated the buttons while the steering wheel was upside down (while waiting in line at the car wash). Something inside the switch apparently has moved, as the buttons do not feel right; i.e.: they actuate very hard.
I looked up a YouTube video, and it appears that you need to pull the airbag to access the switch. I'm kinda chicken about messing with the airbag, but otherwise it appears to be a pretty simple replacement. Besides, the replacement switch assembly is less than $15.
Anyone have any experience and guidance regarding this? I'd hate to ruin the airbag; I'd hate even more to have the airbag explode in my face!

What condition is your battery for the vehicle in? Do you still have the OEM Battery in it? if so is the maintenance green eye still visible on top of the battery? These vehicles are CANbus and the battery being not up to par can cause certain components to act funny....just food for thought.....

 

[oldoutboardjim]

Thanks to everybody for their input!
I checked with the local Ford dealer, and they said they wanted $200-$250 (plus about $35 for the switch) to replace it! After watching a YouTube video where an inexperienced person replaced this switch, I concluded that the local dealer hasn't a clue re: how little time it takes to replace the switch; nor the cost of the switch itself (I can buy them all day long online for about $15).
Anyway, since I know this is a mechanical failure (something is misaligned inside the switch), and that it occurred when the switch was actuated while upside-down. so, I "massaged" the various buttons in various combinations (while the steering wheel was rightside-up), and voila!, I fixed it! Whatever was misaligned went back into its proper place, and it works perfectly!