2009 Window defoggers turning on by themselves

Sounds minor... Try blowing some compressed air into your buttons on the steering wheel and clean it as best you can... Disconnecting the 12v for a few minutes will reset the whole car to original settings.

 

How long have those switches not been working? You mean on the steering wheel, right?

Has the spiral cable in this car ever been replaced? May be getting a bit long in the tooth. Have you checked all the rest of the buttons on the wheel (and the horn) and do they all work, or are some others flaking out too?

Have you found that any buttons, if you hold them, go from working to not-working or vice versa as you turn the steering wheel? That's pretty much a dead giveaway of a spiral cable problem, at least in an early stage.

The defogger lights wouldn't really be turning on "by themselves"—those control buttons on the wheel are routed through the spiral cable, and if it has worn to the point those buttons don't work normally, it may also be worn to a point where it completes the circuit while you're turning the wheel. As far as the HVAC is concerned, it thinks you really did push the button to turn the defogger on.

 

Replacing the spiral cable is a 40 minute job I just changed out my steering wheel yesterday for the A6 padded leather looking model Don't know what that is doesn't matter You need a 19 mm socket and a good long ratchet if you don't have electric to break the 19mm nut loose on the steering wheel and you should do that when it's sitting at center rocket side to side pull it off and you're looking at the spiral cable. I only had to change one spiral cable out of the four five generation twos that we've had but I have changed skanky looking steering wheels for near brand new ones many times.

 

If you haven't got any trouble codes about the sensor, the one you've got is probably ok.

Your local auto parts place will probably let you borrow a steering-wheel puller (perhaps by leaving a deposit you get back when you return it).

I recommend am actual puller, over the "just rock and yank on the wheel" method, because the splines on the wheel and shaft are not super indestructible.

 

Like I said I just did this yesterday You won't need any kind of special tooling at all I'd blast the 19 mm nut off or blast it loose leave it on and gently move the steering wheel very gently side to side while pulling up Bam it'll hit the nut undo the nut with your fingers the steering wheel goes on the seat. Prior to that removing the airbag when you undo the little I think it's T25 or t30 torx under the side wings pieces of plastic the screws stay in the plastic and then the airbag pulls forward you'll need a pic about the size of a toothpick but made out of metal to pop up the little orange and black clips they lift straight up and go a little higher and click and then those tabs lift off the airbag You just toss it on the seat No it can't go off. I have boxes full of them here You play frisbee with em if you want. Once that's off then you spread the pieces of plastic that hold on the surround of the master control switches on the column wiper and all that then you can lift off that spiral assembly pretty easily take one off another car order a fake 225 260 is kind of pricey for what you're getting here but once you do this one time you'll do it twice as fast the next time practically so I've changed one with a used one so far and one with an aftermarket they're both still working after 30,000 so no issues for me in this department. Funny thing is I don't even use the steering wheel buttons I'd be happy with my Emerson fittipaldi E3 steering wheel and no buttons personally but that's in another car.

 

Tom is our member who you can count on to tell you that every last thing he does while his friends hold his beer, that hasn't injured him yet, is totally safe.

Before doing work around an airbag, we disconnect the 12 volt power and wait a couple minutes for the discharge of power stored in the airbag controller. Then an airbag can be removed with reasonable care. There is a shorting device built into each wire connector to make the bag reasonably safe from static discharge once the wires are unplugged.

Still, it gets set down nicely, away from where you're working, and with the bag facing up and the hard bits down.

Tom can be the designated frisbee player.

 

Needs a charge to set it off . Wen at LKQ throw a few around . They already out . Shoot at it .Nada. sorry I wish it were different. Not even worth video.

 

When the people who build it put procedures in the manual for how to handle it safely, that's what I'm responsible for saying to people who come to PriusChat here not expecting to make their safety dependent on my attitude toward risk. Maybe you don't feel the same responsibility.

 

A spiral-cable problem often involves symptoms that vary with the steering-wheel position.

So if you observe symptoms that vary with the wheel position, that tends to be a slam-dunk diagnosis for the spiral cable.

But if you've just noticed weird symptoms and not noticed them varying with the wheel position, that doesn't necessarily rule out a spiral-cable problem.

In the lingo of testing wonks, the does-it-vary-with-wheel-position test has high specificity, but not-so-high sensitivity, for a spiral cable issue.