I was driving my dad's nissan maxima today with the sunroof open and the stereo blaring. I was cruising a particularly twisty back road, shifting with my right hand, and steering and working the radio with my left hand--my dad's car has one of those neat steering-wheel mounted radio controls. I got back in my car and noticed a removable rubber grommet opposite the cruise control buttons. Is this a spot for a stereo control for the ES? If so, where can I get one? If not, anyone have any other ideas?

 

I know www.jcwhitney.com sells little remotes that can be mouted onto your steering wheel. Im not exactly sure how much it costs off hand, but it should be on there somwhere. If not, you could always check out the JCwhitney catalog and find it in there.

 

FYI, I write the Miata audio FAQ and I just decoded the real steering wheel controls for the '01+ FMS double-DIN head unit used in the Miata, MPV, and Protege. Check the FAQ at the bottom for specifics...

To sum up: The MPV remote uses pins P and N of the harness to control the head. When you push a button, it shorts those pins with varying levels of resistance corresponding to different functions. I confirmed that my Miata's head unit is compatible with the MPV's controls, and I suspect the Protege units are, too. I used an ohmmeter to measure the different button presses and put those on the FAQ page too.

The trouble is, the Miata and Protege clocksprings don't have enough traces to use a real MPV control on the wheel rim. It would have to be mounted to the column. But at least it would work...

Hope this helps, folks!

Stephen