Need Help w/ Installing Paddle Shifter Setup!

[Kaleza]

Did you read this thread from the beginning?? There is no dispute that a DH wheel will retrofit to an Ecoboost ... perhaps you can explain how you got your DH wheel (w/ adapt cruise and heat) to work on a BASE model Ecoboost without those features ... unless you also had those premium features on your Ecoboost, and didn't need to swap over the left side function buttons .......

I did swap left side buttons, heating didn’t work because there is no plug for heating on base model. I do think that his issue is mechanical nature and that people who installed it for him maybe ripped some wire or made some mistake. Its very fragile. There is nothing to explain, disconnect air bag and wheel swap buttons, put new wheel in, make forscan changes and thats it

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[Hatchback Jim]

Well ... you have a new DH wheel, your life is saved and your paddles don't work .... You have watched an install video that references TWICE that a DH wheel "might" not work on your base Ecoboost, but, their install of a GT wheel DID. IF, you still, really want paddles and follow their install routine with a GT wheel, you will likely get your paddles. You will also likely be the the "go to" source on the net to confirm that a DH wheel won't work on a base Ecoboost steering wheel swap good luck

I was fully aware of the possibility. It was a risk I took. I can be the "go-to source" all day. I am not ashamed of that. That's how we learn things.

Of course after digging around more, I found a Ford OEM website that sells new OEM steering wheels.

If I am not mistaken, the steering wheel part number for a base GT wheel is PR3Z-3600-FA.

I found it here: https://ford.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/ford-steering-wheel-pr3z3600fa

Description says: "Mustang. Without heated wheel. Without dark horse, leather #4, with shift paddles, without heat, without adaptive cruise."

So I assume this refers to a base GT wheel, total 561 bucks, not including shipping. CJ Pony Parts will likely accept my request for refund on the DH wheel, so this is an option if it still won't work after I check the cabling again.

I'd be willing to put up with doing it myself this time simply because I won't drop more money for some shmuck to put it on. Since then I have watched more videos on the process of taking the steering wheel off along with all the airbag stuff, and my confidence in regards to handling the airbag part of it has gone up and eased my apprehension about it. I've also been looking at my base wheel too, and practiced with the metal spring.

 

[jbrnigan]

I do think that his issue is mechanical nature and that people who installed it for him maybe ripped some wire or made some mistake. Its very fragile.

I tend to agree with you, as I swapped a DH wheel in my Ecoboost, but my EB had all of the left had premium functions and heat, so no switch changes were necessary. But, the fact that the OP's paddles don't work, after swapping the left hand switches -IF they were done correctly (the OP paid to have the swap done) suggests another issue to resolve, and, that is addressed twice in the installation video ......... puzzleing

 

[Hatchback Jim]

Update #2:

So I got up the nerve to remove the airbag and check out the cables. No damage and no partially connected cables. I did disconnect and reconnect the main 16-pin cable for the giggles since it was all torn apart. No difference, but I wanted to try. The paddles do not register inputs.

I examined the cables to see what was different (if any) between each wheel. The Dark Horse wheel has the 3 extra wires for the SST in pins 1-3, and my base wheel lacks these 3 wires (obviously). Everything else looks the same, but I will assume that the addition of the adaptive cruise control must change the way the wiring works even if you swap the switch module out with your base switches and non-adapt cruise control.

My next guess would be when the cars were manufactured. There could be a difference with earlier build dates versus newer build dates, which may explain why some people can use a DH wheel as well as a base/premium GT wheel with no issues. My car was mfg. 05/2024, so I don't know if that early or late. I know Ford was building these cars in late 2023 and through 2024, but I am not sure where mine would land in this timeline.

Long story short; if anyone is looking to do this, take the advice of Murphy's Law Garage on YT and just go out of the way to match a base-to-base wheel to maximize compatibility. I was "lazy" and got a new non-matching wheel, but I am sure many would understand why I did this.

Despite all this, in theory the Dark Horse wheel could still work, but if you get stuck like I do, you may end up having to reverse engineer more stuff in the car than would be worth doing unless you're really car savvy.

Good luck to anyone else that comes across this thread and uses it as a reference. Just get a base GT wheel w/ paddles if your car is a base 2024 EcoBoost!

 

[jbrnigan]

Well congrats on taking the "plunge" and popping off the airbag to check your wiring. I look forward to hearing about whether or not the base GT wheel gives you paddle shifters. Adding the paddles was the first mod I made to my 2026 EB after purchase. You will not regret the result.
This is the wheel I got from Ford - FWIW

 

[Hatchback Jim]

Well congrats on taking the "plunge" and popping off the airbag to check your wiring. I look forward to hearing about whether or not the base GT wheel gives you paddle shifters. Adding the paddles was the first mod I made to my 2026 EB after purchase. You will not regret the result.
This is the wheel I got from Ford - FWIW

Thanks... will definitely come back in here to report success or failure. I am going to try this wheel: https://ford.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/ford-steering-wheel-pr3z3600fa

It's directly from Ford's OEM parts inventory and the description says its non-adapt and not heated, but has paddles, so I will assume this is the base GT wheel. I'll order this wheel and then box up the DH to return. Damn Google search kept this website away from me because all the first page hits I got were either the brand new DH wheel or take offs on ebay. Frickin' A, Google!

I would have gone with this from the start if I knew that existed. Again, newbie mistake on my part with that one.

If at the end of all this I still don't have functioning paddles, then I will call it quits on trying and just keep the GT wheel and disable the SST functions in FORScan and call it a day.

I will return!

 

[Hatchback Jim]

Update #3:

Well.... this is bogus. Got the base GT wheel installed and nothing! This crap has really deflated me now. Truly at a lost as to what could be the problem now. I compared the wiring in the wheel with my base and it's all the same except for the extra wires for paddle shifters.

So, anyone else got ideas? I feel like there is something I am missing in the car's computer. I know for a fact the required settings are set to the ones that is needed for manual shifts to function properly, but perhaps I still need to do something in there to get it working. I had left all the settings on since I was going to swap it, so would it be one of those instances where I need to do the whole "turn it off and then back on again" thing?

Also note that I did see a "Shift by Wire" option in the settings within the PCM and it was set to "disabled" in Easy Mode in FORScan. I enabled it last time for the giggles with the DH wheel installed and nothing changed, but perhaps it could make a difference with the base wheel? Or is this Shift by Wire setting not actually needed for the paddles to work?

This SUCKS!

 

[jbrnigan]

Wow - that has to be really frustrating. The first thing I would do is change EVERYTHING back to your factory "as built" data. Even things you might have changed that were unrelated to the paddle shifters. Hopefully you made a "back up" copy of your "as built" data before you made ANY Forscan changes, then do a "restore". Then / or - compare a printout of your "as built" data to the values listed in Forscan for the modules that needed changing. After changing all of the modules back to "as built", your paddles may work. If not, begin making the changes to your modules - one at a time - change, write, ign off/on, confirm change - good luck

 

[Hatchback Jim]

Wow - that has to be really frustrating. The first thing I would do is change EVERYTHING back to your factory "as built" data. Even things you might have changed that were unrelated to the paddle shifters. Hopefully you made a "back up" copy of your "as built" data before you made ANY Forscan changes, then do a "restore". Then / or - compare a printout of your "as built" data to the values listed in Forscan for the modules that needed changing. After changing all of the modules back to "as built", your paddles may work. If not, begin making the changes to your modules - one at a time - change, write, ign off/on, confirm change - good luck

That was the next thing I was going to try. Got nothing to lose at this point. I did in fact make an untouched factory back-up of the PCM and IPC modules before I made changes. Would loading the back-up factory AB actually do anything? I feel like flashing it might be a bit risky since it would load everything back to factory, but I suppose the only lines changed were the ones needed for M mode to work with the paddles, everything else was left the the same.

Or I could just go back and disable each line individually again and then re-enable it. So much for the "plug-n-play" that is supposed to happen. :/

 

[bbowes9]

It really sounds like something wiring related is going on. I would say Roket is pretty much spot on how how you'd have to diagnose this. That being individually tracing the wires to the PCM and ensuring there's a connection there. other than that if forscan is all correct there should be no issues from what I see

Edit: This is if your reflash doesn't fix anything.

 

[Hatchback Jim]

It really sounds like something wiring related is going on. I would say Roket is pretty much spot on how how you'd have to diagnose this. That being individually tracing the wires to the PCM and ensuring there's a connection there. other than that if forscan is all correct there should be no issues from what I see

Edit: This is if your reflash doesn't fix anything.

How would I check the wiring? If I have to take the shroud off the steering column that might be beyond what I can do at home. The steering was easier than I had originally feared and that's in an easier to reach location compared to being under the dash. Someone that knows about wiring more than I do could probably trace it to see if there are any disconnected wires along the line.

I think its worth a try if the computer reset doesn't fix it (at this point I doubt the reset will work, but its the least invasive attempt at the moment).

Again this is really a downer. Just my luck. Can't ever have anything cool just work with my stuff. lol

 

[bbowes9]

How would I check the wiring? If I have to take the shroud off the steering column that might be beyond what I can do at home. The steering was easier than I had originally feared and that's in an easier to reach location compared to being under the dash. Someone that knows about wiring more than I do could probably trace it to see if there are any disconnected wires along the line.

I think its worth a try if the computer reset doesn't fix it (at this point I doubt the reset will work, but its the least invasive attempt at the moment).

Again this is really a downer. Just my luck. Can't ever have anything cool just work with my stuff. lol

I don't see you having to take that off, you will have to read the diagrams roket sent earlier in the thread and trace each wire with a multimeter if you are determined to get this working or not. Before any of that, definitely do forscan stuff first, and I'd even recommend posting your settings from forscan here to have another set of eyes on it

 

[bbowes9]

It definitely isn't an easy diagnosis if you've never done any back tracing like this, so no one would blame you if you didn't even want to attempt that

 

[sportcolbs]

I purchased a new OEM Dark Horse steering wheel to put on my 2024 ecoboost. Problem is I cannot get the back cover off to change the left hand buttons from my ecoboost. Anyone have suggestions? The back cover starts coming loose, but something is keeping it from coming loose.

 

[Allanrock59]

This might be a stupid question. But why didn't you get the paddle installed factory.

I have a EB 2024 premium with performance pack and the paddle are there. Or is it that 25 and 26 model don't have that option anymore?

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