Steering wheel button broken?

If you have any mechanical skills, all you need is a Torx T-30 bit and some screwdrivers to take the thing apart.

There are 2 side covers, one is the little one around the cruise control stalk. The other is on the exact opposite side. Pop those off with a butter knife wedged into the slot and it will reveal the 2 Torx T-30 screws. Loosen them (they will not come all the way out!), then you should be able to pull the center pad/airbag assembly out. Be careful as it will have wires. Just let it hang there and then grab each of the button modules and pull it out. They just snap in/out, but may take a good bit of pulling and wiggling to get them loose. They pull straight out away from the wheel, there are no fasteners.

You will probably have to take both of them out to get it free from the wheel, as they are wired together. Push the little tab on the connector that goes into the base of the wheel and the connector will pull out.

Once you have them out, you can take the 2 phillips screws out on the one that's not working, then carefully snap the tabs loose while pulling the halves apart. You should be able to figure out the problem, and if you can't fix it, then you at least save yourself a lot of money. Order the part online or get a used one (probably cheaper) and replace it yourself.

If you don't have any mechanical skills and are in SF, I recommend Lucious Garage over the Stealer. If you are int the east bay, let me know and I'll be happy to help!

 

Yes, Carolyn is awesome, I'll actually be there tomorrow to help her diagnose a weird Hybrid Camry problem.