Just replaced my center console ***** with stainless steel versions and before I put the new ones on I was wondering why the volume **** feels worn and light compared to the other more tactile *****, and if the coloration of the internal **** has something to do with it.

What part would be responsible for the feeling of the ***** rotation?

 

As far as I know all of these controls are "stepped" digital controls and not old-school potentiometers. With the car off I think you could spin them round and round but the next time you start the car the settings would be where you last left them. They also need to accept a "push" to switch modes so keep that in mind when mounting your new *****.

Why your volume **** seems to turn easier than the others may just be because that **** gets the most use - by far. As long as it functions correctly, don't let the "feel" bother you. The different colored shaft probably doesn't mean anything either. Maybe they're all like that, I've never looked.

 

Yeah I understand, I'm super nitpicky so I often fix and replace things when they don't need to be especially on the interior (ie: the new looking shifting **** in the picture XD)

I would love to figure it out though at least for fun and there's gotta be some kind of documentation for it that I can't find

 

I am tagging @rotarymike here as, if I recall, he had to re-solder/ replace his volume dial as it was "skipping." In really cold weather my driver-side temperature dial feels loose and "skips" but it doesn't bother me.

There is a old saying, if it ain't broke... OCD notwithstanding...

EDITED to ADD: Found Mike's post.

 

I hear you. Our "User Interface" is important, especially if you spend a lot of time in the car.

If you were to remove that control panel you'd find that all the ***** and buttons are directly connected to one big circuit board. (Found this picture on ebay). It does appear that all 4 rotary / push controls are the same electronically as you can see by what I've circled. So theoretically, I think you could swap your volume control with - for example - the passenger temp control (which I never touch). Or even source another one of these boards and swap components around. Or maybe even figure out if there is some spring or other factor which affects the turning resistance and do your own tweaking.

But I have no idea of how things are physically connected on the front side of that board so if you took it apart you would hope the push buttons wouldn't just launch all over the room...

Good luck!

 

They don't. Mike's post, linked above, shows the whole board setup. However, even he admitted replacing the rotary encoder was a hassle.

Maybe it's me. If it doesn't work, fine, fix it. Otherwise don't go looking for trouble. But, your car so do as you will.

Also, these panels are cheap enough to just swap out if the "loose dial" aggravates one that much.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

As usual, ILM beat me to the punch. (That's how long it takes me to compose a post). It's interesting that the volume control is the only one with a brass shaft so I can't say for sure they would all be interchangeable. And I don't think there's anything to be done to that component which would adjust the feel.

But yeah, if it were me I would wait until it actually malfunctioned before jumping in with the soldering iron. But that's just me. If you do get into it, let us know how it goes.

 

Odd I didn't get any notification of the tag in the thread, but :shrug: I'm here now LOL

For reference, I was a USAF avionics technician and civil aviation avionics tech before this career, so 'difficult' soldering jobs are not that difficult for me, and I have the right equipment. Having said that, this one was a pain.

As mentioned above, these are rotary encoders not potentiometers, so if it works and doesn't skip around a lot, then I'd leave it. The internal detents that make it a notch-at-a-time instead of free spinning like a mouse ball encoder are tactile only unless the broken/worn ones gum up the rotation inside.

AFAICT, the volume encoder is a different part number from the other ***** since all the ones I took apart only had the brass-shafted one as volume. The main issue with swapping is removal without damaging the underlying board / pads. To remove old solder you have to get it hotter than the initial flow oven did, so it's possible to burn the board/pads/traces even with a temp-controlled tip.

My first attempt was to scavenge a board from a junkyard front panel, but if the options are different (in my case, I had Nav and the donor car did not) they won't work as is. But I was able to remove the encoder and after sufficient cursing replace mine - mine was skipping enough that I couldn't get into diagnostics mode.

If you can get a media front panel from a car with the same options as yours, that's MUCH easier even at $100+ for the part off Ebay or carpart.com etc.