alright so long story short, had an aftermarket HU in my 2007 Accord EX no navi or dual climate. took it out because i wanted to use the steering wheel controls.

put stock unit back in and steering wheel controls dont work! the radio is working like it should.

pulled the switch out, to see what color wires they are and to make sure they were getting power and what not. im using a test light and have my DMM on standby.

so the first wire i touch with the tip is a brown/tan wire on the back of the switch. the freaking thing worked! however, that is the only time it works.

so im thinking maybe its a bad ground??

any ideas would be very much appreciated. this problem is confusing the crap outta me

 

test lights are bad diagnostic tools, they can damage electronics that are trying to send data because they present a low impedance load. don't use that anymore, and it's possible the test light damaged something.

is the brown/tan wire a send or a return wire?

 

i have no idea honestly! on the harness that plugs into the back of the stock radio there is a tan/brown wire. im assuming its the same wire. it would be a heck of a lot easier if i had a wiring diagram.

thanks for the input!!