DoubleS69

I just installed the metra kit today and I'm psyched with how it all came out - looks very nice and its got a great fitment. However the only issue I'm running into is that the climate controls are not working at all. I can twist and turn my dials any which way but to no avail.

I read some previous threads that said the axxess box was a piece of **** and thus why things might not be working. However those threads were all 2010-dated. Any change to this? Have these boxes improved?

Better yet - is there some sort of alternative piece i can purchase to replace it?

I'm sort of hesitant to purchase a second metra kit to try and swap the box and return it as this one is brand new, purchased via Crutchfield, and didn't work. I'd rather not continuously waste my time if the result is going to be the same.

Any advice would be fantastic.

Thanks!

Rotaman

Here is what I did.
( first of all I better say that I use to be a car stereo installer and had my own business )
( I had read that there were problems with getting the Axis box to work the AC/heater controls. ), but I thought I would go a head and buy the Metra kit anyway as I did not like the factory stereo head unit.
So after I had fitted the Metra kit and everything was all in and working, so I thought. When I tried to use the A/C and heater, they did not want to work properly.
The fan control would not work at all and the heater would stay on full heat all the time, but the rest of the control worked ok.
First I thought I had done something wrong, so I checked all the wiring, all was ok.
So I pulled the stereo out and connected up the factory stereo again to check that all the controls were still working ok, and yes they all worked fine.
So my conclusion was that the Axis box was faulty. I guess I could have tried to send the kit back and tried another Axis box, but because I live in New Zealand, I was not prepared to pay for the postage back to the US.
So What I ended up doing was to strip the original stereo down to the two main circuit boards that are inside the stereo/front panel.
Once I had the two main circuit boards,I had to do a fair bit of rewiring to get the two circuit boards to work together and be able to lay them flat, one on top of the other. I made up a box to fit them into. I then found a place in the car to fit the box. I also had to extend the factory stereo wiring to be able to plug it into the new control box. I also had to extend all the wiring from the box back upto the A/C heater controls etc.
So now I have a better stereo in the car, and the original stereo circuit boards control the A/C - heater etc.
This was my way of fixing the Axis box problems. Its not the easiest way to do it, but it does work properly.
By the way my Axis box has the latest firmware and still doesn't work properly.
Hope this is helpful.

Regards

Rotaman

DoubleS69

Thanks Rota! I'm not a professional installer by any means but I have done my fair share of installations. I also happen to be well versed in computers so the circuit boards aren't completely foreign to me.

This seems like it might end up being the only option I have left as I've triple checked the wiring and am fairly certain of the latest firmware (as I said, it came in yesterday). The only thing I can say I'm lucky about is that I turned off all heating/ac before I took everything apart thus I don't have heat blasting me in the face right now!

LunchboxCritter

I would simply contact Metra and tell them what is going on. Odds are that they will make it right.