I have been researching the climate control upgrade corresponding the 8.4 upgrade. Just to be clear, there are two different climate controls that come with the 8.4 system. There is a single zone push-button style control (not sure if it is truly "automatic" single zone or just manual single zone with push buttons instead of knobs). Does anyone have the single zone push button climate control shown in the image below, and can comment as to whether it is an "automatic" climate control or just manual? See the following image:
There is also the dual-zone automatic control that comes on the higher trim levels. It seems both the single zone and dual zone bezels have only an 8-pin harness. I believe this is the wiring diagram for the 8-pin harness:
It seems the 8-pin harness is just a basic CAN IHS plug that merely communicates the input of the switches and sends them to the CAN system in the truck (I'm not quite clear on where this specific 8-pin harness connects to the rest of the CAN system).
Folks like me with the 5.0 uconnect have the manual single climate control with 3 knobs (as opposed to push buttons). The manual controls have a 24-pin harness, and some have another 5-pin harness. See the following image from the back of my climate controls:
Notice the 24-pin connector in the middle, and the smaller 5-pin connector (oriented vertically) toward the shifter side of the dash. Just for reference, here is a sample of what the front of my climate controls look like:
From other posts concerning this topic, I've seen others that only have a 24-pin on the back of their manual climate controls (w/ knobs). Yet, I have another 5-pin harness on mine as shown in 2nd image above, and I was able to find a wiring diagram here:
The drawing of the connector is incorrect on the wiring diagram above (it's not a 24-pin), but the 5 wires shown in the chart do match the connector/harness in my truck. It sits off to the left (near the shifter side) of the larger 24-pin harness. I'm puzzled why my 2013 RAM SLT Crew Cab w/ Big Horn package (5.0 Uconnect and manual climate knobs) has an extra 5-pin harness that some other folks who have posted pictures don't have this extra 5-pin harness on their units. In any case, it seems the above wiring diagram identifies the 5-pin properly.
I have been trying to find a wiring diagram on the 24-pin main harness in the center stack for the climate control, but I can't seem to find it using the previous resource others have provided (
https://techauthorityonlinedemo.extra.chrysler.com/service/repair/wiring/view/classic.htm). I do see a 24-pin connector, but the wiring guide puts the location near the passenger side lower dash/floor. This is the one I'm referring to:
Some of the labeled wires on the guide above just don't seem right for the 24-pin plug in the center stack. So, I'm guessing the above diagram is not the right one for the center stack, but I could be mistaken. Anyone else successfully found the wiring diagram for the 24-pin on the center stack?
In any case what intrigues me about the 8-pin connector on the single zone climate control for the 8.4 bezel, is the wiring diagram shows it as a basic CAN IHS connector. I believe it would be fairly simple to make your own harness based on nearby wires in the center stack that could be spliced into. I'm not sure if the CAN IHS interfaces allows for splicing? (as opposed to a CAT 5 signal which requires a switch/router/hub) If CAN IHS does allow for splicing, one could hypothetically make your own connector by splicing into nearby wires to match the wiring diagram for the 8-pin, ordering just the 8-pin harness. I'm just not sure if CAN IHS allows for splicing. Furthermore, I don't know if there is an additional module required elsewhere for the single zone push-button climate control (obviously for the dual zone automatic control there would be additional hardware and modules necessary, but what about the single zone system?). I could be wrong, but it seems that folks like me with the 3 knob manual controls and 5.0 bezel have some type of controller embedded into the bezel/knobs (given the larger 24-pin connector and smaller 5-pin connector) compared to the 8.4 single zone push buttons (with only an 8-pin CAN IHS connector), where the control module must be somewhere else (?).
My question to folks who have successfully installed the 8.4 in their trucks with manual climate (3 knobs)...do you see corresponding changes on the 8.4 screen under climate when you adjust the 3 knobs and other climate buttons? I think I read where one user was unable to use the 8.4 screen to adjust the climate, but what about the reverse? Does the screen reflect changes made by the manual knobs?
Depending on the answer to the above question, I'm thinking if one could successfully make the 8-pin CAN IHS connector necessary for the single zone push button 8.4 controls (by splicing other wires in the stack), and the 8.4 system reflects changes made to the climate control, then it may be possible for one to upgrade the climate controls to push button single zone (shown in the first image). I'm just not sure if there is another module required, though.