When the rotary dial on the Alpine stereo is acting erratically or doesn't work at all, while the volume buttons on the steering wheel are working fine, it is time to clean the contact surfaces inside the rotary dial component. For instructions on how to get to the component and open it, pls see the pictures below. Clean the encoder disk as well as the contacts with q-tips and alcohol, then add some dielectric grease to the encoder disk. Assemble it all in reverse order. Plug the stereo in and enjoy using the rotary dial again.


Remove the **** of the rotary dial.


Remove screws holding the front cover (one on each side).


Remove front cover.


Straighten the four metal strips, holding the front part of the component.


Gently pry off the front part with a small screw driver (watch out for the small encoder disk, it can fall out easily).