Radio turns itself up to max, my ears hurt, help

This has been an ongoing problem for years now and enough is enough. When the stock head unit was in there, the volume would turn all the way up if any button on the steering wheel was pressed. Then it deteriorated to the point where it would do it randomly whether a steering wheel button was pressed or not.

When I put an Alpine 9885 in, it worked great. I didn't have the steering wheel hooked up at first. Then I bought a PAC SWI-Jack and programmed it correctly and to my delight the buttons worked fine for a few days. It soon started turning itself up to max after a steering wheel button was pressed and then randomly on its own.

So I bought a new set of buttons and just got those installed today. For some reason the radio wouldn't turn on while the SWI was still on, I had to open the door, turning off the SWI, then I could turn on the radio again. I eventually programmed the SWI and no sooner did it exit program mode, the LED started flashing rapidly and the volume shot up again. The Alpine also beeped as if a button was pressed. I took out the key, opened the door, then tried turning it on again and the LED flashed rapidly and the volume maxed out.

What is going on here? Is there some module of some kind buried in the dash somewhere between the buttons and radio? It seems like something having to do with the steering wheel is causing my volume to max out. Help!

I'd check the radio control harness running through the steering column. It's probably getting pinched somewhere, shorting it out and making the radio do crazy things.

Crap, there goes my hopes for a quick and easy solution.

I called Crutchfield and they said since it was happening with the stock head unit, it's most likely a bad ground, wire or resister inside the steering column somewhere. Time to bust out the wallet.