Electrical gremlins with a 1988 C4 Im working on - I am replacing the ignition barrel with a new one.
The old ignition barrel wiring was likly cut to be remove by previous (now deceased) owner. I cannot tell where that existing ignition wiring was connected or cut / not visible at steering wheel hub end.
Service manual suggests to cut existing wire close to barrel to splice the new one on - But I believe Im going to have to route the full new wire down the steering column (done)

Where do I plug this new ignition barrel wiring into under the dash?
Any photos or help is much appreciated!

 

Do you have the Factory Shop Manuals for your year Corvette? Having a set of them is critical when working on any C4, they come in two books, one for Mechanical systems and the second for the Electrical system. I could not own and work on my 1988 Corvette Coupe with a 700 R4 without the manuals. The FSM has a section that shows you where the various connections are made in the car, it might be what you are looking for.

I have a 1988 Corvette and I am not completely sure what you are exactly looking for. I have a set of the FSM for the 1988 Corvettes as well. My 1988 has part of the dashboard removed right now as well the darn ABS unit. I have had my 1988 C4 since the mid 1990's and it has been a great car until the EGR failed and I had to do a ton of work to make the engine usable again. After fixing the EGR then the Brake system popped and it has been a PIA to replace the brake lines and make the old Bosch ABS unit to work again.

The 1988 C4 has some unique features that you need to be aware of. It was the first year where they did not have the little Honda Drum brakes inside the rotors. The 1988 has a Cable-Pull type Emergency brake so no messing with the internal parking brake shoes. The Brake system is also a One year only system so be careful when replacing parts. The master cylinder is a one-year item as well. The brake system failed right near the ABS unit and I am glad it failed in my driveway. The fluid line popped and the car lost ALL the brakes. It was scary as I pushed down and the pedal went to the floor.
I was under the impression that EVERY car made after 1964 was required to have a dual master cylinder to ensure that one half the system operated regardless of the other.

If you have questions about the C4 then there are a lot of folks here to help you. If you have a 1988 C4 question the please feel free to stay in touch. We are here to try and help you and others with any issues with a C4 Corvette. I will look in my C4 manual and see if there is an answer to your question that would be simple and I can get back to you.

Best regards,
Chris

 

Are you referring to the vats wire?
And by barrel are you referring to the ignition cylinder? If so that’s the only wire coming off of it unless your year has something special that I’m not aware of.
if the above is what you’re referring to im pretty sure I have a picture I can upload for you.
buts it’s just a two pin connector at the base of the column in the rats nest of other wires down there.

 

You should be looking for C281 connector near the right side of the lower column. Wires I believe should be BRN & YEL, if it's had VATS resistance by-pass done you might find a resistor there. If you know the resistance of your key and VATS now might be the time to consider it using the old cylinder harness to fabricate the by-pass. In the FSM 8A-133-8 should detail the wiring. I don't think C281 is illustrated separately in the FSM.

This is from a different FSM but might help:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1599480796

 

I have the FSM etc which dosnt show - But this C4 Im unsure if butchered wiring or whatever VATs bypass method was installed by previous owner / regardless.

The ignition barrel/cylinder is just being replaced.

"Just a two pin connector at the base of the column in the rats nest of other wires down there."
This is where I couldnt see/find etc there is nowhere I can tell it plugs into - The only plug that looks matching under there had this already plugged into it:

two prone female plug connection is wrapped in black tape I assume is VATS bypass resistor? Should that not be like that and the new ignition cylinder two prone male wire plug into that instead?

That two prone plug disconnected and taped over cover removed


Thanks;

 

Yes you have found your connector.
Your key has a resistance chip on it, and those wires from the cylinder carry that resistance to that connector, where the VATS system checks it.
someone has bypassed your vats by inserting literal resistors. I would save them so that way you can verify what resistance your vats code is. There’s 15 different resistances.

 

That much is understood.
So where does the wire from the ignition barrel now connect to or does it simply remain unplugged given that discovered VATs has been bypassed?

 

that is up to you.
i personally would try connecting it, ie, remove the resistors and connect it. If it starts and runs then the stock setup is what I think is best.
however, why was it bypassed? Idk, does the key not match the car anymore? Idk.
if it doesn’t start with the cylinder connected I’d go back to the bubba-VATS-bypass setup

It’s not gonna hurt anything having the cylinder connector just hanging out down there.

 

Your new cylinder should have been delivered with a 'brass work key'. If your car cranked with the resistor plugged in it would be assumed to be end of the operation.

You could purchase any VATS resistance key blank(to save $$), have it cut to match the code on the 'work key' and you would have done operation. If you wished to use a correct key and eliminate the by-pass, you would need to know the original VATS value have a key cut with mechanical code of the 'work key' and that resistor value. Using the bands of your resistors to decode their combined value that value should match.

If you have any keys now they are worthless but if you checked the value of the resistance element and it matched the value of the combined value of those 2 resistors then you now know the original VATS value.

Save the 'work key' and make note of the code on it!

 

Thanks for your help guys; Car was presented low mileage which made me assume all was factory original. But now under a full restoration - hence cannot start engine/test anything as yet.

I'll leave the ignition barrel wiring unpluged and try this existing VATS bypass. What was confusing is I assumed that the existing ignition barrel was to be plugged in somewheres rather than simply removed and swapped in with a crude looking VATs bypass dongle.
Hopefully thread may help others in future too!