[Z06] Telescoping Steering Column Install
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 0
From: Belton Texas
Telescoping Steering Column Install
We just wrapped up the install of the telescoping column on my '01 Z06. It actually went fairly smooth and the majority of the install was basic remove and replace. We (the guys in the shop) had to do a small amount of work with a grinder but anyone with a fair amount of at home auto maintenance should be able to handle it. The biggest issue was the wiring.
At this time we did modifications to do the basic in and out. The motor is a reverse polarity motor and has 2 wires coming out. To make it go in you have to send a positive current down one wire and a negative down the other. To make it go out you have you have to reverse the currents. We used an electric window switch from a 1991 Chevy Pick-up to make it work. There were 5 prongs on the back of that switch and we used a voltmeter to determine which contact was the ground in and power in and which prongs were the 2 that went to the motor and sent the correct current in the in and out position. We mounted the switch inside the ashtray and fashioned a plate to make it look somewhat professional and of course it is not visible when the ash tray lid is down. Perfectly functional and I will probably not change it. I drove it and it is great. Definitely recommended for those of us that are overly tall or large.
What we did attempt
We did try to wire it into the control module under the seat and I believe our difficulty is that there may be a different module on the Z06 or the computer has to be programmed to recognize that it has the telescoping column. We did not know how to do that programming and were not able to set it up so the memory function and the switch on the column would work. Hopefully someone that reads this that has an idea what we should have done and can post a solution.
We had the wiring diagram and another car which we used to trace wires. We pulled the seats out to confirm we had everything correct. There are 2 wires from the motor that go to the module, 3 wires from the switch (1 ground and 2 to the module), and 3 wires from the position sensor (All connect to the module, 1 low voltage power and 2 more that send back a varying voltage that tells the computer what the position of the column is).
What we would have done different
A little more knowledge so we would not have spent so much time doing the wiring and not have it work.
We got the used steering column from Gene and it worked great. But we did not get some portions of the wiring harness that would have helped a lot. The wiring from the column plugs into the connections that run into the main wiring harness. Replacing the main harness would not be reasonable but if we would have had that part of the wiring with the plugs cut off the main harness it would have been much easier to run the wires. The same on the wires that run to the module under the seat. The plug that plugs into the module under the seat on the Z06 does not have the wires that serve the column. They are all empty and we ran to Radio Shack and picked up ends that we put on the wires to go into the plugs. Splicing the wires would have been much easier and would have been also easier to color match the wires.
Once again it was definetely worth the effort.
At this time we did modifications to do the basic in and out. The motor is a reverse polarity motor and has 2 wires coming out. To make it go in you have to send a positive current down one wire and a negative down the other. To make it go out you have you have to reverse the currents. We used an electric window switch from a 1991 Chevy Pick-up to make it work. There were 5 prongs on the back of that switch and we used a voltmeter to determine which contact was the ground in and power in and which prongs were the 2 that went to the motor and sent the correct current in the in and out position. We mounted the switch inside the ashtray and fashioned a plate to make it look somewhat professional and of course it is not visible when the ash tray lid is down. Perfectly functional and I will probably not change it. I drove it and it is great. Definitely recommended for those of us that are overly tall or large.
What we did attempt
We did try to wire it into the control module under the seat and I believe our difficulty is that there may be a different module on the Z06 or the computer has to be programmed to recognize that it has the telescoping column. We did not know how to do that programming and were not able to set it up so the memory function and the switch on the column would work. Hopefully someone that reads this that has an idea what we should have done and can post a solution.
We had the wiring diagram and another car which we used to trace wires. We pulled the seats out to confirm we had everything correct. There are 2 wires from the motor that go to the module, 3 wires from the switch (1 ground and 2 to the module), and 3 wires from the position sensor (All connect to the module, 1 low voltage power and 2 more that send back a varying voltage that tells the computer what the position of the column is).
What we would have done different
A little more knowledge so we would not have spent so much time doing the wiring and not have it work.
We got the used steering column from Gene and it worked great. But we did not get some portions of the wiring harness that would have helped a lot. The wiring from the column plugs into the connections that run into the main wiring harness. Replacing the main harness would not be reasonable but if we would have had that part of the wiring with the plugs cut off the main harness it would have been much easier to run the wires. The same on the wires that run to the module under the seat. The plug that plugs into the module under the seat on the Z06 does not have the wires that serve the column. They are all empty and we ran to Radio Shack and picked up ends that we put on the wires to go into the plugs. Splicing the wires would have been much easier and would have been also easier to color match the wires.
Once again it was definetely worth the effort.
Thread Starter
Former Vendor
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 0
From: Belton Texas
I forgot 1 thing. Our steering wheel puller would not work and we ran the column down to our local Chevy stealership and got them to pull the wheel. Everything elde was pretty much standard tools.
