Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)

Removed/replaced the VCIM in my '07 Sierra SLT (GMT900) equipped with steering wheel controls. The replacement is a VCIM module from an '09 or '10 with Bluetooth capability. At this time, it does disable the OnStar capability (red LED on mirror), as the module needs to be matched to the VIN on the vehicle by GM/OnStar. However, bluetooth capability works flawlessly and without any programming. Plug and play. I was never a OnStar subscriber, so this worked for me. By far the best mod I've done. But keep this in mind before you install.

 

This is bluetooth VCIM I used is part no. 20756237.

 

Also, make sure power is disabled while plugging and unplugging devices. I'm not responsible for any damage; physical, electrical, mental, or emotional, lol.

 

 

First remove center trim panel. (Image from service manual)

 

001.jpg

 

So, with the lack of a "flat-bladed plastic trim tool" (which it recommends) and to not damage the plastic with a screwdriver, I used a metal putty knife to get in there. A narrower putty knife would have worked better, but it was thin enough to pry up the plastic trim, while spreading the force over a wider area than a flat-bladed screwdriver would have done. The idea, is you can pry against the metal rather than the plastic trim. Once the metal blade is in there and pried up the trim, you should be able to get behind the metal blade, and pry against the plastic under the trim, and against the metal blade.

 

003.jpg

 

And these are the EIGHT clips the first image shows. They are in TIGHT.. you'll think that its not coming off, but it will. Be careful not to pry against the plastic trim with anything resembling a screwdriver. The plastic trim will give way (crack, etc.) before the clips do. Go slow working around the trim. (In the picture below on the right side, you'll see the marks on the plastic from the screwdriver prying out against the metal putty knife, but thats ok, as its covered by the silver frame.)

 

004.JPG

 

Undo the four bolts circled.

 

005.JPG

 

Unplug and remove the switch bar, and climate control unit. Most of these plugs are unique (i.e. they will only plug into one specific plug) and/or colour coded, so as to remember where they go during reassembly. Circled is the VCIM.

 

007.JPG

 

Its real tight for space in there but there are clips on the left, and right side of the metal box. One side at a time, push them out, and the unit will lift UP. Pull it forward, unplug the harnesses (keep in mind which is plugged in where (i.e. "J1" and J3"), and the two coax wires.

 

008b.JPG

 

Side by side comparison. The new BT VCIM will have three coax plugs. One is for the BT antenna (tan coloured). make sure you connect it. The other two are are colour coded, and for the OnStar antenna.. (should there ever be a solution to get this feature working, you wont have to disassemble the dash again)

 

009.JPG

 

As you can see, the white VCIM plugs are on the opposite side and so its easier to flip the VCIM upside down (label down) to connect the plugs as noted earlier (J1, J3, etc.) Don't worry that there is four plugs in the old VCIM and three on the new one.

 

010.JPG

 

Clip the new VCIM back in. Turn on vehicle and test it out before you put everything together. Your mirror LED will be red, signaling OnStar is not connected. (The "emergency" button on your mirror may still connect to OnStar, not sure what happens otherwise) However, OnStar will not get signals from your vehicle, i.e. airbag deployment, diagnostics, and the such. (However if you don't pay for a subscription, you wouldn't get those abilities anyway) But feel free to give it a try.

 

 

Put your mobile device into pairing mode, turn BT on. Press and hold the steering wheel "Talk" button until you hear "Ready", then you say "Pair". Your device should recognize the vehicle and show "Handsfree" or "General Motors". I can't remember which one. Follow the instruction the magic box tells you to do, it will give you a code to connect the two.

 

When paired, have someone call you to test. Your vehicle should ring through the speakers, the incoming call phone number should appear on your Drivers Information Center. Press the "Talk" button on your steering wheel to connect. (Press the "Down Arrow" to disconnect. If all is working, reassemble reverse what you took apart. If something is not working, re-check all your cable connections.

 

If your truck is ringing, (i.e. an incoming call), and you answer by pressing the 'Answer' button on your DEVICE, the call will be routed through the device, and NOT through bluetooth. You need to answer the call via the truck (steering wheel control, or mirror button) for it to transmit through the truck.

 

Look up an owners manual from 2009 or '10 model to get the full instructions on how to operate the Bluetooth functions (record name tags, make/answer calls, use voice control/name recognition on your device, etc.)

Edited by mc7719
Posted

There are two clips on either side of the VCIM. I updated with an image.

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

im getting ready to do this later today but i have a question. where does the bluetooth antenna go? does it get routed like the gps antenna somewhere? thanks for the quick response

Posted

Today I installed a VCIM that I bought off ebay. Install was a breeze using your instuctions, thanks. I can't get my DroidX to see it. Are there any other commands that are possible? A quick press of the voice button just mutes the radio and puts a voice icon on the nav screen. Holding it longer makes it ask for radio voice commands but it won't recognize me saying "pair".

 

Also, do you where I can find the procedure or list of commands to use and program #'s in when I do get it working? Thanks!

Posted
Today I installed a VCIM that I bought off ebay. Install was a breeze using your instuctions, thanks. I can't get my DroidX to see it. Are there any other commands that are possible? A quick press of the voice button just mutes the radio and puts a voice icon on the nav screen. Holding it longer makes it ask for radio voice commands but it won't recognize me saying "pair".

 

Also, do you where I can find the procedure or list of commands to use and program #'s in when I do get it working? Thanks!

 

First press and hold the button for ~2 seconds, after the system says "Ready" say "Bluetooth", after the system says "Bluetooth ready" then say "Pair", then follow the instructions. The commands are listed in the owner's manual.

Posted
im getting ready to do this later today but i have a question. where does the bluetooth antenna go? does it get routed like the gps antenna somewhere? thanks for the quick response

 

The BT antenna is a small device plugged directly to the VCIM. See one of the pictures in the first post with it circled in blue.

Posted
Today I installed a VCIM that I bought off ebay. Install was a breeze using your instuctions, thanks. I can't get my DroidX to see it. Are there any other commands that are possible? A quick press of the voice button just mutes the radio and puts a voice icon on the nav screen. Holding it longer makes it ask for radio voice commands but it won't recognize me saying "pair".

 

Also, do you where I can find the procedure or list of commands to use and program #'s in when I do get it working? Thanks!

 

First press and hold the button for ~2 seconds, after the system says "Ready" say "Bluetooth", after the system says "Bluetooth ready" then say "Pair", then follow the instructions. The commands are listed in the owner's manual.

 

 

Thanks for the tips. I got it paired now. My owners manual doesn't have the commands because the truck never came with bluetooth (2008). Can someone post the procedure to add #'s and use the bluetooth commands? Thanks.

Posted
Thanks for the tips. I got it paired now. My owners manual doesn't have the commands because the truck never came with bluetooth (2008). Can someone post the procedure to add #'s and use the bluetooth commands? Thanks.

 

Strange, my '09 didn't come with bluetooth either but it's in my owner's manual. You can download the manual here, but if it's not in the '08 manual you can download the '09 to get the list.

 

Glad you got it paired up!

Posted (edited)

Does anyone know with this option code that this is the right one? The part number is the same but on the site im loking at it just says this:

 

Item: Chassis Computer

Option: Communication (Onstar, opt UE1) ID 20756237

 

So im guessing since it is the right part number it will be the bluetooth as well...... can anyone confirm this?

Also it doesnt state anything about an antenna...... anyone know the part number i will need for the antenna?

It came out of a 2009 caddy DTS

 

THANKS :P:(

Item: Chassis Computer Option: Communication (OnStar, opt UE1) ID 20756237Item: Chassis Computer Option: Communication (OnStar, opt UE1) ID 20756237

Edited by JdubUB
Posted

Part#20756237 is a bluetooth VCIM that should work, it's the one I have.

 

Part#15938939 is the bluetooth antenna you need if it's not included with the VCIM you're looking at.

Posted

thank you sir! I need to order and get it in because my USB radio is waiting for me. A guy at the dealership got it for me and is going to re-program.... so i need to get it ordered and in fast before he does the new headunit and he can re-program my VCIM too for the onstar :thumbs: Mucho Gracias

Posted
thank you sir! I need to order and get it in because my USB radio is waiting for me. A guy at the dealership got it for me and is going to re-program.... so i need to get it ordered and in fast before he does the new headunit and he can re-program my VCIM too for the onstar :thumbs: Mucho Gracias

 

PLEASE let us know if you get the onStar working with the replacement VCIM. I don't think anyone has yet. For some reason they "can't" do it if the VCIM did not come with the vehicle from the factory. (But there's GOT to be a way)

Posted
Thanks for the tips. I got it paired now. My owners manual doesn't have the commands because the truck never came with bluetooth (2008). Can someone post the procedure to add #'s and use the bluetooth commands? Thanks.

 

Strange, my '09 didn't come with bluetooth either but it's in my owner's manual. You can download the manual here, but if it's not in the '08 manual you can download the '09 to get the list.

 

 

Its because it was an OPTION in '09, so its in your manual. It was never even offered as an option in 07/08. :thumbs:

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    250.4k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    342,759
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    DM22
    Newest Member
    DM22
    Joined
  • Who's Online   5 Members, 1 Anonymous, 2,064 Guests (See full list)


  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • I thought I would use your thread and add to it as I just did my first longer drive with my truck in the last couple of days. I drove from the Grande Prairie area of Alberta down to Edmonton and most of where I drove in the city was the ring road so fairly free flowing but a bit of stop and go as well in the city. Stayed the night and returned home and not too many stops along the way each way but every restart and certainly every cold start sets it back for fuel mileage. Why I say that is I see some people will cherry pick a fuel mileage leg after the vehicle had been warmed up driveline wise before hand and its a forgiving ( easy rolling drive leg for example ) and call that their fuel mileage which can give a false perception of reality. I was not heavily loaded at all but never the less the flip bak cover, rubber bed mat, various tools etc and extra jerry cans of fuel all way up to a few hundred pounds of dead weight so its not an empty truck. The cold inflation tire pressures are set more near the freezing point so once they are warmed up driving I was showing 45 front and over 40 rear and realize high inflation pressures would help a little in fuel mileage but certainly not the ride on our crap sections of highway. The weather was good so was not raining as that can really drag mileage down, in fact I had a bit of a tail wind on average driving home. Most people on here would never have driven on that freeway to visualize it but its got a fair bit of rolling type of landscape with numerous river valleys. For the most part I had it on cruise set to 62 although kicking it off if I caught it in time before it started down shifting and self braking going down the grades. Most of the more substantial grades its shifting into 7th I believe as 8th just doesn't have it. Total distance round trip was 643 miles and my overall average and I did refuel three times in all, figured out to 17.65 miles per US gallon. My best fuel mileage section refuel within all of this figured out to 18.46 and these are all hand calculated figures. I find if anything that the trucks computer can be over optimistic, sometimes its pretty close but other times its stretching it. On paper persay in theory the truck would have just about made it on fumes for that whole drive without refueling once.    Which made me think of the topic thread of the wonder if these trucks could do 20 mpg and that is a good question, certainly would have to be on an easy going flat highway, no head wind, the right temperature, not packing around a bunch of dead weight and puttering along even slower than I was I would suspect and going steady and not stopping to smell the flowers or take a piss !. It probably is possible but not without effort to attain that with the wind resistance and weight of these trucks. Of course on my drive most people are passing me if they have the power as per loaded highway tractors, never mind a lot of speedy vehicles but the speed limit is 68 and most are at or well over that. 
    • Monday looks like a good day for the dealer to test an ac issue. Hopefully it all turns out good.
    • Paid $2.72 for E85 today.
    • Welcome back! No, it definitely doesn't pass the sniff test. Even "ceasefire" needs an alternative definition these days.    $5.29 at Kroger today
    • That makes sense, and I think you are describing the real product problem. Capturing data is the easy part. If the owner or technician has to manually dig through five minutes of millisecond-level logs, the product has already failed. The device would be at the ECM harness, not at the OBD port, so I agree that data retrieval and event marking need to be thought through carefully. The way I am thinking about the architecture is: The recorder itself should not depend on a phone, app, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cloud connection to capture the event. It should always keep a local rolling buffer and lock the event locally. A button, phone app, or small cabin device would only act as an event marker. If the driver feels a stumble and presses the button 10–30 seconds later, the pre-buffer has to already contain the useful data. For data retrieval, the practical options would be a sealed service USB lead, Wi-Fi download, or a phone/cabin companion device. I would not expect the owner to remove the ECM-side module or work with raw files directly. The cloud or AI side would be for interpretation, not for capturing the event. The truck may have no connection when the issue happens, so the evidence has to be saved locally first. After that, cloud processing could help decode the data, compare it against baselines, and generate a readable report. For the first version, I would keep the automatic triggers conservative and objective: driver event marker bus-off error passive voltage drop / brownout device reset FIFO or queue overflow a normally periodic message disappearing side-to-side communication mismatch, if the topology supports that For “learning normal,” I agree with your point, but I would not want to overclaim it as automatic root-cause diagnosis at first. A realistic first step would be learned baseline comparison for that specific vehicle and operating condition. For example, a value would only be compared against similar conditions: RPM range load / MAP throttle position gear / vehicle speed coolant and oil temperature battery voltage AFM/DFM state, if decoded and validated Then the report could flag things like: this periodic message disappeared compared with its normal timing this value deviated from this vehicle’s normal range under similar conditions the same abnormal pattern repeated after the same type of event the anomaly occurred together with voltage, oil-pressure, misfire, or communication changes But I would still call that “abnormal pattern detected,” not “replace this part,” unless there is enough validated repair data behind it. So the intended product would not be “here is a huge log.” It would need to be an event package: what triggered the capture how much pre/post data was preserved what changed before and after the event whether the device itself reset, overflowed, or saw a bus error selected graphs around the event raw data only as supporting evidence From your perspective, what would make this kind of report useful instead of just another datalog? For example: What are the top 5 parameters or events you would want highlighted first? Would you trust a learned baseline for that specific vehicle, or would you prefer fixed thresholds? How much false-positive flagging would be acceptable before you stopped looking at the reports? What would a one-page report need to show for an independent shop to take it seriously? For misfire, AFM/DFM, oil pressure, or U-code complaints, what would you want the tool to flag automatically?
  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...