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Programing The Bcm To Turn On Steeringwheel Controls

jwh

By jwh
in Ask A GM Technician

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jwh Enthusiast

jwh

Posted
Posted

I added steering wheel controls to my 2006 Silverado 1500 then took the truck in to Chev dealer for Programming I printed out the instructions from an earlier post here. I had trouble explaining what I wanted done even after I showed the dealer the post. They were convinced the parts came with a code. After I finally got them to understand what I needed they called and got 2 VCI numbers and tried to program them in but it would not work they then called back and got 2 more numbers and they did not work either. My question is has anyone heard of the codes not working or is it possible the tech programmed the codes wrong?(I heard the service writer say his apprentice was working on it) I have a friend with a tech2 if someone could help with the proper instructions we could try to do it (I have the codes) or better yet anyone know a tech in the Chicago area that could do it. I would appreciate anyone’s help here. Thanks

 

John

gmtech4 Senior Enthusiast

gmtech4

Posted
Posted

you should buy GMs SI ,and with the tech 2 you have ,do it yourself,then you can fix your truck with no training at all,good luck to you ,you must some how enjoy the headache of all this,and I am spent.

jwh Enthusiast

jwh

Posted
  • Author
Posted
you should buy GMs SI ,and with the tech 2 you have ,do it yourself,then you can fix your truck with no training at all,good luck to you ,you must some how enjoy the headache of all this,and I am spent.

 

 

Well I thought this group was a place to go for help,

 

John

gmtech4 Senior Enthusiast

gmtech4

Posted
Posted
you should buy GMs SI ,and with the tech 2 you have ,do it yourself,then you can fix your truck with no training at all,good luck to you ,you must some how enjoy the headache of all this,and I am spent.

 

 

Well I thought this group was a place to go for help,

 

John

 

 

john,take it to a dealer ,why your doing this is beyond me,you can't do this in your driveway,or over the internet in a forum

HotRodV6 Enthusiast

HotRodV6

Posted
Posted

I think what he is asking is weather or not there is a trick to getting the BCM to take the new VCI codes. Which i believe there is, there has been several post about people doing the swap and taking it to the dealer and the dealer having trouble reprogramming the truck.

 

What is the point in having this forum, if all your going to say is take it to the dealer.

jwh Enthusiast

jwh

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I think what he is asking is weather or not there is a trick to getting the BCM to take the new VCI codes. Which i believe there is, there has been several post about people doing the swap and taking it to the dealer and the dealer having trouble reprogramming the truck.

 

What is the point in having this forum, if all your going to say is take it to the dealer.

 

I agree, I have no desire to do this myself nor do I think I am a GM Tech or do I think someone here could teach me how to be a GM tech, but I have made the investment in the labor and parts and I took the truck to the dealer and they could not make it work my guess is they did it wrong because they do not do this kind of thing very often. My hope here was that someone here has done it Successfully and could offer some direction that would make it work.

 

Thanks

Boomer73 Enthusiast

Boomer73

Posted
Posted

Why don't you PM lrymal and ask him if this rings any bells. It looks like he was pretty heavily involved in the original thread when this mod was first performed on this board though neither he nor Moline425, ss275HP, jth7186, BEARCAT or anyone else originally involved with the mod appear to be active on the board anymore. Off Larry Rymal's profile page (http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showuser=4984) there is a link to his business website. If you do a search on his name at that website, the first link that comes up is his contact information including email and phone. You could also try contacting the guys at Autowoods (http://www.autowoods.com/) as they sell these steering wheels they may have run across this problem.

 

I would like to see you solve this issue, because it looks like you have done what you were supposed to do and it has not worked like it was supposed to work. I was just about to do this to my vehicle when I read your thread and now am having second thoughts. It would be great to find a GM Tech in this forum that could explain what could be causing the BCM reprogramming problem so you have something to go to the dealer with rather than providing unwarranted, insulting sarcasm.

jwh Enthusiast

jwh

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Why don't you PM lrymal and ask him if this rings any bells. It looks like he was pretty heavily involved in the original thread when this mod was first performed on this board though neither he nor Moline425, ss275HP, jth7186, BEARCAT or anyone else originally involved with the mod appear to be active on the board anymore. Off Larry Rymal's profile page (http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showuser=4984) there is a link to his business website. If you do a search on his name at that website, the first link that comes up is his contact information including email and phone. You could also try contacting the guys at Autowoods (http://www.autowoods.com/) as they sell these steering wheels they may have run across this problem.

 

I would like to see you solve this issue, because it looks like you have done what you were supposed to do and it has not worked like it was supposed to work. I was just about to do this to my vehicle when I read your thread and now am having second thoughts. It would be great to find a GM Tech in this forum that could explain what could be causing the BCM reprogramming problem so you have something to go to the dealer with rather than providing unwarranted, insulting sarcasm.

 

 

Thanks, I did try to contact Lrymal but his mailbox here was full I will try to contact him with your information. By the way I bought the steeringwheel from Autowoods great product and nice people to do business with, they have the original post from here on their website.

I will let you know what I find out.

John

gmtech4 Senior Enthusiast

gmtech4

Posted
Posted
Why don't you PM lrymal and ask him if this rings any bells. It looks like he was pretty heavily involved in the original thread when this mod was first performed on this board though neither he nor Moline425, ss275HP, jth7186, BEARCAT or anyone else originally involved with the mod appear to be active on the board anymore. Off Larry Rymal's profile page (http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showuser=4984) there is a link to his business website. If you do a search on his name at that website, the first link that comes up is his contact information including email and phone. You could also try contacting the guys at Autowoods (http://www.autowoods.com/) as they sell these steering wheels they may have run across this problem.

 

I would like to see you solve this issue, because it looks like you have done what you were supposed to do and it has not worked like it was supposed to work. I was just about to do this to my vehicle when I read your thread and now am having second thoughts. It would be great to find a GM Tech in this forum that could explain what could be causing the BCM reprogramming problem so you have something to go to the dealer with rather than providing unwarranted, insulting sarcasm.

 

well boomer ,you see ,I just don't get it then,the work involved in this is crazy,time spent ,I have never seen this done and would never think of it either ,so ,sorry dude ,you win.my idea is if you want steering wheel controls ,buy a truck with it already!,and avoid this.

Boomer73 Enthusiast

Boomer73

Posted
Posted
well boomer ,you see ,I just don't get it then,the work involved in this is crazy,time spent ,I have never seen this done and would never think of it either ,so ,sorry dude ,you win.my idea is if you want steering wheel controls ,buy a truck with it already!,and avoid this.

 

And that's fair - I understand where you're coming from. This mod might seem crazy from the point of view of a lot of owners or techs. It would still be great to figure out how to do it - that's some of the fun I think - and we know that there are people who are/were on this board that did it successfully. I've decided I'm going to go ahead and try it. I've got all the parts already. Worst case scenario, I've got a new wheel with controls I can't totally use. That wouldn't be the end of the world, and I can always swap it back if my dealership can't get the computer stuff right.

jwh Enthusiast

jwh

Posted
  • Author
Posted
well boomer ,you see ,I just don't get it then,the work involved in this is crazy,time spent ,I have never seen this done and would never think of it either ,so ,sorry dude ,you win.my idea is if you want steering wheel controls ,buy a truck with it already!,and avoid this.

 

And that's fair - I understand where you're coming from. This mod might seem crazy from the point of view of a lot of owners or techs. It would still be great to figure out how to do it - that's some of the fun I think - and we know that there are people who are/were on this board that did it successfully. I've decided I'm going to go ahead and try it. I've got all the parts already. Worst case scenario, I've got a new wheel with controls I can't totally use. That wouldn't be the end of the world, and I can always swap it back if my dealership can't get the computer stuff right.

 

 

 

Boomer,

I did get in touch with Lrymal he said that was not his post he said the last time he checked that message thread was really corrupted. He did do the steering wheel swap and put a cluster in that had the programing in it.

 

I am not going to give up because adding the steering wheel controls for me is more then just a convenience, I spend about 3 hours a day in my truck for work and I have problems with my right shoulder, when it is at its worst it is extremely painful to use. Having the controls would be better then using my left arm and reaching across to adjust the radio (try doing that and you will understand my motivation.) Buying a new truck is not an option for me.

 

So here is what I am going to do. I have ordered a replacement cluster with the DIC turned on, I am going to see if the DIC part of the controls function if they do I know there is not a problem with the install and I am going to try a few other dealers to see if they will try to program the radio functions to operate. If that does not work then I will get an aftermarket radio and a PAC steering wheel controller. The light green wire from the column is the wire it uses to sense the wheel buttons and it sends the signal to the aftermarket radio, (each button function sends a different voltage to the green wire) the dark blue wire is the feed wire from the body control harness I could disconnect it and energize that wire I just need to find out what voltage the blue wire is designed to have if it came from the factory with the steering wheel controls. (I think 5 volts) A couple of notes: two of my gauges have bad motors in them and I want to add the trans temp anyway so a new cluster is worth it even it the DIC does not work and I plan to add a aftermarket radio with navigation.

 

I will keep you posted with my results.

 

 

 

John

scottmoyer Enthusiast

scottmoyer

Posted
Posted

I had this done to my truck. It's not that big of a deal. I took it to 1 dealer and they tried for 2 days unsuccessfully to program the radio and cluster. I got my truck back and went to a different dealer. I asked the service writer to check with the interior tech and see if he knew about this. The tech responded that he was aware of the mod and knew what to ask GM for. He got the stuff and programmed for 1 hour. All works fine.

 

In response to buying a truck with the option, that's not always available. When I bought my truck, everything advertised the wheel as redundant radio controls for $125. I didn't know that the DIC was also part of it. Maybe GM should advertise their features better. Plus, every truck I found with it also had OnStar, which I didn't want.

 

Based on the replies from gmtech4 about never seeing this done and doesn't uderstand it, then I would shy away from his expertise as this is a common mod. In his thinking, buy your truck with the 285 series tires, the cat back exhaust, KN filter, DVD Nav, window tint and lift kit because we all know that the GM can provide all of this on a new vehicle for so much less than doing it yourself.

 

 

 

Just go to a different dealer. HAve you verified all the connections on the clockspring? I would assume the wheel controls are good, but ?? If you press the trip mileage button the dash, do you see any different options. Maybe the upgrade was a success and the wheel or clockspring are non functional.

Boomer73 Enthusiast

Boomer73

Posted
Posted
A couple of notes: two of my gauges have bad motors in them and I want to add the trans temp anyway so a new cluster is worth it even it the DIC does not work and I plan to add a aftermarket radio with navigation.[/font]

 

 

John,

 

You should contact Carl Cowles at Digital Dash Solutions if you have not purchased your cluster yet. His email is [email protected] or you can call at 860-583-0629, and you can find him on ebay too: http://stores.ebay.com/SPEEDOMETER-SALES-AND-SERVICE. He will do a core trade with you, give you the programming you need to transfer the data over from your old cluster, give you a number of bulb, pointer, cluster/gauge face, and trans temp options, and can set the cluster up to support the steering wheel controls. His prices are reasonable and he turned my order around in about 3 days door-to-door. I got an Escalade platinum cluster from him when my stock cluster died (and I didn't know about the free-off warranty replacement from GM at the time) and it looks great - better than factory new. I believe he installs upgraded stepper motors in the clusters he rebuilds so they should be better than anything that you could get OEM. I don't remember what I paid for mine, but at the time I'm pretty sure it was under $200. When he did my cluster, he told me he would reflash it for me for free when it comes time to do the steering wheel conversion, so we will see if he is true to his word on that very shortly.

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