CSI_MuNkY Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Today I went out to the car for the first time in weeks to do an oil change. I'm putting it back on the road long enough to get my e-test done and keep my plate stickers current over the winter. I have a list of issues for you, 1. Can anyone tell me what is on fuse number 37 in the passenger side door fuse panel? Its a blue 15amp fuse and the door says it is for "power aux" It blew tonight and the car wouldn't start because of it. I did not hear the fuel pump prime and the engine cranked normally. But once the fuse was replaced it fired right up. 2. When I went out today the fuel gauge said Empty, bone dry, even though last time I was in it there was half to 3/4 of a tank in it. I thought for sure someone had siphoned it, so I added 5L and took it to a gas station where it only took another 28 L, and even now that I KNOW it is full, the gauge still reads empty. 3. When I got home I shut it down and tried to start it again, nothing, no lights, no chimes, no nothing. I stop, take the key out, wiggle the steering column and voila, it runs again... WTF! 4. For the last couple months I had the car on the road it would occasionally try to die on me during left hand turns only and only while I was on the throttle. It never did it during a right hand turn. I kinda got to thinking that this could be some sort of short in the steering column, any other ideas? This car is pissing me off.... Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Sounds like a short in the steering column! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 so buy a steering column on saturday, race on sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 ok... assuming for a second that that is the source of all the problems.... do I need a column out of another 95 car? aka, OBD1.5 Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 i would say so just to be safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 94-95 anyways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 OK, so I drove it nearly 100km to school this morning and it only died on me once, sure enough it was just as I was pulling into the parking lot. The fuse did not blow. When I get home tonight I'm going to call a couple different wreckers and price out a new column. Can anyone verify what all I need to get? What do I have to take into account when I'm doing the swap? more specifically what do I do with the whole VATs key? if I put an ignition in from another car will my cars system still agree with it? My plan is to pull the donor one tomorrow, swap it in on Saturday, and race on Sunday. Anyone wanna help? haha I still don't know what else is on fuse number 37... but I think it blew because of an unrelated issue. I'm thinking that my fuel pump/sending unit is once again shot (which pisses me off because they aren't that old). The whole full tank but gauge reading empty is why I think this. So once the car comes back off the road I will drop the tank and swap out the sending unit AND the fuel pump. Maybe even upgrade for future mods if the column swap fixes the dieing issue. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 CUTLASS 95-96 Floor Shift; w/o variable PS opt NV7; w/radio control opt UK3 CUTLASS 97 Floor Shift; Supreme, w/o variable PS opt NV7; w/radio control opt UK3 GRAND PRIX 95-96 Floor Shift; w/o variable PS opt NV7; w/radio control UK3 LUMINA CAR 95-99 Floor Shift; w/radio control opt UK3 MONTE CARLO 95-99 Floor Shift; w/radio control opt UK3 REGAL 95-96 Floor Shift; w/o variable PS opt NV7; w/radio control opt UK3 I think you have MagnaSteer though... CUTLASS 95-96 Floor Shift; w/variable PS opt NV7 CUTLASS 97 Floor Shift; Supreme, w/variable PS opt NV7 GRAND PRIX 95-96 Floor Shift; w/variable PS opt NV7 REGAL 95-96 Floor Shift; w/variable PS opt NV7 You will likely have to change out the lock cylinders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 So does the fact that my car is OBD1.5 not matter in this case? Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted October 17, 2008 Report Share Posted October 17, 2008 Makes no difference what so ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 Well, I got one today out of a 94 GP, looks the same and if OBD doesn't matter then it should be good to go. I'm about to go out and rip my car apart now. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 So the new column doesn't work. Its missing the magna steer sensor, but I don't think that would of stopped me from using it. However nothing on the signal stalk works, nor does the horn... BUT... I think I found the short in my old column... Can anyone Identify this wire? It was twisted along side the yellow airbag wire. It has an orange housing with 2 white wires in it. It goes to a black and gray plug, and as near as I can tell neither of the white wires or the orange housing comes up into the steering wheel. here is a pic... In this pic you can see where I think it might be shorting. Now I don't see how they could be a positive and negative being that both wires are white. I'm going to fix this possible short and put the old column back in, see if it makes any difference. I was thinking of scavenging the good plug off the other column, but I have no way of knowing which wire is which... so for now I think I will just wrap them with electrical tape real good... Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 The female part of the white/white plug is purple/white if anyone has a wiring manual. I just looked through they wiring diagrams in my manual and there is no sign of a purple/white wire into a plug. And the airbag portion of my manual makes no mention of that plug. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95 vert Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 That wire goes to your vats key,ignition lock cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscsc Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 VATS strikes again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 So if that is shorting then that explains the dieing, and the fact that its on left hand corners could just have to do with the way the wire moves when the car leans that way.... Now I can't get the old column back in th car! The shaft won't go into the split collar. Captain Ficho is on his way over to give me a hand, I'm thinking maybe if he holds the column I can maneuver the shaft into place. I checked it with my vernier, it should fit in the hole! Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 So if that is shorting then that explains the dieing, and the fact that its on left hand corners could just have to do with the way the wire moves when the car leans that way.... Now I can't get the old column back in th car! The shaft won't go into the split collar. Captain Ficho is on his way over to give me a hand, I'm thinking maybe if he holds the column I can maneuver the shaft into place. I checked it with my vernier, it should fit in the hole! Jamie your wiring is worn, but that thing you seen about to separate is the Vats, but it will not cause stalling, only failure to start. TIP!!!!!! so you see the crack in the shaft that goes on the base of the steering column? take one of the 7mm bolts from the car and thread it into the crack, which will widen it. if needed, use a second 7mm tio widen it even further. this will allow slack for it to slide right in... like a wet.......... TIP!!!!!! magnasteer sensor can be swapped between columns. TIP!!!!!! the vats system needs the original key cylinder!!!! or if you are going all the way, the donor column keys will work with the donor car antitheft module. You have a 1 in 15 chance of having a VATS key match, meaning the donor car keys 1 in 15 times will be coded to match you car's module. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 your wiring is worn, but that thing you seen about to separate is the Vats, but it will not cause stalling, only failure to start. TIP!!!!!! so you see the crack in the shaft that goes on the base of the steering column? take one of the 7mm bolts from the car and thread it into the crack, which will widen it. if needed, use a second 7mm tio widen it even further. this will allow slack for it to slide right in... like a wet.......... Great tip, worked wonders! Everything is back together, old column and that wire is taped up. I took it for a test drive and had NO issues (at least not the ones from the steering column) I would like to say a big Thanks to Mat (GOT2BGM) and Filip (Captain Ficho) for lending me a hand on this. And of course those of you that gave advise on here. I have a longer drive ahead of me tomorrow, so we will see what happens then. I should just make this the "GTP_MuNkY never ending thread of problems, lol I noticed while driving that my headlights dim, sometimes when over a bump or whatnot, other times they get brighter as the engine speeds up. I'm thinking Internal Regulator or a bad connection on the Alt. Its gonna have to wait though, hopefully it lasts till Tuesday, then the car is off the road again. My fuel gauge is still reading empty, so I will be dropping the tank in the near future and swapping out the sending unit. I will also be cutting an access hatch in the floor to make easier access to the fuel pump and sending unit. I now know I need a signal switch... $70 from the dealer, I can manage that... Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted October 19, 2008 Report Share Posted October 19, 2008 lets hope tomorrow goes off without a hitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 So I went back to the wreckers today with Filip and the intention to swap the 94 I got on Saturday for a 95+ column. I found a couple prospective ones, however none had steering wheel audio controls. As near as I can tell only 4 wires are missing from the harness, mind you after I saw those 4 missing I stopped looking for more. My question is this, I don't use the SWRCs that I have, so if I get one without the SWRC wires will everything else work properly? Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 The VATS *shouldn't* cause you to stall while your driving, unless it is popping an ignition fuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5speedz34 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Isn't the rack different on magnasteer cars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 So I went back to the wreckers today with Filip and the intention to swap the 94 I got on Saturday for a 95+ column. I found a couple prospective ones, however none had steering wheel audio controls. As near as I can tell only 4 wires are missing from the harness, mind you after I saw those 4 missing I stopped looking for more. My question is this, I don't use the SWRCs that I have, so if I get one without the SWRC wires will everything else work properly? Jamie YES. swrc's can be deleted. To do so, you only need the steering wheel. The clock spring is different, but the connector can be left unplugged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSI_MuNkY Posted October 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 The VATS *shouldn't* cause you to stall while your driving, unless it is popping an ignition fuse. The 40amp Ignition switch #1 has now blown twice. The first time it blew I was going to school, I pulled into a convenient store with no issues, when I went to leave the car would not start. The second time that fuse popped, I was driving (going around a left hand corner in fact) and it died on me and would not start again. YES. swrc's can be deleted. To do so, you only need the steering wheel. The clock spring is different, but the connector can be left unplugged. So I would need to find a none SWRC steering wheel from a Grand Prix, all the columns I found that would work were either in Cuttys or Monte Carlo/Luminas. So my steering wheel won't even mount to the non-SWRC columns? I don't care if the switches are still there, they just won't do anything, but they haven't done anything since I got the car over 3 years ago. Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 So my steering wheel won't even mount to the non-SWRC columns? I don't care if the switches are still there, they just won't do anything, but they haven't done anything since I got the car over 3 years ago. Jamie no no no. the steering wheels with fit on either! Only the clock spring is different, it has an extra circuit added... plus the 4 small wires at the base of the TSS switch. just wait till you find one with the right wheel. if in doubt, replace the ignition switch, located down low on the column. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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