Fitting HSV E3 Steering Wheel Controls to VE Series I

[ZerOne]

Some people may know this already...



In my attempts to get some SW Can sniffing on the bench, I ordered some new steering wheel controls.

These controls are from a 2012 E3 HSV (Unsure the exact model), and have an extra button, and slightly
different labeling on them.
(The right hand side scroll wheel has a push to select function, like the Left Hand Side scroll wheel button on all models).

I connected these controls up and surprise surprise, ALL the buttons work !!!
(The Left Hand side buttons work as per normal, the Right Hand Side buttons operate differently to the labels on the steering wheel).

When fitting E3 HSV Buttons, the following RHS buttons are mapped accordingly,

EDI (Upper RHS Button) = Activate Telephone (Bluetooth)
NAV (Lower RHS Button) = Display Navigation details on the cluster Screen (Works !!!!)
Scroll Up and Down RHS = Volume Up and Down.
Pressing RHS Scroll Wheel = Audio Mute.

So, basically the lower RHS button has been swapped with the scroll wheel, and the lower RHS button becomes a NAVigation information button.

(I thought I would post this up, as I read some BS on a G8 forum that the G8 uses different buttons which would only work with a G8 cluster, and that you couldn't fit an Aussie cluster to a G8 because the buttons would cause grief, and possibly would need to be changed).

[mayday13]

How do you remove the old controls, and how long should the change-over take?

[ZerOne]

To remove the old controls is a little bit of work.
The air bag needs to be removed, and then the steering wheel.

Once the steering wheel has been removed, it is easy sailing from then onwards.
(The wiring connector for the buttons is exactly the same, there there is no magically wiring involved to get everything working).

If you were going to go ahead and change the buttons, then it might be an idea to have a look at upgrading the steering wheel as well, (If you see one going cheap, or if your current one is getting a little bit used)....

I have taken pictures of the whole process, and will be writing a doco on how to do this shortly.

The hardest part is the airbag removal, which requires the steering wheel to be rotated around 90*, and a flat headed screwdriver wedged in to the back of the steering wheel plastic cover.
This releases a metal spring type bar, which allows one side of the airbag to come free. (It requires a little bit of force to do this)..

Then rotate the steering wheel around 180* to do the other side of the airbag....

Once the airbag is off, then you just need a torx bit to remove the steering wheel bolt, and the steering wheel comes off nice and easy.
(Unlike the Falcon models, which had a habit of requiring extreme force, and then smacking you in the face once the steering wheel is freed)...

Here are some images to give you some idea of what is involved...
(Just got to write the text that goes with it all)....

Turn steering wheel 90*


Jam flat headed screwdriver in to the back of the Steering wheel (There is a rectangular hole for this)




Remove the Airbag, and disconnect the two electrical connectors for the airbag..


Remove Steering wheel bolt with TORX bit (Will find out what one I used soon)..


Disconnect the steering wheel control wiring connector


The steering wheel can now be removed...


--------

Next, remove the back plastic cover by removing the two screws that hold the plastic trim in place,
as shown in the following picture - (Picture needs to be edited to show the exact screw location)...


The back trim plastic will now be able to be removed...


Next, unclip the electrical connector for the steering wheel controls, and remove the screws on the back of the steering wheel holding the trim plastics in place.


Next, carefully unclip the trim plastics from the steering wheel controls, and the steering wheel.


And finally remove the steering wheel controls.

Hope this helps....

I will write a proper doco on how to do this very soon

Cheers, and welcome to the forums !!!!!!

[mayday13]

Thanks for the info. Fairly simple to understand, and great photos.
The only part that concerns me is the removal of the airbag. Is this a afe procedure, ie- any chance of it blowin my head off?
Cheers.

[ZerOne]

Ohhhh bugger... I forgot about that part....

If you remove the Airbag fuse in the Engine Bay, then the airbags will be fine, and you will be able to remove the airbags without any problems, or blown body parts... Lol



Cheers, and thanks for pointing this out to me !

Oh, and I also forgot, changover should be around 30 minutes to 1 hour (Depending on how much of your favourite alcoholic beverage you consume in the process !!!!)

[jezzab]

It's a good idea to mark the steering wheel where it sits on the shaft. I can't remember if it's keyed or not with a double knurl but a good idea just in case.

Gently remove all plastics because they won't align correctly if you stretch some of the locking clips and they are pretty piss poor clips anyway

The airbag removal can be tricky but flick the locks towards the outside of the wheel from memory

On a side note: Also a good idea to lock the steering by pulling the keys out and rocking the wheel if you are ever removing the steering shaft to the rack, as there is a steering angle sensor (yaw sensor). If its out by a few degrees the ESP system will no longer work. Or if you spin the wheel it may rip the clock spring apart.

[ZerOne]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Very very very good advice here from Jezzab if anyone is attempting to do this themselves !!!!

The steering wheel is not keyed, so it is HIGHLY recommended to mark the steering wheel position before pulling it off !

When you do pull the steering wheel off, DO NOT TOUCH the clock spring module.
An ill timed fart can make the thing spin, and if its position is not the same when fitting the wheel back on, the chances are the next time you have the steering at full lock, you may encounter airbag errors, and steering wheel button problems from a broken (stretched) clock spring....

As always take you time, check an double check everything BEFORE you pull stuff off, and after when you are putting it all back together...