c.athey

Before you replace your steering position senor, try going to a parking lot and clearing all codes. Do a couple of figure 8's slowing turning your wheel until it bottoms out (don't turn it too hard or you'll be replacing a power steering pump).

I had a head and cam job done and the 1286/1287 codes kept coming up. Drove me crazy. Could not find a sensor anywhere (out of production). This was my last resort, and it worked, no codes so far.

billla

Just did this today - took me a while (about 5 hours) just because I was working slowly and methodically.

Definitely recommend pulling the access panel in the wheel well; made getting the shaft out a piece of cake.

Thanks!

Zeus-of-Boost

oh ya i forgot to mention that everything is easier to get to under the dash with the seat removed. 4 15mm nuts hold the seat in and its super easy to pull it out.

LoneStarFRC

It is not.

They are not.

MAPAZO

Help. I am close to removing the column. Have telescopic steering. Will this all come out okay. I see a cable running down the column

Bill Curlee

MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you have the wheels straight ahead and DO NOT allow the steering wheel to rotate out of position from CENTER once the shaft is disconnected from the rack...

! Other wise you risk breaking the clock spring. Install the SWPS and and again,, do not allow the wheel to rotate off the center position before you reconnect it to the steering rack / steering shaft.

BC

seegeer

Do any of you know if a sensor from a 00 will work on 97? I notice 01 - 04 and I see 00 -04 seem to be interchangeable? thanks.

seegeer

i should mention that I had my car on a tech II and it was reading 0 when we were turning the steering wheel. I am getting all of the tc/abs lights etc

jbauch357

Thanks everybody for the tips and tricks, did this yesterday with a buddy and it only took about 1.5hrs (aside from the other stuff we decided to wrench on while it was apart).

My 02 Z06 was frequently and randomly engaging active handling while going down the highway and trying to toss me on to the left shoulder (or oncoming traffic) by applying left front brake, at other times it would also fade my left front brakes to nothing in emergency stop situations again tossing me on to the shoulder (or oncoming traffic). Sometimes the issue would get so bad the entire AH/TCS system would shut itself off and light up the dash like a Christmas tree, this was actually welcomed vs constantly having to adjust for the left pull.

I took it to the local vette "specialist" (using that term loosely after my last few experiences) who told me even though it was throwing 1286 trouble code for steering wheel position sensor it was the EBCM and wanted to charge me around $1,200 to fix. I replaced the EBCM with a spare I had at home and still had the exact same issue. Took it back to the shop, agreed to the $400 repair price and asked them to replace the sensor while they were doing other work on the car. They had the car for 2+ weeks but forgot to do the sensor, so I dug into it myself - entire job like I said took about 1.5 hrs and the part was only $50 from gmpartsdirect. Put over 100 miles on it since replacement the replacement and haven't had a single recurrence of the issue.

Key points (which have already been called out):
- Remove the drivers seat, this was crucial for getting enough room to work inside the cabin and was the quickest part of the job.
- The steering column bolt under the hood was pretty easy to remove by simply unplugging the brake booster vacuum line, 2 of the connections on the air pump (the one that's hardest to get to you don't have to disconnect to push the whole mess out of the way), and one spark plug wire.
- Removing the entire column was way easier than it would have been to try and fight the sensor on while in the car, all of the wiring connections only took maybe 2 min to unplug, and they're all unique so there is no question regarding what goes where.
- Having a second pair of eyes and hands under the hood while re-stabbing the column was critical for proper alignment and keeping the firewall grommet in place. This was the only time a second person was actually required.
- The two nuts against the firewall are really easy to get to with about a 3ft extension, or multiple shorter extensions, no need to try and fight your hand up in there.

wcsinx

The service manual says to rotate the column counter-clockwise to get the telescoping junk to clear. That method did not work for me, so I just unbolted the telescoping mechanism from the column. It was only 3 bolts if I recall correctly.

And FWIW I call bullchit on anyone claiming to have pulled that sensor without removing the column completely from the car. Those suckers are on there tight.

thealien

Thanks, saving this for future needs

Greg H

This may be a dumb question, but are there any tricks to keep the wheel from turning? Even with the seat removed, it seems like wrestling that column out of the car and then squeezing it back in and getting everything aligned almost REQUIRES turning it. Or is it that the COLUMN can be rotated, and the wheel just has to rotate WITH the column?

Bill Curlee

The steering wheel can be moved left or right BUT,, It MUST be moved back to the the exact original position that it was when it was removed from.

If you ROTATE it 360 deg and put it back in on center,,,,, It will be 360 deg out. So revolutions count!!!

Put some tape on the steering wheel and column to prevent it from rotating.

Also make sure that the wheels are straight ahead when you start the repair!
BC

Greg H

I've had the Z since new and I didn't have the column lock bypass installed, so does that mean my column should lock? Looks like I need it to be unlocked so I can turn the shaft to remove the shaft bolt and nut, but ideally it could be locked before pulling it through the firewall. I'll have the battery disconnected, so will that impact the ability to lock or unlock the column?

mneblett

Another sensor replaced with the help of this thread.

My lessons-learned contribution:

1. STUD REMOVAL: Whoever recommended removing the studs that hold the upper end of the column (the studs that receive the 13mm nuts) -- BLESS YOU! I have an '04 with a telescoping column, and removing the studs made ALL the difference.

BTW, on my car the studs were not 5mm hex-head as I recall reading somewhere, they were T6 external Torx (male stud/female socket required).

2. COLUMN LOCK BYPASS: I reversed my column lock bypass using the key on/fuse 25 removal approach to lock the column (note: this was after removing the 15mm nut at the coupler in the engine bay, since you need to rotate the steering to get to the coupling nut, and rotate it back to remove the coupling bolt).

One thing to watch: when I triggered the lock and tugged on the wheel to verify, the lock engaged slightly off-center (I didn't notice at the time). Once I had the column out of the car and the old sensor off, as I started to install the new sensor I realized the double-D shape plate inside the sensor, the column and the sensor's anti-rotation tab did not line up. The lesson learned: Be sure the steering wheel is EXACTLY straight before engaging the column lock.

FWIW, the fix for the misalignment was easy: briefly applied 12V to the purple lock wire and ground to the orange wire to unlock the lock, straightened the wheel/column the little bit required, and reversed the 12V to re-engage the lock (12V to orange, ground to purple). I used an old motorcycle battery and a couple lengths of wire. Very quick/easy.


Upon further post-work thought, probably my most significant contribution:

I could have avoided the entire bypass removal/reinstallation thing -- I could have simply applied 12V and ground to the already-disconnected lock connector and instantly locked the column (i.e., without having to do the key on, fuse 25, connector re-install, etc., dance).


3. FIREWALL GROMMET: Maybe I was extraordinarily lucky, but my column went back in without moving the grommet. I lined things up pretty good, and didn't force anything.

However, because of the grommet advice I picked up here, while in there I checked the clutch grommet -- and it was fully 1/2 out of its groove! This part has never been touched, so it came out of the factory that way. Something to check when doing this job.

4. STEERING COUPLING ALIGNMENT: Once I had the column back in to the point of its shaft touching the coupling, I used my fingertip to feel whether the double-D of the shaft and the coupling were aligned. I held the coupling up to the shaft and used my left hand to press/pull on the brake disc so that the steering gear would rotate the coupling. Once I was pretty sure it was lined up, I got back in the car and gently jostled/pushed the steering column home. My spouse was pleased to not be called out to the garage to stick her arm up into an engine bay.

One thing that made the re-alignment *much* easier is that when I jacked up the front end to remove the left front wheel, I positioned the jack so that not only was the left front off the ground, but the right front was nearly completely unloaded -- so no resistance from the tires when pushing/pulling on the brake disc to align the coupling (it was still stiff due to the steering gear/joints drag, but not unmanageable).

5. DRAIN CLEANING: While you are in the engine bay, check the cowl area drains -- two of the three on the left side were plugged with tree debris. Now I need to schedule a time to do the same on the right!

6. UNDER DASH PANEL RETAINERS: As previously noted, removing the two plastic "xmas tree" plugs and the metal retaining ring is something of a pita. I used an interior trim removal tool (fork-ended, bent tip screwdriver-shaped tool) to get under the plastic plug heads and the metal ring. Made the job easier, but I tend to agree with the comment that the metal ring removal was the worst part of the job.

HTH!

mneblett

The steering wheel has to be locked relative to the column, unless you are *very* careful to control its rotation. Having the steering wheel locked also helps with extraction, at least on telescoping columns. When the column was about 1/2 way out, I had to rotate the entire assembly 90 degrees to the left to allow the telescoping motor to pass through the dash. Having the wheel locked meant I could use the steering wheel as a handle/lever to turn the entire column to the left, without worrying about misalignment.

Another reason for locking the column, besides not having to count/remember revolutions, is that you don't have the risk of destroying the airbag clock spring after the column is reinstalled. There is no way I'd do this job again without locking the column

Also, FWIW, no need to remove the seat -- plenty of clearance to extract the column. For the first 90% of the extraction, you can sit in the seat -- might as well be comfortable while deconstructing your baby.

Greg H

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I didn't have the column lock recall done. For anybody in the same situation, you don't have to worry about the column turning since you can use the factory column lock. I started the project by disconnecting the battery, so I had to reconnect the battery to unlock the wheel so I could turn the wheel to make the steering column bolt under the hood accessible. Then, once it was loose, I straightened the wheel, locked it in place and then disconnected the battery again. From there, all my worries about the wheel turning were gone.

Greg H

Mneblett was exactly right. I wouldn't do this repair without using the factory column lock either.

Sleezy E

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread!

I swapped mine out yesterday and the codes haven't been back, so nice.

fwiw I just looped a string around the ears of the seering shaft and the steering wheel... worked great

YELLO C5

Lots of great info here and hope someone can help me. I replaced my motor and had the steering coupler disconnected. Not sure if the wheel rotated and is clocked correctly. Should I be able to measure the voltate on the light blue wire of the connector? Is the wheel correct at 2.5 V?