I'm about to swap steering columns and go to one with a tilt wheel. I think I have a column out of a 89 Manual tranny car, just like mine.

The difference is here's the photo of one of my existing connectors




And here's the photo of the same connector on the column I want to put in. It's longer, with 4 extra wires. Can somebody tell me what those are for? Looks like I'll have to splice the old connector onto the new column to make this work

 

Looks like those extra 4 wires are for the cruise controls on the turn signal stalk. Does your car have cruise control now?

 

no it doesn't. The manual looks like the cruise is a different set of wires, like something that runs independent of the rest of the harness, but I agree that's what it looks like to me

 

I could be wrong, but it sure looks like your replacement column is from a 90-92 to me. Here's some more info from someone that needed to swap thier 89 column and ended up trying to install one from a 91......

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/electronics/681504-steering-column-electronics-89-a.html


If you decide to try and use this column rather than buying the correct column I would not cutting/splice those wires. Splicing them shouldn't "hurt" anything, but it's REALLY simple/easy to use a very small screwdriver to push the original wires back thru the original plug, then re-pin them into the correct connector ( must be removed from the original column. ) Once the plug is re-pinned just re-connect it.

 

I'll have to go out and check later, but at first glance that link is talking about the other connector, the longer one that i the same on the two columns, not the one I'm talking about, but thanks for the link anyway, very interesting

By the way, in one post on that other thread you mentioned the 89 not having VATS. all 89 cars did have VATS

 

Because the coulmns are not directly compatable, He had problems with both connectors.


Thanx for pointing out my bad info; I just corrected it. I've owned 89's & I know the 89 was the first FULL year for Vats; not sure what the heck I was thinking........ !!

 

I don't know what car that steering column was from, but it wasn't an 89 camaro. the tailshaft was 2 inches too long, and the wrong shape on the end. Couldn't get it installed, even after I made all the electrical connections.

Pretty upset. Putting the old one back in now

 

despite what I was told, that column must have not been out of an 89. The connections were wrong, the tail shaft was too long, and even the shape of the end was wrong where it goes into the collar under the hood.

half a day and the cost of the column wasted... I put the old one back in

 

I've got a real tight 89 tilt column from a Formy, but's it's from an auto so there's no "saftey' **** next to the ignion switch as found on the manual columns......

 

What's the downside to using a column from a 88 in an 89? Any issues? Only thing that should be different is the vats not being there, right?