m0ntecarloss

Well no recent updates, but just wanted to mention it took me a while to find this topic - don't get why it was moved into General SS....

Thanks bro! I responded to your PM. To let others know - I had some time recently to work on this a little bit. I now have the interior temp sensor connected, as well as the two upper duct sensors. The unit is controlling the temps as expected! Now its not perfect cause there are a couple other sensors not installed yet. But last night sitting in the driveway, I let the truck run inside until the temp got to the point where the blower slowed down and the temp coming out of the vents wasn't hot anymore. Then I rolled down the window and put the interior temp sensor outside. The blower motor slowly started to spin faster and the duct temperatures rose. Small update on my wiki - as I get more time I will update it more.

If you're referring to pulling the upper dash pad off - its really not too bad. Don't forget there are screws on the sides of the dash - by pulling the fuse panel covers. I also found that removing the side pillers made things much easier. The handle by the glove box needs to come out as well. If you do remove things and you have the AUTO Climate Controls please please please take some pictures or at least make note of where the two sensors are in the upper ducts. The bottom ones would be nice too but I can check those mostly on a buddies truck. I should have some pictures of things removed if that will aid you any. Not up on my wiki just yet, but I can do that...

Ok, as promised I started an info site on whats involved. I have A LOT to add yet but figured it'd be nice for those of you who are at work, bored, and need something to do besides what you are supposed to be doing and stuff..... I may try to put this into a forum post but honestly I find it really annoying - wiki's are so much easier/faster for this kind of thing Anyway, if you can handle my smartass sarcasm here you go: http://montecarlo.homedns.org:8080/wiki/in...erado_Auto_HVAC

I am swapping in the automatic HVAC controller and have a small request. Does anyone happen to know (or even better have pics) of where the two duct sensors are located for the upper ducts? I would just like to get them as close to factory location as I can. Also, if anyone happens to have this off that has the auto HVAC I would like to know if your solar sensor has 4 wires going to it or two... Thanks!

Pulled top dash pad thingy off and found one more difference. The solar sensor on my truck only has two wires going to it - for the ambient light (headlights) So to get the full correct operation I'll have to order the correct sensor and another connector from mouser.

This needs to be added also. I got it for like $25 at rockauto.com Already have the connector for it

BTW, I ordered a ton of extra pins and shi from mouser.com and the total came to $35 with 2 day shipping......... Thats $35 for everything needed to wire it up except the wire.... Also - I have been taking lots of pics and will eventually update my Wiki with the info.... Just need some time.

Little update. Got the connectors, pins, etc from mouser. Everything was pretty much exactly what I needed. The new connector for the auto controls was the correct style and pinout but the key was in the wrong place (I couldn't find the part # on mouser so I ordered what looked like the right one.) So I just cut the key off and it fits perfectly : ) So yesterday I installed the new blower control module. This guy only has 3 wires. Power, Ground, and Control. I found out that I could just take the power and ground wire from the old connector (that went to the resistors) and they slid right into the new connector (the pins are the same....) I wired up the control signal to the blower motor, fired up the truck and have perfect fan speed control : ) At first it didn't seem like the blower control module would bolt in the same place as the old resistor/relay control. I dremeled one of the ears off that was hitting the HVAC box and it bolted up no problem. Hopefully I can get the headliner sensor wired up today or tomorrow.

Well no one has told me to shut up yet so I will give a small update Got the head unit and in-car temp sensor (the one that goes in headliner.) Still waiting on the blower control module. Pretty much finished researching the connectors I need to order and will probably do that tomorrow or possibly tonight. So I can wire up some of this stuff. I tested the head unit today. Plugged it in and powered up the car and as other have stated it powers up no problem but no blower control. And as I stated earlier this was expected since the auto unit powers the blower motor with a different method. Thats about all anyone has done in the past. Well I took it out for a drive and confirmed that the unit indeed controls perfectly: the mode actuator (heater, vents, defrost), temp actuators, AC compressor, and rear defrost. From the wiring diagrams I expected this but wanted to mention it for the non-believers. Just need to get the connectors and duct sensors so I can wire it up : ) I just need to figure out if I am going to run all new wires or route things the way the factory would have..... At this point this swap seems no more difficult to me than tearing an interior apart to do a car stereo install which non-electronics gurus do ALL the time.

A few more general notes: The manual unit does not use the door position signal for the recirc actuator. The actuator is the same as the automatic unit. So two wires need to be run from the actuator to the HVAC controller connectors to feed this signal. So if you feel recirc mode is important then they should be added... The ambient light sensor in the dash also has two sunload sensors. The auto unit uses values from these guys to determine how much sun is entering the car and adjust for the additional heat created by the light... The thing is, these go to the BCM. So it appears the auto HVAC must get the values for these from the BCM data wire. I'm guessing without a BCM reflash these values won't be accessible (haven't looked to see if the sunload wires are even connected to my BCM.) Anyway, if the auto HVAC controller doesn't get values it will just use a default value and not adjust for light - so it will still operate just maybe not perfectly.... My plan is to wait until I do the steering wheel swap and have them flash for the auto temp controls at the same time.... I ordered a new hvac controller and blower motor controller from Rockauto.com to get the ball rolling

Lofl, I totally appreciate the sarcasm And thanks for the encouragement. I'll update this post when I get more info - I think I'm just gonna order a new dash unit and blower module for starters (unless someones got some laying around cheap With those hooked up I should be able to verify that I can control the speed of the fan, control where the air goes (floor, windshield, vents) and control the rear window defroster.... If all that works its pretty much smooth sailing from there unless you count tearing the dash and headliner apart to mount sensors hehe.

So do you have any more info? As in what was difficult? I imagine removing the old harness and swapping in the new one would indeed be a pain, however if you read my posts you'll see this is not required. How did you mount the sensors in your box? Or are you stating you swapped the entire HVAC assembly? If that's the case then of course it was difficult, but also completely unnecessary.....

Yea good question bro. keep em coming! Originally I figured the BCM would need to be programmed for the CJ2 code for things to work, as typically needs to be done for the DIC swap. However, looking at the diagrams and reading the description of how everything works, all the BCM is responsible for is telling the unit to turn on. This is one wire from the BCM. The sweet part is the same thing happens regardless of whether it is the manual unit or the automatic unit. The wire already exists so no change required. There have been several posts where people have plugged in the electronic unit and it powers up - which supports this idea... I will post more when I have the parts to play with, but I think there is a lot of misinformation spread on this that has scared a lot of people. Most of the posts I have seen are from people that 'heard' from people that 'heard' from their dealer that its impossible... What keeps me optimistic is from an engineering and production standpoint it is much more cost effective to keep the majority of the operation the same. As in same actuators and stuff. From what I am seeing this is exactly the case. Add some sensors, blower module and connectors and you're good to go. How many fog light swap posts have you seen where the wiring harness already existed in the truck that didn't come with them? Of course, if the documents I am reading from alldatadiy are wrong then I have no idea. Didn't want to buy helms so I could save money for the parts hehe. Sorry for being slightly smartass about the whole thing but sometimes people post on forums just to get their post count up, not to spread good useful information. Actually, most of what I have seen on this topic is just that. I wrote the novel earlier in the hopes that it would encourage more people to open their minds and use their brain a bit ; ) Course thems a lot of words for folks that don't read so good, hehe just kidding

And the harness doesn't need to be swapped. There is no plug 'change' The one in there now STAYS, you just need to add a new wire to it, tie off the old ones, and add the NEW connector that all the sensors attach to...

Do you have any info to back that up? I don't get where that number comes from. Hopefully it didn't come from a dealer cause they typically don't care nor have a clue. This is clearly shown by the trouble people go through just to get the BCM flashed for their steering wheel controls to work. If it isn't a direct part replacement for repair work then they don't know what to do. Divide it by 10 and you have something that makes a bit more sense to me. The harness can be made easily - the connectors are pretty standard delphi connectors that can be purchased for on average $2-$3 a piece from mouser.com The control unit, blower module, and sensors are the only other difference I can see and those add up to under $300 ***IF*** you buy them brand new. Was just hoping the initial post would initiate a little more information flow. I guess I'll need to lead the way.

Actually, currently at www.rockauto.com the control unit can be purchased new for ~$130. Or $100 from GMpartsdirect. ACDELCO Part # 1572956 GM Part # 10367042 ACDelco's website shows this fitting 2003 and 2004 years.... Cheaper of course if you can get one through car-part.com or something but still not too bad. The blower control module is the other pricey part. ~$50 from rockauto.com ACDELCO Part #15-80567 Hopin to snag some parts soon and start playing : )

I posted this in another forum but thought this would be a good place. Not sure why this topic is in the how-to section since it really isn't a how-to (YET) but hopefully this will give people a little more info since nobody has really stated why its difficult only that they heard it was. This is just me rambling on here trying to get all my info and thoughts together so bare with me I have searched the net for info on this and have yet to see any useful info other than 'it cant be done' and 'you should get a new truck that came with it' kind of posts....Oh yea I forgot the classic 'auto controls are stupid why would you want to do that' I'm curious for those that have looked into this what it is that is so complicated about the swap? From my research thus far everything points to it being a little tedious but doable swap. I subscribed to alldatadiy for my '03 1500HD which shows all the diagrams/connectors/pinouts for both manual and electronic controls and here is what I have found...(note that I have not physically looked at anything yet) The electronic controller has two connectors - one is the same as the manual controller connector so that will plug right in. However, the manual control has wires which go to the old school style resistor packs to control the fan speed. These are not used by the electronic controller. The electronic controller uses a single wire (non-existing in the plug for the manual controller) that will control the speed of the fan via PWM. This is the reason the fan won't work when you plug it in. So for the swap you need to add a new wire to connector and get a blower control module ($81 gmpartsdirect) From memory, all the hardware is the same - actuators, blower motor, etc... Just need the blower control module... The other new connector on the electronic unit is for the sensors. This guy has inputs for the ambient outside temp sensor, in-car temp sensor, 4 duct temp sensors, and the sunload sensors (pass and driver). You should already have the ambient sensor and sunload sensor. The connector for the sunload sensor may not have pins for the driver/pass sunload (only the light sensor for the headlights.) The 5 remaining temp sensors are all the same part although the housings may be different, haven't figured that out yet. They are $3.98 a piece from gmpartsdirect so my thoughts are its just the sensor not the housing, I dunno... So adding these to the vehicle and running the wiring is the tedious part, but so is tearing your interior apart to do car stereos and people somehow manage to do that all the time... For those concerned about the BCM, there is only one wire coming from it that tells the unit to turn on and the manual controls have this same wire.... So now we've covered what this unit needs in order to operate correctly. The other issue I have seen people try to scare others off with is the wiring harness. Stating that it costs like $700 from GM. Well I don't know about that but its easy enough to make one.... The info from alldatadiy shows connectors and pinouts for each sensor and control unit. The blower control module connector, temp sensors, and sunload sensor can be purchased from www.mouser.com for somewhere between $.50 to $1 a piece, you will need the appropriate pins and such to go with it but still not terribly expensive. The remaining connector for the dash control unit (this is the guy all the sensors are connected to) I have not yet located, but I spent about 5 minutes last night so who knows. I should also note that rockauto.com has quite a few pigtail connectors for things like the temp sensor and such if you're lazy and have some extra cash (they are a little on the pricey side.) So that's where I am at. I'm sure I left some things out but I still haven't seen anything that says this is impossible, difficult or even expensive. I still gotta take things out and have a look in my vehicle. Curious about how those duct sensors are gonna go in, as in am I gonna have to drill into the duct work or what. Need to get me a used electronic control unit and blower control module first