• If you currently own, previously owned or want to own an Avalanche, we welcome you to become a member today. Membership is FREE, register now!

2013 LTZ heated wheel problem

SudburyJeff

Full Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2016
Messages
10
Location
Sudbury Ontario Canada
I recently purchased a 2013 LTZ that has factory heated steering wheel. When I press the button nothing happens. I sometimes get a quick flash (from the switch light) but it does not stay illuminated for more than 0.5 second.
I have searched all over the internet and have found many threads outlining how to retrofit a heated wheel in an avy, but almost nothing on how to troubleshoot. The closest thing I found was this https://www.justanswer.com/gmc/84xs6-gm-sierra-denali-heated-steering-wheel-accessory-no.html but it was a much older truck and appeared to be a dead end.
Things I have tested so far:
I have checked the 2 fuses in question and both are good.
I have popped off the air bag and checked for 12 volts on the brown wire coming into the wheel (the one from the 7.5 amp fuse).

Does anyone have any advice or schematics on how this system works? I do not have the service manual.

thanks!

 
There is not much to trouble shoot

heatedsteering1.png
 
Thanks! This is awesome.
I dug a little deeper. i have both 11.5v and ground at the rd/bk wires at C277. Since that appears to come off the steering wheel coil, can I presume that piece is working fine?
That power and ground goes into the heated steering wheel module. Out of that module is a 4 pin connector that goes to the steering wheel. With the ignition on and a ground on the brake pedal, that wire has 0.5v. When I press the heated wheel button I get a split second where it goes up to 1-2volts, then back down to 0.5. Not sure if thats normal.

Any ideas on where to go next?

 
I didn't notice that it's new to you, so I forgot the obvious. It has to be below 32 degree for it to work.
 
No problem there is a lot of stuff that is not in the owner manual. Lots of heating and cooling functions will not work above or below certain temps.
 
I will disagree with the below 32, as mine will function at any outside temp. unless mine is not functioning correctly. :E:.  I just verified this when I went on a grocery run tonight and it is 82 outside when tested this theory. Functioned fine for the 5 mile drive.
 
If you can feel it heat up and it's 82 thats going to be one hot son of a gun when it's 30 degrees.
I'd have it checked before it burns you. It does have to temperature sensor in the wheel

 
I guess in theory there would be a way to test that. From your wiring diagram pins c and d going to the heated wheel appear to be involved in the temperature sensing at the wheel. I imagine it?s some sort of resistance value so jumping those 2 or  maybe grounding one should trick the module into thinking it?s cold. Not exactly sure how to do it and I don?t want to break something that is working fine.
 
Well we finally got our first 0C (32F) morning, so I took the opportunity to try out the heated wheel. Unfortunately it was a no go. Same issue where the light briefly flickers when I press the heated wheel button, but does not stay on and no heat. I guess that means there may indeed be an problem.

I decided to check the 4 prong connector that goes into the wheel (heated wheel in the diagram). With the connector unplugged I checked for resistance at the wheel end. According to the above posted thread the heater element circuit is pins A and B. these are supposed to have 6.4 milliohms. My voltmeter goes from 2000k ohms down to 200. no milliohms range. Regardless I tried all the settings and was not able to get a reading. the D and C wires produced 13000 ohms.
I then ran a 12V DC source and ground(from a battery to pins A and B) just to see if the wheel would get warm. It did not.


Based on the troubleshooting that has been done would you say that the heated wheel element is toast, or are there some additional tests i should be doing.

Thanks in advance!
 
I did not know that for the steering wheel  heater to work it must be below 32 degrees. Thank you. I spend my winters 
in Florida so I never tried to use it until this year. I will just have to wait for a cold day here in New York.
 
Well its been almost 2 months since I placed an order for a replacement steering wheel with gmpartsdirect. The only wheel that they were showing a possibility of getting was 22947767 which is the exact wheel from my LTZ avalanche. Unfortunately, getting these steering wheels new appears unlikely. I did some searching on eBay.ca and no results were found for 22947767 but I did find several sellers with wheels from Cadillac escalades. I guess the heated wheel was way more common in the Caddy's than in LTZ trucks. The number that keeps popping up is 22947792, which is a woodgrain wheel (I dont care about the finish).

From searching this forum, there a several posts of people adding heated steering to their trucks. It appears that the listed PN's are Ebony: 22947767, Titanium: 22947768, Cashmere: 22947769, Wood grain: 22947811

Has anyone tried the 22947792 in their avalanche or other similar application? The externals/internals look the same from the photos but it's going to cost me $300 CAD to order it so I'd like to know before.

 
Be aware that GM parts have been hard to get due to the UAW strike. Been going on since September and only just ended a week or so ago. That's most likely the reason it's taking forever to get your order. If your order is still active, it should eventually process.
 
Very true re the UAW strike. Although the sales rep warned me that it doesn't look good. I guess these wheels are getting harder to come by. Does anyone have a sense of whether 22947792 will fit? would be very useful info for all the GMT900 folks who want to add heated steering as the Cadillac wheels are way more common.
 
According to gmpartsdirect it does fit.

https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-parts/gm-steering-wheel-22947792
 
Victory!! I received my ebay Cadillac wheel (from a 2013 escalade), removed my old wheel and popped the new one in (following youtube tutorials) and now have a fully functioning heated steering wheel! The wheel itself is a dark brown which blends pretty good with the rest of the interior. There is a pile of wood grain in the interior of the LTZ avalanche anyways so I dont mind the wood grain on the wheel.

A couple of key takeaways from this experience
1) The way the heated steering works on this model is once you press the button the light illuminates and the heating operation begins. It cycles heat between on and off to maintain a steady temp. The light does not turn off when it gets up to temp. On my 20 min drive to work the wheel got up to a steady temp in 5 mins (warm, but not hot) and maintained that temp. FYI the interior of the truck was well above 32F.
2) If your heated steering is not working but you get a quick flicker of light at the switch when depressed, you probably have power but there is an issue with the heating element or thermostat (both inside the wheel.
3) You can test continuity and resistance in these pieces at the 4 pin plug. My old wheel had an open circuit for the heating element which means somehow the heater element broke.
4) The Cadillac heated wheel (22947792) is way more common in the used market, and way less expensive than the GMC/Chevy heated wheels. Mine was 170US.

Thanks to everyone that provided ideas and schematics to help in this process  (y)
 
Woohoo! Glad you found one and everything is working.  (y)
 
Hopping in this thread with a similar issue.  I have a 2013 LTZ and my heated steering wheel has gone on the fritz lately after working fine for the past few years.  When the key is turned to the accessory position, everything works fine.  Heated wheel light comes on and everything starts heating up.  As soon as I turn the engine on, it's a no go.  No light, no heat.  Does anyone have a suggestion for what the issue might be?  Thanks in advance.
 
Just a stab in the dark here, but the heating element may be on its way out, the extra volts/amps when started is enough to trip the safety and it shuts off.. You could test for resistance in the heating element and circuit and see if it's high or above normal.
 
Hopping in this thread with a similar issue. I have a 2013 LTZ and my heated steering wheel has gone on the fritz lately after working fine for the past few years. When the key is turned to the accessory position, everything works fine. Heated wheel light comes on and everything starts heating up. As soon as I turn the engine on, it's a no go. No light, no heat. Does anyone have a suggestion for what the issue might be? Thanks in advance.
I have precisely the same thing just happening on my 2012 LTZ. Suddenly stopped working when engine is running. On ACC only it heats up just fine. Start it up and nothing. The only thing changed recently is a recall on the passenger air bag done several days before. Co-relation possibly?
 
Back
Top