Tweet
Okay, hi all again! This is your good friend and fellow modder here. I know I started a Paddle shifter project that took almost 4 months to complete. Thanks to a few people here and one who was not, they all helped me complete this project. Now for the juicy How-To!
Step 1:
Get all your parts and tools together.
Tools would be your wire cutters(dikes), Soldering gun, the pencil tip kind, 22 guage to 24 guage wiring is fine, steering wheel puller.
Parts new nylon locking nut that is 22mm in diameter. Just bring your nut in to match it all up. Some female pins to put the wiring into the clock spring pins. You can get these from clock spring harness sets. I think maybe the same pins used on the speedo cluster wiring harnesses? get one if you want to try first. I have extra I don't mind putting in an envelope to send to whomever wants two. Paddle shifter steering wheel from an 2009 G6 GXP, or if you want just buy the paddles from the dealer, heads up, its an AC Delco part, and then just buy the rear cover of the steering wheel from a Malibu or Saturn Aura XR. The Paddle steering wheel from a G6 will be over 200 dollars for one from the dealer. New Clock spring because our clock spring has pins A and B clipped off. The Malibus and saturns and GXP do not have those pins clipped off. The Paddle shifter has the steering wheel control's wiring harness with the Purple paddle shifter wire that has the wiring harness that pops into the paddle shifters. Use GXP VIN, like from a car sales business online, to get your parts if you have to go the dealership route.
Now for the Installation:
Step 1.5:
pull the battery cable for when you pull out the air bag on the G6 steering wheel and then insert an allen head tool into the small holes on the side of the steering wheel. Use this thread here: http://www.g6performance.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=24888 To pop out the Air Bag.
Step 2:
unconnect the purple and gray connectors from the Air Bag, That's why we disconnect the battery so they do not have any electrical connection, cause you will be pulling on the air bag and I don't want this yanking on the air bag to make it go off. oh, scrary huh?! Once you taken off the Air Bag, loosen the nylon locking nut and use the steering wheel puller to pull the wheel. Just make sure you popped out the harness connectors sometime during this step. To do so, you pull up on this locking tab by sliding a knife under it and pushing it up.
Step 3:
Use your steering wheel puller kit to pull the steering wheel Once the harness is popped out, this step is done. So then, go ahead and pull the steering wheel off. You must note the line notch cut into the steering shaft that holds the steering wheel nut used to tighten down the steering wheel. On the steering wheel itself, there is a triangle to help you align the shaft and the steering wheel so that you can keep the steering wheel straight for when the wheels are straight.
Step 4:
Time to change out clock springs. it has Phillips head screws, just unscrew them and it comes out. Just remember to carefully not rotate the clock spring. WARNING if you get a used one or a new one, hopefully there is a locking device popped into place where the wheel controls harness goes into. This has been put there to keep your ribbon turning equally from right to left without binding up and ripping cause the length of the ribbon was shorter on one side than the other. Here is what the inside looks like.
In case your g6 OEM clock spring is taken off and you did not put that locking tab from the new one to the G6's oem clock spring, just spin the clock spring one direction noting how many times it turns right or left and make sure to stop half way. Half way, being at the top of the clock spring.
At this point if you cant finish up the job, it is okay to put in the new clock spring and use it. Note that, the air bag wires are fixed and do not come out like the harness for the steering wheel controls.
Here is another photo of the clock spring's front. You can see a yellow locking piece that has a ring on it. I don't know if used ones will have that like a new one. Just count the rotations on the clock spring to find the center.
Step 5:
Attaching the extra wire to Pins A or B on the back side of the clock spring's wiring harness. Just make sure to wire up to the right male pin on the harness cause the paddle shifter is already on either Male Pin A or B. Take your wiring that you choose and use a female pin to put on you wire. And pop it into the proper Male Pin Slot on the Back of the clock spring's wiring harness. If you look at the Wiring harness, you can see on one side that there is small openings for you to push down the female pin's locking tabs. The first photo is of the wiring harness that connects to the back side of the clock spring. The second photo is of the steering wheel control's wiring harness. I have the 2009+ G6 steering wheel controls.
Once the female pins are in place, run your wire down to the center console with the Tap shift Shifter.
Step 6:
Now remove the center console and expose the shifter guts. I don't know what else to call it. Here is what it should look like and find this harness. its the one secured to the shifter guts.
its at the end of the sifter. There is a purple wire, that you need to splice into anyway you want to connect your new wire. Wire tap, or Splice your paddle shifter wire into the purple leading from the Tap shift's wiring harness out that direction. Suggestion, you can just wrap your paddle shifter wire around the tap shift purple wire, by trimming off the insulation on the purple tap shift wire.
Step 7:
Time to put on the Paddle Shifters and bolt them into the steering wheel. The paddles screw into the G6 steering wheel with no issue, but its the rear cover on the steering wheel made for the paddle shifters, that lets the paddles protrude through. A Malibu has the issue of securing its rear cover to a G6 non-paddle shifter steering wheel year. This is what I had to do.
Had to put the screws back into the original place, if you all go my route and get a Malibu paddle shifter wheel. if you get ahold of a GXP Paddle shifter wheel, then you are good at this point and would be done with this install.
next you screw in the paddles and you should be able to know where they go just by looking at the paddles.
Step 8:
Just put the wheel on the Steering shaft and make sure the arrow I meant, and not a triangle, is lined up with the notch on the steering shaft before you screw on the nylon nut. Or else your steering wheel will be off showing that your wheel says your G6 is going to be going one way, but your car will be going another way. Hmmm.... interesting april fools joke.
So right now, it is late and I will look over this tomorrow just to make sure I did not leave anything out. I believe that it is 99% good to go and maybe just that 1% of a small detail left out by mistake. Well, for now, enjoy!
Here is the final product of the how-to:
Extra info: this is what it looked like when I used the Malibu's Steering wheel and my G6 Air Bag
had a hell of a time trying to pop out the Air Bag.
I had to re-drill holes in order to line up the release pins, to get the air bag out. I am guessing the Saturn's Aura XR wheel should work with our Air bag. Maybe the inside of the Steering wheel is the same?
Step 1:
Get all your parts and tools together.
Tools would be your wire cutters(dikes), Soldering gun, the pencil tip kind, 22 guage to 24 guage wiring is fine, steering wheel puller.
Parts new nylon locking nut that is 22mm in diameter. Just bring your nut in to match it all up. Some female pins to put the wiring into the clock spring pins. You can get these from clock spring harness sets. I think maybe the same pins used on the speedo cluster wiring harnesses? get one if you want to try first. I have extra I don't mind putting in an envelope to send to whomever wants two. Paddle shifter steering wheel from an 2009 G6 GXP, or if you want just buy the paddles from the dealer, heads up, its an AC Delco part, and then just buy the rear cover of the steering wheel from a Malibu or Saturn Aura XR. The Paddle steering wheel from a G6 will be over 200 dollars for one from the dealer. New Clock spring because our clock spring has pins A and B clipped off. The Malibus and saturns and GXP do not have those pins clipped off. The Paddle shifter has the steering wheel control's wiring harness with the Purple paddle shifter wire that has the wiring harness that pops into the paddle shifters. Use GXP VIN, like from a car sales business online, to get your parts if you have to go the dealership route.
Now for the Installation:
Step 1.5:
pull the battery cable for when you pull out the air bag on the G6 steering wheel and then insert an allen head tool into the small holes on the side of the steering wheel. Use this thread here: http://www.g6performance.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=24888 To pop out the Air Bag.
Step 2:
unconnect the purple and gray connectors from the Air Bag, That's why we disconnect the battery so they do not have any electrical connection, cause you will be pulling on the air bag and I don't want this yanking on the air bag to make it go off. oh, scrary huh?! Once you taken off the Air Bag, loosen the nylon locking nut and use the steering wheel puller to pull the wheel. Just make sure you popped out the harness connectors sometime during this step. To do so, you pull up on this locking tab by sliding a knife under it and pushing it up.
Step 3:
Use your steering wheel puller kit to pull the steering wheel Once the harness is popped out, this step is done. So then, go ahead and pull the steering wheel off. You must note the line notch cut into the steering shaft that holds the steering wheel nut used to tighten down the steering wheel. On the steering wheel itself, there is a triangle to help you align the shaft and the steering wheel so that you can keep the steering wheel straight for when the wheels are straight.
Step 4:
Time to change out clock springs. it has Phillips head screws, just unscrew them and it comes out. Just remember to carefully not rotate the clock spring. WARNING if you get a used one or a new one, hopefully there is a locking device popped into place where the wheel controls harness goes into. This has been put there to keep your ribbon turning equally from right to left without binding up and ripping cause the length of the ribbon was shorter on one side than the other. Here is what the inside looks like.
In case your g6 OEM clock spring is taken off and you did not put that locking tab from the new one to the G6's oem clock spring, just spin the clock spring one direction noting how many times it turns right or left and make sure to stop half way. Half way, being at the top of the clock spring.
At this point if you cant finish up the job, it is okay to put in the new clock spring and use it. Note that, the air bag wires are fixed and do not come out like the harness for the steering wheel controls.
Here is another photo of the clock spring's front. You can see a yellow locking piece that has a ring on it. I don't know if used ones will have that like a new one. Just count the rotations on the clock spring to find the center.
Step 5:
Attaching the extra wire to Pins A or B on the back side of the clock spring's wiring harness. Just make sure to wire up to the right male pin on the harness cause the paddle shifter is already on either Male Pin A or B. Take your wiring that you choose and use a female pin to put on you wire. And pop it into the proper Male Pin Slot on the Back of the clock spring's wiring harness. If you look at the Wiring harness, you can see on one side that there is small openings for you to push down the female pin's locking tabs. The first photo is of the wiring harness that connects to the back side of the clock spring. The second photo is of the steering wheel control's wiring harness. I have the 2009+ G6 steering wheel controls.
Once the female pins are in place, run your wire down to the center console with the Tap shift Shifter.
Step 6:
Now remove the center console and expose the shifter guts. I don't know what else to call it. Here is what it should look like and find this harness. its the one secured to the shifter guts.
its at the end of the sifter. There is a purple wire, that you need to splice into anyway you want to connect your new wire. Wire tap, or Splice your paddle shifter wire into the purple leading from the Tap shift's wiring harness out that direction. Suggestion, you can just wrap your paddle shifter wire around the tap shift purple wire, by trimming off the insulation on the purple tap shift wire.
Step 7:
Time to put on the Paddle Shifters and bolt them into the steering wheel. The paddles screw into the G6 steering wheel with no issue, but its the rear cover on the steering wheel made for the paddle shifters, that lets the paddles protrude through. A Malibu has the issue of securing its rear cover to a G6 non-paddle shifter steering wheel year. This is what I had to do.
Had to put the screws back into the original place, if you all go my route and get a Malibu paddle shifter wheel. if you get ahold of a GXP Paddle shifter wheel, then you are good at this point and would be done with this install.
next you screw in the paddles and you should be able to know where they go just by looking at the paddles.
Step 8:
Just put the wheel on the Steering shaft and make sure the arrow I meant, and not a triangle, is lined up with the notch on the steering shaft before you screw on the nylon nut. Or else your steering wheel will be off showing that your wheel says your G6 is going to be going one way, but your car will be going another way. Hmmm.... interesting april fools joke.
So right now, it is late and I will look over this tomorrow just to make sure I did not leave anything out. I believe that it is 99% good to go and maybe just that 1% of a small detail left out by mistake. Well, for now, enjoy!
Here is the final product of the how-to:
Extra info: this is what it looked like when I used the Malibu's Steering wheel and my G6 Air Bag
had a hell of a time trying to pop out the Air Bag.
I had to re-drill holes in order to line up the release pins, to get the air bag out. I am guessing the Saturn's Aura XR wheel should work with our Air bag. Maybe the inside of the Steering wheel is the same?
Comment