2005 Chevrolet Silverado, Adding Factory Cruise Control

This 2005 Chevrolet Silverado came in with the complaint that it did not have cruise control. The customer, whom I have known for a long time, asked if I thought cruise control could be added to his truck. I was not sure. He stated that he had found several references to doing just that with a factory multifunction switch. He could not find a definitive answer on how to connect it to the computer wiring though. We discussed the possibilities and pitfalls and as a result we started to investigate. Although this repair article is about a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado it applies to many GM full sized trucks and SUV’s. Please see the full list at the end of the article.

I worked with The Electric Connection to create this kit which includes a new ACDelco original equipment switch, a custom wiring harness and a connector pin out identification chart. It is available here.   I have written a detailed article on just how to install the parts. Even though the article may seem long the actual time to install the kit is between half an hour to one one hour.

Removing the panel from the fuse box located at the driver’s end of the dash revealed a listing for a cruise fuse.

Examining the fuse box found that the fuse had already been installed. The customer stated that he had not installed that fuse.

The next thing to check was the wiring under the dash and within the steering column housing. Two screws with 7 mm heads along the lower edge of the under dash panel hold the panel in place. I also had to remove the electric brake controller from the panel.

Pulled the tilt lever from the steering column. Sometimes a screwdriver is needed for leverage.

The first thing that I looked for a was the four wire connector that is used to attach the cruise control portion of the multifunction switch to the vehicle wiring. It was not there. If you were to inspect and find that connector. Then all you should have to do is install a new multifunction switch with the cruise control option. I had the added benefit of being able to see the pin out drawing for the inline junction block. That allowed me to identify the factory terminal sockets. With that information I was able to see that at least three of the four terminals were present. I looked through the empty cavities and saw the male terminals deep within the connector. I used a flashlight and magnifying glasses as well. I am getting old I guess. I was not sure at the time if the power wire terminal was present but I knew that I could work around that if needed.

Since this was my first attempt at this update, I wanted as much information and clarity about the wire connections as possible. After all, one wrong move and some pretty serious magic smoke could be let out. I wanted to gain access to the rear of the junction block to actually check the wire colors before connecting to them. This necessitated removing the metal bracket in the upper center portion of the following picture. One 7 mm headed screw at the bottom needed to be removed. Some might say that removing the BCM would be easier, however knowing how sensitive they are I prefer to not disturb one if possible.

There are two 10 mm bolts at the top left of the bracket and two 10 mm nuts on the right side. The two nuts to the right or inside of the bracket were actually removed earlier when the metal panel that covers the underside of the steering column opening was removed.

There are a total of four nuts that hold that panel on. Sorry, no pictures of the panel but you can see all four of the attaching studs in the next picture. In these early pictures you will have to pretend that you do not see the installed wires for the cruise control.

I had to remove the two 10 mm nuts at the far left of the dash carrier near the fuse box.  I did this to gain a slight bit of flexibility in the dash carrier near the bracket that I had been trying to remove earlier.

There is a detent latch at the front center of the harness connector that has to be lifted before the connector can be slid off of the bracket.

The slide bracket and slots are at strange angle and it took a bit of effort to separate the two.

With the harness connector detached form the bracket I was able to wrestle the metal bracket out of the dash. There was another small harness attached to the top of the bracket.

I had to remove the small wire tie to gain flexibility in the harness. I did install a new one later.

There is a gray latch slightly to the right of center on the large harness connector body. It has to be moved to the right and then pushed forward until it stops. I thought that it would just separate after moving the latch but I was mistaken. There are four alignment slots and tabs along the long edges of the connector body. Each tab has a hook that has to be released before the two halves will separate. You may be able to see one in the next picture. If not click on it to enlarge for a better view.

Once the steering column half was separated from the harness, I realized that it has two parts. The center block is where all of the wiring will be installed. There is a slot just above the tip of my screwdriver blade. A pin or solid piece  of wire needs to be inserted into the slot to release the locking tab.

There is a lower and an upper lock. Once released the center portion will pull forward away from the main body.

The blue secondary terminal locks slide straight up. With the blue locks up the wired terminals can be inserted from the rear. After the terminals are in place simply slide the blue locks back down.

The wires all installed in the center block. I was identifying the terminal locations form a pin out drawing that I found and comparing those the the mating terminal on the truck half of the harness. Once identified, I could move that half of the connector around and view the wire color codes of the factory installed wires. Seeing the correct colored wires on the back side of this connector sure made this job easier.

The center block installed back into the main body and attached to the dash harness.

Now, time to remove the old switch and install the new one. The covers are obviously already removed. There are two screws that hold the switch in place. The top one shown in the picture below.

The second one is located between the switch and the bottom of the steering wheel. A standard bit and a ratcheting wrench made for easy removal of this screw.  With both screws removed the whole switch needs to be moved as if the right turn signal was being applied. The bottom will separate and then the switch can be lifted up and removed from the steering column.

There are two wiring harnesses that attach directly to the switch.

There are latches that have to be lifted before the harnesses can be removed.

When installing the new switch make sure that the horn contact pin slides underneath the locking plate and cancelling cam. The pin is spring loaded and can be pushed in to make assembly easier. Also take some of the excess grease that is located either on the locking plate area or the old switch pin and place some around the pin on the new switch.

Once I got to this point I took a quick test drive to confirm that the cruise control worked. It did and I was happy. I had been concerned that the PCM may have to be programmed in order for the cruise control to work. Apparently all of the needed programming and wiring are already there except for what I had to install.

Almost all back together.

I worked with The Electric Connection to create this kit which includes a new ACDelco original equipment switch, a custom wiring harness and a connector pin out identification chart. It is available here. 

The kit and this article apply to:

• Cadillac Escalade 2003-2006
• Chevrolet Avalanche 2003-2006
• Chevrolet Silverado Classic Series 2003-2007
• Chevrolet Suburban 2003-2006
• Chevrolet Tahoe 2003-2006
• GMC Sierra Classic Series 2003-2007
• GMC Yukon 2003-2006
• Hummer H2 2003-2007

Note: This kit works with the 4.8L, 5.3L, 6.0L 6.6L & 8.1L engines in the above vehicles. It will work with the 4.3L engines in those vehicles but there are several extra parts that will be needed. It is not cost effective to buy all new parts so a salvage yard donor vehicle is recommended.