Colorado/Canyon

[majfrizz]

rodney


have you been on this forum yet


Colorado/Canyon Purchasing and Ordering - Chevy Colorado & GMC Canyon


I have only used the WIfi while in the truck, not sure of its range.


I use the SMI Air Force One Brake system, I have a DP.


The cost could vary for your area and how you handle the battery disconnect. and of course the brakes. The retail price for the blue ox base plates is $445, i think you can find it online for a littl less.They say about 3 plus hours for an experienced shop to install. unless you do it yourself.


Bob

[Durango382]

Originally Posted by redcolorado

Economy: 18-20 town. 6400 miles 2 long trips. At 75 mileage is 25-26 and at 65 27-29.
Weight: Z71 V6 Crew Cab Long Bed 4X4. With tow gear installed including tow bar, full of fuel, spray in bed liner and cargo divider and with a few things under the back seat. Actual weight on scale is 4730. With the bed cover I have ordered I will be at 5000. We do not carry anything in the truck when towing it.
We have towed the Colorado 1200 miles with no issues.

RedCo et. al., I was feeling a little disappointed getting "only" 26 combined, but after seeing what others are getting I don't feel so "bad". Also, I switched a out a Toad P.U. that was only getting 16 mpg combined, so I'm happy regardless. (mine is a shortbed, so a little less heavy...maybe I drive too conservatively!)

I'm concerned about your towing without disconnecting the battery, RedCo, per GM's instructions. Not only GM, but some aftermarket mfr engineers also say the same thing - over time you will damage your electric power steering leaving power to the system by not disconnecting the battery when you tow it. 1200 miles, especially if it's not with a lot of turns, will explain why you haven't seen any issues yet - but over time with turns when towing, they all say it will damage that steering assist. So beware...
(I suppose you could always claim when getting it repaired under warranty that you did indeed disconnect the battery as they require - but now that you've posted you did not in a public forum, you might get into trouble...)

[redcolorado]

Please tell me what powers the steering assist when the ignition key is OFF. Current draw, measured is 0 amps with key OFF. I asked Chevrolet what the difference was key off or battery disconnected and they could not or would not tell me. If you have a source for your information please tell me or provide a link so I may study it.
As a retired engineer I learned a long time ago be careful of EXPERTS.
Thank you,

[Rodneykrantz]

Could you not just pull the fuse on the steering box?

[redcolorado]

Originally Posted by Rodneykrantz

Could you not just pull the fuse on the steering box?

I checked the fuse for the electric steering. It is hot with the key on or off. Tomorrow I will crawl under the truck and check for power at the steering. If there is power there then I will install a switch fuse. If there is no power then it is a case of GM CYA. I will let you know tomorrow.

[Durango382]

RedCo -glad to see you're digging into this more deeply. It could be that purely from a functional standpoint they want you just disconnecting power to the steering - but as you say they have other legal protection stsndpoints that dictate disconnecting everything.
I for one would love NOT to disconnect everything since it causes intermittent issues with my elect. xfer case - but for legal reasons (I.e. protecting my warranty) until someone can compell them to change the flat tow procedure it's not adviseable to deviate. You can bet though dependent on what you find I will be going back to GM to see if there is a different procedure they will bless.

[redcolorado]

Upon further investigation I have found the electric steering power setup on the Colorado/Canyon seems to have been changed from past vehicles. That may be why we didn't have to disconnect the battery. And that may explain some of the problems we had with the electric steering. Past vehicles, including my totaled toad, the power for the electric steering went thru a 60 amp fuse. The Colorado has a 15 amp fuse. In looking at the steering motor there some very large wire going to it. I cannot find a fuse or relay that these wires come from.
Bottom line GM MAY HAVE A LEGITIMATE REASON FOR TELLING US TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY.
There I said it, I feel much better now .
I will be installing a remote controlled battery isolation relay. I still do not want to open the hood every time I connect/disconnect the toad.

[Rodneykrantz]

The wire has to have some kind of protection So I think there is still a fuse we can pull somewhere without disconnecting the battery

[CJBROWN]

Originally Posted by redcolorado

Upon further investigation I have found the electric steering power setup on the Colorado/Canyon seems to have been changed from past vehicles. That may be why we didn't have to disconnect the battery. And that may explain some of the problems we had with the electric steering. Past vehicles, including my totaled toad, the power for the electric steering went thru a 60 amp fuse. The Colorado has a 15 amp fuse. In looking at the steering motor there some very large wire going to it. I cannot find a fuse or relay that these wires come from.
Bottom line GM MAY HAVE A LEGITIMATE REASON FOR TELLING US TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY.
There I said it, I feel much better now .
I will be installing a remote controlled battery isolation relay. I still do not want to open the hood every time I connect/disconnect the toad.

What exactly stays powered up all the time? The actual steering gear/rack/mechanism? If so, since you're not putting inputs through the wheel, but through the front tires, it could be forcing it to move when it is powered up to not move? Am I explaining my question right?

I don't mind lifting the hood on hookup - I usually stow taillight wiring connector under the hood anyway. But it would be nice to just pull a fuse that powers a relay for the PS. And since it's heavy gauge wire I'm guessing that's the deal, something that powers a relay.

Keep digging...I really don't want to disco the battery every time it gets towed.

[Durango382]

RedCo - gotta agree with CJ and Rodney - it sure would be nice to be able to just disconnect those things that truly need to be disconnected, instead of disconnecting everything. And from experience, and from an internal memo, if you start disconnecting your battery you may experience the same thing I and others have where intermittently the transfer case acts up going in and out of neutral.
I wonder if one of the many large gauge wires coming off the positive side of the battery are all that is needed to disconnect the steering, and anything else that might be damaged by having power to it when being towed...? I know mfr's feel there's less likely a chance of sparking (and resultant potential explosions) if disconnecting the negative side - but if you use a switch mounted not near the battery with sufficient capacity, it shouldn't be an issue to disconnect the positive side to things that should be disconnected.
You noted you're an engineer - come on and figure out something for all of us who have the Colo/Canyon's! (please...)

[Cloud 9]

Thanks to all for the great info! I too am worried about the effect all this disconnecting will have, including difficulty shifting transfer case from neutral. I would love to tow this nice truck, but hoping for guidance from GM.

Carl

[Durango382]

A kind soul (thanks Rob) from (can't mention who until I get permission) shared a GM bulletin along with some additional info directly from GM, where they note letting the various computer modules fully sleep before proceeding with the steps in the process, is critical. Thirty (30) seconds is the quoted time, versus 10 as in the owners manual and supplement. They also have a process by which the error message can be cleared should you not be able to by re-trying the process (which so far has worked for me) - it's technical and according to their document should not be attempted except by experienced technical people such as found at your GM dealer. But I won't hesitate to do it if I by chance cannot get the transfer case out of neutral and am stuck otherwise...
But more importantly, don't hurry through the procedure - let the steps involved where power is cut off or applied, complete as could take as much as 30 seconds.

[blhdgh]

We have a 2015 Chevy Colorado 4x4. Per the manual, the 4x4 is the only one that can be flat towed. You have to go through a process of putting the transfer case into neutral. You also have to disconnect the negative post on the battery. To make this simpler, we had a "knife switch" installed to cut the connection to the battery. All I have to do is flip the knife switch up. We also use the Insti-Brake auxiliary braking system, which needs power from the battery. My tech installed the knife switch after the point the braking system was connected. Works like a charm. There are specific instructions for towing preparations. I have those pages saved to photos, if anyone wants them. I will email them to anyone supplying an email address.

[Rodneykrantz]

I would love to see the photos rkrantz@sc.rr.com