EF Steering into EA - Will cruise work?

spope · 04-02-2005, 08:47 AM

Hello all. I was wondering if anybody knew anything about this.
I want to change the steering rack and column in my ea to an ef one, firstly, cos my rack is buggered (leaking into the boots) and secondly so i can fit one of those sensational au leather steering wheels.
Now, the cruise buttons on the ea work on the horn circuit, buy changing the levels of resistance in the circuit.
Do the ef ones work the same way? Via resistance in the circuit?
I beleive the vacuum actuator is different also in the way it works on ef, and i'm guessing it doesn't take individual data inputs either. More likely straight from the ecu.
Now, i doubt the + and - buttons will work... did ef even have those? I know the au did. But the important functions are on, set, resume and coast.
Any help would be appreciated.

EFFalcon · 04-02-2005, 09:05 AM

ok... i'm not sure about the whole rack and column, i know you'd need to change both to make it fit. But i don't know how it goes in terms of bolting to the Kframe.
At a guess, with both changed you could make it work.
Cruise buttons work the same way in the EF, different levels of resistance in the horn circuit. the EF cruise control doesn't use vacuum to control cruise, it is done electronically.
I can't see a reason why you wouldn't use an EF cruise module anyway (if u had a BBM) in an EA... but otherwise, you may be able to make the buttons work with the EA module.
YOu will need to compare the resistances from the buttons to determine if they'll work.

I've got a set of EL Cruise buttons that i've ripped apart if u need them for testing and i can find out the resistances for you.

EF's do have the + / - buttons... and they're based on resistance also.. so they may infact work.

the actual speedo sender wire hasnt changed from EA -> EL as you can fit an EL ECU in an EA (with the relevant smartlock stuff added) and still retain the use of proper speedo readings etc, and this is about the only feature the cruise module uses to control cruise.

other wires for the cruise are (on an EF)
brake lights (on an EA anyway)
brake pressure (not sure if available, but easily overcome)
cruise indicator lamp (not exactly needed)
2 wires for the buttons themselves (data/return wires) (buttons are rather stand alone anyway)
12V ignition (simple)
ground (simple)
speed signal (from ECU)

Sundeep · 04-02-2005, 01:15 PM

I'm pretty sure the rack will fit but bolts in differently. It's the same thing with the column, it bolts up differently but the flange bit is still the same. You may need to drill some holes and stuff but I know it fits.

Lucky for you I have rack AND column in the garage ;) 60 doula 4 both ;)

Sundeep

Walkinshaw · 04-02-2005, 01:27 PM

you will need an EF intermeidate shaft as well. The columb bolts to the dash in the EF/L's rather than into the pedal box like in the EA/D's

spope · 04-02-2005, 02:09 PM

Sunny, is there anything you don't have? :p
I'm not so worried about the mechanical side of the conversion, that should be relatively straightforward. It was the electrics side of thing that had me more troubled. I'll check out the manuals and see what I can figure out. This is still a fair way off, there's a fair few other things I need to do first.