458 electric steering column issue

I'm not familiar with the 458, but if it's like the California, there may be 4 relays, one for each direction (up, down, in & out). Relay issue? The relays may not be listed in the Owner's Handbook.

What I don't understand is, in photos of the 458 column assembly, there are two motors with only one plug each.

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P/N 252488

But in the wiring diagram section of the 458 WSM, it shows 4 plugs:

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M032-A and M032-B are for in/out movement.

I don't have any more details than this.

Have you removed the steering column shroud to see if there any loose plugs?

 

Have you put any column/seat positions into memory (if the 458 has a memory system)? Does the movement not work for both manual and memory selection?

 

Sorry, no idea. The California WSM isn't much help either. I don't know if they are normal sized relays or small ones mounted on a circuit board somewhere.

On the California, the blue plug on the steering column is the up/down motor plug, so the other one must be the in/out. It's hard to tell from the photograph above if the 458 is the same.

As you realised, the relays are responsible for reversing the polarity on the motors (at least on the California). The power wire becomes the ground wire and vice versa. The control switches energise the relay coils as required.

 

Here's the California diagram:

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The (8 pin) control panel connector pins 5 & 6 are responsible for sending power to the coils of the in/out relays. See D058 graphic. If it's a new panel, I'm sure the output must be ok. You'd need to figure out which pins on the white motor control plug are getting the in/out signals. Maybe you could apply 12 volts directly to these pins to drive the motor. I haven't worked on the system, so I don't know how accessible the motor plugs are.

 

That might explain why the photo only shows two wires on the motor plugs.

Looking at the diagram, I see only one relay is energised at a time. When the relays are relaxed, they provide a ground for the motor. There is a common ground, so it probably won't be a ground issue. You could check the grounds anyway by doing resistance checks on the motor plug pins (sockets?) on the car side of the motor plugs (ignition off).