K2xx SUV Center Console Cooler Retrofit

Mandalorian · May 13, 2019

The biggest problem I see with this is one would be stopping every 50 miles to pee.

Barrywayne · September 18, 2019

I did this as well, no need to do anything with the SUV harness besides maybe piss on it.. delete cigarette outlet under console, put the button where that was and put a cigarette lighter end on the wires for the cooler and plug it in.. bam

Edited September 18, 2019 by Barrywayne
Add pics

Barrywayne · September 18, 2019

And disregard the front edge I have since cleaned the edge up nicely with a jeweler’s file.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Barrywayne

Barrywayne · September 18, 2019

And this is my baby

Barrywayne · September 20, 2019

I will fab these up in a kit plug and play the way I did it for $240 shipped. With directions and all as well. Could be installed and running in about 2 hours.

alderin1987 · September 20, 2019

Cool idea but definitely not something I could use. I like my beer colder than that.

Barrywayne · September 20, 2019

Sitting in a cup holder with nothing is better I guess? Lol. I just did it pretty much just to do it The compartment is a big waste of space anyway, figured may as well throw some bragging rights in there

Kyle Austin · May 10, 2020

@Barrywayne I have all the parts needed, was wondering if you'd be willing to share how you wired this up? Hoping to get the compartment cooler added to my '16 Yukon. Sweet truck btw!!

bndawgs · May 25, 2020

I'm wondering what the difference is between the escalade model and the suburban model? Is it the USB plugs?

Riyadh Baqer · August 29, 2022

thank you for your post, I got the 12v wire installed of the port side it’s hot all the time, but where I need to hooked to the cooler ? What’s the color of the wire?

there are 4 wires on the cooler, do you have the diagram to make it work with switch?

Rick2016 · September 3, 2022

It looks like it is just a 4 pin plug on the cooler. Do you happen to know the diagram for thoes pins? I basicly just want it to do the cigarette plug in option.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Rick2016
Better description of question.

ashkanani · June 25

On 5/10/2019 at 4:09 AM, 2003 SSEi said:

I will say that this mod is almost 100% plug and play, WITH the exception of the modification to the center console 12v and Media location.

There is a lot of hate from the Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade folks and the cooler. Most say they don’t use it and or it doesn’t work. With that being said I grabbed a entire Center Console Cooler with harness off eBay for a pretty reasonable price. Took a few measurements and determined that it would drop on to the truck center console.

This post will be a few different posts because of the pictures so here we go.........

here is the SUV cooler dropped into the truck console. The SUV console is similar but very different than the truck console, as a result there needed to be some trimming to the cooler lip

Hi

thanks for the instructions , I did & its fit will , but is there away to fit the 2021 Denali center console fridge instead of the cooling box ?

StefanATX · September 8

I bought a center console cooler from an Escalate from eBay, including the correct wiring harness. The correct wiring harness for my 2016 Yukon XL Denali was 15514191 which came with the cooler that I got from eBay. I also bought the center console cupholder with the cooler switch built-in. it has its own wiring harness.

There are harness versions with and without the wireless charger, and there are different versions of that charger for models 2015 and, 2016 and later. I found out the following pins from the Instrument Harness are not wired: Pin 6 (white) Indicator Dimming Control, Pin 41 (yellow) LED Backlight Dimming Control, and Pin 21 (violet/black) Run Crank Ignition Voltage 1. Pin 21 provides power to the cooler, while pin 6 drives the yellow switch LED, and ping 41 is the white backlight of the switch. Pin 6 and pin 41 are typically driven by the BCM (body control module).

For simplicity, I connected all these pins to 12V, which means the backlight LED is always on, always at the same brightness, while the switch LED turns on when the cooler is on, also always the same brightness. (If you are adventurous, you can harvest these pins from under the dashboard. I am too lazy.) You could connect all these pins to pin 8 (violet/green), which is also the Run Crank Ignition Voltage 1, but I instead opted for connecting them to pin 28 (brown/white, but not populated in the harness) Inadvertent Power Control. This is normally connected by the center console light, and provides power up to 10 minutes after the engine was shut-off. This is more convenient, as it keeps the cooler powered when you stop briefly, for instance for gas. Otherwise, you need to remember to turn the cooler back on each time you turn off the engine.

You need to remove pins 6, 21, and 41 from the new harness. You can purchase removal picks (you would need J-38125-11A, and J-38125-553), or you disassemble the connector, and remove the pins from the front. You need to remove the violet plastic inset, it has two clips on either side of the connector and pops out to the front. Now you can use a small screw driver from the front, the pin side, to lift the plastic latches that keep these pins in, and just push them out to the back - or you buy these picks.

Switch Connector

1 - yellow -> 41 Console: LED Backlight Dimming Control (nc)

2 - brown -> 3 Cooler: Power Rear Compartment Lid

3 - black -> 23 Console: Ground

5 - grey/black -> 2 Cooler: Rear Steering Axle Control Motor Control

6 - white -> 6 Console: Indicator Dimming Control (nc)

Cooler Connector

1 - violet/black - 21 Console: Run Crank Ignition Voltage 1 (12 VCC) (nc)

2 - grey/black - 5 Switch: Rear Steering Axle Control Motor Control Phase

3 - brown - 2 Switch: Power Rear Compartment Lid

4 - black - 3 Switch: Ground

Btw, I have no idea why the switch ports 2 and 5 that connect to the cooler are named so weird. I have not measured or tested it, but these two wires are probably just NO (normally-open) wires of a standard switch, and PROBABLY can be shortened, if you do not have a switch. As I said, this is speculation from my side and needs verification, if you plan an install without a switch, or a different than the OEM switch.

Edited September 8 by StefanATX