mikejfine

here is what is happening with my car.....

98' A4

in 04 my steering locked up WHILE pulling into a parking lot. The car was towed to the dealer. The fixed it. I guess it was the recall fix. My print out from the dealer says the following...

e7501 locking parts, rack,sector/lock
bolt/actuator rod, steering column -
replace tilt
38 w40 2.80
1 26050960 lock
1 price diff.
FC:
part# 26050960

after that I never had a problem. and when the car is off, no key, the steering wheel turns freely ie not locked

This year after taking the car out of storage I got "service column lock" on the display. The wheel is not locked and the car drives fine. it doesn't shut off or anything like that.

so I take it to dealer and they check it out. They say the column lock motor is causing the problem and it is unrelated to column lock recall. They want me to pay $490 for the part plus install.

I contacted GM and they talked to the service manager and went by what the dealer said(not part of the recall). So I filed a complaint and they are going to call me on Monday to tell me if they are willing to pay for any of the repair.

So my questions are....

has anyone else had this problem?

my thinking is, since the fix was done that disabled the column lock why do I need to replace the motor for it?

what exactly does the locking motor do?

can the wheel still lock? its not locked when the car is off.

Thanks for any help that can be provided....

edit.....i called gm and my the fix was done in may of 01..recall #01044

Slick Rick

I have a 97 A4. Had the column lock recall. done over a year ago. My actuator motor took a dump. car still is fine. You do not need the actuator in the system. When you get the column lock message try resetting it, See if it goes away and stays away. Also pull your dash panal. See which K-harness they used if its the white one made by tyco it was known to have problems, Your choice would be replace it with another k-harness dont hook the acctuator into the system. Or get an after market CLB. Actuater not even hooked into system. About the wheel being able to lock, if they did the most recent recall, the wheel cannot lock as the locking plate is removed..........

TEXHAWK0

If you have a column lock bypass relay installed, you do not need a working actuator for the system to work. With the lockplate removed, the actuator can cycle, but there is nothing for the locking pin to engage, so the column cannot physically lock.

mikejfine

thanks for the responses so far.....

I called GM to find out what recalls were done on the car and I had the date wrong about the column lock fix. it was done MAY of 2001. So my fix must be really old...

The recall number they gave for that is 01044.

thanks!

~Maverick

Don't trust any dealership with this problem...there have been many, many, MANY, threads and the verdict is 99.99% always the same...they wind up making the problem worse and the owner winds up with the CLB fix anyhow. Their 'solution' is to flash your computer and hope it fixes the problem...NOT good if you paid to have a nice 'tune' done to the car...

~Maverick

Slick Rick

It sounds like you have never had the column loc recall done to the car. If your steering wheel dosnt lock sounds like you have a clb in it anyway. Only way to tell is to take the lower dash panal off snd see if what relay you have under there. You said you just took the car out of storage after about a year. Low Battery can cause all kinds of things to pop up on the dic. Another question have you actually ever heard your actuator cycle in and out? The recall # they gave you has nothing to do with the Column Lock Recall.

Slick Rick

Okay after further investigation your problem seems pretty simple. According to recall # 01044 you have a K- harness installed and thats it. If your acctuator was working properly your wheel would still lock. Seems to me your acctuator took a dump. Could be your K- harness is ready to take a dump also. But like I said earlier you really need to pull your panal and see what you have under there. You say your wheel does not lock. What that is telling me is sombody has taken yhe K-harness out and put an after market CLB in. Pull the panal and let us know what you have . And we possibly can be of more help......... And whatever you do dont let the dealer put a new motor in it. Its not needed.......