Short-Throw

I have a friend at an HPDE right now and his car will not move.

The car starts and idles fine but as soon as the clutch is let out (from any gear) the car dies with a DIC warning of Service Column Lock.

Perhaps the wires are crimped and messing with the anti-theft system?

Either way anyone experience this warning/issue and know a temporary or permanent fix that can be performed in a paddock?

Thanks,

Mike

drivinhard

if you got HPtuners handy (probably EFIlive to), you can raise the VSS fuel cut off speed from 2 mph to 200 mph, that'll let you run at least. DIC message will still be on the dash

The Panther

From the Q and A

Q Can anything be done to unlock the steering column once it has locked up?
A Sometimes; turn the ignition OFF and REMOVE the key. Shock your lock motor actuator assembly by jerking the steering wheel against the stops. Re-insert your key and try again. Also, if your battery voltage is low, charge your battery or replace it.

Short-Throw

Thanks, I'll pass it on.

Thank you,

However the column is not locked, the issue is related to the car not moving in gear once clutch is released.

catwood

I got mine to work by hittting the column lock with a hammer. Several taps fairly hard. You'll have to remove the bottom plastic on the steering column.

Good luck.

UstaB-GS549

I had that problem, but can't remember if column was actually locked. It went away... and a few days later the battery died. Zero voltage.

Grattan on a Sunday. The only thing open in western Michigan on Sunday was Wal-Mart.

mgarfias

Mine did the same 8 years ago. Unplug the neg batt cable and let it sit for ~ 10m, it should be good for one ignition cycle (wash, rinse, repeat)

bobk469101

hey guys thanks for the ideas short throw posted this for me today as it is my car that is down. we tried all day with no luck. anyone out there have a thought about this by the way this car is a fully stripped t1 car : one guy suggested that i pull the 4 bcm fuses for one min. or so and then reinstall he said if that doesnt work then there is no fixing it at the track but he also did not say what to do next... this is the strangest thing i had the car parked away from my trailer overnight under a cover as there was a chance of rain . i jumped in it this am fired it up and it ran just fine down to my trailer. after the drivers meeting i jumped back in the car and this started happening. no luck with locating hptuners or efilive, my steering is not locked up or anything like that and just today started showing the service colume lock on the dic. this seems to be an intermitant problem or it would not have loaded and unloaded ran this am and now just acts like you cut the fuel off as soon as the car starts to move . im stumped guys !!!!! i will try the battery disconnect but if anyone else has an idea im open . thanks to everyone who has helped so far i appreciate it .

fatbillybob

I read about this issue. My read of it distills down to this.
1) remove colum lockplate so you can't lock the colum. anyone know how to do that?
2) buy thunderracings CLB or GM harnessK which is an electrical bypass of the lock motor actuator that will send the proper signal to the BCM.

GM fix for the lock was to remove the lock plate and disable the lock and let the actuator motor function. It sounds to me that while your colum does not lock maybe due to being T1 and lock removed your actuator motor may have died therefore you are not getting the proper signal to the BCM. Anyway that's my WAG with no personal experience.

GettReal

Can you go into the DIC and read out the codes? If it is a Gremlin, you might be able to reset all codes through the DIC and try to restart. At the very least there might be a code to help diagnose.

Turn on the ignition but don't start the engine.
Press the "reset" button to turn off any warning messages
Press and hold "options" and
While holding "options", press "fuel" four times within a 10-second period.

Look for the codes with "C" beside it as those will be current.

Once it runs through all the codes it ends in manual diagnosis and you can clear codes by pressing reset.

Here is a link to David Farmers list of all codes.
http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/c5-dtc.pdf

Good luck.

0Randy@DRM

Column lock issues are a pain in the butt, ok now that has been said. You need to talk with the car builder and ask what they did to remove the lock. This is a huge safety issue as you already no.

My C5 was stripped of everything to do with the lock. I get the message but am able to drive triple digit speeds.

Every once in awhile I go to start a random C5 in the shop and it will do the same thing as your car. Goes about 3 feet and dies. We pull the key and rub the black sensor with our fingers and it's good to go. It's worth a try maybe. If it's a vat problem.

Make sure you clear out any of the codes on the dash, using the fuel and options buttons on the dash. Have you tried this yet? Any codes? Sorry Gettreal, I was eatting dinner LOL


Randy

trackboss

It's been a while, but I've modified the lock plate so it physically cannot lock. A special tool was needed to compress the spring and remove the clip to get the plate out if I remember correctly. I then turned down the lock plate on a lathe so the pin from the lock mechanism could no longer grab. I don't remember why, but the plate itself does need to be in there. Keep in mind on street cars, like mine, when doing this modification the signal lever will not turn off automatically as the wheel turns.

dfinke23

Where is the HPDE, we might be able to find someone in the area with HPTuners.

bobk469101

well guys thanks for all the help and suggestions the car never ran on saturday well it would run just when you put it in gear and let the clutch out it would die. went back to the car on sunday morn and same as the day before it fired right up and i could drive it however having the problems from the day before and the car being a challenge to load in the trailer i made a few laps and then put it in the trailer and started the 5 hr drive back home. well almost home about 75 miles from home i lost a tire got that changed but now my trailer has something going on with the front torsion axel the trailer is almost sitting on the front tire on the pass side) the tire i lost was on the back axel of the pass side. i had to drop the trailer at a trailer manufacturing company in mt pleasant texas BIG TEX. so that is where i am at this point waiting on the repair company to tell me what has happened and what it is going to take to get the trailer repaired correctly so that i can proceed with getting the car repaired. wow what a weekend . i will try all of your suggestions as soon as i get the trailer repaired so that i can finish transporting the car home and get started with your ideas. by the way we did clear all the codes but that did not repair the car . as soon as i get the car back i will post the codes and hopefully someone with greater knowledge than i can shed some more light on the problem. oh yea the car was built by phoenix i dont remember who asked that question just remember it was asked. once again thanks to everyone and there suggestions just as soon as i get the car home i will repost as i am trying to get ready to make the pull to track attack but at thins point who knows .

geerookie

I ended up figuring out the circuit myself and building a bypass that would allow me to completely remove the mechanism on the steering wheel. You can just remove the black lock wheel and leave the mechanism in place but then you should also use HP Tuners or some other program to set your CL to "Not Fitted" and set your "Fail FuelCut VSS" to 256mph. In HP Tuners this is under "System", "General" tab.

This is what was causing your problem at the track.

Here's how to do your own that will really work.

The parts needed cost less than $17 from Newark.com including shipping and tax.

(1ea) DPDT Latching 12v Relay, you could use a SPDT but they are hard to find and usually cost more.
http://www.newark.com/magnecraft/785...lay/dp/16M1137

(2ea) 1N4001 1amp Diode
http://www.newark.com/nte-electronic...64?Ntt=10M8464

You need to find 4 wires on the BCM. There are 3 connectors. When looking at it still mounted, the bottom connector contains the A pins and the top one contains the C and D pins.
You need to locate :
A6 (purple) Unlock
A8 (orange) Lock
C15 (lt. green) CL feedback to BCM
D14 (green) time switched ground

Wire the anodes (end without the stripe) of both diodes, pin 5 (reset - ) and 7 (pole #1) of the relay all to a ground point in the car.

Wire the cathode (striped end) of 1 diode and the Orange lock wire (BCM pin A8) to pin B (set +) on the relay.

Wire the cathode (striped end) of the other diode and the Purple unlock wire (BCM pin A6) to pin 8 (reset +) on the relay.

Wire pin 1 of the relay (normally open #1) to the lt. green wire (BCM pin C15)

Wire pin A of the relay (set -) to the green wire (BCM pin D14)

If wired like described, then the timing will work and the BCM will get the position information at the right time. It is possible to get the position reference ground triggered too soon and this will give you the "Pull Key and wait 10 sec. message, darn computer is just a little to smart.
If you don't use D14 and just wire to the ground in the car, like some people have described or shown you will get the "Pull Key " message intermittently.

Hope this helps.

mgarfias

Bob -

Sounds like you've got the exact same problem I had. Namely, its stuck in the unlocked position, but the BCM doesn't care, it just sees failure. I was able to trick the BCM by pulling the battery for 15-30min, clearing the codes didn't help. That got me the one ignition cycle I needed to get the car to the dealer.

As this is a race car, spend the $50 for that thunderracing column lock simulator and pull all the CLB stuff out.

fatbillybob

Thanks GEEROOKIE! I was hoping you would post. Is your bypass what the thundermountain CLB or the GM harness K does or are you working on a different theory. I always like your ideas. I wish you were racing in SOPAC SCCA we could use your brain out here. Would you do your bypass in addition to the hp tuners thing? I think the GM harness K and the thundermountain CLB keep the actuator motor in the car. With your bypass you are able to remove the whole system actuator motor and the locking plate yes?

fatbillybob

Oh Bob...Keep the faith. Sometimes racing is a real PITA but the fun days make up for it. Consider following GEEROOKIE's advice. He knows this stuff...

geerookie

The theory of the bypass is the same for all. Tell the computer what it needs when it needs it. IMHO the Thunder Mountain bypass is better than the GM K harness. My car had the K harness and it didn't always work correctly and others have had problems as well.

Yes I highly recommend you do the tuner tweak AND the bypass. If for any reason the bypass doesn't work your car still runs as normal with the tuner tweak you just get a bunch of messages on the DIC. Without the tuner tweak if something flakes out with the bypass the fuel system will shut off at 2mph otherwise.

Yes with mine I completely removed the actuator and everything associated with it...2+ lbs of weight.
As far as the relay that gives the computer the info it needs, the Thunder Mountain setup does the same thing as mine but just costs more.
Pin D14 is part of the key to making it work properly.

Bob, If you have any questions or need specific help, send me a pm with your number and we can talk on the phone.

geerookie

This is a common state. The actuator motor actually unlocks the pin but the position sensor doesn't work and therefore the computer doesn't know it is unlocked hence the fuel cutoff. It's not really stuck in unlock, the computer doesn't think it is locked therefore it doesn't need to unlock. Pulling the battery resets the BCM to a default state so when you reconnect and it is still unlocked it is in sync again because the motor didn't have to move.