My 2001 6 speed locked up today in the 95 degree heat in Buffalo, NY .....unbelievable!!!! I purchased the car a couple months ago and never have not had this problem til today. I followed some advice on line here and pulled the key out and put back in while turning the steering wheel hard right, and it released itself. Can this happen while driving? I was worried all the way home thinking it was going to do it again, maybe. When I first went out to the car and placed the key in the ignition I heard the lock engage - so it lead me to believe it may only happen at start up?? Any horror stories of guys driving along and the lock engaging - I can't imagine that feeling Shuld i get bypass or take to a delaer for the recall fix - thoughts please!!!

 

BYPASS

Bought one for my C5 right after they came out with the matching plug

 

Bypass it and forget it!!

 

Your car may have already been recalled for the column lock issue, take it to the dealer and see if has been preformed and if it has not they will have to reprogram it.After that BUY A COLUMN LOCK BYPASS !

Corvettes of Houston has a good price on this and it is a really easy install

Dan

 

Sticky thread in C5 Tech:

Steering Column Lock FAQs - please read before you post (sticky please)

 

I have a 2000 MN6. The recall was done by the dealer I purchased the car from back in October. Then it was done a 2nd time by a dealer near my work who was doing a wheel alignment.

With all that, it still locked up on me leaving me stranded.
Had it towed to a 3rd dealer (near my house) who swears it will never happen again.

That makes 3 attempts for 1 recall.

 

The recall on the M6 is not a fix.

 

You can get the recall done but that doesn't really fix the problem. I had the recall performed, but I went ahead and installed the bypass also. No problems at all.

 

My understanding is that the GM recall and associated dealer reprogramming "fix" only pulls the throttle back to idle if it locks while in motion . . . Great! . . . So you'll go over the cliff at 10mph instead of 30mph!

I just installed the Thunder Racing Column Lock Bypass. $50 bucks , , , Delivered in 2 days . . . Installed in 15 minutes . . . And you're column lock issues are gone for good!

 

Incorrect, the reprogram actually shuts off the fuel pump.

 

Get the bypass or the Harness K from GM. Both disable the CL and you'll never have to worry about it again.

 

After lots of conversations with many of you who are dealing with the dealer recall causing issues afterwards, I studied up on the recall instruction for the MN6. I've come to the following conclusion: GM is not concerned with your being stranded with a column lock issue. They are ONLY interested in protecting themselves from a lawsuit in the event your car were to lock while driving. On the A4, they completely eliminated the column lock function by replacing the lock plate and installing a CLB of their own which looks exactly like the aftermarket CLBs available for $50. They were able to justify this because on the A4 cars there's a second theft deterrent which locks the tranny. We MN6 drivers were not so lucky. Since the ECL was the only theft deterrent, GM decided to leave it active. They did two things to protect themselves. 1) if for any reason the column lock activates while driving above 2 mph, your PCM is reprogrammed to shut off your fuel pump and 2) they install another relay in series with your ECL which prevents any spurious glitch to your ECL telling it to lock while the engine is running. Unfortunately the relay they used seems to be poor quality as I've worked with several now that have had this relay fail in the unlock position so that the BCM gets the wrong status. Though the column is not actually locked in this situation, you will get the "Pull key and wait 10 seconds" error message, you can start your car, but you cannot drive it because you have no fuel to your engine. One way to trouble shoot this condition is to go into the passenger footwell and find this relay. Remove it from the socket and jumper the white wire to the orange wire. Note: there are two orange wires to this relay. You want the one that is NOT connected to the coil. I don't have one physically so I can't tell you the pin numbers. It seems many are having more problems after the recall than before they took it in. Hope this helps some of you with your ECL problems. MN6 folks should put in the aftermarket CLB and NOT do the recall in my opinion. Again beware that the recall which re-flashes your PCM will eliminate any tuning mods you have made!
Cheers
John

 

Called Corvettes of Houston, had the CLB overnighted (I was heading out of town) and installed it in about 30 minutes. The toughest part is aligning the panel when reinstalling.

 

Absolutely spot on correct and accuratye information. Install CLB- yes, perform reflash recall--no.

 

We need a sticky to tell new folks that the stickies really are there for a reason and they should check them out...

 

You're adding the dead horse to a post that's OVER 8 yrs old??

 

Highly recommend the LMC5 CLB fix. In my opinion it is the best one and you don't have to undo anything done to the car previously on this issue. They even have a video to show you how easy it is to install.

 

Thank you. I was looking for a recommendation....I ordered 1 tonight

 

Also, if you have a 1999 or newer C5 look at this post also. I recommend you also unplug the CL Relay. You'll be right there when you install the LMC5.


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-the-lmc5.html