Got DIC, Friday saying Service Column Lock... Guess its off to the dealer. Least it did not lock up on me while being somewhere I should'nt. 03Z, 23K miles

 

forget that and just do the column lock bypass from thunder racing ,

 

 

They just ship mine out today.

 

Good luck. I did the CLB from COH last July. No worries!

 

CLB from COH. Do it.

 

I too would recommend the column lock bypass. Got mine from Thunder Racing and have had no problems.

 

Got letter from Chevy saying they will cover cost to fix it. Do you still recomend the bypass switch??????????

 

Yep!

 

1st thing i did 4 years ago when i got the vette, and never looked back.

 

YES < YES < and YES

 

is there a way to see if its already been done to the car.....

thanks
aaron

 

Mine locked up at the gas station. After sitting there looking like a jacka$$ for a few minutes I finally got it unlocked by racking the wheel left- right hard a few times and trying the key. Drove straight home and ordered the Thunder Racing bypass. It only took about 30 minutes to install and it works great, really good instructions at ls1howto.com.

 

Absolutely! search column lock or read the sticky at the top of Tech Section. GM recall looks like it can be from the frying pan into the fire. Column Lock Bypass from either Corvettes of Houston or Thunder Racing (both Forum Vendors so don't forget to mention the Forum for your discount) will correct this problem for good. $55 shipped to your door, inside of an hour of quality time with your Vette and this problem will be history. Take it to the Dealer, and you could have future problems that are more costly to fix. If you can't turn the steering wheel with the key removed (column locks) then it doesn't have a bypass yet. If you CAN turn the wheel with the key removed, The car has either a GM or an aftermarket bypass installed. Bottom line the aftermarket bypass appears to have a better quality relay in it than the GM unit. Plus if you have the Dealer do it they will re flash the PCM programming in the unwanted Fuel shut off feature, that isn't in the car now.

 

 

GM has put out safety recall. They will remove the locking plate and reset the program for FREE. Had mine done Monday and no more locking the column. It's about time they own up to the dangerous problem.

 

I had the recall done back in March of 06. Yesterday SERVICE COLUMN LOCK appeared on the DIC. My car has been running fine since. Will it eventually lock on me? Do I need to mess with the dealership or just get the CLB?

 

Haven't been around here for a long time, but this same thing just happened to me and I came back for some info and advice.

I had the recall done shortly after it came out (a couple of years ago???). I don't drive the car that often and the battery went dead last weekend. When I jumped it I got the 'service column lock' message. Could be a false error, but not sure I want to take the chance.

I spoke with a service advisor at my local dealer and he said there are other parts to the column lock set-up (beyond what would have been fixed in the recall) that could be going bad. Before I just go in there I wanted to check here.

Is he right that this could still lock up? Obviously I thought the recall fix would end the whole issue. Also, I was not aware that there was a GM by-pass. Is that different from whatever was done in the recall? Should I have them do that (I am beyond my extended 6-year warranty now).

How difficult is it to install the non-GM by-pass if I buy that? I was able to install the by-pass for the 1-4 shift (or whatever that was), but the car needed to be on a lift to do that, so there was a cost involved at my local muffler shop. Can the column lock by-pass be installed with the car on the ground?

Finally, is there anyone out there who could recommend a private shop in the San Clememente, SoCal area. I trust this dealer but know he will charge more than an independent.

Thanks for all advice.

 

To install the CLB you need to remove the knee bolster (the trim part that goes from the center console, under the steering wheel and over to the trunk/foglight switch). With that off you simply find a connector, disconnct it and insert the CLB. Button it all back up and you're done.

No lifting required, but you do need to be able to work around and under the sterring wheel.

 

That sounds easy enough. Looks like just two screws under there and the bypasss comes with the proper tool.

Is it safe to assume that the bypasss totally eliminates (bypasses) whatever parts could potentially be going bad now? Does the DIC message go away too, or will that stay? Is there a way I could make it go away?

Thanks.