UPDATE

PHEW...thank god! Finally got it unlocked.

BIG thanks to Phanni for calling me earlier and suggesting I put a charger on the battery.
Thanks dmalek for giving me the idea of holding the wheel to one side while turning the key.
And HUGE thanks to 8VETTE7 for the phone call walking me through everything, along with a PM containing gobs more info that might fix my current electrical issue.

I've been a member of several forums in the past but NONE have had this level of support. From the time I posted to when I got the first phone call wasn't long at all, in conjunction with member giving advice on how to resolve this issue.

Thank You so very much!
__________________________


(mods I've posted this in Tech as well, but figured I could get more hits in General...sorry)

First and foremost:
2001 Z06 with 48xxx miles and owned it for a little over a year

Have had the Service AH, ABS and TC on my DIC for a few weeks now. Simply hit reset and was planning on hitting the ground points to see if that solved it and if it hadn't I was sending the module to ABSfixer. But I got in the car last night and my steering wheel locked up. Tried removing the key and putting it back in several times to no avail. "Service Column Lock," "Pull Key and Wait 10sec."

I've spent hours and hours reading. Gone through several Column Lock threads and 8VETTE7 seems to be the know all Guru.

But even after reading I feel I need to TALK to someone. Can ANYONE call me on my cell?


I have not checked my battery because I do not have a tester and it's brand new, a month old to be exact (needed a new one after a 5month deployment).

I've located and disconnected the Column Lock harness on the drivers side and relay on the passenger side. I don't see a K harness installed, nor a CLB. Which leads me to believe that no recall of any kind has been performed. Which I'm confused about because I get the pull key message. I've removed and reinstalled fuses 9, 13, 19, 22, 23, 25, 29, 47, and 50 with no luck.

Unfortunately after having pulled and reinstalling these items, I now have a new DIC message. "Low Voltage," "Voltage 1.2"

I've tried pulling the codes but when I do, I see "Diagnostic" flash and disappear super quick and whats left is the "Low Voltage" message. I can't even check the codes if I wanted to.

I have no idea what to do.

 

Low voltage is a common cause of column lock problems. If I were you, I'd put a battery charger on the car and legt it scharge for an hour or so and try again. If that helps then consider getting a trickle charge to leave on the car when letting it sit for several days.

Good luck.

 

Sounds to me that your battery died, Can you start the car? If not try charging the battery for starters.

 

I don't know if you've tried it but sometimes you can shake the steering wheel from side to side pretty hard and it will unlock. It worked on mine several times. worth a try.

 

Agree.....I would start there and see what happens next. Once you're powered back up you should be able to address the lock problem.

 

When mine did this I tried shaking it back and forth to no avail BUT, try pulling the steering wheel really hard to the right and while turning turn key to on position. Mine unlocks everytime I do this, might be worth a try to get ya moving.

 

I called him and he's going to try adding a jumper and see if it remains locked. I also gave him the shake the wheel advice, he was a bit concerned ofdoing it too hard, I told him to get mad at it. I also told him to get a CLB ASAP. I hope this works for him, he did see he was getting a 'low voltage' icdication, so I'm bettting a jumps or charge will get him going.

 

Thanks guys for the help. I guess I forgot to say that my car starts fine, fired it up 3-4 times between last night and today. The "Battery Voltage 1.2" stays on the DIC while the car is running and varies between 1.1 to 1.2. But, this voltage message wasn't displayed until after I messed with the harness/relay and fuses.

I'll put a charger on it to see if that helps and I tried yanking the wheel rather vigorously in both directions with no luck. Going to be checking the ground points while the charger is doing its thing.

Oh and a few more things. If nothing works to get this unlocked I'll be calling for a tow to the stealership. Now once there, they'll be "fixing" the problem. Is there a specific recall I can have them perform out of the 4 (i think) that GM has come up with to fix this? And once I get the car back do I follow the directions for the CLB and install it? I guess I'm wondering what the dealership can do that I can't to get it unlocked?

 

I'm right there with ya man. Mine locked up a few days ago and I've tried everything without success. New battery all charged up, jerking wheel left to right, pulling hard to the right, tapping actuator with a hammer, pulling fuses, etc.

Mine WILL NOT unlock. I've got a CLB on the way from CoH, the 12V adapter is my last hope. But I have a feeling the actuator itself is dead

Not to hijack the thread, but....

Can the entire lock assembly be removed from the column and just left off? I mean...since I've got a CLB on the way the lock is just going to be sitting there doing nothing anyways. I'm waiting for a friend of mine to call me back and see if he'd be willing to do it (mechanic at local chevy dealer, his father happens to be the Vette tech at the same dealer). I have the printed instructions for the recall sitting next to me and it doesn't seem like it would take long to pull the airbag/wheel off and just remove the lock itself. I just don't have the tools.

 

That's what I'm wondering. I'm mechanically inclined, I have the tools and a forum of people willing to answer any question and even call. What exactly is it that's keeping anyone from pulling it out themselves. As mentioned above, the Lock is a dead piece after installing the CLB.

I've stumbled on the "How-To" make your own CLB (http://shelor.net/Z/CorvetteForum/Cscokd/CLB.pdf). Has anyone tried that, or do people simply go with a CLB from CoH?

 

Watch this and part 2 of the video:

C5 Battery/ECL

My guess right now is you need to get a battery installed that is a good battery and one that has a minimum of 120 reserve capacity. Then...

Put the key to ON, clear the codes, key to OFF an pull key. Put key in and turn to ON and see if it unlocks. If no and you get the Service Lock message or Pull key and wait msg, then repeat but clearing the codes and key to OFF pull key. This time put the key in but do not turn, start racking the steering hard lock to lock a number of time and while holding in one direction use the other hand and turn the key to ON. See if it unlocks. May require a few times but when it does unlock, before you do any manually make sure the wheels are straight. Don't touch the wheel after you shut down to put it into a locking position until you get a bypass module. I may work the first time after you clear the codes and install a new battery. The bypass module will get you insurance it won't lock up, but its the battery that is the cause.

 

update at the top.

 

Great news.
This forum rocks.