BLUICIDE

It's worth a try. That and disconnect power to the car, completely, +/- at the battery. Have a Make certain you tighten the side terms TIGHT. Buy/carry extras. Codes?? Use an OBDII scanner and do a reset. If you have a new HOT battery, and you're comfortable with the other circuitry, you should be ok. If not? Share what you find please. Good luck.

Razmo

Thanks Blue! Smart..

Raz

Razmo

Sorry to hear about the frustration. Hope you get it squared away. I'd likely try the LMC5 if I were experiencing the same frustration as you. Everything seems to be a bitch these days. With my luck of late, I'll likely experience the same

Raz

Razmo

Guys,

I haven't had time to disconnect the negative lead and test voltage, yet, but connected, I'm seeing 12.67 (no load) and still getting the "service column lock" message. I know, I know, LMC5, but trying to solve without it as I don't have a locked column, any other error message or problem.

I just came across an interesting thread.. Is it true the battery should be a group 78? I currently have a group 75 with RC mins of 25 amps (100).

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...ery-types.html

By the way, my terminal bolts look fine or loose. The terminal bolts do look to have minor corrosion, nothing prohibitive it seems. I'm thinking I may as well just replace the terminal bolts instead of cleaning when replacing the battery (as it seems to be sticky around the top).. Does anyone know whether these work..?



Thanks
Raz

bwinterstine

I just started getting the column warning this week. I'm the 2nd owner of my '02 6 Speed.

My battery voltage reads 12.23v and I have it on a trickle charger now. I've not been keeping it on the charger and it is a once a week driver. My bad.

I have a AC Delco 75-7Yr 200 CCA 95 RC battery in it with a date code of May 2012 (assuming it's not May 2002). The battery doesn't appear to be very old but my car and engine bay are very clean.

I'm going to let the trickle charger work until it thinks the battery is charged and then re-test it and see if the warning message stops.

By the way, my steering column doesn't actually lock up and I don't hear the lock mechanism even trying to lock. I can't recall if it ever worked though.

I have to check to see if either of the bypasses were installed previously.

bwinterstine

Update: The trickle charger brought the battery up to 12.83v and the first time I turned the key after charging I got the "Remove Key and Wait 10 Seconds" message. After that, no more Service Column Lock messages.

My lesson: Leave the car on the trickle charger since I only drive it once per week or less.

I still need to check for previous installations of the column lock bypass kits.

Regards.

Razmo

That's great to hear.. Are you no longer experiencing "remove key & wait 10s" either?

I finally had some time to further investigate my situation. I noticed my battery felt a bit acid sticky on the back side last time I was under the hood. I pulled the battery out this morning and found it sitting in a puddle of battery acid.

Swapping for a group 78 later today.. Crossing my fingers for a cleared DIC after fully charging and installing. Will let you guys know..

Raz

2FAS4UU

bwinterstine

So far, it's behaving ... no more messages and I'm keeping it on the battery tender. But, I only drove it once briefly since my post.

Razmo

Great to hear..

Raz

Razmo

I went ahead and swapped my leaky group 75 for a group 78 with 120 RC mins, date code is (5-2015).. As I hoped, the group 78 is a perfect fit in the tray ... Although a group 75 may work, it looks to be the incorrect battery size.

At this point, I've only attached the negative lead as I need a bit more time to remove the bolts and clean up the leads a bit due to the leaky battery. Using my el cheapo centech multimeter, I'm getting 12.73v. Also, the bolts I posted above are a perfect fit as well and very easy to replace. Just pull out the old and pop in the new with a little effort.

Should have more news in a few days..

Raz

Razmo

I probably should.. Thanks.. Guessing the tray simply unscrews?

Raz

Razmo

News...

After installing the new group 78, NO MORE "SERVICE LOCK COLUMN" ERROR MESSAGE or any error message for that matter..

To recap,

1) Checked the installed group 75 battery voltage unloaded after letting it sit on the tender, however didn't remove the negative lead at the time. Voltage showed 12.75.

2) After looking around, noticed the group 75 battery was sticky on the back side and decided to replace it for a group 78 per my findings, a few messages ago.

3) Removed the group 75, let it sit with no battery for a few days.

4) Cleaned up all corrosion and replaced the terminal bolts with the ones I mentioned a few messages ago. They are a perfect fit.

5) Installed the group 78 (which I had charged several days prior to installing) and the negative lead only. Voltage showed 12.72. Plugged up the positive, checked voltage, and showed 12.5.

6) Started her up and NO MORE ERROR MESSAGE

Raz

BLUICIDE

RAZ, thanks for the update, glad you're "back in business".

Wait, what? Did you say "CORROSION"? No offense, but, that shoulda led you to the fix.

These damn cars... Voltages and continuity. Go figure...

Razmo

Corrosion wasn't visible, it was the sticky battery that lead me to the fix.. The error message lead me to the sticky battery..

Raz

BLUICIDE

Well done, and thanks for the share! Now you can get on down the road!

bwinterstine

Update Sept 2015: Even with the new battery and the trickle charger I still saw the Service Column Lock and "Pull Key Wait 10 Sec" messages once in a while. I checked the service history and discovered that the GM recall for the column lock was performed which explains why the steering wheel never actually locks.

I decided to install the LMC-5 bypass. Keeping this brief, it works but I also had to do the "brown wire" optional wiring to prevent the "Pull Key..." message.

Hopefully, no more problems with either of these messages now.

Razmo

Appreciate the update.. Crossing my fingers, my error message problems are gone..

bwinterstine

Just be careful because some have said that it can disable your car...shuts off the fuel. That's the biggest reason I decided to install the LMC-5.

Razmo

My problem was a bad battery even though I had replaced it a year ago prior. Never had any other error messages. Once I replaced my battery, all has been normal, no error messages for me.