another dumb queastion
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,220
Likes: 0
From: California
another dumb queastion
i know this might have been discussed alot, i tried to search for info on it but couldnt find any, i know that there is a high chance of column locking, but here is my question, what causes the column to lock??
bad keys? low battery charge, false alarm, what causes it
bad keys? low battery charge, false alarm, what causes it
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,945
Likes: 12
From: Vancouver
2015 C5 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10
It's the Column Lock itself. It has a small motor that screws up and burns up. Once that happens your done. The lock won't retract and the steering wheel won't turn till it's replaced or you can arm wrestle it into working. It's like the motor gets a dead spot in it and won't operate properly. That's my perception of it. I am sure other's will chime in to correct me if I am wrong. Hope that helps.
And there's absolutely NO DUMB questions here.
And there's absolutely NO DUMB questions here.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,816
Likes: 132
From: Plano TX
I know my car was fixed about 2 years ago under the recall. Are you saying Could this happen again? Could this happen when driving down the road? I'd like to know more about it too. Not a dumb question either. No questions are dumb in this Forum, thats why its here. We want to know. Well... Let me think about that. I have seen some pretty laughable posts in here 
Last edited by David426; Jan 11, 2005 at 09:16 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 11,945
Likes: 12
From: Vancouver
2015 C5 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10
I have heard $700 for a new one. That's before the recall. That's probably another reason for the recall. GM doesn't want to replace the CL itself so they put in the Harness K for the A4's and reprogram the BCM for the 6 speeds. Which doesn't do anything to alleviate the problem for the 6 speeds. That's why most here either put in the Harness K or buy an after market Column Lock Bypass (CLB).
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Gone
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03
The column locks every time you pull the key out of the ignition.
The actuator failing to unlock when you start it, is what the problem is.
As for dissecting the whole assembly and naming exact causes, I'm sure they are numerous as well...Bad motor design, excessive friction, insufficient pin to plate clearance, etc. If it was a single, common, isolated part failure that caused the problem, chances are it could and would have been fixed.
But even GM decided to throw in the towel and eliminated the column lock on A4 cars...that says a lot right there.
Us M6 owners are the ones left to worry, or do something about it, as GM cannot permanently disable the lock mechanism on our (M6) cars like they do on the automatics.
If you have an A4 car, and your column still locks when you pull the key out, the latest recall should take care of you.
Us M6 guys...the recall fix is relatively worthless and does nothing to cure the actuator woes...it only serves to prevent the car from being driven when it does fail to unlock...not a big help.
If you have an M6 car, the best solution is still the CLB (column lock bypass). Your column can't fail to unlock if it never locks.
The actuator failing to unlock when you start it, is what the problem is.
As for dissecting the whole assembly and naming exact causes, I'm sure they are numerous as well...Bad motor design, excessive friction, insufficient pin to plate clearance, etc. If it was a single, common, isolated part failure that caused the problem, chances are it could and would have been fixed.
But even GM decided to throw in the towel and eliminated the column lock on A4 cars...that says a lot right there.
Us M6 owners are the ones left to worry, or do something about it, as GM cannot permanently disable the lock mechanism on our (M6) cars like they do on the automatics.
If you have an A4 car, and your column still locks when you pull the key out, the latest recall should take care of you.
Us M6 guys...the recall fix is relatively worthless and does nothing to cure the actuator woes...it only serves to prevent the car from being driven when it does fail to unlock...not a big help.
If you have an M6 car, the best solution is still the CLB (column lock bypass). Your column can't fail to unlock if it never locks.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,220
Likes: 0
From: California
Originally Posted by Y2Kvert4me
The column locks every time you pull the key out of the ignition.
The actuator failing to unlock when you start it, is what the problem is.
As for dissecting the whole assembly and naming exact causes, I'm sure they are numerous as well...Bad motor design, excessive friction, insufficient pin to plate clearance, etc. If it was a single, common, isolated part failure that caused the problem, chances are it could and would have been fixed.
But even GM decided to throw in the towel and eliminated the column lock on A4 cars...that says a lot right there.
Us M6 owners are the ones left to worry, or do something about it, as GM cannot permanently disable the lock mechanism on our (M6) cars like they do on the automatics.
If you have an A4 car, and your column still locks when you pull the key out, the latest recall should take care of you.
Us M6 guys...the recall fix is relatively worthless and does nothing to cure the actuator woes...it only serves to prevent the car from being driven when it does fail to unlock...not a big help. If you have an M6 car, the best solution is still the CLB (column lock bypass). Your column can't fail to unlock if it never locks.
The actuator failing to unlock when you start it, is what the problem is.
As for dissecting the whole assembly and naming exact causes, I'm sure they are numerous as well...Bad motor design, excessive friction, insufficient pin to plate clearance, etc. If it was a single, common, isolated part failure that caused the problem, chances are it could and would have been fixed.
But even GM decided to throw in the towel and eliminated the column lock on A4 cars...that says a lot right there.
Us M6 owners are the ones left to worry, or do something about it, as GM cannot permanently disable the lock mechanism on our (M6) cars like they do on the automatics.
If you have an A4 car, and your column still locks when you pull the key out, the latest recall should take care of you.
Us M6 guys...the recall fix is relatively worthless and does nothing to cure the actuator woes...it only serves to prevent the car from being driven when it does fail to unlock...not a big help.
If you have an M6 car, the best solution is still the CLB (column lock bypass). Your column can't fail to unlock if it never locks.
