Great! I do recall seeing the diagram as I read through the links - and have also located the tagged purple wire in the photo - and my CLB is on the way - so I should be good to go. Trying to reverse engineer the recall mod from the GM service bulletin induced a minor brain fart. Their writing is a bit challenging. I'll give it a go as soon as the CLB arrives and hopefully announce my success. This forum has been a great resource since even beofre I ordered my C-5 - too bad I can't say the same for GM!
Thanks for all your help.

 

CLB is installed and the GM recall relay has been bypassed with a jumper in a totally painless procedure. Thanks again to FRCTony and Cscokd for your patient and detailed guidance.

 

Coooool...another success story! I commend you for your perseverence to a working solution. I swear whoever designed this circuit at GM will pay dearly in the afterlife.....grrrrr.
Cheers,
John

 

Great! There is no purple wire or any color wire for that matter behind my BCM. In fact there is nothing behind it. My column is unlocked, can't drive because of fuel cut and I have the column lock error message. Its a 2000 coup 6spd. I am getting frustrated.

I can't seem to find any type of relay, factory or otherwise. Can someone post a pic. of what I am looking for. Everything on mine looks stock. I have the silver box ( BCM ) with the harnes plugged into the side. I was told since mine is cutting fuel, it must have the relay but I can't find it.

I just feel lost and all of these parts and harnesses is frustrating with out knowing what they are and what they look like. It would be nice to be able to compare what I have in there to what I should have or could have compared to completly stock.

Links to pictures would be great. I need this car back on the road and a dealer is not an option for me.

 

John (Cscokd),

Thanks for this very informative thread. I still have a question, though.

I test drove a 1999 C5 A4 today and want to buy it. At the end of the test drive, the "Steering Column Lock" light came on. Apparently, the owner had never seen it. I took the car in for a AAA VIP pre-purchase inspection and the owner had a smog check done at the same time. Though the emissions were extremely low, the visual inspection was fine, and the computer had no error codes, the mechanic explained that it "failed smog" and could not be certified because apparently the car's computer had an error recently, and the car must be driven at least 50 miles to reset this bit to allow the car to pass. He was not sure if this was related to the "Steering Column Lock" warning or not.

After the vehicle inspection and failed smog check, the owner "pressed reset" and the warning message disappeared. He is driving it more than 50 miles and then taking it in (to a different mechanic) to try to get the smog certificate tomorrow morning (Friday). He told me that the other mechanic (that I selected for the inspection) didn't know anything, and that since resetting the display eliminated the warning, that "there is no problem". I am certain that he is 100% sincere, but based on all that I have read over the past couple hours, I am not sure that he is 100% correct.

In August, 2001, the car had the "V0743 - ECL RELAY HARNESS REPLACE" recall done. This is listed on the GM service report that the mechanic printed out for me today based on the car's VIN. The mechanic made no connection between that and the current warning light, but your thread here helped me to connect the dots.

Q1 If this A4 car had the recall done, why did I get the warning message today?
Q2 Are there potential mechanical or functional problems with the car since the message was displayed, or is this just "cosmetic"?
Q3 Should this affect my purchase decision? (We are negotiating price tomorrow after the owner gets the smog certificate.)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide!

Cat4Vette

 

A1 = Because the parts GM are using in the recall have a history of failing! Either that or the owner attempted to install an aftermarket CLB, and botched it somehow.

A2 = The CL issue could potentially leave you stranded.. Even if GM removed the locking plate, it won't help you if the PCM thinks the column is locked, it's still going to shut the fuel supply off. I would NOT ignore that message.

A3 = Yes, you could argue you'll have to take care of this issue.. I'd think $100 off would be a start..

I'll add a bit more food for thought here, about the emissions test coming back with a "system not ready" error(s).

I find it highly suspect that a: the owner "just now saw this CL error message", and b: is probably guilty of resetting (or pulling the battery) a known emissions-related error so it wouldn't show up on the DIC, but then "surprise", fails emissions.

You need to make sure you can trust this fellow, either that or get one hell of a good deal on the car..

Assuming the PCM hasn't been edited, you should see the error codes related to the emissions testing pop up on the DIC if you drive it long enough. Good luck.

 

Dan,

Thanks for the Quick Reply!

<< A1 = Because the parts GM are using in the recall have a history of failing! Either that or the owner attempted to install an aftermarket CLB, and botched it somehow. >>

OK, so the "fix" was done four years ago, but that relay may be failing. Will GM replace this bad relay at no charge?

<< A2 = ... if the PCM thinks the column is locked, it's still going to shut the fuel supply off >>

My understanding from the thread was that the fuel shut-off problem only occurs with manual transmission cars, not the A4. Am I mistaken?

<< A3 = Yes, you could argue you'll have to take care of this issue.. I'd think $100 off would be a start.. >>

Very helpful! I hope to talk him down much more than that, so $100 isn't a big issue as long as this will not be a serious problem for me in the coming years.

<< I find it highly suspect that a: the owner "just now saw this CL error message", and b: is probably guilty of resetting (or pulling the battery) a known emissions-related error so it wouldn't show up on the DIC, but then "surprise", fails emissions. >>

This was his wife's car, so he hasn't driven it much and doesn't know too much about it. I expect that he mentioned it to her tonight and she may have informed him of her experiences or lack thereof with the warning light. It will also be interesting to hear what his mechanic tells him. The owner did mention that he did something with the battery recently which may have reset the computer, so your warning is appreciated. His wife got a 2005 C6 recently, so this car has been in storage for a month. He finally got around to placing the ad for it. Must be nice to not need the money right away!

Thanks again - Cat4Vette