CL recall keeps coming in mail. I'm actually afraid to let the dealer have the car for a day or 2. I've had the worst experiences with leaving a car with a dealership overnight (ie scratches,dents,dirty interiors,broken tranny mounts, & ). Should I just buy a bypass unit thats available as a DIY or let GM do it?? It is an 2000 A4 car with custom tuning.

 

I have a M6, I bought the CLB installed it, wrote that on the recall letter, mailed it back and never got another one.

I do not trust the stealership period with my vehicles.

 

I've got a 2000 A4, with the CLB installed back in 2001, and I've been ignoring the recall notices. For an A4, I think the recall work is to remove the lock mechanism and fool the computer with a device that sends the correct column lock signal. So basically, whose column lock bypass do you like best, GM's or after market? You also have to decide between DIY or letting the dealer have it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about what the recall is for an A4.

 

You stand to loose the custom tuning in your PCM by allowing the dealer to perform ANY work, much less this recall.

No, take care of it yourself, you'll be glad you did.

 

So I take it that they will mess with the pcm if they put in a bypass & I don't if I buy my own unit?

 

I did basically the same thing: Writing across the mailer card with a firm reminder that the GM "fix" does not work. Over three months later, I receive a call from a GM customer service rep. During our conversation, the young rep realizes that I am more knowledgeable regarding the vehicles' specific idiosyncracies than he could ever be (he does not even own a Corvette). And, I have not received any more recall notices since.

 

You have to understand that there are incremental updates that are issued by the factory from time to time, and folks have had their PCM's re-flashed when taking the car in for an oil change. The dealerships think they are doing you a "favor" by keeping your car "up to date". But you loose any custom programming when they do so, of course.

I've been thinking about finding / making a red plug that would go over the OBDII serial port, with a label that says "DO NOT PROGRAM". Probably sell like hotcakes to the folks here with modified cars. Our luck the GM tech would do it anyway.

 

I would add to the label "BY PUNISHMENT OF DEATH". Maybe they will get the message than. Or setting it up as to where you would recieve an electrical shock when fooling with this port. Hey shock treatment was used for years in personality alteration behavior.. Anyway all kidding aside I think I will just get the bypass from one of the vendors and disregard all the notices. this way I will be able to sleep better.

 

I too have a 2000 A4 that I made the mistake of letting the dealer perform recall mods on. 6 months later I have the worst week of my life. My car goes to a transmission shop to get the common left side rear end leak fixed. 3 days later I pay the $450 and go to drive away but I get the SERVICE COLUMN LOCK message and the car stalls if driven over 2 MPH. The next morning it was towed from the transmission shop to the dealer who had it for 2 days and charged me $527 to replace the column lock motor. I bithced about this, since the recall renders the column unlockable - but GM keeps the motor required - no one can say why (not even GM - I called them later to ask). Then I go to drive away from the dealer and I get SERVICE ABS, SERVICE TRACTION, and SERVICE ACTIVE HANDLING all displaying. I ask the dealer, and they say it is probably the front left wheel sensor, since they saw a history of codes about it. They say they can order the whole hub for well over $500 (installed), since the sensor is part of the hub assembly. I'm already pissed, cause I've never seen any of these messages before - and I think the dealer did something on purpose to get more money. So I drive off, and the next day my husband looks at the wheel and sees that the wheel sensor cable is practically cut in half! I'm ready to blame the dealer, but it turned out the the tow company put a hook over the A-arm to hold my car to the flatbed, and they pinched the cable. They reimbursed with no argument for the $56 cable which was easy to install. What a hell week! But back to your question - DO NOT HAVE RECALL MODS DONE! GET THE CLB, and get it soon! I have a belief that the 2000 model year is even more prone to failures of the column lock motor/actuator, based on posts on this site and my own experiences and on the fact that the wiring diagrams for the 2000 show that there are one to two 'extra' relays assosicated with the column lock motor before the recall mods add another one. Note that the CLB does not keep the column lock motor in the loop. I'm ordering one soon so that the next time I have a failure that has anything to do with my Steering Column lock, I will be able to remove the damn GM HARNESS-K, install the CLB, and not let the dealer touch my car again! Good luck to you with whatever you decide.

 

Stories like that make my blood boil. The dealer was more than willing to sell you $500 in parts without even suggesting that a simple harness may be compromised! And they have the cojones to say "they saw a history of codes about it"

Time to find another dealer....

 

There definatley seems to be a great perponderance of replies in favor of the CLB as DIY fix. That is what I will do.
Thanks all
I just ordered it from Corvettes of Houston.

 

Unfortunately, they are the only Chevy dealer in my town. When I had the recall done, I was going to take my car to a different Chevy dealer about 60 miles away. But they acted like they didn't want me to bring my car to them. They said they were unaware of ANY recalls on the 2000 vette (they would have to look it up) and they said they just lost one of their best techs and didn't know how soon they could get to my car. Don't you just love it? Luckily there are some good independant auto repair shops that I trust where I can take my car to for most work, since it is out of warranty anyway.

 

Listen to this Corvette Forum member. DON'T LET THE CHEVROLET DEALER TOUCH IT. Save the Wave.>George

 

Aside from all the reasons posted here on the forum about why not to get the recall done, here is the most important reason not mentioned. IT DOESN'T WORK! What the recall does is prevent your car from moving if your column locks up....and with the recall you can still have a column lockup. If you haven't done the bypass kit yet, don't waste time, do it. Fortunately for myself, when it did happen to me after 17,000 trouble-free miles, it happened in my driveway.

 

This is the very point that I made extremely clear to the GM rep. After his brain farct on the phone (he was quite shocked), he stated that he did not realize that "this could ever happen in a Vette". After he regained composure, I then suggested that the the reps visit the CF forum, and, LS1-Tech forum more regularly to become more acquainted with real life issues regarding the C5, AND, the C6 (he had never heard of the forums).

 

Last fall I had the dealership do the CL recall on my oo a4. I know the service manager so I was able to stand over the shoulder of the tech and watch the whole thing. The steering wheel was removed and a plate was installed so that the colume lock motor could not lock the wheel. Then he put in some sort of relay. He told me the auto cars did not need to have the computers reflashed, but sticks did.

Question.
Since I waited until 05 to get this done has GM updated the recall procedure to the point that it is reliable now?

If not, can or should I get a CLB from a vender.

Do I remove the dealer installed relay to install the aftermarket CLB?

 

The recall on A-4's is different from M6's. On the autos the lock is totally defeated from working at all, the reason being since your car is in park it shouldn't be able to be stolen anyway. On manuals the lock can still function to supposedly prevent the car from being stolen. However, what the recall does if your car should not unlock is prevent you from exceeding 3 mph, so you can not drive and have an accident at GM's expense. Anyone who has a stick and hasn't installed the CLB should do so and not have the recall done. As I said in a previous post, there are people who still had a column lockup after the recall was done. This has been discussed extensively on the C5registry site by people with this experience.

 

could someone answere my questions please?

Thank you.

 

1. No.

2. No.

3. No.

You're all done.

 

For an A4, my understanding is the GM recall and the aftermarket CLB are basically the same thing. They both defeat the lock mechanism and then spoof the computer. Since you've already had the recall done, you should be OK.