Just bought a cherry '01 Vert, triple black with 20K on it. Flawless condition; found it at a used car dealer in NJ; about 3 hours from my home in NY. Had a local GM dealer do a thorough check before picking it up. He performed the steering column lock recall on it and gave it a glowing report. I drove it for 6 weeks then took it to a local Chevy dealer who friends recommended to get an inspection and have the parking brake adjusted. The dealer called back a day later and said they couldn't get it running. It would start, idle, but die when any gas was given. Codes were coming back indicating many things were wrong. I was freaked, but was assured they would figure it out and not to worry, they weren't trying to rip me off. I took a lot of info from the Forum to them about battery problems, electrical problems, ground problems, etc. and they basically said they knew all about the C5 issues.
Well a week and a half went by and each day they had a dedicated Vette mechanic working on it; replacing the BCM, no help; PCM, no cure; the battery, various other electrical components and still no good. To make an incredibly long story short, they finally found that it was a relay in the steering column lock system which was bad and had been part of the recall and once they replaced that $35 part the car was perfect again. I was ready for a big fight about the cost, because I was sure they'd try to bill me for all the labor (they removed any part they put in that didn't fix the problem). But they only charged me for the battery and 2 hours of labor and the parking brake adjustment and state inspection.
I was really impressed with the dealer, so here's a big thank you to Arroway Chevrolet in Katonah, NY.
On the other hand, I'm a little upset that something so small could cause such big problems or do you all think the mechanic should have found the problem quicker? He said none of the diagnostics pointed to the relay and he kept getting different seemingly unrelated codes each time he checked.
What do you think? Is my gorgeous new baby that prone to disaster, or was it a fluke?

 

Glad to see your car is fixed, sounds like the dealer was actually trying to do good by you. Your car is fine, the most notorious problem with the C5 is the Column Lock. Not to rip on the dealer, but there have a been quite a few recalls and TONS of info everywhere about this notorious problem.. IMO , they should have found it right away...just by reading your post, before I got to the end...based on info here in the forum I knew it was the relay by the symptoms you described...so I don't know if the dealer really knows "all about C5 issues" by no means am I saying I am an expert,, but this is the most common known problem with these cars.

anywhoo glad to see you are back on the road again

 

I had the recall performed on my '98 vert last July.

Last week the one of the relays that had beeen installed in the recall failed and the car would not run.

My dealer found the problem in 15 minutes and replaced the relay.

Does anyone know how often these relays fail? What causes the failure?

 

This one particular issuse still cease to amaze me ...... everytime i read another one of these posts it just makes me laugh with respect to how utterly clueless GM/Chevy are sometimes...... please forward your attention when you have time to my column lock hell entitled "Need All Opionions . posted in the C5 general section.

there must be well over 1,000 post regarding this issue, Yet it seems Chevy remains unaware !!! when you need them the most about an issue/ (recall) they are suppose to know about !!!!!!


I am currently seeking reimbursetment for all i had to go through.

However i must say that i am not bashing or trying to put down GM, Althought ONE would think they would care and devote a bit more attention to this particular issue due to the fact that it is effecting one of their best selling and most respected and loved vechiles

just my two cents .

 

The relays in the new column lock recall kits are prone to premature failure. It seems that the relays either fail rather quickly or they do not cause a problem.

I installed a Harness K kit from the original recall for automatics only a couple of years ago on my Z06, and have not had any problems from the relay or any error codes.

If your actuator is still working, in an emergency, you can always unplug the harness relay, and reconnect the actuator just to check if the relay is causing the problem.
I would think that enough problems have occurred, that almost every dealer should be suspecting the relays as the problem when these symptoms occur.

 

The problem you had with the relay sounds like the crap I used to go through with my old Porsche 944 except everytime I turned around some other relay switch or other sensor was going bad or causing issues.

 

I believe that the white relays are the crap ones..............

 

Funny you should mention that, because I had a '85 944 with 80K and I finally gave it away to the tow truck driver that had picked me up stranded for the third time in one week. He owned a gas station and spent 100 hours tracing the problem to a series of relays and wiring problems. It never occured to me that a space age '01 Vette could be having similar probs.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I have to agree with the responses here that the Chevy dealer in my case probably should have found the problem sooner, but the mechanic said he never visted the CorvetteForum before. He has now, and I hope will study it. It should be required reading for every so-called Vette specialist.
Thanks to all of you out there!!!http://forums.corvetteforum.com/imag...es/patriot.gif

 

hrmm .. ive had starting issues since i had the final recall done .. wont if they're related.

 

i have yet to have the recall done on my 98. Is this something I should get done asap??

 

Is this a 6 speed issue, or are all C5's, including Automatics prone to this? If the A4's are, i'm going to tuck a few extra relays in the glove compartment just incase I'm in need of a quick fix.

 

my car is going through this same type of issue. where is this relay and does anyone have a picture of it? where can I get a new one, I do not want to take my car back to the dealer.

thanks all.

 

Get a column lock bypass relay from Corvettes of Houston.......they appear to be a much more reliable relay.instructions will come with it.

 

Hopefully you won't have any more problems. I've only had my 02' Z06 for 2 1/2 months. I've put 5k miles on it with no problems so far. The 944 I had was a constant pain in the a#$ from the day I bought it. Some people love the 944, its a great handling car, but dang, the constant problems and high cost of replacement parts...

 

I thought the recall for a 98 C5 was to REMOVE the LOCKING PLATE under the steering wheel. Thats what the NHTSA database says and appearantly what they did to mine. Can still hear the solenoid trying to move into the non-existant plate.
Before that they had actually replaced the lock mechanism which jammed. The original recalls didnt get up to my VIN. Are there some EXTRA relays now in my C5 or did they just remove the actual locking plate?

 

In my opinion, he should have found the problem a LOT sooner. "Dedicated vette mechanic" that doesn't realize the symptoms of column lock failure? The fact that he was replacing PCM's & BCM's, that just tells me he was flat out guessing at the problem.

 

In my case the dealer suprised me and did the recall without my permission. He completely wiped out my tune and the car wouldn't even idle when they brought the car to the service drive.

 

Hey I have a 2000 vette and mine had the recall and harness done twice and it runs ok. I did have one problem one time when I took off from first, it acted like it was going to quit but then it just took off. Like it didn't have any fuel for a few seconds. I'm getting a code that is B0367 , this wouldn't have anything to do with this column would it? My sheet says right actuator, so just wondering. You guys know anything about this code? And what might have caused my car to almost stall when I was taking off? Thanks guys.

 

Couldn't agree with you more. At least he/they didn't try and stick me with the bill for his hours "learning" about the problem. It's just hard as hell finding good help... except of course here on the forum. It's been over a month and the car has performed flawlessly. Love is a warm Vette!

 

That code appears to be realated to the HVAC. You can check the code here.

http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm

The stalling could have been several things...fuel filter/pressure and traction control, to name a few.