This is a warning to all not to have the Column Lock recall fix applied to your cars. As reported elsewhere, my dealer (Woodfield Chevy, Schaumburg IL) applied the recall to my car while I was getting an oil change (without asking or notifying me in advance). Part of the process was removal of the C5 Solutions bypass that I had installed. :mad

The very next day, it was locked and had to be flatbedded back to the dealer. This morning, 11 days and about 500 miles later, it locked up again. :mad :mad :mad

It is clear that, for me at least, the new and "improved" column lock hardware is worse than the original. Since the new hardware is not compatible with the old bypass, I strongly urge everyone to decline the recall service (if you are lucky enough to be asked ahead of time) and go with the C5 Solutions bypass instead.

FYI & FWIW...

 

The automatic fix is a bypass though correct? I heard that if you have manual, you should stick with the bypass, but the auto recall is actually a bypass from GM.

 

Sorry to hear they did that without your knowledge.

Especially after C-5 Solutions emailed the following to some of us:

Two reasons the bypass is incompatible with the recall:
The harness that the bypass plugs into gets rewired which prevents the bypass module from connecting to the BCM like it needs to.

Also, having the GM bypass relay and my bypass module together may conflict with each other at some time. I haven't bought one of theirs to really analyze that.

If someone ACTUALLY HAS been able to use my bypass module after the recall, I'd really like to know about it.

Also, have any '02 owners installed my bypass module? I haven't been able to determine if the recall was applied at the factory during production.


Soo I am in a search for the $8.00 part number for the wiring harness they replaced. I would at very least have the dealer give you the old relay wiring or order you a replacement.

Good Luck.. I have had the revised lock in my car with no problems in 3 months.. Sorry to hear about your problems.. I would try another dealer maybe it is an install problem.. :flag

 

You could probably sue them if you really wanted to, they did work on your car without your signed authorization. That's why dealers have you sign off on doing work before they touch your car. I would be PISSED!!!! Now you have the "new" fix that stilled locked up AND the bypass is not compatible with the new fix! THAT SUCKS!!! I'd never take my car to that dealer again!!

And you could probably save a lot of money having your oil changed someplace else too, I'd never let my dealer touch the car unless it's for something that I can't do myself or it's a warranty item.

 

You can absolutely believe I went postal/nuclear/medieval on them. And every time I call to have it towed, I ask for the service person responsible and do my best to make them feel very bad while having them make the necessary arrangements.

The worst part is that I think this is going to have me trading in the C5 on a different car as soon as possible. After I calmed down the first time, I told myself that mistakes can happen, and perhaps it was a bad installation job, and that the Corvette was and still is the best fit to my needs by a very large margin. But now that it's happened twice, I have to believe that the design is fundamentally flawed. And, since this is my daily driver and I can't keep missing work to deal with this, it's fatally flawed. So I am going to have to find another car, one that won't be as close to what I want as the vette is. And with the recent market tumble, there couldn't be a worse time for me to be car shopping, as my "new car account" is way down from where it was a couple of weeks ago, and will probably take quite some time to recover. <sigh> I may have to go with a cheap interim car for a year or two and then look around and see what's available.

 

You are the fifth person that has posted this since the new gm fix.... scary...Im glad I have the bypass

 

I appreciate that. But a manual transmission is my absolute number one no-compromises requirement when new car shopping. I tried driving an automatic a number of years ago, and it just didn't suit me. It felt too much like sitting and pointing the car, rather than actively driving it. After 2 years, I couldn't take it any more and traded it in on something with a stick. I swore I'd never go back. So I think I'll be doing my homework this week, and hitting some dealers on Saturday to see what's available on the lots...

 

I can't believe you would give up on such an awsome car for this problem. You had a perfectly good fix with the C5 solutions CLB. This problem is with the dealer, not the car... Insist that the dealer re-install the CLB or do it yourself and get over it, and enjoy your first choice... In my opinion, if you ditch the car over this, then maybe you were not meant to be one of us...
SD

 

Mallet Cars Ltd. cuts off the plunger (or whatever it is) that locks the steering wheel. This apparently requires more work than installing a bypass, but since there is no plunger to engage, you are absolutely free of the whims of any electronic device (bypass, the GM "fix" or whatever). This will work no matter what other parts GM installs; you just have to find someone knowledgeable enough about Corvettes who is willing to do it.

I haven't owned a car yet that was perfect. Forum members push their cars hard and it's pretty impressive that this is one of the few things that goes wrong.

 

Perhaps not.

The dealer won't install the bypass for two reasons. First, the bypass is not compatible with the new hardware. Second, the dealer is not permitted to install anything that disables or otherwise interferes with the operation of this "feature", which I understand is in place, at least in part, to meet legal requirements. I have them looking for the old column lock hardware for me, which I will have installed myself at a non-dealer, along with a bypass. I don't know if they'll be able to find it.

 

That's an excellent idea. I'll have to look into this -- I know just the guy to help me out on this one.

I'm not looking for a "perfect" car. However, as my daily driver, I expect a certain minimum level of reliability. I have professional and personal commitments to meet, and when my car starts to interfere with those on a regular basis, it becomes unacceptable.

In the 25 years I've been driving my own car, I have had exactly 3 times where the car wouldn't start and had to be towed for repairs to revive it (as opposed to needing a jump, or needing to sit to clear flooding, or similar minor things). All 3 times were this 'Vette, for this reason.

Don't get me wrong: I love this car. No other car offers a combination of performance, practicality, and price that is anywhere near this one. But if I can't count on it, it's unacceptable. Yes, I know, I could get a second vehicle and drive that anytime reliability was important. But that would mean that the 'Vette sat idle most of the time. I'd rather have a car that wasn't quite as perfect for me, but that I could drive all the time.

 

I started to e-mail a guy to do this work for me, but a question came to mind. What is the exact part that sticks, causing the column lock message? If it is the plunger, then this would indeed fix the problem. But if it is the solenoid that drives the plunder, then even with the plunder gone the solenoid could stick. The computer would detect this and still prevent you from driving the car, under the mistaken assumption that the column was locked. (The nice thing about the bypass was the lies it told to keep the engine computer happy. )

Also, does anyone know how the computer detects the position of the plunger? If it's looking at the plunder, then simply cutting it off could cause problems (which Mallett may do something about, but I'd need to know what). Hmm. I may have to start with an e-mail to Mallett - I hope they're better getting back to me on this then they where when I was trying to by a set of wheels...

 

I would install the C5-solutions CLB myself if I were you and be done with it. I would also talk to that dealership about some compensation.......

I have and am keeping the C5 CLB on mine.

 

I just asked Mallet whether shortening the plunger will do more than just prevent the wheel from locking. While they claim none of their cars so modified has thrown a code and killed the engine, they admit that should other parts of the column locking mechanism malfunction, the computer might kill the engine. The main purpose of their fix was to be absolutely sure the steering wheel won't lock.

One thing seems abundantly clear: no one, not Mallet nor GM really knows what is happening. The GM "fix" is worse than the original system.

One other thing also seems abundantly clear. In all the time I have been monitoring the forum, I have not seen one single post reporting any problems with the bypass solutions so many forum members have installed.

(IF I AM WRONG HERE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!)

I asked Mallet to install the bypass in addition to doing their thing with the plunger. While avoiding the loss of control while moving is the most important, avoiding being stranded is pretty important too.

Sorry you're having trouble getting your parts back since that seems the best solution. Maybe you'd better start talking about legal action. In the meantime maybe a new bypass is being designed to work with GM's new fix. What an incredible clusterfock!




[Modified by TCSF, 2:09 PM 9/25/2001]

 

Obviously, the engineering team at GM needs help, such an incredible embarrassment. Any consulting engineers out there that want to help develop a fix?

 

They just applied the recall to mine today, if I have any problems with it I'm going to back out the recall myself and install the bypass.

Eric

 

I understand your frustration. Although my C5 isn't my daily driver, a requirement for my daily driver is for it to be running 99.999% of the time. I can forgive 1 problem in a 3 year time frame, but anything more isn't acceptable in this day and age. Not when I can go buy a Honda and it will start and run for 100k miles with little maintenance. In my position I just can't tell my company, I won't be in because I'm having car problems.

-Jeremy

 

Boy, GM is sure great. After several years of guys getting stuck and a whole lot of bitchin, the General finally admits there is a problem and he has solved it. Now, after only a couple months of the "fix" being applied, guys with the "fix" have started getting stuck. Good question from TCSF, "has anyone who installed the bypass ever had a problem?" Fortuneately, I have only been back to the dealer once, and that was to have the oil and filter changed to keep my warranty valid. I was able to then, and I plan on the next time, of watching my car in the service bay. If I see a service guy trying to get under my dash, I'll certainly take a closer look and stop them if they are trying to do the "fix" without my permission. Hopefully, that will be the last time I go to the dealer, because a year later, my warranty will expire. :crazy:

 

If I had a choice, or had been given a choice, I'd have declined the recall and kept the bypass. Unfortunately, the bypass isn't compatible with the hardware installed when the recall was applied (confirmed by C5 Solutions, the maker), and no one has a bypass for the new hardware.

 

That's it in a nutshell. I've had to do it twice in two weeks. My professional reputation is at risk if I don't take steps to correct this. <sigh>