First I searched and found some info but just wanted to ask two questions

1.Service Column Lock has just popped up on my dash, although the car still functions fine. Can I purchase a column lock bypass and take care of this? If installed properly the message will go away?

2.Will the column just lock when the car is off and your trying to turn it on? It wont lock during driving correct? Just checking to make sure I dont kill myself lol

 

see if you can clear the code first (http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm) and then install a clb. check this out:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...ky-please.html

does the column lock when in park and off? this means the lock plate has not been removed. also, you may have some other dealer installed "fixes" like a k harness. few reports of column locking while driving, which is why they cut off the fuel when the problem occurs.

start with the above and pull fuse 23 for 10 sec and this will reset the bcm.

you could have anything from weak battery to relay failures but you need to try to reset the system and then install the clb. a clb will not get rid of the code but will prevent it from reoccurring. read all of the info in stickie above and you will be informed!

 

This is not true. The BCM only checks the position of the column lock actuator when you start the car, not continuously. If the lock pin engages while you are driving, the engine will continue to run. The only cases I have heard of where the lock pin engaged while driving was where the lock pin had been retracted and the actuator disconnected to install a CLB. In this case, the theory is that the pin could vibrate and move enough to partially engage the lock plate.

To remove any chance this could happen, you need to remove the lockplate as should have been done during the last GM recall.

Then all you have to worry about is the bypass relay failing and not sending the correct signal back to the BCM on start up. If the BCM determines that the actuator is in the locked position (or cannot determine the position within the given time window), it sends a signal to the PCM to cut the fuel to keep you from driving the car with the column locked. The function of the bypass relay is to simulate the actuator in the unlocked position and send the correct signal to the BCM to keep it from cutting the fuel.

You don't say whether you column still locks when the ignition is off, or if you know if any recalls have been done on your car.

 

I have never heard this. I believe the reason a very small number of cars were claimed to have the column lock while driving was because the clearance between the locking pin and the locking plate was not adequate (factory issue, not CLB). When the steering wheel unlocked the pin would still be close enough to the locking plate and could catch causing it to lock while driving. But again, there were only a handful of these cases reported.

From what I recall, the design of the actuator and pin will not allow it to move through vibration - the gears hold the pin in place. Someone even applied power to the actuator after it had been disconnected for a long time to see if the motor would turn at all, and it didn't. It would be interesting if someone did that test again after all these years.

Ultimately the safest thing to do is have the locking plate removed, but that requires having the dealer pull the dash and steering wheel apart.

 

Is it true that the 2001 and up A4 C5s don't have this issue?

 

I did not think the design of the actuator would allow the pin to move by itself either, but I have read a post (among the thousands on this subject) where a person swears they had the actuator disconnected, were driving on a very rough road, and the pin engaged enough that they went off the road.

As suggested, go the extra step to remove the lockplate and then you do not have to worry about it. If you do not have one of the replacement plates that comes in the Harness K kits, you can always grind the stock lockplate down where the pin cannot engage the slots in the plate.

 

I just bought a CLB from corvette's of houston and installed it on my 02' 6 speed.

I had gotten the pull key wait 10 seconds message on sunday, and stopped by COH on Monday and picked up a CLB and installed it in about an hour. Was very easy to do, and I hope I never have to worry about the CLB or pull key wait 10 sec messages again...

www.corvettesofhouston.com