I had a flood in the car last night due to one of the cowl drains being plugged (please check yours before it is too late).

I dried everything out and all seems good but I get the "service column lock" on the DIC and when I go to move the car it dies. (no errors on the DIC)

I imaging that either the BCM got wet or the fuse box (or both). The BCM looked like it was dry. The fuse box seemed to have water behind it.

I checked fuse 25 and it is good.

I have looked through most of the posts but they are mostly for pre-2001 A4 and all M6. I cannot find much on the post 2001 A4s.

I would prefer to not have to buy a new BCM if I can figure this out.

Oh, I can turn the steering wheel.

Any ideas what/where to check?

If I do buy a remanufactured BCM, should it have the updates?


** I just noticed that the steering wheel will not telescope as well...

Read something and tried something else... ODDEST thing... when I push the lever to move my seat, my steering wheel telescopes instead. There was no water on the drivers side... Where is the module that controls those swithces???

Pulled out the seat and all looks good. No crimps or tears in the wiring. SCM looks OK. Could the BCM just be bad and confusing the signals?

I now get a SCM U1255 error (always history even when I just reset it) Yes, I looked it up and did not get anywhere

 

What year is your car, an 01 or 02?

The sticky says:

GM installed a Steering Column Lock mechanism on all 1997 - 2004 manual (MN6) cars and on 1997 to 2000 automatic (A4) cars
There is a GM recall for this problem on affected models and years
It is one of the most problematic issues that we C5 owners deal with
It can happen to you if you have a pre-2001 A4 without the recall

So I'm corn fused...

 

You think you are corn-fused... I have read more on column lock and wet floorboard than I ever cared to... and, yes, I even checked the manufatcure date... I was that bad off.

That is the only code (I cleared the ones from me plugging and unplugging the BCM, ran it a few times and that is all I get)

I read everything on the stupid Column lock today and yes, it is a 2002 (manufacture date of 10/01) and i did not see any indication that it was a manual car converted to auto. Nothing I see says anything about 2002+ A4.

I even noticed that now my lights on my rearview do not come on.

Everything brings me back to BCM but it was not visibly wet this morning. Behind the fuse box was.

I opened the BCM and looked at the board and only saw corrosion between the top 2 pins, I cleaned that (it was very light) with a small brush and hosed it down with eletrical cleaner.



Everything worked fine yesterday (I drove it 710 miles from Ms. to NC) until at 1 am she woke me honking. I found the clogged drain behind the battery and cleaned it, but too late. I had to unhook the battery at 1 am in a severe thunderstorm... FUN.

I have looked for the black relay above the PCM, but it is not there. Just the one for the VATS.


I have seen a few threads with my exact problem (water first then the SERVICE COLUMN) and lots of advice, but no one has replied "hey, this is how I fixed it".

Is there even a place on a 2002 A4 for a Column bypass?

THanks for your help...

 

That is why I started a new thread... I know there are tons of threads out there that talk about the column lock (will call it CL) issue, but rarely an A4 and never after 2001.

I have checked the 3 BCM fuses by switching them around and visually inspecting but I will put a meter on them this morning.

I will also see if i can find the connector for the column lock and check the voltage as well. Is there a signal wire back to the BCM that tells the BCM that the CL is engaged or not? or does the BCM know by some other means?

I do not ever recall hearing the CL motor before, but may have just missed it.

I have seen the SCM U1255 error for a while now so that is less of a concern. I do think my SCM is failing slowly but do not think it has to do with this issue, do you? (It seems to get the memory confused and pushes the seat to randome spots and sometimes will not move the wheel. Now, the wheel telescopes with the seat control... LOL)

The other night when it got flooded I came out to the horn blowing (kind of a sick alarm sound, not a complete sound but like it had a short), the hatch was popped and headlights were up. Could it have also been locking and unlocking the CL and burned it up?

I ordered a new BCM (should be here tues). I know it needs to be programmed for some things but can it be driven out of the box?

What is a decent INEXPENSIVE tuner I can buy to set the fuel cutoff (and maybe do other things WAY off in the future)?

Thanks!!! (you guys are the best)

If I do not fix this I have to go to my $400 78 Toyota truck with no AC in NC in July...

 

I HATE to spend this much but am going to order the HP Tuners 6011 - HP Tuners VCM Suite MPVI Standard Packages from Summit Racing.

Will this allow me to program out the Column Lock and the Fuel cutoff speed (change to 200mph)?

Someone tell me yes or no... I will order it today so I can have her back on the road tuesday and then figure out what the real problem is. (yes, I know that is backwards but I need my car)

I do not have the knowledge (nor the desire today) to make any other changes, but as time goes on I would like the ability to make changes or check errors. so it will not be a wasted purchase.


Also, since I ordered a new BCM, can I program that as well from the software or do I have to take it to the dealer?

 

I am having a tough time seeing the wires behind the drivers knee bloster and into the steering column. I have no idea where to find the column lock mechanism (and there are a few orange and purple in there)

I pulled the BCM and foudn the stuff pictured below. According to the connector it is C15 (little "C" in the pink near pin 1) coudl this be my issue?

 

Stupid question... what signal shoudl come back via C15? If it is ground or 12 volt could I just "fake it" and either ground it or make it hot?

 

I do have that desire one day, but was going to put it off.

I am in a very rural area and may be hard to find someone who can tune the car plus the cost of towing it would only be a couple hundred dollars more.

If I were to buy one, could/would you mind walking me through the fuel shutoff so I could at leasst get her on the road?

It would be nice to be able to see what is really going on.

 

Thanks for everyone's help here... Especially 8Vette7 who spent 45 minutes on the phone with me.

Remember 2002 A4 (so this shoudl not happen, ever)

Here is what I found:
There is a female plug for the Column lock (with the 4 wires) is under the steering column, but there is no male plug going to the mechanism. I searched for over an hour and found nothing that looked like it should be plugged in down there. I wish someone else with a later model C5 with an automatic would check this on thiers. (just to the left of the yellow plug for the airbag)

Talking with 8Vette7 he told me that there shoudl be 12 volts on C15 at the BCM. If I am looking at it correctly (The top, long, pink connector says "c" and I found 15 which has a green wire) has 12 volts on the pin and 5.5 after the resistor. (on the picture above, I am assuming C15 is the 2nd from the right top)

So, it looks like it is getting the right signal to the BCM (assuming I am correct above, please tell me if I am not).

I have a new BCM coming hopefully tomorrow as well as a HP Tuner. My thought is to program out the fuel cutoff as soon as I can and then install the BCM this weekend. I know I need to get the BCM programmed, but just getting it in and synced will tell me if the current one is bad.

BTW, there is no relay on this one above (or behind) the BCM except for the VATS.


I was a little concerned when even the experts here said "this should not happen on a 2002 A4"

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

 

OK.... I got an HP Tuner and told it to not shut off the fuel until 250mph so I am back on the road. (plus I lowered the fan temps... not touching anything else yet)

I also got a new (refurb) BCM in. Saturday my plan is to switch out the BCM and see if the issue clears, if it does then I will have the new one reprogrammed and we can all say "YEAH"... If not , back to square 2 (square 1 was not moving).

I am really leaning toward the BCM being bad since today I was looking at the config options and I used to have "twilight sentinel" and maybe some other things that are not there anymore...

Once again, thanks folks for your help here. Without this brotherhood, (sorry ladies, just a generic term) I would be towing this to the dealer for a good beating. I hope to be able to pass on my knowledge to help someone one day.

Mike

 

Well, she is back up and running (except for the seat issue, which I was hoping would be tied to the BCM)...

I installed the new (refurb) BCM on Saturday and saw the stupid "service column lock" and thought "great, the problem is elsewhere"... but I had it in and my guy was only charging me $80 to reprogram so I did it anyway. Picked her up at lunch and "no runs, drips or errors"... yeah!!!

So, if you have an automatic C5 after 2001 and have a "service column lock" you may want to look at the BCM (not sure if just reprogramming the old wet one woudl have worked, but for $140, after core, it is worth trying). Also, I never did find the male connector that plugs into the column lock... LOL... maybe it does not exist.

 

Not sure if the C5 BCM is similar to the C6 BCM but I went through a similar situation with my C6 BCM and an airbag light I couldn't get to reset. I damaged my original BCM and tried to replace it with a used one. Bad idea. Turns out the BCMs are VIN locked so once the VIN is programmed it can't be changed (not by any regular means). So my used BCM was a waste of money. I, too, had to buy a new BCM and take it to the dealer to have it reprogrammed and that requires a current up to date fully interfaced Tech II (which most folks don't have).

The point of this post is it does sound like your BCM got fried and it not being able to match VIN numbers caused the issue.

Just my theory.

Jay