Hi all, another winter, this one rather brutal. I had during a nice January weekend the opportunity to take the car out and clean the rust of the brakes. Car worked fine. Then...old man winter hit us with a bat! The car..which is a 2002 Z06 sat (without battery tender) outside for the better part of two months. Two very cold months this year! It killed the battery. Since I had planned to have the car in my new garage by Christmas, and all I ended up with is forms and radiant floor tubing and mesh before the snow hit...please don't give me grief on why it should be on a trickle charger. So, finally I can get to the car without damaging the paint, and I charge the battery. I am getting buzzing noises from under the hood, lots of codes and won't start. I recognize the problem as the Security Reset. Finally, the spring has started and I go get a brand new battery, sit in the car, do the reset of the security system and Yes...the car will start. Time to go wash her and go for a drive. Ummm...unless I want to drive at two miles per hour, I may as well go inside. Sighhhh...So...that is the background. Car battery didn't recharge well, in fact I had to get a new one to get through the security reset. In trying to run the car when I did recharge it earlier I had relays buzzing. So my problem now is I have installed the new battery, reset the security...i.e. on for ten...off for thirty...and so on. The dreaded Column lock and Remove Key info comes up on the DIC...I have pulled fuses, I have pulled cables, I even went and got a stronger battery and re-brushed all the connections.
My questions? Is there a specific relay that I should look at?
The actuator actually worked in my car, and it locked. However it says that the recall was done on the car for that very issue. The other thing is, my steering wheel is unlocked, not locked. It always locked and now it is unlocked and I get the message that most people have to get their column unlocked to fix. When you turn off the car, you can hear the BCM make a click sound. Wondering if the actuator is out of sync from the battery/security issues and if there is a way to cheat the system to get it back in sync? It's getting warm and I have NO problem with getting a bypass, I just don't want to sit here in Nova Scotia waiting until May to drive my car! Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

 

8VETTE7 - for clarification, the OP states the column lock recall was performed AND the column lock was properly working prior to the battery issue. He is saying that after replacing the battery, the steering wheel is no longer locking which is giving us important information.

OP - follow what 8VETTE7 suggested. When you tried starting the car and heard all the buzzing, you likely blew a fuse or burned up the relay. If you choose not to install a column lock bypass, make sure you have a battery with the proper reserve capacity (RC) of 120. I saw a video where a GM engineer indicated a weak battery with the incorrect RC would cause a column lock fault.

 

Listen to what he says. He is the GURU on CL issues.

PS:
Like he says, NEVER charge a dead battery in the C5 without disconnecting the Negative cable. The battery will not filter the square waves and the electronics can get pounded.

I recommend the LMC5 fix for several excellent reasons.

 

Some good information here. OP best of luck with your problems, hopefully with the advice above you get it sorted out.

 

8vette7 was correct. I burned out the relay when I was trying to get the car running awhile back. I was unaware of the problems associated with the column lock recall not working at times and will definitely take your advice and get the LCM5. The price here for the relay was taxes in 22.18 @ CarQuest relay part# 83262. Had to pull the key, it reset the BCM and moved the car back and forward with no problem. Thanks very much 8vette7 for the reply and the excellent information.

Incidentally, yes the floor gets wet, but not back where the fuse panel and BCM are. The drainage bladders are free and clear. Think it is coming in around the A pillar. Hence another reason for the garage. I intend to shop vac the area as soon as it stops raining.

Wondering if the information you shared might be a good addition to the Sticky on Column Lock. Found tons of info on locked, but couldn't find anything of on not locked.

 

I want to be as good as 8VETTE7 (aka Chuck) when I grow up. However at 64 I'm not sure if I have enough time.

PS: Chuck, your post 2 above was REALLY good and I have seen a lot of what you have written on CL issues. I saved the info to put in my hip pocket.