My beautiful 2000 Corvette's steering locked up at the local grocery store. It's a 6-speed stick and all I could do was drive the car forward and I could drive it in reverse, but the steering was locked. It's in great shape with 82K miles. I then had it towed to the local Chevrolet dealer who charged me a bit over $800 to remove the locking plate and replace the actuator. An out-of-state dealer claimed that he fixed this issue on the recall years ago - I think it was 2004 or so - but he left the locking plate in place which he should not have done according to the recall. Has anyone ever gone back to Chevrolet with this exact issue and gotten a full or partial refund of their repair - over $800 in my case?

 

4Sievert, stick around here. Lots of talented people on here will help diagnose just about everything about your Corvette. Next time you have an issue, come here first. The 'Stealership' is NOT your friend.

 

As far as column lock failures are concerned; it's not if it will happen, it's when. They all eventually fail if you do nothing to prevent it.

As mentioned, the fix is cheap and easy. You actually have two inexpensive aftermarket choices for a permanent fix.

1) Column Lock Bypass. The CLB is what I went with 4 years ago and it has been trouble free. Cost me 50 bucks and 30 minutes to install.
2) LMC-5. Fairly new fix that appears to work very well. Does not require you to install anything under the steering column. I believe it all happens at the fusebox.

Any and all dealer recalls are temporary fixes at best. GM never, came up with a reliable fix for this issue.

 

I feel sorry for the OP but now he knows he needs to use the resources here first.

OP, here is some info on the LMC5. YOU NEED ONE.

I consider the LMC5 to be the best Column Lock problem permanent fix out there. It also does not require you to “undo” any previous CL attempts to resolve this issue. Their eBay ads have a good video that shows the install at the BCM. It does not cover everything in the written instructions. So, read the instructions and also here is some extra info. In some cases, the BCM timing is off just enough to cause some issues. They make several versions and they can swap out/provide one of these if you have any issues. Their customer support is as good as it gets.

Not uncommon for people to "put the column in a pre-lock condition" and not know it and then start with the install. In other words, they started with the column lock “energized’ even if it was not actually locked yet. If not actually locked yet, it will be as soon as you turn the steering wheel after the LMC5 install. It will then remain in the locked condition until you cause the motor to unlock. It will then remain in the unlocked condition since the motor is then unpowered with the circuits disconnected.

Here is one way to prevent that if your column locks and unlocks normally:

If the CL is functioning normally you don't not need the Unlocker, merely turn the ignition ON, pull fuse #23, turn ignition OFF, turn the steering wheel (left and right) and verify it is unlocked. Next, disconnect the negative battery terminal, re-insert fuse #23 and continue with the install.

Compliance Parts website: http://complianceparts.com/index.html