05 column lock?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 229
Likes: 18
05 column lock?
I've read a lot about the '05's having column lock problems. I've seen where there are aftermarket modules to hook into existing module to remedy the problem. Mine is intermittenly giving the service column lock message in the DIC, and sometimes wont start. My question is whether this is an electrical problem or a mechanical one, and what does the Dealer do to remedy the problem?
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 27,420
Likes: 64
From: San Clemente CA
I've read a lot about the '05's having column lock problems. I've seen where there are aftermarket modules to hook into existing module to remedy the problem. Mine is intermittenly giving the service column lock message in the DIC, and sometimes wont start. My question is whether this is an electrical problem or a mechanical one, and what does the Dealer do to remedy the problem?
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 12,502
Likes: 3,629
Plastic gears in the steering column lock start to bind with age. Worst yet, the lock is a 12V device, and by the time it get power with a fully charged battery, down to around 10V instead. With lower charged battery, even less voltage going to the lock to unlock it.
Dealer solution, replace it with a new new lock that will do the same in time as well.
Better solution, install the eliminator instead.
Short version, the steering column lock has a unlock and lock resistor on it to tell the RCDLR when its either locked or unlocked.
With the eliminator, you put the steering lock into the unlocked position, unplug it, then install the elimnator relay in the plug instead.
So instead of the lock actual working, the eliminator has a relay that is fired one way or the other via the voltage off the plug, then on the other sensors wires, resistors that give the needed resistance voltage for the RCDLR to think that the steering column lock is in the correct position.
Hence you no longer need to worry about the gears binding up, and since it just a relay that is being fired, even a low drained battery had more than enough power to fire the relay into the correct position to give the RCDLR the needed resistance as well.
As for which, would go with the one from Ebay since that is the original designer of the device (used to work for COH and built them for them, left and COH is now having someone else build them for them instead.
Dealer solution, replace it with a new new lock that will do the same in time as well.
Better solution, install the eliminator instead.
Short version, the steering column lock has a unlock and lock resistor on it to tell the RCDLR when its either locked or unlocked.
With the eliminator, you put the steering lock into the unlocked position, unplug it, then install the elimnator relay in the plug instead.
So instead of the lock actual working, the eliminator has a relay that is fired one way or the other via the voltage off the plug, then on the other sensors wires, resistors that give the needed resistance voltage for the RCDLR to think that the steering column lock is in the correct position.
Hence you no longer need to worry about the gears binding up, and since it just a relay that is being fired, even a low drained battery had more than enough power to fire the relay into the correct position to give the RCDLR the needed resistance as well.
As for which, would go with the one from Ebay since that is the original designer of the device (used to work for COH and built them for them, left and COH is now having someone else build them for them instead.
