Column Lock...car won't start
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Joined: Jun 2000
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St. Jude Donor '03-'06-'08-'09-'10
Column Lock...car won't start
I went to jump in my car this morning to pull it out to wash it. I jump in, push the button and nothing. The car tried to crank for about a second then nothing. I'm not getting the "Service Column Lock" message and the "No FOB Detected" message. I checked the battery and it's at 10 volts. I've read a couple of other threads that a low or dead battery could cause these problems. Does anyone have any ideas? 
I'm a little upset and have no way of getting to work in the morning.
I'm a little upset and have no way of getting to work in the morning.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,588
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From: Port St Lucie Florida
I had the same problem. Dead battery, no FOB detected and column lock message. Jump started it(battery read 5 volts) Took it in to chevy. They charged the battery and found nothing wrong. I got home and pulled out the infamous relay #46 from the fuse box next to the battery and it has been two weks and all is well.
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St. Jude Donor '03-'06-'08-'09-'10
Originally Posted by 6speedC6
I had the same problem. Dead battery, no FOB detected and column lock message. Jump started it(battery read 5 volts) Took it in to chevy. They charged the battery and found nothing wrong. I got home and pulled out the infamous relay #46 from the fuse box next to the battery and it has been two weks and all is well.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Tucson AZ
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
I've read a lot about DBS and relay #46 on the forum....while I haven't personally experienced DBS, I'll admit the discussion surrounding DBS and relay #46 were compelling enough for me to give it a shot, since my car sets in the garage a lot (not my dd). Pulled #46 out about a month ago. After 4-months of ownership, still no indications of battery problems what so ever to date. Guess time will tell.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Tucson AZ
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Its actually for pop-up headlight washers that you only find on the European models. However, for some reason, the US models also have the relay installed, but as you know, without the pop-ups. Long story on the theory, but if you do a thread search you'll see various opinions on how it could possibly be linked to DBS....open circuit, blah,blah,blah.
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St. Jude Donor '03-'06-'08-'09-'10
*UPDATE*
Went down to Sears and picked up a battery charger. Did the slow charge at 2 amps for a few hours. Car cranked right up with no problems. My biggest headache is the fact that the car wasn't sitting for a period of time. I drove it Thursday. IMHO the battery should not have gone down that fast.
Went down to Sears and picked up a battery charger. Did the slow charge at 2 amps for a few hours. Car cranked right up with no problems. My biggest headache is the fact that the car wasn't sitting for a period of time. I drove it Thursday. IMHO the battery should not have gone down that fast.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,588
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From: Port St Lucie Florida
Originally Posted by NavyC5
*UPDATE*
Went down to Sears and picked up a battery charger. Did the slow charge at 2 amps for a few hours. Car cranked right up with no problems. My biggest headache is the fact that the car wasn't sitting for a period of time. I drove it Thursday. IMHO the battery should not have gone down that fast.
Went down to Sears and picked up a battery charger. Did the slow charge at 2 amps for a few hours. Car cranked right up with no problems. My biggest headache is the fact that the car wasn't sitting for a period of time. I drove it Thursday. IMHO the battery should not have gone down that fast.
I drove mine on a Friday then went to start it on Sunday morning and it was dead! As I stated before I jumped it took it to chevy and they didn't find anything wrong. I Pulled the 46 relay and it has been fine since!
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St. Jude Donor '03-'06-'08-'09-'10
Originally Posted by 6speedC6
I drove mine on a Friday then went to start it on Sunday morning and it was dead! As I stated before I jumped it took it to chevy and they didn't find anything wrong. I Pulled the 46 relay and it has been fine since!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,412
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From: Bluffton, SC
Whatever is causing the battery drain seems to be a very intermittent problem. Some of us have never had any battery issues at all, even under severe conditions, while others have had theirs go dead for no apparent reason. Granted, some may be caused by driver error (with the MN6/reverse situation), but certainly not all. There's also the possibility that some are related to interaction with other devices. Unfortunately, this still leaves a large number of these cases with no obvious explanation.
The #46 relay solution is interesting, but I don't believe any measured drain has ever been associated with that relay being in place. If removing the relay works, it works, but nobody seems to know why. It sure would be nice if someone would actually be able to isolate and replicate this problem...so far, no one has been able to do that.
At this point, I'm one of the lucky ones who's never experienced a dead battery. I do not have OnStar, NAV, or the XM installed. I've had the car since late October and it lives in an unheated garage in the coldest part of New England. It would be great to know why some batteries fail, but it would also be wonderful if we knew why the others didn't.
The #46 relay solution is interesting, but I don't believe any measured drain has ever been associated with that relay being in place. If removing the relay works, it works, but nobody seems to know why. It sure would be nice if someone would actually be able to isolate and replicate this problem...so far, no one has been able to do that.
At this point, I'm one of the lucky ones who's never experienced a dead battery. I do not have OnStar, NAV, or the XM installed. I've had the car since late October and it lives in an unheated garage in the coldest part of New England. It would be great to know why some batteries fail, but it would also be wonderful if we knew why the others didn't.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Red Wing MN
In at least one case, Relay #46 was implicated in higher than normal current draw: "...Total parasitic draw was 128mA. The relay was removed and the draw went down to 10mA."
See: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=996635
See: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=996635
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St. Jude Donor '03-'06-'08-'09-'10
Originally Posted by Norske
In at least one case, Relay #46 was implicated in higher than normal current draw: "...Total parasitic draw was 128mA. The relay was removed and the draw went down to 10mA."
See: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=996635
See: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=996635
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2004
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Battery Dead
I had my car sitting for maybe 5 days and went out and the battery was dead. Jumped it off with ground to engine block and it ran great. Will try the #46, while it doesn't make sense, I really don't want to get stranded. Any other thoughts or fixes anyone knows of from GM?
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,912
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From: S.D. CA
I've had my car for 8 months. My car sits in the garage from sunday night till friday night every week. I haven't had the problem yet. When I get out off the car, I make sure the steering column is locked.
