540 vette

Well I pulled the plug and bought an 05 6 speed. Nice car. 29264 miles. Haven't brought it home yet but as I test drove it today I noticed the service column lock up on the DIC. I had the same problem on my 99 automatic and put the bypass in and all was fine. I thought GM would have solved this problem. I did some research and came up with a bypass or the GM fix. Also what is sudden battery drain syndrome? I know every time I went to look at the car in the dealer it was dead. And just about every other C6 I looked at. They just said someone forgot to put it into reverse. Could the battery being dead be the problem with the service steering column alarm.

Dano523

Would charge the battery, then have it load tested.

Parasite draw on the C6's is a thing, and could be a bad/low voltage glitched module that is not going to sleep when comanded by the BCM when the car is shut down, or could just be a corrosion problem cause the same. Low down, when you shut the car off, BCM will send the command to all the modules for them to go into sleep mode and once they are asleep, then should be less than a .2 amp demand on the battery when car is shut off.

So back to battery, once pulled, charged, tested, if it is good still, before you put the battery back in the car, touch the cable connector wires together on the car away from the battery, to drain all the voltage of the module, so when the charged battery is reconnected, will hard rest all the module/ may solve a low voltage glitched module problem.
Note, when you reconnect the battery, will need to re-index the windows.
If not, then will need to do a paritite draw test on the car, to find the module (S) that are not going into sleep mode when the car is turned off, and then why as well.

As for the steering column lock service problem, and GM TSB #18-NA-346, and dealer will charge about $450 to do this.
The short version, Dealer pulls apart the steering column to change locking plate to a non locking plate, then refashes the BCM to stop the BCM from using the system in the first place. Gm no longer has the parts to replace anything in the SCLM or lock itself, so the solution was to just de-active the system isntead.

540 vette

Do you think the battery just kept dying because it was sitting on the showroom not being used. And that caused the steering lock problem. Can I also get the bypass I had one on my 99

gdmoore01

I believe the '05 is the one-off model year where the manual transmission had to be parked in reverse or it would put a drain on the battery. If this is the case, someone will confirm. Might be that the dealer doesn't know this.

GD

Dave S

Absolutely correct.... 2005 MN6 & only the '05, must be in Reverse before shutting off ignition. Otherwise not all electronics shut down & battery will drain overnight.

loragen

Seems ridiculous to be talking about a manufacturing defect in an 18 year old car (2005 M6). But I see that I am not the only one still dealing with this. There are probably only a handful of '05 M6 owners still out there, so I apologize for keeping this ancient thread still active.

Years ago I installed a Column Lock Bypass module. It worked a few years. Then about two years ago the failure-to-start situation started ocurring again. Usually got around this by disconnecting the battery for a few seconds, then reconnecting (not sure why). Pulled the CLB, returned to manufacturer who assured me there was nothing wrong with it. Installed and tested again with and without CLB; problem still there. Does not appear to be an electrical connection issue. Built my own CLB from (15-year old) schematic found in forum archives. Did not solve the problem. It used a locking relay and was probably correct for a late C5, but not the '05 C6 M6 (Y Car) even though it shares much of the C5 electronics.

Finally solved the problem in simple way: Inserted a DPDT push button in the purple-green (unlock) circuit path so that I could manually unlock by powering the motor directly from 12V source when the button is pushed. When button is released, everything is back to stock with purple connected to SLCM. This works perfectly and even retains the functionality of the steering locking upon shutdown. The push button, discretely located next to the START button on the dash provides an additional measure of security since it must be pushed before trying to start.

But while driving, the SERVICE COLUMN LOCK message reappears in the DIC every 5 minutes or so. Pushing the DIC reset button cancels the message, but later it reappears. No effect on the column lock or anything else; just the SERVICE message. Seems like the SCLM is still reporting something wrong with it when periodically queried by the BCM while driving. The microswitch is fine since it confirmed the UNLOCK state when the motor was forceably unlocked by the pushbutton, allowing the engine to start and continue to run. The only solution I can think of is to replace the SCLM, even with a used one having a defective UNLOCK driver circuit, a likely cause of this entire problem. But even salvaged SCLMs are no longer available. So I just live with the annoyance of the DIC message, and am in the habit of resetting DIC if I actually want to see useful information from the DIC.

If anyone has any other ideas, or has attempted to troubleshoot and fix the SLCM, or has an old SLCM I could try to substitute for mine, I would greatly appreciate it. This has been a frustrating mystery too long now.

Thanks much.

Dano523

On the 05, steering lock has the set of wires to work the motor, then set of wires to ohm reading for which postion the lock is in either all the way in, or all the way out( 294ohms/487ohms). If the lock does not fire fast enough (no ohms when the lock is between these two potions), then you get the service message. So old solution to them problem, get the lock into the unlocked postioin, unplug it from the SCLM, then replace the lock with a elimitor, which was a latching relay, that would give the needed OHM reistance for which way the it was fired, to make the SCLM happy as if the lock motor had fired fast enough to get the locking bar into the correct postion instead.

As for why the lock will not fire fast enough,

Plastic gears in the lock that start to bind up, and which the lock does not either fire all the way each way, or not fast enough instead.

So you can pull the lock apart to play with the gears, or maybe even replace the motor if its bushes are about worn out, and that would at least solve the actual lock problem not firing fast enough (until the problem comes back again), or just install a lock eliminator to fool the SCLM instead (run around $80).

But, with the age of the SCLM module itself, may have problem with its board, or better yet, one of the relays contacts about worn out, and why the motor is not getting enough power in the needed direction instead.


So since GM no longer has the replacement locks, nor the replacement SCLM, they came up with the TSB to solve the problem isntead. If you want to do the work, the replacement column plate is less than $20, or you can machine the old one in to the new one, and TDS charges $40 for a 24 month account per vin, to use TDS SPS to re-flash the BCM with a tech 2 or clone so the steering column lock system is not longer used in the car (parts left in place, just not used).
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=..._&opi=89978449

540 vette

Thanks for the help guys. I spoke to the dealer and he said a new battery seems to have fixed it. Only time will tell.

loragen

"So since GM no longer has the replacement locks, nor the replacement SCLM, they came up with the TSB to solve the problem instead. If you want to do the work, the replacement column plate is less than $20, or you can machine the old one in to the new one, and TDS charges $40 for a 24 month account per vin, to use TDS SPS to re-flash the BCM with a tech 2 or clone so the steering column lock system is not longer used in the car (parts left in place, just not used)."

Thanks so much for your reply! I was not aware that GM had finally admitted that there was a defect 15 years after the car was sold. (I filed a complaint with the NHTSA circa 2009, and found others also.)
Per your suggestion, I went to the ACDelco TDS site and am about to order this:

Service Programming System (SPS2) - 1 Vehicle Qty: 1 $45.00

But now the dumb question: This seems to be a software patch service only. I do not have a Tech2 diagnostic tool. Can the BCM reflash be done without "dealer-only" hardware? I do have an SCT Handheld PCM Programmer for the Corvette, and will buy a different programmer if necessary. (My aversion to local Chevy dealer service is well-justified, stories not worth repeating.)

Thanks again!
Art

Dano523

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=..._&opi=89978449

Click the above, and see that you need to either change or mod the lock ring in the column to start with. Once that is done, then TDS for the SPS firmware flash of the BCM

As for flashing, enough people have VX gm nano's, and if you check around, may be able to hook up with someone local that has one (or hand held tech 2 clone), and they can use your TDS account to flash the BCM with it.
Hell, I now for a fact that you can even use a clone GM mongoose with TDS once you load the mongoose software as the pass through device, so would check to see if you do already have a pass thought tool that will work with TDS to flash the BCM via TDS on line as well.

As for SCT Handheld PCM Programmer, not sure that one is going to work for the needed pass through device between the laptop and the car, since does not have the needed software to work with TDS to begin with. So that note, if you are looking for a clone Tech 2 to own, then best will be the VX GM nano, since it not only works with the older tech2win, pass through for SPS, but works with the newer GDS2 for newer cars as well. Hence is a MDI clone of what the dealers are now using, and the needed software is just run on the laptop in the first place (free to add in most cases as well)..

loragen

Just ordered a VX GM Nano. Thanks so much for the info!
Art

digimc

It was my understanding that you could flash the BCM with the CLB installed thereby eliminating the need to tear into the column to replace the ring since the flash takes all SCL components out of the picture. Am I correct? If not it wouldn't be the first time.

Dano523

Yes, you could go that way, but want to make sure that steering lock is in the unlocked position,and just unplug the lock connector from the SCLM.
The glitch would be someone pulling the cluster, seeing the lock connector unplugged down the line, plugging it back in, and having the lock crap out in the locked position at a later date. So for me, since I do have a mill, and its not that hard to pull the locking ring in the first place when you have the needed tools, forgo the oem non locking ring for $20, and just mod the old ring into a no locking ring plate instead.

digimc

Wow, thanks for the prompt reply Dano!

Several years ago I followed your posts regarding a clone Tech2 build on a W10 laptop with W7 virtual machine installed. I got to the point where I needed to buy the pass through and then sold the car. So, that project went away. Crazy as it may seem, the guy I sold the car to only put 1000 miles on it (30K total today) and decided he had other priorities and was selling the car. He called me to see if I wanted it back. I really liked the car but had long forgotten about it. I have had many, many classic cars including 7 Vettes in my 73 years. After making certain that it was in the same order that I sold it to him I bought it back four weeks ago for an attractive price. However, now I find myself being nagged by the prospect of being stranded by the issue although it never presented itself. I bought the Compliance Parts LMC6 SCLB several years ago but never got around to installing it before selling the car. I thought I would do that this weekend since I am probably on borrowed time with a 20 YO car and original everything. I must admit that the lack of availability of many crucial components on these cars is causing me to have some level of "buy-back" remorse. It was the reason that I sold some other cars in the past. A subject for another thread may be the question of what is to happen to these cars in the near future. I long for the return of my '67, 327/350, 4sp convertible. I never got a call to buy that one back but probably would pass since I have no interest in spending nearly six figures.

As far as seeing the lock unplugged the proper thing to do would be to tag the plug with a note "WARNING, DO NOT PLUG BACK INTO MODULE!"

Dano523

The Windows 7 32 bit part (which you can can turn 16 bit driver suport), was only for TIS2000 build in VM, since it runs 16 bit drivers, and VX manager drivers no longer work with wiindows XP.

As for myself, 63 in my past, and sold it since at the time, was a daily driver,was running it in SCCA, with parts where getting hard/expensive to find.
The funny one, had a chance to buy a 300sl around the same time for under 20K, but passed on it for the same reasons.

As for now since still run road course'g, If I can not yard sale crash it and not have second thoughts, then no reason to own if in the first place.
So when it comes to leisure cruising for pure joy even now, give me a Harley touring bike and open road any day of the week.

digimc

[QUOTE=Dano523;1607843064]The Windows 7 32 bit part (which you can can turn 16 bit driver suport), was only for TIS2000 build in VM, since it runs 16 bit drivers, and VX manager drivers no longer work with wiindows XP./QUOTE]

I stand corrected. It was an XP VM that I put on that laptop. In any case, it seems more cost effective to have the dealer flash the BCM rather than invest in the pass through device (Nano?). The down side is that I won't have it for future diagnostics.