Ken
Long time......Need some info/help. I have 2002 Coupe out of warranty. Battery went dead...charged it up, and saw "check steering wheel column".....pulled into garage, steering wheel not locked. Saw post in Forum which stated pull fuse #25 and all will be well.
My question is: are 2002 coupes prone to this problem also, why has GM continually let this problem exists year after year???

What are the tech bulletins or recalls on this, as a dealer what would you do....does GM have a fix or should I buy column kit and fix it myself.

I would hate to go on a trip come out and can't drive my car....any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm on the road in Dallas, car at home in garage waiting patiently.

 

Hello!

Thanks for your post and questions. I am sorry to hear of your trouble.

I will ask Robert to post an answer to this thread as he has all of the information on the latest recall!

Ken Fichtner

 

Tony,

We visited on the phone about this a little while ago. I suggested you contact GM about the recall before you pay for anything out of your pocket. Let me know what they say.

Bob :flag

 

interested in knowing how this finally turned out

i have a six speed 04MY and no problems yet. considering buying a bypass kit and installing it . . . that just gets rid of an anti-theft deterrent device which is undesirable. is this a case where the computer is going to keep the device locked because the voltage dropped below a specified level ? Then GM decides to cut off the fuel in case it does lock. The root cause remains and places people at peril for an problem and unwanted expense to be towed to a dealer.

Is the cause of the problem low voltage or computer not capble of being solved ? I am not sure I understand the problem.

 

I have a call into Chevrolet Tech and will see if I can get the exact specifics out of them on the recall. I will post back here later today what they tell me.

Bob :flag

 

bob,
do you have a telephone number at all for those of us wishing to contact GM about getting our cars in for the recall? i don't understand, some say the dealer can't disable the column lock, some say they do? is that true? or do we have to purchase column lock bypass switch? thanks

 

I'm going to try to answer everyones question with one post. The steering column lock recall is for 1997-04 C5's with automatic trans. only. The recall adds a harness kit with a relay that basicly bypasses the electronic column lock system. Due to a parts shortage availability GM is doing the recall in several phases. The notifications have started with the 97 model year only. Notifications will follow as more parts become available. Chevrolet tech said all notifications should be out by mid to late summer. Now comes more confusion: I have one bulletin that says 1997-2000 automatic trans vetts, and 1997-04 manual trans. vettes for the recall. The actual recall bulletin we have says 1997 automatics only except export cars. Chevrolet technical assistance says 1997-04 automatic vettes only. This is part of the confusion, everyone has different information from GM. At this time Chevrolet Tech. says theirs is the latest, which is automatics only 97-04 . If we dealers can't get straight info from GM it makes it difficult to give you the straight info. If you have any questions on whether your car is under the recall or not. There are three ways to find out. One is just wait and see if you get a notice letter from GM. The second is have your dealer do a VIS on your car. They will need your vin # to go into the GM web site to check for any recalls. The third is to call Chevrolet Customer Assistance at 800-222-1020 . They will also need your vin # to run a recall check on your car.
This is the latest information I can get out of GM at this time.

Bob :flag

 

geeeeeez.....leave it to GM to make a bad situation worse than it is!

Thanks for the clarification Bob....I see your position....

 

Hey Bob: I took your advive and called GM Customer Assistance. They only have a recall on 97 to 2000 model years. Seems pretty confusing. I haven't experienced any problems yet. 03 vert with auto trans. Maybe someday the General will get it straight.


Chevrolet technical assistance says 1997-04 automatic vettes only. This is part of the confusion, everyone has different information from GM. At this time Chevrolet Tech. says theirs is the latest, which is automatics only 97-04 . If we dealers can't get straight info from GM it makes it difficult to give you the straight info. If you have any questions on whether your car is under the recall or not.


[Modified by denali, 9:12 AM 6/1/2004]

 

I have found out that untill your years notice goes out, your car will not show up on any recall list. That is what my Chevrolet Rep tells me anyhow.

Bob :flag

 

Thanks.

 

I called Chevrolet Customer Assistance @ 800-222-1020. Information that was given to me.

* Electronic Lock Column System
* Recalls will be mailed on June 16th
* For 1997 to 2004
* Applies to 94,000 automatic & 46,000 manual
* Tech Service Bulletin: 01-02-35-008
* Recall Number: 04-006

 

Time to just bypass the POS and get on with life. You would think that this problem would be resolved way before the model generation comes to an end...
Simply amazing...
mike

 

 

I just verified this with that number and I recivied the same info, calling my dealer now to sceduale an appointment

THANKS!

 

Ok, so the dealership just told me the person on the phone made an error and my VIN doesn't come out to be part of the recall. I'm PISSED Just fore-warning everyone that thinks this will fix them

 

CoRpSeMa,

Please email me with your VIN and let me look into this!

kenfichtner@fichtnerchevrolet.com

 

I'm not sure where the "only on automatics" comes from, however I have a 1999 6sp coupe and had to have my car towed about every two months. Had the recall done, had steering column parts replaced on two seperate occassions, nothing worked. After paying for a tow truck 3 times, luckily happened in my driveway every time, I bought the after market device for $50.00 and my husband installed it. I haven't had any problems since. If I had known about the part I would have done it after the recall didn't work. I could have saved myself a lot of aggrevation and money. I wrote a long letter to GM and was contacted and given 12 months or 12,000 miles of free oil changes. It's not nearly what I spent out of pocket but at least they contacted me and offered me something.

 

From the NHTSA website. The recall should cover 1997-2004 models...autos and manuals:


Make: CHEVROLET
Model: CORVETTE
Year: 2000
Recall Number: 04V060000
Summary:
ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRONIC COLUMN LOCK SYSTEMS (ECL), WHEN THE IGNITION SWITCH IS TURNED TO “LOCK,” THE ECL PREVENTS TURNING OF THE STEERING SYSTEM. WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STARTED, THE ECL UNLOCKS THE STEERING SYSTEM. THE VEHICLE IS DESIGNED SO THAT IF THE COLUMN FAILS TO UNLOCK WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STARTED AND THE CUSTOMER TRIES TO DRIVE, THE FUEL SUPPLY WILL BE SHUT OFF SO THAT THE VEHICLE CANNOT MOVE WHEN THE VEHICLE CANNOT BE STEERED. IF VOLTAGE AT THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE IS LOW OR INTERRUPTED, HOWEVER, THE FUEL SHUT OFF MAY NOT OCCUR AND THE VEHICLE CAN BE ACCELERATED WHILE THE STEERING SYSTEM IS LOCKED.
Consequence:
IF THIS OCCURS, A CRASH COULD OCCUR WITHOUT WARNING.
Remedy:
ON VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, THE DEALER WILL DISABLE THE STEERING COLUMN LOCK BY REMOVING THE COLUMN LOCK PLATE. WHEN THE IGNITION KEY IS REMOVED, THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER WILL LOCK BUT THE STEERING COLUMN WILL NOT LOCK. ON VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A MANUAL TRANSMISSION, THE DEALER WILL REPROGRAM THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE, PERFORM A DIMENSIONAL CHECK OF THE COLUMN LOCK AND, IF NECESSARY, REPLACE THE LOCK PLATE. THE STEERING COLUMN ON THESE VEHICLES WILL CONTINUE TO LOCK WHEN THE KEY IS REMOVED. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON APRIL 26, 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-630-2438.
Notes:
GM RECALL NO. 04006. CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).


Logan Diagnostic http://www.airbagcrash.com

 

this exact thing just happend to me w/o warning. very pissed off. you will never imagine the b/s i went through at the dealer. :mad i talked to gm customer asst. tell me my year is covered take it to dealer they want 500 bucks. apparently there was a recall back in 99 and my car was fixed. what i think is that gm is now relizing this very costly problem on there hands thats why you go to dealer and its not showing a recall because gm is slowly sending out there notice. after about 10 min of bitching i asked to speak to service mgr. he told me that he has heard of this recall but still not listed for my car. i then said i'm never bringing my car back here and then he folded and said he would fix the 535 dollar repair free of charge said thank you and walked out happy as could be. but if this happens again i will start to wonder what kind of crappy parts gm uses in there top of the line sports car. i paid a lot of money for this car and dont want the steering to lock up that is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of. just imagine this costs 500 times the amount of vette's sold which is a good high # that is a lot of money even for them