Service column lock.....again!
 

Hello everyone.
For the 2nd time in 5 months, I`m having to tow my vette into a dealer for column lock issues. 52,000 fairly problem free miles and now this.
So I suppose I have to fork over money for another towing bill.
Yesterday it was running fine and today this. Seems quite sudden. Is there anything I can check before having it towed. Battery is new and on charger.:willy:

You can try to forcefully jerk the steering wheel left and right until it unlocks. I did that at a car auction with a c5 once and it worked.

you need to have the lock replaced. i had mine towed 3 times (under warranty) before they finally changed the lock. havent had any problems in 3 years.

I have been currently having this problem with mine, there are 2 ways to get it started.

1. If the message center says “service column lock” I can usually take the load off the wheel (and locking pin) and then push the start button at the same time and the car will start.

2. Sometimes the wheel does not lock and the car does not start, I get no message on the information center and the battery voltage is fine. When this happens I disconnect the positive battery cable, touch it to the negative cable for 10 second, then reconnect it. This clears out / resets everything and the car starts. You may need to cycle the switch twice to get it to start, but usually when you reconnect the battery, you hear the lock motor cycle and the car will start on the first try.

Do that, but sometimes you will also need to disconnect the battery (carry a 10mm box end.) The car is programmed not to start if it detects a malfunctioning SCL situation. This programming was the response to all the C5 that would allow you to drive with an SCL failure. With my 05', they had to replace the whole SCL system to fix the problem.

Mine does it every time the car sits out in the sun for a while and the interior gets warm. Jerking around the steering wheel gets it going every time. I'm going to order the part and take it in (module has to be programmed) when I get a chance.

This weekend I removed the outer section of the locking ring for the column lock in hopes that the solenoid locking pin would not bind up, unfortunately this morning I had to do the battery disconnect trick to start the car. Battery voltage was at 12.66v after sitting in the garage all night. I will post pictures of my modifications when I get home, apparently it did not fix anything but at least it will give everyone a visual of the column lock.

What price did you get on the module? The local dealer here (Kenny Kent Chevrolet, Evansville IN) stated $430 for the part. I did not know that it had to be programmed, I was hoping it was plug and play:toetap:

Got it! Rattled the steering wheel back and forth and she gave in. I`m thinkin the cars been sitting to long in the garage. Maybe if there is any lube on the lock its getting gummy? I don`t know. This was fixed before. And the car does not get driven much lately.
Thanks guys for the input

Glad it worked out for ya.

It's 148 bucks from Gene if I recall. I was hoping it was plug and play too, as you have to disassemble the dash to get at it, which is labor intensive. A buddy of mine is a chevrolet tech and he said because it's part of the antitheft system, it has to be "'set up" with the car, much like the radio.

http://www.gmpartshouseusa.com/partl...layCatalogid=0

I cannot believe this is still a problem; GM Engineer's=worthless

When you can't engineer something correctly, lobby the goverment to let you build the car without it:rofl::flag:

:iagree:

Here's the modification I thought would help:

Before,
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d.../C6/column.jpg

After,
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/d...C6/column1.jpg

Good to hear you did not have to tow it, I have been able to get mine to start everytime, just have to do the steering wheel wiggle or the battery disconnect dance:willy:

Just curious: is this happening on all C6's or just manuals, or just autos. Really thought I was rid of this problem after selling my C5. Have not seen it yet on the C6.:toetap:

That's good stuff. Unfortunately, with the majority of failures on the 2005, its seems as though the problem is not the pin getting stuck, its the module that controls it that ends up on the fritz.

On C6's my understanding is it's just the 2005 manual transmission cars.

Thanks. Was not sure I'd be happy with an auto this time after having an MN6 '99 model, but I'm now getting happier with the AT all the time.