Steering column lock bypass gremlin...

Well I am REALLY puzzled......

When I bought my '02 Z06, I got the SERVICE COLUMN LOCK message every time I started it up, and I could move the steering wheel freely when the key is removed. I just figured the previous owner had installed the bypass. Well I had my Z at the Chevy dealer's place the week before last getting headers installed and a few other odds and ends. When I got it back, I noticed I wasn't getting that DIC message any longer. Didn't think about it much at the time. Well today yesterday I went to the grocery store and when I shut off the motor, I just happened to turn the wheel slightly, and *click* I heard it lock. Now what the hell? These cars don't just spit out mods or heal themselves, do they?

Anyone EVER had something like this happen to them? I can't imagine the dealership just REMOVED that bypass....... :NoNo:

But I guess a phone call is in order to talk to the vette tech to see what he knows.

Yeah, I'd like to know the answer to this one. I know the dealerships now have the factor go ahead to remove the column lock completely, but I doubt they'd do it w/o letting you know and I don't think you'd hear the column lock after the fix . I'd love to know what's up..............Tom

Rich

If you never heard the steering column teeth engage before you took it in for service. I would make a call and see if they disconnected the bypass.

Jack

I tried calling on Wednesday but the vette tech guy was in a class. I'll try again today (Thursday).

But to answer your question, NO, the lock never engaged before and I ALWAYS got the message to SERVICE COLUMN LOCK. So something DEFINITELY changed.

I just can't imagine they would have disconnected it without asking me about it. When I first went in there when I got my Z, they asked about doing the first recall, but warned me that it would wipe out any mods I had in my PCM. I declined because the lock was apparently disabled anyway.

What are the odds that it REALLY was broken? Since it was like that when I got it, I just assumed the CLB had been installed by a previous owner and never really looked (whereever the heck it might be) to be certain.

Are you sure they didn't do a reflash?

Jack

gsjack said:

Are you sure they didn't do a reflash?

Jack

Click to expand...

No, not at all. But I think the vette tech wouldn't have done it without asking me. He's a pretty straight up guy and told me from the beginning that he thought my Z already had a custom tune done to it before I got it. But even so, unless someone removed the CLB, would a reflash have made any difference to the CLB itself?

Speaking of which, do any of the tuner packages have the capability of defeating the code for the column lock routine? It's just a program, after all, so I can't see why it can't be disabled in the code. All someone would need is the source code (or a disassembler version) and a machine code editor. Obviously the code can already be manipulated quite a bit by the tuning programs, so it is just a matter of knowing which values to change or patch around.

Rich do you know if the CL recall reflash was done on your car before you bought it?
And to answer your question about disabling the CL thru tuning software, no.
If you are sure you have a CLB, i have no idea why the steering lock mechanism is now working. Unless it was messed with and disabled, wish i could help more.
Keep us updated...

Jack

Well I spoke to my vette tech today and he says no, he was never anywhere near the steering column. So I really don't know what happened. I don't know for a fact that the CLB was in there, as I just assumed that since the steering column did not lock and I got the SERVICE COLUMN LOCK message every time I started up the engine that it was put in there before I bought the car. I thought that this was the standard symptoms you get with the CLB installed. If I knew where the thing is located and it isn't too much trouble to check, I guess I could look. Of course, I have no idea of what symptoms you would get if a CLB were to fail, but I wouldn't think it would be that the car would just revert back to the way it was before it was put in there.

Would the first recall reflash create the symptoms described above?

Anyway, I noticed that as long as I don't try to turn the steering wheel after I turn off the ignition, the column lock does not engage anyway, so I'm not sure this is even going to be an issue. Not unless I am overlooking some potential problem that is not immediately obvious to me.

Rich

Do you hear the locking pins engage when you turn the ignition off?

Jack

I see this is an old thread but I started a thread today about the column lock problem in the C5 Vettes that I don't think was addressed here. Sorry if my new thread is redundant.