Help!!! Service Steering Column Lock up :(

[CCND4SPD]

Today, my 1997 C5 M6 steering column locked up. Luckily, it's in my drive way, but now I can't drive it anywhere. I looked on the net to see if there is any fixes and I found a post that read, "remove #25 fuse while the car is on." I tried that and still nothing. I looked all over the net and I hear there is a recall and then there isn't a recall. So is there one?? I'm really needing help because I don't want my car just sitting there. My display also reads remove key and wait 10 seconds. I did that and that didn't work. I don't really want to spend hundreds of dollars trying to fix this problem. Please help!

[ArmyVette]

Here's a thread from a search I conducted on this subject:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=809146

According to ChevyPartsBob (in the thread above), it covers your model year but applies only to automatic, not manual, transmissions.

You might want to do a search of your own for "column lock." You find lots of them.

Hope this helps.

[CCND4SPD]

Thank you. :flag

[Logandiagnostic]

From the NNTSA website. The recall should cover 1997-2004 models:

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

[rpuerzer]

I just checked with my dealer and they indicated that there are no open recalls on it.

It is a 2002 Z06.

[JUSTIFIED C5]

This happened to me three times, each time I got out of it by disconnecting the battery for 1hr. These problems occured on mine and some friends with C5's, we all had orginal batteries, from 98. Replaced battery and haven't had a problem since. I read some where that the old batteries that might be on there way out slowly can cause this. Hope this helps.

[e4-c5]

I have the same problem with mine. It locked up a few times when i was a little ways from home.

I Just pulled off the tilt lever and pulled down the bottom column shroud. The column lock is on the lower right side of the column, I just tapped on it a few times with the tilt lever, and turned the key, that was enough to cause it to start functioning again.

It is a stepper motor that drives the lock pin outwards, it mechanically stalls the motor when the lock reaches the end of the travel. This causes the threads to mechanically bind, so a little agitation usually frees it up.

this has happened about four times on my car, but i was able to free it up every. It only takes about 1 minute to do.

Hopefully this helps.