mrlmd

10 days ago I was fussing inside my car with the door open for 30+ minutes on and off, hooking up a hard wire connection to my rear view mirror for my radar detector. I started the car and ran it for a few min on and off, then didn't use it for over a week. Yesterday when I went to start it, it was absolutely stone dead, the battery was down to 5-6 V. There were no lights left on, the radar detector was connected to the mirror wiring but was off. I tried to charge it with my regular 2-8-12amp charger but could never get it over 11V and if you let it sit overnight it again was down to 6 V in the morning. Charging it for another 4 hrs. got it up to 11.4-11.5 V again and reads "weak" on my load tester. The battery is just over 3 years old, but I guess it's either possible that it got so severely discharged that now it's toast, or that it just decided to crap out after three years. I couldn't start the car with a lithium jump starter battery thing (Genius Boost) that has always started any car with a dead battery, maybe because it was discharging into such a severely depleted one, but I did start the car easily with a jump from my Suburban, After starting it I got the Service Column Lock message which clears with Reset on the DIC. I drove the car for about 20 miles trying to see if my car's charging system (with a higher output) could revive the battery better than my charger -- when I first started out the DIC battery voltage read 13.4V with the engine running, and after 20 miles it came up to 13.7-8. All the memories work but I still get the column lock message, even with 12.9 V on the DIC with the engine off. Is my car smarter than I am telling me to just go out and replace that battery, or, how long does the computer take to reset this message so I don't have to do it every time I use the car? (BTW, I already have the LMC5 installed for over 4 years with the brown wire mod and there have been times I haven't driven the car for 2 weeks without ever having a battery problem).

1999corvettels1

Take the battery to be tested at autozone or whatever parts store near you.

Still have any warranty left?

What kind of battery is it?

mrlmd

I'm going to let it sit for a few hours and measure the voltage again and then overnight and see what happens to it. If it drops, I'll get a new battery, It still has 2 years life left on a prorated warranty, came from Walmart with a 5 year warranty. I don't think all of a sudden I have a parasitic draw from somewhere, but maybe I'll have to investigate that too.
My main concern was how long that message hangs around after you restore battery voltage. How long does it take for the computer to reset or how can I help it?
I don't think my car had any column lock work done on it, either by GM or the PO, and it had no problem when I installed the LMC5 prophylacticly 4 years ago.
8vette7 - I will contact Richard if the problem doesn't resolve, and where is that relay - under the driver's knee dash pad or in the passenger footwell?

mrlmd

IIRC. I think I disconnected that relay when I put in the LMC5, I'd have to go and look.
I just went down to check on my battery voltage and before starting the car, on the DIC it read 11.4V. The car started and immediately it went up to 13.4V. I would guess I need a new battery and I'll probably do that tomorrow. If I can start the car, I'll drive the 20 miles or so to the store, get it load tested (should be charged as well as it's going to be after that trip), and probably wind up with a new battery.. We'll see if the message goes away after that.
Once the battery voltage drops to what the computer considers a critical level, that's probably when that message gets initiated.

Vetteman Jack

mrlmd

This AM the battery voltage on the DIC was at !1.4V, the car started OK and I drove about 20 miles to the store for a potential replacement, I again had the service column lock message which I reset. My battery was up to 12.4V and checked bad on their tester so I got a new one, and saved $33 on my remaining warranty. so it wasn't so bad. And now that service column lock message is gone, so it appears the car is a lot smarter than we think - it knows and tells us when to replace the battery, before we get stuck somewhere. Hopefully it will stay at normal voltage and I don't have some kind of parasitic draw I will have to track down. There are no noises inside the car with everything off, and that''s a good sign.

Gordy M

When the battery voltage before you start the car is lower than 12.5V you more than likely are going to have trouble with something in the electronics. Quite often it is what you are experiencing, sometimes the 2 mph cutoff for those who had the GM column lock recall, plus other problems. Get a new battery since yours is not holding a charge. Many times I have not started my C5 for two weeks and still had 12.5-12.7V on the battery. Years ago, I had everything for column lock installed but my battery was going--ended up with the 2 mph cutoff problem. Fortunately I have EFILive so I reset it to 256mph. If you really want to find out the condition of the battery test for voltage and reserve capacity (RC). When buying a new battery I would suggest an AGM battery with 800+ CCA and RC of 110+ (GM recommends 120RC I believe.
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mrm13

Don't mean to highjack the thread, but I don't see any sense to start a new thread since I had almost identical issue just three days ago. I did not drive (or even start) the car for almost 4 months. Naturally, the car did not start. My charger, which is some generic brand, which I don't remember charging for over a year, jumped the car without a problem. Drove it half a block and noticed that the fuel gauge was on empty. Stopped at gas station and shut it off. Of course it did not start, but a guy with some small v6 jumped it without a problem. Ever since, every start it displays "service column lock". Mine is a 2000 Coupe 6sp. What should I do?

friou

As already mentioned above, contact Richard at Compliance Parts. No use guessing and spinning your wheels. Richard, in my humble opinion, is a wizard in diagnosing and offering the proper advice and procedures to get the job done. Good luck to you!