1998 Corvette Service column lock
 

I have a 1998 corvette that is a collector. It has been sitting for 3 months and when I went out the battery was dead. I charged it up fully and went to start the car. Got the message "service column lock". It was locked until I started the car and then it wasn't. But the message still comes up all the time. When it comes up now I simple reset and it goes way until I turn the car off and back on again. I've read many things about this but nothing explains what I am seeing or how it is behaving. Sounds like a security issue as I get once in a while to pull the key out and wait 10 seconds.

I stopped by the chevy dealer and asked if anyone there could tell me and they went blank.

Steve

Welcome to the forums. I find it hard to believe the chevy guys wouldn`t look up any service bulletins. not very helpful I would say. Sounds as if there were bulletins. Zip corvette has parts to fix that issue I found I will post there literature..
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f145831afb.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...48aea8ef87.jpg

Sorry I'm not a mechanic but I have read all about the bypass. But my problem as indicated in my question is NOT that the column locks but that the message is displayed. When I actually start the engine the 'lock' message is still displayed but the column is NOT locked and functionality is normal. It is only locked when i turn the key to on and no engine started. Almost seems like a bogus message. Or a message that is telling me it is currently locked. But again when I start the engine - it is not locked. I simply hit the reset bottom and message goes away until the next time I start it up.

Ok Steve is what you are wanting to know is why the message is staying on till you cancel it, good question. I`m curious if this problem existed before the battery went dead,which the steering lock control can cause? I`m not sure if a code reader would help or pulling fuse 23 out for a few minutes. It does act like it has a minor error in the system. There is an item on amazon LMC5 not sure you would be interested in that. Sounds a lot like a sensor position, (Maybe) Have you done anything in the steering column recently? Has this car had the steering lock worked on? GM campains maybe? GM would have a record of that. A chevy shop or a tuner shop should have the abilty to read your computers for errors.

Thomas - I've had the car for 2 years now and have never seen that 'service column lock' before. There are times I get the message to remove the key and wait 10 seconds - but never the column lock one. Only showed up after the battery went dead. Car acts normal with respect to the column when I start it. I just hit the reset buttom to remove the message otherwise I could drive around as normal even with that message displayed. I may try and remove the fuse 23 and reseat it to see if that works. I've also seen others (youtube) who have remove 23, 25, 29.

Steve. I would try pulling fuses first. and maybe hooking in a code reader to see if anything is there. Sounds like there is a small drain on the battery, might be worth checking out. I had a small drain on my 77 after a few weeks the battery had low voltage, ended up installing a battery cut off switch and using a trickle charger if it stayed idle for more than a few weeks. So far no problems. I think the radio was drawing most of the power, demanding memory I guess. Thats the problem with battery cut off switches you lose your radio presets sometimes. I am wondering when you recharged the battery if it was disconnected at that time?. And did you use a high amp charge setting with the battery connected? I`m just guessing at what could have thrown your system out of wack. There has to be a trail in the ecm or bcm memory somewhere. There is a reason for everything, not always easy to find or fix

I generally have a trickle charger on it. But got hit with a health issue in June that has taken my mind away from most things and failed to keep up with it. Just now returning with a momentary break and getting caught up with things. The dealership had no clue and didn't even suggest bringing it in. I'm going to try pulling those fuses to see if any solution as soon as I get the energy to get on the floor. Thx

Good luck with your health. If there are any other chevy dealerships near you , you might try talking to them. Some service Managers can be Dicks sometimes. Or find out who the regional manager is and contact that person for answers.

Pulled 23 and replaced with no change. Just thought I'd let you know. I may bring it into the dealership sometime. Car functions normally with that message still there and a reset to get rid of it after starting engine. Thanks for the information.