Posted on 10/26/2009 2:06:29 PM PDT by library user
Please pardon the vanity, but having non-mechanical trouble with a 1999 Bravada and am trying to find a fix.
A lot of GM vehicles from the late 90s and early 00s have a built-in anti-theft security system called Passlock or Passlock2. When a problem with this system occurs, you may not be able to start your car again for 30-60 minutes (the car's computer essentially thinks a thief is trying to steal the car).
The cost to fix this problem is not exactly easy or cheap, so I figured I would ask if anyone else here has had a similar problem.
I have two keys and they both cause the problem from time to time.
After the car wouldn't start today due to this Passlock problem, I finally got it started by following this procedure:
1) Got out of the driver's seat and closed the driver's door
2) Opened the passenger side door and reached across and put the key in and turned it and the car started just fine.
Is this some kind of fluke, or maybe the seat has a sensor and if it picks up something more than 100 lbs. it stops the car from starting, whenever this glitch is active?
I've scoured the internet automotive forums and there isn't much advice on what to do.
I just don't understand why this Passlock thing is not consistent. For weeks everything will be fine and then out of the blue, I have to get creative on how to get it started.
Again, this is a problem with the car's computer and not a problem with the engine, etc.
Unfortunately, taking a bus or having a friend temporarily give rides to work is impossible as I start at 3:45AM and no one else I know has to be up at that hour.
Before it became Government Motors, it was known widely as General Mistake.
When is the last time you changed your Johnson rod?
When in doubt, disconnect the ground terminal from the battery for about 5 minutes.
That should reset everything back to factory specs for you.
On a hunch, I suggest you have them check the integrity of the driver side seat sensor, or look on-line for methods (hacks) to disable the system.
I was going to post the same thing.
Don’t know if it will work, but....
Thanks. Yeah, I looked online for hacks (for the last couple months, actually) but a lot of them involve taking things apart and cutting wires. Not too confident to do that, unfortunately.
As for a “driver’s-side seat sensor” I’m not sure one exists! I think maybe I was just lucky.
It should only kill it for 10 minutes, sometimes it just seems longer....Does your key have a prominent black resistor built in (passlock) or a larger than old style head with no visible resistor (Passlock2)?
We’ve gone through the same thing with our 2004. Scoured the internet looking for info, with little luck on the so-called solutions. The best analysis I saw was that some of the components to the Passlock electrical assembly were cheap, got filmed over or corroded or oxidized or something, and would only intermittently recognize the signals that it’s supposed to interpret for the sensor to accept and allow the engine to start.
We’re waiting for another couple of weeks to get the sensor replaced by a friend who’s a mechanic at a dealership.
Good luck. These things alone have caused me to swear off Government Motors forever.
I have a '97 Z28, and I believe '98 was the first year they put Passlock in the Camaro. I could be wrong about that, but I know I've never activated it or had trouble starting my car. Anyway, sorry if I'm not much help.
no seat sensor in that model. Does not know how much you weigh.
Well thank GOD for that.
Whew.
Yeah, sounds very similar to me.
I usually can restart the car successfully after 10-20 minutes, but today, I had to wait about an hour.
In a Bravada manual I saw online, it said some variations of Passlock require you to wait 40-60 minutes to restart your car successfully. That seems pretty long to me. A thief would probably have given up long before then.
LOL!
On my wifes 03 Buick, that will trigger the anti theft system on the radio and lock it off. Guess how I know this! The dealer wants nearly a hundred bucks to reset the radio. I know that there is a simple fix, but dont know what it takes to re-set the radio myself?
Be cautious about messing with the electronics unless you are sure of the fix.
That looks great. Thanks.
Had a 1995 Monte Carlo. Mechanic put in new resisters into the ignition switch.
Sounds like it might be a sticking mechanical switch (like the shifter lock-out on the brake).
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