Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Any automotive savvy FReepers? Have question about GM Passlock2 system
10/26/09 | Self

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.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 1999; bravada; oldsmobile; passlock
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-57 next last
Thanks for your comments. Even clever, silly replies are welcome. I need a good laugh after being late to work an hour this morning.
1 posted on 10/26/2009 2:06:30 PM PDT by library user
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: library user
Even clever, silly replies are welcome.

Before it became Government Motors, it was known widely as General Mistake.

2 posted on 10/26/2009 2:08:16 PM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: library user

When is the last time you changed your Johnson rod?


3 posted on 10/26/2009 2:08:45 PM PDT by earlJam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: library user

When in doubt, disconnect the ground terminal from the battery for about 5 minutes.

That should reset everything back to factory specs for you.


4 posted on 10/26/2009 2:09:16 PM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: library user

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.


5 posted on 10/26/2009 2:09:47 PM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Erik Latranyi

I was going to post the same thing.

Don’t know if it will work, but....


6 posted on 10/26/2009 2:14:10 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (I am Legend)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: library user
I have a 1999 Olds Cutlass. Occasionally have had unexplained problems trying to start it, usually shortly after shutting it off, on short errands. After waiting awhile, it will start. I have no idea whether it has this Passlock deal you mention. I have sometimes gotten it to start, when finicky, by taking the keys out and re-inserting, just a different “touch”. It has never been a huge problem that has left me stranded anywhere. Perhaps it is the same kind of thing?
7 posted on 10/26/2009 2:16:30 PM PDT by NEMDF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Petronski

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.


8 posted on 10/26/2009 2:17:19 PM PDT by library user
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: library user

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)?


9 posted on 10/26/2009 2:17:47 PM PDT by When do we get liberated? (STATE CONTROLLED ECONOMIES SUCK ! LONG LIVE AMERICA.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: library user

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.


10 posted on 10/26/2009 2:17:50 PM PDT by ColoCdn (Neco eos omnes, Deus suos agnoset)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: library user
I've seen Passlock2 bypass kits (relatively cheap), as well as remote start kits that include the bypass.

Example, found on Amazon.

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.

11 posted on 10/26/2009 2:18:37 PM PDT by Zeppelin (Keep on FReepin' on...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Petronski

no seat sensor in that model. Does not know how much you weigh.


12 posted on 10/26/2009 2:20:08 PM PDT by When do we get liberated? (STATE CONTROLLED ECONOMIES SUCK ! LONG LIVE AMERICA.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Erik Latranyi
When in doubt, disconnect the ground terminal from the battery for about 5 minutes.

That should reset everything back to factory specs for you.


I would think the same thing. I work at an auto parts store, I'll check around with my people and the places I deliver to, see if they know anything.
13 posted on 10/26/2009 2:20:12 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (Woodrow Wilson should have been waterboarded.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: When do we get liberated?
Does not know how much you weigh.

Well thank GOD for that.

Whew.

14 posted on 10/26/2009 2:21:19 PM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: NEMDF

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.


15 posted on 10/26/2009 2:21:55 PM PDT by library user
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Petronski

LOL!


16 posted on 10/26/2009 2:23:32 PM PDT by library user
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Erik Latranyi
When in doubt, disconnect the ground terminal from the battery for about 5 minutes.

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.

17 posted on 10/26/2009 2:25:13 PM PDT by rightly_dividing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Zeppelin

That looks great. Thanks.


18 posted on 10/26/2009 2:25:35 PM PDT by library user
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: library user

Had a 1995 Monte Carlo. Mechanic put in new resisters into the ignition switch.


19 posted on 10/26/2009 2:26:18 PM PDT by Bluebeard16
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: library user

Sounds like it might be a sticking mechanical switch (like the shifter lock-out on the brake).


20 posted on 10/26/2009 2:26:19 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (FreepMail me if you want on the Bourbon ping list!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-57 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson