Security Light

Hey guys the other day I noticed the black chip had fallen off my ignition key and for some reason, the car started and ran fine for about a day or so. Then after about a day or two of normal driving, I got a SES light and a shuddering-jerk from the car. So I go home, and then the car starts two or three times and shuts back off. Now it wont start anymore and I think that it MAY be the cars passkey activating. If I get a new key with a chip in it, how much will it cost to get it cut and the security feature removed or what is the process to bypass the feature?

The last time I had to deal with a key that had a chip in it I brought the VIN number and key to a GM dealer parts dept. Through the VIN and cut of your key they can make another.
They will want to see the registration of the car and your drivers license, otherwise they won't cut a key.

There is a procedure for installing a specific resistor in one of the wires in the column to bypass VAT's, but I don't know the resistance value of that or which wire, sorry.

Oh OK I wont be bypassing anything involving electrical in the steering column lol Theres a Buick dealership around the corner from me so Ill check with them. Hopefully my key will be delivered soon. Got one uncut on ebay for $15. Now cutting it will probably $50 knowing GM...

You need to know the ohms across your old key's chip or your new keywont work. The chip is just a resistor, and the replacement has to have close to the same resistance orit won't work. That's all there is to the system. If you are making a bypass, you just put the right amount of resistance online in the wire to match what your old chip was.

Getting the replacement key cut is only about a buck - visit a locksmith or old-line hardware store and ask 'em to copy your old key.

If you go to the GM dealer with your VIN they can look up the key cut your car was originally delivered with - which may or may not be right now, if the ignition lock was replaced (replacing the switch does NOT require that you replace the lock and vice versa, they are separable and both available). They should but may not necessarily have the abiltiy to simply copy your old key. At a GM dealer that shall remain nameless the parts guys have an old Cole key machine alongside the machine for the GM keys. I never did ask where they got it from but I did ask if they also got that funky cartoony KEYS sign you used to see in the old hardware stores. They laughed.

That said - depending on the dealer, and how good terms you are on with them, and how busy they are, you may not pay very much to have that key cut. They also have a tester that will tell them pretty much instantly whether you have the right chip in your key. And maybe if you have the wrong key they will trade you...

Anyway... at one time I thought it'd be neat to get an illuminated ignition lock, like on some cars that can be made to light up with the dome lights, but I lost interest. Might be fun to ask the parts counterperson if GM ever made an illuminated lock, maybe for an olds 98 or a caddy, that could be installed in the Riv. What do you think?

Albertj

Ive seen that lock feature I think, kinda like a flourescent halo thing around the ignition? I believe it was in a Chrysler Breeze I had a few years ago (I was desperate for a car) and I believe it had the ring that glowed green

Many Chrysler columns were made by Saginaw, but I am not aware that the lock sets can be swapped. Am I missing something?

Albertj

I have an off topic question about those noise barriers in your sig- do they work and where do you install them or what materials can you use for it?

KillaKeninaRiv wrote:

Ive seen that lock feature I think, kinda like a flourescent halo thing around the ignition? I believe it was in a Chrysler Breeze I had a few years ago (I was desperate for a car) and I believe it had the ring that glowed green

I am pretty sure my 95 PA had a ignition lock light...I love PA's
Bert

Short answer: I put vinyl sheeting in to stop the sound reverberation in the trunk.

Long answer: since I could not get Dynamat in time for a few planned highway trips, I went to Home Depot and got a roll of vinyl stair runner, a can of spray cement (3m or DURO - IDR), a silver Sharpie and a roll of brown paper (some call it kraft paper, butcher paper - you'll get the point in a moment).

I pulled everything out of the trunk (the trunk liner, the spare, the trim board behind the rear seat) that was not bolted in - and then I pulled out the plastic panel at the back of trunk. I vacuumed it out and wiped it down with paint thinner (Windex or Formula 409 will work too if there's not tar to get out). Then I used the Sharpie to tap on teh sheet metal. To see what sheet metal reverberated. Bad spots for me were the spare tire well and all the flat spots in teh trunk with longest dimension longer than 4" or so.

Then I unrolled some of the butcher paper and cut it out about the size of the spare tire well, to make a pattern for cutting the vinyl. Cut the pattern so it would sit on the flat areas in the spare well and avoid the stamped raised areas. While I did that I unrolled the vinyl in the sun so it would heat up and lay flat.

Then I put the pattern on the vinyl, ribs up, and used the silver sharpie to copy it onto the vinyl. Trick here is to make the pattern first then arrange it on the vinyl so you minimize unused vinyl. Kinda like a jigsaw puzzle, fit the pieces as best you can and do not worry about an exact fit. I cut out the vinyl to match the pattern, then piece by piece
glued it in with the spray and used a rag damp with paint thinner to push it flat. The trick to gluing the vinyl in is you have to get it all glued down no exceptions. You can not have air bubbles and what not under it or the panel will still resonate just at a different frequency than before. Oh, yeah - the paint thinner gets off the Sharpie residue and glue overspray. Wear nitrile gloves using the paint thinner.

Then I got a piece of carpet padding remnant (go to a large carpet outlet, it will be cheap and they may well give it to you, get the fire resistant (at least, rated for residential use) fiber padding not the foam padding) and spray glued a big rectangle of the stuff on the backside of the fiberboard panel that goes behind the rear seat, and squares of it behind the trunk mat where Buick decided not to put padding - except not on the shock towers (yet) 'cause they don't resonate.

It made a big difference, I don't have to pay the radio so loud... heh heh... and I found out that what I thought was "drone" from the new exhaust was actually resonation.

I still have to do the passenger compartment, but for that I'm using Dynamat and maybe some undercoating spray inside the doors and rear quarters.

Albertj

Rick, surely you will know. A year or so ago there was a write up on how to disable the pass key/security system. I printed it out but can't locate the papers, and also can't find the write up on this site anymore. Was it removed? Hope not. Our 96 Riv is having problems and we want to disable the system. Thanks in advance to you, or anyone else, for your help!

Was it this one?

http://vats.likeabigdog.com/

BatMobile wrote:

Rick, surely you will know. A year or so ago there was a write up on how to disable the pass key/security system. I printed it out but can't locate the papers, and also can't find the write up on this site anymore. Was it removed? Hope not. Our 96 Riv is having problems and we want to disable the system. Thanks in advance to you, or anyone else, for your help!

this one

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t4564-write-up-no-start-3-min-delay-disabling-pass-key-ii-security?highlight=vats

when mine quit I had the dealer repair it, was not cheap... at this juncture I suspect the parts have become unobtainable new - but - did you troubleshoot it? If the ignition switch part of the system is failing you might/should just replace it and leave VATS working because even though you bypass VATS other parts of the ignition cylinder or switch will break soon enough.

Hey guys

Two totally unrelated issues here.
1) All of a sudden, after the car had been sitting for a week, neither power window will roll down with either switch. I do hear a relay-type electrical click inside the driver's door when I hit the switch. Not sure about the other side. Both windows were working fine. So it doesn't appear to be switches, motors, or fuses, and nothing has been changed-- what gives?

2) This happened years ago, and is no better or worse now-- hence why I say it's unrelated to the windows. The previous owner said that the horn was going off (alarm-style) intermittently, so he yanked the horn relay under the hood. Several issues here. One, the fuse block is melted/burned around where the horn relay had been. Two, the Security light flashes intermittently *while driving*-- I'm assuming whatever is causing this is what was causing the alarm to go off at random, but what's the cause? And why is the fuse block burned? Also, the keyless fob is not working -- new battery and I have no reason to believe it was replaced or reprogrammed. Would a missing horn relay disable keyless?

Thanks for being the most awesome car board on the web. I mean that, I've had a lot of older cars and have skulked around a lot of boards, and this one is the best.
Dave

Guys, my security light has started to come on. The duration of the on state has varied from 2-3 minutes to a full ride home from work....about 10 minutes. I have no performance issues or starting issues. Any ideas...can this problem be scanned from the OBDII port?

Bump...anybody have any ideas on this? I don't have any symptoms other than an extended security light on condition that varies in duration.

I would appreciate any shared experiences or advice.

It can be scanned, yes. You'll need a good scanner that can read the BCM. The parts store free scan cannot pull those codes.

Thx, planning on buying a wireless one for my Android... Any idea of most probable cause?

98RivOwner wrote:

Thx, planning on buying a wireless one for my Android... Any idea of most probable cause?

It's usually something to do with the key. In rare cases it might come on due to a malfunction in the RFA. I can't say until you get the codes pulled. I can't say.
It's kinda like telling a doctor that your leg hurts and then asking what's wrong with it before he has a chance to diagnose it...

Connect dots for me.... RFA = ?

Remote Function Actuator.

Key Fob security type stuff.

Thx for your help Abaddon. I'll let you know what I find out.

I'd suggest getting a new key made. My chip wore down and was setting my security light eventually leaving me stranded

Did your symptoms start out like mine.... Security light staying on for various duration s and then going out?

I had to replace my ignition cylinder last weekend and used my old key to 'bypass' the VATS system. I just taped the VATS wiring to the resistor pellet in the old key. It works fine but the security line has been solid ever since???