security light

2000 lumina 3.1 227,000 trouble free miles until now.
The security light came on. I cleaned the key as the owners manual suggests but the light stayed on. Owners manual says if light stays on to take it to dealer. Is there something can be done without going to the dealer >
Thanks for any info

ya. i was going to post a detailed how-to bypass security but not done it yet. Basically the contacts in the ignition lock are wore out.

correct procedure is pick up a new ignition lock (autozone will carry.... its $20-30 if i remember correctly)

so...detailed text without pics

need a multimeter set to measure resistance

measure resistance of the object (resistor pellet) embedded in the key - there is a black plastic thing in the steel part of the key, on each side is a piece of metal (the pellet).. measure both sides with the multimeter....

you will get one of these 15 values:

PASSKEY values (in ohms) | potentiometer | acceptable fixed resistor values
402 | 1k | none needed
523 | 1k | none needed
681 | 1k | none needed
887 | 1k | none needed
1130 | 1k | anything between 200 and 1.0k
1470 | 1k | anything between 560 and 1.2k
1870 | 1k | 910, 1.0k, 1.1k, 1.2k, 1.3k, 1.5k, or 1.6k
2370 | 1k | 1.5k, 1.6k, 1.8k, or 2.0k
3010 | 1k | 2.2k, 2.4k, 2.7k
3740 | 1k | 3.0k, 3.3k, or 3.6k (3.3k very common value)
4750 | 1k | 3.9k or 4.3k
6040 | 1k | 5.1k or 5.6k
7500 | 1k | 6.8k
9530 | 1k | 8.2k or 9.1k
11800 | 1k | 11k

figure out which you have using your multimeter set to Ohms/resistance. The resistance will be close to one of the 15 values in far left column.

buy a 15 turn potentiometer from radioshack
1k Model: 271-342 $2.69
if the chart above specifies you need a fixed resistor, pick up a small pack of fixed ohm-age resistors (perfect: 1/4 watt, carbon film resistor)
example: 2.2k Model: 271-1325 $0.99


use phillips screwdriver and remove the 2 screws holding the bottom piece of the dash below the steering column.
remove this assembly to expose the wires going to the steering column
locate the HIGHLY VISIBLE thin orange wire
note the black connector... disconnect this and let the orange wire hang
cut the orange wire about 4-6 inches from the black plastic connector, leaving you with a connector with a few inches of wire to work with.

connect one wire to the FIXED RESISTOR
connect the other end of FIXED RESISTOR to pin 1 of the 1k potentiometer
connect pin 2 of 1k potentiometer to the second wire.
solder connections

(if you need only the 1k pot, just connect the wires from the connector to pin 1 and 2 as label on the 1k pot)

use multimeter probes to measure resistance of your connector/resistor assembly

use tiny flat blade screwdriver to adjust resistance until it matches very closely to the resistance of your PASSKEY ignition key

reconnect connector to the car

start yer engine!







PS: here's a list of the commonly found resistor values that you can work with


1.0 10 100 1.0K 10K
1.1 11 110 1.1K 11K
1.2 12 120 1.2K
1.3 13 130 1.3K
1.5 15 150 1.5K
1.6 16 160 1.6K
1.8 18 180 1.8K
2.0 20 200 2.0K
2.2 22 220 2.2K
2.4 24 240 2.4K
2.7 27 270 2.7K
3.0 30 300 3.0K
3.3 33 330 3.3K
3.6 36 360 3.6K
3.9 39 390 3.9K
4.3 43 430 4.3K
4.7 47 470 4.7K
5.1 51 510 5.1K
5.6 56 560 5.6K
6.2 62 620 6.2K
6.8 68 680 6.8K
7.5 75 750 7.5K
8.2 82 820 8.2K
9.1 91 910 9.1K




WARNING: This will completely disable the PASSKEY security feature of your ignition lock, someone with a big screwdriver can probably force the lock and crank the car (however thieves would know which cars have PASSKEY and avoid them...)

benefit is now you can install Remote Start devices without needing any kind of bypass box.


note: if you mess something up, you can trip a security feature which COMPLETELY LOCKS OUT the ignition system for 3 minutes. just have to wait it out until you can attempt to crank again.