Can’t get answer on TheftLock 2004 Venture

I own a plain jane 2000 Venture with AM/FM only. I bought a late 2003 Venture AM/FM/Cd on eBay. I?ve been told that the dealer can attach a scantool to reprogram it to my Vin. I?ve also been told that it will only work on other GM models in the same year as the radio. The third thing I?ve been told is that it will only work in the vehicle it came out of. Who do I believe?

Reply to
compubob
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Quoted verbatum from ALLData (originally from GM service manual):

The "Theftlock" theft deterrent system is a feature on all base and uplevel radios. There is no need to program a security code into the radio as in past model years. The theft deterrent system now utilizes Class 2 serial data to determine if the radio is in the appropriate vehicle. Each time the radio receives the "run" power mode message, it compares the VIN information it has stored to the VIN information received from a module on the Class 2 serial data circuit responsible for transmitting that information. If a mis-match occurs, the radio display will indicate to the user the radio is locked. Once this takes place, a DTC will set, the radio will not respond to any button presses and become inoperative. The two scenarios able to cause this condition are:

  1. A radio is installed from another vehicle
  2. A module which communicates on the Class 2 serial data circuit which supplies VIN information to the radio is replaced and not properly setup with the correct VIN information for that vehicle

The only way to unlock the radio is by using a scan tool. Always refer to the table to diagnose the "Theftlock" DTC for further information.

Steve

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Reply to
Steve Mackie

"compubob" wrote: > I own a plain jane 2000 Venture with AM/FM only. I bought a > late 2003 Venture AM/FM/Cd on eBay. I've been told that the > dealer can attach a scantool to reprogram it to my Vin. I've > also been told that it will only work on other GM models in > the same year as the radio. The third thing I've been told is > that it will only work in the vehicle it came out of. Who do I > believe?

The radio can be programmed by a dealer, but that radio will only work on 2001+ GM cars and trucks with Class 2 data bus. The class 2 system will tell the radio the cars VIN and if it does not match, it will lock. Your van does not have the class 2 system. You may want to sell that and try to find one from a 2000 or older... Hope this helpes

Reply to
brsexton

Yet another vivid example of GM's infinite wisdom and their typical WAY over the top engineering. Here we have a (so called) anti-theft design that happens to be of more inconvenience to the owners of their cars than it is for any thief. I still say factory radios are rarely targets for theft. Where did GM get their engineers? Correspondence school? And the management teams that approve putting this stuff out!!!

Reply to
James C. Reeves

Somehow I suspect that the people who put this in place have probably done a whole lot more research into the subject than has an internet armchair engineer.

John

Reply to
John Horner

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