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2000 Malibu Passlock II Issue

Hi, all;

My 2000 chevy malibu has the infamous Passlock II system where the guts of the system are in the hall effect transducer in the back of the cylinder.

I've had the car for about a year; occasionally over that time, the "Theft System" light would come on while I was driving, but never flashed. Today, twice while on my way to work the light came on after driving just a few feet. Never had any problem starting the car until today.

Went to lunch. After lunch, the car cranked, but would not fire. I do NOT recall at what point the "theft system" light came on, but after a few cranks, it sank in that this was more than just not giving it time to crank. At that time, I noticed the theft system light was flashing.

I got out the owner's manual and learned about leaving the switch on for up to 10 minutes, then turning it off, then attempting a start. I did not leave it for 10 minutes, but after about 4 minutes just decided the heck with it. Turned if off, pulled the key out. Put the key back in, and it fired right up. The rest of the day (about 6 attempts), it starts after only a fraction of a second cranking.

So... my question is: Do I fear that this beast will let me down such that I bite the bullet and replace the lock cylinder and transducer, or did the reset procedure really work?

Thanks; Carl

Reply to
Carl Orton
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Hi Carl

My wife is experiencing a similiar issue with he Alero, Your vechile is equipped with a passlock 1 or 2 system, You may on experience this problem once, but more likely it will get worse. I am an electronics technologist and am working on a simple fix. Your key actually is part of the security system providing a resistance to the security module where the reading is compared to previous readings, If you experience this problem again try cleaning your key with a non conductive electronic cleaner(spray the key till it is soaked and repeatedly insert it in ignition switch. the is clean key and switch, failing that does not resolve issue there are ways of bypassing the security system both permently and temporary, there are modules used for remote starters that will by pass the system. But dont feel confident that the problem has gone away , like i said im still working on a permanent fix to this issue. Let me know how it works for you

Rob

Reply to
Rob

The key is not part of the PassLock II system. The sensor is in the cylinder. The key is just a regular old double sided key without any sort of resistor.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

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