When I put my key in the ignition and turn it to on, I get an error message saying that the theft protection is activated and try again in 3 minutes. After many tries (even with spare keys) the same error occures. I am unable to start my Eldorado. Has anyone seen this before???

Welcome to AF. This could be a problem with broken wires in the ign key cyl. (I assume this is the type with the chip in the key?) Post back what type system this has, I am not sure myself.

This is the type that has the resistor in the key. I towed it to the local Chev. dealership and they didn't have the where-with-all to find any problem. Not much confidence in their abilities. lol

Ok, there is a way to pin this down..There are 2 small white wires that come out of the bottom of the steering column, not the air bag connectors with the gold color. If you test the resistance of the key s chip with an ohmmeter, you can make up a resistor from a pack you can buy at Radio Shack and jump that between the body side of this connector. If it starts you need a new key cylinder, everyone out there in the dealership repair industry knows this procedure.

Thanks I will try this during the weekend. If it works I will probably leave the resistor in there until I can find a key cylinder. Thanks again. I will post the results when I get this fixed.

i have a 93 eldorado i just had the same problem with. i bypassed the system with the resistor as already said. i did it myself and it was really pretty simple with the right instructions.

check out this site....has best instructions i could find.
http://vats.likeabigdog.com