6ftpaomp

I bought 2002 chevy venture with no radio in it, but I also bought a damaged 2002 chevy venture that has a radio in it. The owners manul say that if you remove the radio it will lock itself out and will not work in another van. Is there a way to unlock the radio? The radio has a combination of cd/cassette player along with RDS. If anyone knows how to unlock the radio would be greatly appreciated

dogcity123

Per my owners manual you can not unlock this radio unless you have the secret code. Sounds lock it's a THEFTLOCK radio and once the code is set by the programmer you can not unlock it. Does the letters SEC or LOC show up on the display of the radio?

6ftpaomp

Yes,it is a THEFTLOCK radio. I went by the dealership today and the service man could not unlock it. The word displays " LOCKED" on the radio.Is there any luck about unlocking the radio?

ike4014

I bought a used radio off ebay from a guy that works at a junk yard who sells hundreds of used radios. but doesn't unlock them he says go to the dealer and get them to do it. But your saying the dealer can't unlock it? Am I totally screwed also or what? did you ever get it unlocked?

6ftpaomp

I did not put the Venture in service in order for them to unlock it. The service writer just sit in the car and try to unlock it himself. He did not say anything about me have to leave the car here in order for them to unlock it.

Hotwheeled

I bought a radio from Ebay for my 2000 Venture. My old radio was only AM/FM and I wanted a cassette player. Radio install was simple, took 10 minutes at most. Two screws on the moulding and three screws on the radio. Use a phillips screwdriver. Radio and Cassette worked fine until I cranked the van, then it locked up. Display read "LOCKED", not "LOC" like older radios, but the clock still worked which I set before it locked up. I then took it to a Chevrolet dealer and the mechanic used an OTC TECH 2 scanner to unlock it. No VIN or unlock codes were needed. The TECH 2 scanner is a $4500.00+ scanner and the menu function read "Setup Radio". It took him less than 2 minutes to unlock it. Unlocking radios does not seem to be standard knowledge in this area, and the mechanic was surprised when it unlocked. He must have pushed the correct button on the scanner and didn't know it. This radio is a Delco with RDS on the face. The act of pressing keys on the face of the radio to get secret codes do not apply to this RDS radio. I suppose it applies to earlier pre 2000 styles. I bought this AM/FM/Cassette radio on Ebay for $5 plus $15 shipping and gave mechanic $5 for unlocking it. Total investment $25.00. Some service departments will try to charge you $75 to hook their computer up to your car and unlock your radio. Now, tell me, who is the real thief of the ThiefLock system?

jamx13

I have a 2000 Venture with an AM/FM radio. I want a CD player & looked into aftermarket, but was told that the vehicles system warning sounds are somehow run thru the factory Delco radio. If I wanted to have warning sounds, an additional unit had to be purchased along with the aftermarket radio/CD. To me, that news made a Delco unit the thing to have. I've been keeping an eye on eBay, but in the meantime, have done a little research about unlocking...see if either of these links are of any use to you

http://www.migpc.com/Modifications/R...radio_fix.html

http://p204.ezboard.com/fmikemerritt...opicID=3.topic

kidfam

On my van the sister Silhouette I had to take it to a GM dealer to unlock it. After they do make sure they give you the code and write it down somewhere where you can find it if it happens again. Either that or reset the code to something you'll remember.

Note: A GM dealer CAN unlock if. If they say know they're a lousy dealer

radioo

Only a GM dealer can unlock the radio.

It is much smarter to disable lockout entirely, with MP3/WMA, DVD and XM-ready stereos, the regular CD, cassette, and radio-only units aren't so hot.

The following applies to an unlocked powered-on radio (2000 shown)

1. Do not disconnect the battery

2. Press the stereo's "1" and "4" buttons at the same time for five seconds with the ignition on and radio power off. he display will show "SEC", showing anti-theft is on

3. Press the MN button, the display will show "000"

4. Press the MN button until he last two numbers are the same as your secret code (how do you find this? you decide the code?)

5. Press HR until the first one or two numbers displayed match your code. The numbers will be displayed as entered.

6. Press "AM/FM", if the display shows "_ _ _ " you have disabled Theftlock, if "SEC" is shown, it is still in Theftlock

kru

radioo - The instructions you have posted are for the pre-2000 Venture radio (and most other GM radios from the 90s) Starting in 2000 on the Venture, there is a data line between the radio and the car's computer. The VIN is assigned to the radio. If it doesn't match the VIN in the computer, the radio auctomatically locks. The dealership must re-assign the VIN using the Tech 2 device, as alluded to above. If the radio is an upgrade (CD when you only used to have cass, for instance) there is some additional programming required to make the computer see the new radio RPO code.

And yes, certain functions are lost if you remove the factory radio. It has more affect in some GM vehicles than others. GM has done an excellent job of making it difficult for people to go with aftermarket radios. Personally I think they look like crap in most vehicles anyway, so I won't shed a tear. Unfortunately, the process of swapping radios seems to be a mystery to some dealerships. Part of it is because there are compatibility issues between years and models but part of it is ignorance or lack of training on the part of the mechanics.

www.replacementradios.com has a bunch of factory radios, in both the new and old styles. You might check it out if you're in need...

Huney1

I found this somewhere, I think it was in this forum, and don't know if it works or not.

The following procedure will give you a new code that you can use instead of your personal code. Using this new code, you can “unlock” your radio and then “re-lock” it with a new code if you wish. Prerequisites: The radio must be in LOC mode NOT in INOP mode. Let me explain. If you have activated the Theft-Deterrent feature of your radio and loose power, the radio goes into LOC (theftlock) mode. With the ignition on, you must use the MN and HR buttons to enter you personal code in order to unlock it (The instructions are on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual). If you fail to enter the correct code eight (8) times, the radio goes into INOP mode. You have to wait an hour with the ignition on before the radio returns to LOC mode (go for a long drive somewhere).

Procedure:

01. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

02. Hold down the Radio Presets 2 and 3 buttons for six seconds

03. The radio display changes from LOC to a three-digit number. Write this number down. Don’t take forever, fifteen seconds max before the next step.

04. Press the AM/FM button

05. The radio display changes to another three-digit number. Write this number to the right of the first one.

06. You now have a six-digit number, the first three digits are from STEP 03 and the last three digits are form STEP 05

07. Call 1 800 537 5140 08. Press 1 then # (pound). You’ll hear “Invalid Code, try again”

09. Press 139010 then # (pound). You will be asked to enter your four or six digit code followed by * (start)

10. Enter the number from STEP 6 then * (star)

11. Listen to the four-digit number and write it down. It will be repeated twice

12. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

13. Use the MN and HR buttons to enter the code from STEP 11

14. Press the AM/FM button. The radio display changes to SEC Your radio is now “un-locked” and usable. The Theft-Deterrent feature is STILL active! If you want to disable it, use the instruction on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual. Use the code from STEP 11 instead of your personal code.

Note: This tip originated from LOTZAHP, Austin TX (credit must be given where credit is due). I verified it on an Y2K C5 with a locked radio - mine.

kru

Huney1 - Those instructions are also for the pre-2000 Venture. Years vary for other GM models but every GM model now has the radios with the new Theftlock that assigns the VIN to the radio.

You can go to www.replacementradios.com and see radios for just about every GM model. If they're the new computer-integrated radios, it says it in the description. Years and models are listed, so you can see when the cut-off was for each vehicle.

Huney1

OH, I see. Didn't know that kru and thanks for the heads up.

I asked my Chevy service writer about it and he said they get radios in locked and the techs are the only ones who know how to unlock them, so he gives them the vehicle and they take in back and fix it and it's OK.

kru

Anyone with a Tech 2 device can re-assign the VIN. Not just the dealer. However, they cost about $3000, so the dealerships and large service garages are usually the only ones who have them. Service garages are less likely to be doing the radio reprogramming on a regular basis though, so they're probably more likely to not know how it's done. Of course, I've run into several dealerships that can't seem to figure it out either...

Huney1

Chevy service writer said the techs know how but they won't tell anyone else.