removing stock radio

I had a few questions regarding the beloved theftlock system in the 2001+ models. I have read all i could in the forum and have found that the radios identify part of the VIN number from the vehicle. I am removing the factory radio to put in a kenwood and had wanted to disable the theftlock first and going by the haynes manual stating that the first step is to hold down the 1 and 4 buttons to start the process. This is not doing anything so my questions are:

1) Being that the radio recognizes the vin did GM do away with the security codes from thereafter?

2)Is not having theftlock disabled going to disable my car should i take the radio out as is?

You don't have to disable it, just put in your kenwood and you shouldn't have any problems.

If your security feature on the radio is enabled, you should dsiable that or your stock radio will not work in the future.
You'll know if its enabled if when you shut off the car the red light on the stereo flashes.
You realy cant disable the passlock system anyway.

i know the theftlock is enabled but the procedure to disable it doenst work. Dont bother with the sending the steps b/c i saw the your post on another xero and its the same as the haynes manual thats why i was wondering if you could even disable the newer radios due to the vin coding they would only work in one car anyways.

No what you need then is the 3-4 digit number that was used as a password to enable the lock.
If you didnt enable it, then the previous ower probly put in some code.

Might try a random number like 0000 or 1111 :dunno:
Other wise as soon as you disconnect the battery or the radio,
it will be locked up and the read out would probly say "loc" or some other error code and it wont work.

The Vin realy has nothing to do with the radio.
If unlocked it would work in any 99+ grand am.
Good Luck

well you might be right on the VIN deal but it was unhooked today for an hr or so then i hooked it back up without it locking up on me and i know the theftlock was and came on as soon as i plugged the radio back in so there is something different with my radio from the older ones. What exactly that is I am not sure of but something different nonetheless. But it does explain why i couldnt deactivate it, nothing happens as long as i plug it back into my car. If you plugged it into yours who knows. it might work it might not but thanks for the help anyways.

So the 2001+ might be different then the 99-00.
But they all work the same way.

So now you know that you shouldnt have any troubles with an aftermarket install :thumbsup:

nope no problems outside of mixing and matching a matrix harness due to the fact that i dont have the money to spend on the interface yet. Out of curiousity im probably going to hook my factory radio back up in a week just to see if it still hooks up or not. Make sure there is no backup battery or anything holding the memory.