2000 Alero no crank - toggle switch

First off - Hello everyone. I just discovered this forum yesterday. :bigthumb: After reading hundreds of posts related to my problem, I knew my solution could be found here. Over time, I hope I'm able to provide information back, that will further increase the weath of knowledge that this forum taps into.

I'm your basic backyard mechanic that does a lot of favors for friends, especially with car trouble. :) So, a friend of mine calls me about this 2000 Alero that won't start. I go over there and try all of the obvious things, and I determine that it's a problem with the starter because I hear the famous clicking sound. I decided to try to power up the starter with a screw driver (since I saw how conveniently located it was) and bam, it started right up.

After I knew the starter was fine. I was suspicious of the ingnition switch and so forth. I checked the voltage at the starter solenoid while turning the key to "start". It read 2 volts at the most, only for a fraction of a second, then it would return to zero. That's when I started reading the AF. I was surprised to read about all of this Passlock stuff, but I knew something was different with this car because the security light was not flashing, the 10 minute reset procedure didn't appear to do anything, and the car would run fine (getting fuel) once I started it with the screwdriver.

I was just about to drive it to Autozone to check the codes (SES light is on) That's when I looked under the dash and noticed a little toggle switch. It caught my eye because it looked out of place and I knew it wasn't stock. It looked just like the ones I've read about. I also read that it might not be the best solution to the Passlock problem. I was a little apprehensive about flipping the switch, because I read about wiping out the BCM if you disconnect the battery with a toggle switch installed. I had disconnected the battery many times at this point, but I decided to go ahead and flip the switch anyway. The car started right up.

That's when I joined the forum. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Should I just give the car back and say, "Flip this switch when it does it again." Or should I further investigate the resistor method that I've read about. (poncho)?

Thank you everyone !

Jeff

2000 Alero
3.4L SFI engine
106000 miles

Personally, I would highly recommend the resistor method. I've had it installed for almost 2 years now, and have had no problems at all with it. It's pretty easy to do, and very cheap.
The resistor method will result in your security light being on all the time, but the cluster is easy to remove and take apart to get the bulb out.

So, what are the drawbacks of the toggle switch? What circuit does it close/open? It appears to me to be completing a ground. What position should it be in normally? I'm inclined to just leave it as is because there's no security light, and car seems to be functioning perfectly.

i have one on my car as a fail safe if some one trys to steal it with out the toggle on it wont start