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Originally Posted by Hearts88
No offence, but what does the miles of the car have to do with the Chip?
What he is referring to is that on the ignition key on some of the Lumina's there is a black "chip". Electronic chip. When you insert the key not only do the tumblers have to line up for the key to turn but the "programing" on the chip has to match whats inside the sterrring column.
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That "chip" is nothing more than a resistor pellet. There are 15 different resistances used by this GM VATS system to combine with about 10,000 different key pinning combinations to make a thief's job that much harder. There is nothing in the column-mounted lock cylinder but a pair of leaf contacts to connect to the resistor pellet on the key. The wires from this run down the column to the BCM.
Try cleaning the leaf contacts in the lock cylinder with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol. Make sure the ignition key is clean. AVOID any type of spray lubricant in lock cylinders, since these only tend to gum up and insulate the contact leaves. Lock sylinders should ONLY be lubricated with powdered graphite - That goes for the door and deck lid locks, too.
Beyond cleaning the key and contacts, you can check the connector at the base of the steering column, or start diagnosing the VATS using the factory troubleshooting procedure.