95 Cutlass Theft deterrent problem

[meadow4]

All of a sudden my 95 cutlass won't start. The security light is flashing on the dash. I read the manual and it said try the other key which didn't work and change the fuse which also did not work. Is there a way to just disconnect the theft deterrent system? We only need the car running until Dec. when we will buy my dad's. Any advice or help? I refuse to put anymore money into this car as it has 180,000 miles and has run perfect until this.
Thanks in advance

[ponchonutty]

Originally Posted by meadow4

All of a sudden my 95 cutlass won't start. The security light is flashing on the dash. I read the manual and it said try the other key which didn't work and change the fuse which also did not work. Is there a way to just disconnect the theft deterrent system? We only need the car running until Dec. when we will buy my dad's. Any advice or help? I refuse to put anymore money into this car as it has 180,000 miles and has run perfect until this.
Thanks in advance

You have the famous PK2 antitheft failure. Do a search on here and you'll see all kinds of people with the same thing. You can do this to perminatly bypass the system. For the mean time, you could just skip the wiring part and leave the ignition on for 10min. to see if it'll then start....
OK I've read the service manuals, and it sure seems doable. This should cure any problems with the antitheft kicking in and not allowing the car to start. This is also a far better way than installing a switch like so many have done on here before. Now, remember this is free advice so I'm not responsible for anything that may go wrong with you trying to do this....

You cut the RCode wire and wire a (PL2 acceptable) resistor across the the cut wire and the PL ground. A resistor that would be within the normal range for the passlock system this could be almost anything since there is a very broad range for this. When doing remote starters, I've seen these be anywhere from 1,000 to 56,000 ohms. Now this proceedure is how to replace and program a new cyl. lock yourselves without having to go to the dealer for them to "unlock" the system.

1. Attempt to start car; it will crank and fail, with the security light flashing. Leave the ignition on for 10 minutes, until the security light goes out.

2. Repeat step 1, two more times.

3. Car should now have learned its new key cylinder, or in this case, new resistor.

[Boardmann]

Thanks for the info ponchonutty, however, I have the lower dash removed and I can see wires trailing down the column and I do not see a red wire. Am I in the wrong place? Should I be looking somewhere else for the theft deterrent system? Thanks for your help, any addtional information would be appreciated.

[ponchonutty]

Sorry about that. I misread what year you have. You have the VATS style unit with the black pellet in the key. What you need to do is meter that pellet to see what the resistance is. Once you get that value, goto Radio Shack and get a resistor (you may need a few to get close to what you need. Also, it's better to be a tad higher than lower in value. So, if you need 860ohms and can either get 855 or 870, it would be better to go with 870)

Then, under the dash you'll see what looks like a decent sized orange wire that kinda goes towards the middle of the dash like it's going into the heater/ac fan area. Well, that's not one wire but 2 tiny white wires. You can follow it to where it goes to a 2 pin plug. Those are the VATS wires. Unplug or cut the wires and put the resistors inbetween the wires THAT GO INTO THE DASH and not back to the column. You'll need good quality barrel connectors or solder then and then wrap them with shrink tube or 3M Super 33+ tape.

Should be good to go. I have a '01 Firebird comming in the shop with the same problem Friday.