2001 Impala Security Problem

[mlorbeck]

Has anyone had a problem with a 2001 Impala not starting due to a security issue? I was fooled by the problem at first and thought my car didn’t want to start because the battery was dead or low due to the sub zero weather in the past week.

Here is the condition. Try to start the car and nothing happens except for the standard dash indicators come on. The Service vehicle soon and security lights alternate between one another in the message center. I thought it was the battery so I replaced it. That wasn’t the problem because the same thing happened again. It seems to be security related hence the light flashing. When you open the door the dome lights don’t come on the power locks don’t respond and the headlights don’t work even when you manually try to operate them.

The temporarily solution that I stumbled upon was to hit the remote keyless entry lock or unlock buttons. Then the car blinks the headlights twice and the dome light comes on and everything works again. The car will even start. This is really frustrating. If you turn the car off and try turning it back on 10 min later everything is still ok. It seems like if you leave the car for more then 15 min and try to start the car without first hitting the keyless entry lock/unlock buttons the car falls back into its dumb stupor.

Thank you in advance,

Matt

[lovemyimpala]

I am having a similar issue. My security message has been coming on. Once it flashed between it and the battery (battery is fairly new and was well charged) and it locked up the radio too. The next time it happened I was driving for a little bit and the security message alone came up. Has your car ever not started because of this and has it gotten worse, what have you found out?
Thanks for your help
Melinda

[djspecialk]

I had the same problem. I changed the battery and it changed nothing. I finally admitted defeat and went to the local dealer. It was because I used a key copy and it fried the ignition system. They had to replace every wire from the cyclinder back. It was pricey but it hasn't screwed up since!