[gwturbo]

Recently my passkey light came on and has stayed on since. The car starts fine and runs fine. The manual says when this light is on the passkey system is not working but will not cause the car not to start and you should take it to the GM dealer. Anyone have an idea what would cause this and how to turn the light off? I researched as much as I could but never saw anything about this particular issue. I have a 95 RMW. Thanks, Glenn

 

[Goldmaster]

Check out this thread to learn more about the system...
http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=227294

 

[gwturbo]

I read that article and it is a great write up but, it didn't see the problem of just having the light come on and still be able to start the car.

 

[ledsled]

If your pass key light is on but it still starts it basically means it has the hiv. It's just the first stage. Pretty soon the condition will progress and one day you will go to start her and she won't start. The light will stay on for about 2 minutes before going off during which time she won't start. When the light goes off she will crank right up. Usually this is just a taste of what's to come and you might not have any more occurances for a while. But then this will start occurring more frequently till one day she doesn't crank right up after the light goes off, and you have to wait an additional 2 minutes. This stage is getting close to full blown aids... metaphorically speaking of course.. where she won't start up at all. Included I have attached a graphic picture of a theft-deterent-modulectomy. Some might consider it a drastic procedure and go the route of just installing resistors. I decided to remove it cause I didn't feel comfortable leaving a diseased part in my other wise healthy car. She deserves better than that. Also just know you are not alone, everyone with a B-body must one day come to term with this dreaded disease.

 

[gwturbo]

Thanks Ledsled, that's the info I was looking for but really didn't want to hear. Is doing the modulectomy easy enough to do? That makes good sense to just remove it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[ledsled]

Once you get it all figured out it's as easy as pie, but I don't know sh*t about cars and all the research and help I got was people that knew their way around a car so was pretty confusing. First thing you have to do is get your vats system disabled on your pcm. If you haven't already had it tuned by pcmforless what a great excuse to go ahead and get it done! Frees up some horsepower, your trans shifts so much nicer, and your electric fans come on at a lower temperature keeping your engine cooler among other things they program. I think they have a group rate going on right now on the forum so nows the time. Hands down one of the best mods and first mods you should do. You can go ahead and disable your VATS and your AIR. Next step you pull out your tdm. Its under the dash between the brake pedal and parking brake. When you lay on the driver floor board and look up, after removing the trim that's in the way, you'll see a black plate held in with two screws. Remove the screws and pull out the two wiring harness that are going to it and take the plate out. Thats what I'm holding in the picture is that plate. The tdm and the relay module sit on top of it. Mine said Bosche on the relay and the tdm. Now just remove the relay module from the plate, pops right off, and reinstall it. The relay is the one that looks like a cube. The tdm is the bigger skinnier box. Now just take a wire and jump slot A4 to B5 on the green male plug that went to the tdm. And you're done. I should warn you, your car is now easier to steal I guess. Imo though if you are really that worried with your car being stolen you should have an aftermarket alarm anyway, or rig up a way to disable you car that's quick and easy when you park it somewhere you are not sure of. You should also learn kung-fu and carry a gun in case they are mad they couldn't steal it and wait for you to go to your car. .. Included is a picture I took with my head on the driver floor board looking up, x marks the plate with the tdm on it.

 

[gwturbo]

Great info. Thanks Ledsled. If I run into problem I may get back to you. Thanks again. Very much appreciated. Glenn

 

[ledsled]

No problem.. I'm just bestowing some of the knowledge Gerry gave to me.

 

[Mr9two9]

Ledsled thanks...I did it in about 20 min this morning (vats had been removed from my pcm prevoiusly) No resistors just a jumper wire. I will cut/ splice the two wires a4-b5 together so I dont have to worry bout the jumper coming loose.

 

[bob441]

I have done this eo my car

And i have a issue with jumping the small to the big wire, while this should not be a issue in regular starting I think it could be if you had to crank for a extended period!! something to think about if you have to crank it for a long time

 

[josephchevy5596]

So this should work on my 94 Fleetwood also right

 

[josephchevy5596]

Gotta update for u guys, how about i programed out vats on my Fleetwood a long time ago to day i was tryin the solution in this post to fix the problem since the keypass light has been comin on. Then i realized that doesn't work on a Fleetwood. But i unpluged the small wiring harness that goes through the steering column to the key switch and crazy thing it still started and ran fine. From the looks of it once u disable it it's done no more key problem but the body control module still looks for the key and trips the light on even thou it's bypassed. my solution next is to take the bulb out, no more light.

 

[gwturbo]

Isn't the correct fix for this problem to replace the ignition lock cylinder? Of course you would then have to have a new key made with the correct resistor to match the new cylinder. Spoke to a long time Buick mechanic who said he has changed out dozens and dozens of these and corrected the problem and left the security features in place. Not trying to criticize anyones ideas, just an alternative for leaving it as it was when new.

 

[dg2394ss]

i have remote start on my impala, and the pronlem wit mine was that the resistors for the remote start came loose wich made the car think that it had the wrong key all the time. if you have remote start get that checked too.