Twice in the last week, I've had something strange happen. After making a short trip with my 94 RMW, stopping, placing in park and shutting off, returning a few minutes later to find that the car wouldn't start. Everything seems completely normal. All electricals work normally - bright lights, full fans, etc., just no starter motor engagement - not even a click. In both cases, after sitting for a few minutes, it started right up. I've read elsewhere this can happen with a faulty pass key. Anyone here ever experience this and know how to diagnose the problem?
A buddy of mine had a 96 Buick Roadmaster sedan that he bought new in 96 ( he was 29 at the time and was likely the youngest buyer of a new Roadmaster). He had it for many years. I do remember that he told me one time that there was a "chip" in the ignition key that went bad and he couldn't start the car. The car didn't "recognize" the key. I recall that he had to get a replacement key from the dealer. I would have expected that he had more than one ignition key, so maybe instead of the key going bad, it could have been the part of the ignition assembly that actually "reads" the chip in the ignition key. If you want me to find out more, I can call him tomorrow and ask him for more specific details. I'm sure he'll remember. I think I remember the car being less than 10 years old at the time. When the car was almost new, he bought some reproduction "GS" emblems and installed one on the trunk lid and one on the grille. Alot of people thought it really was a Roadmaster GS. Somewhere I have video I took of him running the Roadmaster at a drag strip. One thing that he enjoyed was pulling up next to my 68 Charger RT at a light in heavy traffic. When the light turned green, he would squeal the tires just a little, and I would look around and see disapproving stares from the drivers of other cars. They all just naturally assumed it was me and my Charger that was squealing the tires rather than the sedate looking dark blue Buick.
The pass-key issue seems to be one that is covered regularly over on the impalass forum. There are some fixes, bypasses, etc. I have my own problem with the ignition. Mine will not engage the starter in the start position. I putzed around with it for a bit, but didn't drop the column to check out the linkage. I decided it was electrical and took it to a specialty shop close by. They checked it out and said it was the switch, but he somehow did some kind of bypass magic by inserting a fuse in the wiring. I now have to insert the fuse to start the car, and remove it to turn it off. This was just a jury-rig until I can figure it out and deal with the problem.
OK....when the pass key goes down the car will not start or even make a click in the starter. It happened to me. It requires you to either buy a new ignition switch with matching coded keys...OR...fix it. I fixed it. The problem is almost ALWAYS the 2 very small wires in the column. One or both will, in time, break. They are very small and make contact with the key's code bump on starting the car. They break easily after the insulation on the tiny wire cracks. If you are handy with soldering you can fix it and save yourself about $300 bucks plus labor. Been there and done that. BTW...if it won't start and your pass key fault light is flashing on and off....that's where the problem is. Wb4....I'm going to bed now but I don't think that is your problem. In my experience when the pass key goes down it will not start until fixed. Your symptom reflects other known problem possibilities.
It's usually the ign. key cylinder that causes the problem as Fox said. What is the pass lock light on the dash doing?... Is it stay on steady?... Is it Dim? Give a quick check of the grounds under the ignition coil on the left front cylinder head. For a fix it and forget it solution you can put resistors inline in the pass key wire harness under the dash to mimic the key resistor (it's not really a chip), and have VATS turned off by haveing the PCM "tuned". Check on the Impala SS forum for a lot more info on this. Put VATS in the search. Mike
As many have said, the car surely has VATS, they started using that pretty early on, both our Camaro's have it, well, one still does anyway. Previous owners bypassed it on our Red '92, and we had to get a new key for my brothers '92 'cause it lost it's resistance. Basically, with VATS, as 200OZ briefly stated, the key acts as a resistor, it's set resistance in ohms is what the car expects, within a given tolerance of course, as electricity never flows as intended. I do know that in our Camaro's this is NOT controlled by the ECM's, we put the ECM in the red one from the black one, and vice versa, for reasons I will not go into. Neither cared, so I have no idea what detects the resistance, though most often the tumbler does go bad, in our case it was the key. Either way, it is very abrupt. Anyway, best case, go to a GM dealer, they might be able to make you a key, be sure to have the title, as they will need the VIN number, cost us $30 for the '92 Camaro, the car ran fine after hitting a tree at 40 (Previous owners, we got it wrecked), but out of the blue it would not run, my father feared that something had gone AWOL with the wiring, but, it was just a key. So, here's the deal, what they did to bypass it on my fathers '92 Camaro is this: There are two wires, purple in the Camaro I think, very think gauge, 24 gauge, they, in the Camaro, can be attached with a resistor and the car will be made to think there is nothing wrong. However, to fix another issue (Heat soaked starter), they put a ford style high torque starter with an external solenoid on the 3.1 V6. I have no idea if you can bypass your ignition as easily as putting a resistor in place, but here's hoping! But, here is the downside to that, simply put, if someone tried to steal your car with the VATS system, simply hammered out the ignition, they'd go nowhere. With it bypassed, it's as easy to steal as my wagon, which is to say gone in fifteen seconds. Either way, fear not, your car has not been rendered useless, well not forever anyway, there are solutions, I hope I have been able to help, my father nearly had a second heart attack when we ran into this with my brothers '92. Also, funny side note relating to ignition key issues, my grandmothers '95 Mercury Sable didn't even require the key to start if you did not lock the key back all the way, also, you could remove the key while the car was running, and you could not turn the car off without the key. I drove her car one day and got down the block, realized. "Wait... WAIT! I left the key on the kitchen table..". Which would not have been a problem, 'cept I couldn't turn the car off without the key .
It happened again today. Went for a short drive, stopped, put the car in Park, went into Wendys, had lunch, came back out - no start. I may have learned something though. I am more convinced it has something to do with the anti-theft Pass key. This time I noticed the dash had a lit "Pass Key" even when I removed the key after the first attempt. I waited approximately 3 minutes, the light went off, I put the key back in the ignition and she fired right up. The owners manual references some kind of 3 minute lockout, where it will not send power to the starter, if the Pass Key is not recognized. What I'm wondering is why the second time the same key "reads" OK. One possibility is that the owners manual says the key must be clean and dry to work properly. When walking out to the car with my ice cold pepsi, of course there was a lot of condensation on the cup (it's still humid here), and the key may have been in the hand with the cup thereby getting wet before putting it in the ignition the first time. Also, because I work in agricultural resaerch and I am in the field all the time, my pockets are generally pretty filthy (sand, etc) Maybe my keys are just getting too dirty to read correctly? Anybody think this is a real possibility, or am I just blowing smoke. The three minute thing makes me think, I might be on the right path.
Water has electrical resistance, it's not as conductive as people think, so yeah, if the key was wet from the cup, that could've done it. And yes, dirt will do it as well, there should be a black plastic piece in the middle of the key with a metal tab on it, use something to clean it, paper towel. Dry clean it, no water, no chemicals, just wipe it off. If this tab is not shiny metal like the rest of the key, or appears worn down, the key may need to be replaced. However you may have gotten dirt in the tumbler from your pockets, normally this would not make any difference, but in those VATS cars, it's not very hard to foul up. I've seen pocket lint cause all kinds of mayhem with them. If you want to make sure you don't have dirt in there, get one of those cans of air like you'd use to clean electronics and blow it out, just never turn the can upside down, unless you want to freeze dry an annoying insect. Alternatively if you have a air compressor that doesn't spit moisture you could blow it out with that, see if that fixes it. If not, it could just be the key failing, I hope not, $30-50 to have one made, rather expensive. Worse case, tumbler or something else wrong with VATS.
Yeah, if the theft detourant module sees an incorrect resistance the module will lock out another attempt to start for 3 minutes. You could try and clean the key with a brass brush, It may help. I've never had any luck with that though. Did you check the grounds on the passenger side cylinder head yet? Mike
Haven't checked the grounds yet. Where exactly do I look? This could cause a problem like I've been describing? There is one other strange thing that's been happening since I first noticed the ignition issue: when I turn the car off, the temperature gauge goes all the way into the red and stays there. When the car is restarted it comes right back to where it always is when warm - in the middle.
Yes, It's possible that a poor ground is the problem, bad grounds do some weird things. The Pass Key theft deturant module grounds at that ground distribution (as does a bunch of other circuits). It's located on the left cylinder head up front just below the ignition coil. The wires/grounding eyelets are easily damaged if the ignition module or coil are replaced. Be sure to check all the wires thoroughly. Again, clean the key with a brass brush. If it still gives you problems diagnosis with a factory service manual will be your next step. Check out this link, it will clarify the Pass Key system. http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=227294 Good Luck, Mike
In order to check the ignition cylinder you need one of those "special" tools to pull off a plate that's on the steering column. They are about $10 at your local tool shop. The cylinder has two wires that can break off.
