2002 Malibu Passlock problems
July 8th, 2016, 12:34 AM
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2002 Malibu Passlock problems
I have a 2002 Malibu (my wife's car), and I have been having a lot of trouble with the passlock system. It all started when she left the key in the on position and the battery died. About a week later it started intermittently cranking and failing to start, with the theft system light on the dash turning solid. Once or twice it actually died while she was driving it. All of the sudden it completely died, and the theft system light was flashing. I was pretty certain that it was the passlock sensor in the dash, so I got a replacement key, tumbler, and cylinder with passlock sensor. I replaced the whole unit, reprogrammed the key, and it worked like a charm. A couple of days later, I pulled it out and swapped the key and tumbler back to the original key and tumbler, so my key would still work for the ignition and the doors. It worked fine for a couple of days, but now I am having issues again.
It has cranked and failed to start a couple of times, and died while running once. I just tried putting the new key and tumbler back in, and it is still acting up. Occasionally, when I turn the key to on from the off position, instead of getting all of the lights on the dash lighting up temporarily, it will light only the theft system light, then it will go off, and a few seconds later the other lights come back on (check engine, air bag, maybe others). It fails to start it this happens. If I turn the key off, wait a few secons, and try it again, if the lights all light up like normal the car starts.
First of all, I am pretty sure that changing the key and tumbler should have no effect on the ability of the new passlock sensor to function, correct? There is no electrical connection between the two, it is purely mechanical. Second, does anyone have any idea what could be going on with the car, and what I can do to get it running again reliably? As I'm sure you can understand, my wife is getting pretty frustrated with it, and now she is blaming me for it messing up again since I changed the key and tumbler (after she is the one that said she didn't want a different key for the ignition, but what are you gonna do). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It has cranked and failed to start a couple of times, and died while running once. I just tried putting the new key and tumbler back in, and it is still acting up. Occasionally, when I turn the key to on from the off position, instead of getting all of the lights on the dash lighting up temporarily, it will light only the theft system light, then it will go off, and a few seconds later the other lights come back on (check engine, air bag, maybe others). It fails to start it this happens. If I turn the key off, wait a few secons, and try it again, if the lights all light up like normal the car starts.
First of all, I am pretty sure that changing the key and tumbler should have no effect on the ability of the new passlock sensor to function, correct? There is no electrical connection between the two, it is purely mechanical. Second, does anyone have any idea what could be going on with the car, and what I can do to get it running again reliably? As I'm sure you can understand, my wife is getting pretty frustrated with it, and now she is blaming me for it messing up again since I changed the key and tumbler (after she is the one that said she didn't want a different key for the ignition, but what are you gonna do). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
