zoomjrl

Today out of no where my car wouldn't start. the security light stayed on for about five min, and I got power, but nothing would even turn over. So I called 1-800-chevy, they said it was my key and that I would have to get it towed. SO I did, to the nearest dealership. They fixed it that day and said that it was the ignition cylinder, that two wire had broken from everyday of just turning the key. They said they replaced my ignintion coil and had to make me new keys. I def got a new key and a new ignition where the key slides into. Has anyone else had this problem, I only have 66k miles and didn't think something like this would happen to a car this young. I'm trying to figure out if I got ripped, but I don't think so cause they said they had to go get the cylinder and they def replaced the part the key slides into, so I doubt they would go through that trouble if all they needed to do was make a new key.

Ferocity02

Thats a common symptom of a low battery. Maybe you got screwed into more work than was needed. Just a thought

NEWBIE T/A

But, as the lock cylinder is fixed in the steering column and only the internals move as you turn the key I find it hard to believe that is what caused the wires to break.


Did you get the old parts back, by any chance ?

Was your key wet when you first tried to start the car ?

Was the pellet (on the key itself) damaged that you could tell visually ?


What's done is done - and solved your problem, so that's good.

I am just suspicious of mechanics by nature - and car sales people, and lawyers, and ...

Have fun !


Britt

rncotton

The wires breaking isn't a surprise. Replacing the cylinder would be the dealer's choice of repair. (Replace the entire assembly rather than repair it)

The new keys? The new cylinder must have had a different resistance than your original keys (VATS is nothing more than a resistor on the key) They **could** have replaced the cylinder with one of the same resistance, but they would have had to find one somewhere and wait for parts rather than just using what they had and cutting new keys. Or maybe they can't change the ignition to match your key that was cut? I dunno ... I'm not a locksmith, but I know that I've had all my house locks keyed the same, so I don't see why they couldn't do it on a car.

Did you get ripped? Probably not. Could you have done it yourself for a lot less? Yup! You could have repaired the wires, or had someone else repair them for you rather than replacing the cylinder and re-keying the ignition.

If you're paranoid of the dealer, like I am, always tell them that you expect to have all old and replaced parts returned to you. You have to tell them on the front end, however. If you wait until you come back to get your car to tell them, then there is a good chance that "the parts have already been disposed of."

Rice Eater 316

I had the same thing happen on my 97 Z28. I wound up having to remove the key cylinder assembly myself and buying a new one. I didn't have to get a new key though ?? I wanna say that the dealership programmed the resistor code from my key to the new cylinder... or maybe the PCM holds it??

Hope that helps.

The35thZ

i had the same thing happen twice. i got out of my car, shut the door, locked and unlocked it twice, got in, and it started. i guess it was some kinda malfunction with the alarm/theft deterrent thing. any of yall try that?

BWH2003

For what i have heard this is a common problem. Everytime u turn your key the two wires in the ignition turn with it. Eventually after countless of cycles turning back and forth they break. I recently sold my 89 Iroc-z and the passkey wire broke off of the ignition tumbler the day the guy i sold it to was supposed to pick it up. My parents own a auto repair center so i had the mechanic there do it while i watched and basically the wires are not protected in there. They eventually rub through and break. BTW my iroc had 38,000 original miles on it and i didnt forsee that part breaking but the mechanic said he seen plenty of them. And when i got my new ignition tumbler it didnt match my old key obviously so i had a new one made to match the new tumbler. The passkey resistor in ur car stays the same so it has the same coded pelet that is in ur old key u just have to have a new key made for the new tumbler.

And i dont think u got riped off it actually sounds like u had an honest dealership do a good job.

Bryan

BWH2003

rncotton

the wires are smaller than 20 guage and it is almost impossible to repair them. They are too small and it is to hard to get tools in there. A new tumbler is like 50 bucks anyway.

Also the VATS passkey resistance is not in the tumbler. Those to wires in the tumbler run to the passkey relay which is what holds ur cars resistance. If u want to change the key resistance in ur car u have to change the relay which is under the dash not in the column.

Bryan

zoomjrl

i did try locking/unlocking the car, disconnecting the battery before I had it towed. I agree sounds like they were pretty honest, seeing how I whined that I need to have the car working that day. I was currious if it was a common prob. You would think GM should fix it for free, seeing how its not our fault, and it sounds like its not an isolated incident. But what ate up most of the cost was towing/finding the prob. Now now what it is, if it happens again I will hopefully be able to fix it. Although I still may need to get a new key made? Can they make my key just by haveing the new cylinder or do they need the whole car? Just out of curiousity, how much do they charge you guys to make new keys, I was charged $32.

BWH2003

I was charged 32$ as well. Usually with a new tumbler a fake key made out of copper will come in it which has the right grind on it. You have to take that key and your old key to a store that can make coded pellet keys. They will use the dummy key to cut your new key and they will use your old key to tell what resistence the new key has to be.


Bryan

rncotton

BWH2003 -- Thanks for the info.

There's one guy in our club who has bypassed the VATS by putting a resistor inline somewhere in the circuit. But, unfortunately, I have no idea where he put it.

He got tired of the VATS causing problems, so he just bypassed it.

ZZed

I had that happen on my '90 RS. Intermitnent at first, the it just stopped working. A commonj case is having too many things on your key ring, other keys, key chains, etc... The added weight damages the wires. They replaced the ingnition switch. I later found out the all I had to do was measure the resistance of the chip in the key, and wire in a matching resistor. The wires are located behind the kick panel below the steering wheel. They should be covered with a white fabric mesh. Easy to spot on the 3rd gens. I'm not sure what they look like on the LS1 4th gens. Anyways, yours is fixed. It seems honest enough.

BWH2003

rncotton

yeah i understand that guy bypassing it due to it being a pita. I wonder where he did put it, im curious as to how he bypassed it but fact that he bypassed and it works it is very interesting non the less.

Bryan

Z-Scrilla

My last Z did the exact same thing. I thought I was screwed for about 20 minutes, then I started fiddling with everything, and it fired right up. I would have gotten a secong opinion personally, but at least its fixed.