Ok re-reading this you also just say ON but not START. The only reason I was starting was because it was the ONLY way I'd get a (BRIEF) flashing light -- then it returns to a solid theft light
My suggestion is either Black Bear performance who can re-encode the ignition for $125.00 or install the original ignition start it then unplug it while running causing the anti theft light to stay on. Then install the new ignition and don't hook up the harness. There aren't many options. These were throw away cars, the bic lighters of the car world.
I spit out my coffee with that one!
That's what I was thinking. My 1998 Chevy K1500 was Passkey. I know this because I (foolishly) installed an aftermarket remote start in it and became all too familiar with that system. I had to buy a variable resistor module to cheat the passkey system for the "bulldog" remote start kit. It basically came with a manual that told you the resistance value for each make/model vehicle. You dialed it in on the black box and were good to go.
If the magnet isn't pressed in tight no amount of trying will get it to work. I had two defective units from O'Reillys. I went to Napa and the first one I got was a beefy unit with the magnet pressed in tight and correctly I might add. Made in Taiwan not China.
That is what Mitchell says. After attempting to start and having the engine stall due to passlock, the "key" light should be flashing constantly. If you then leave the key on with the light flashing for 10 minutes it should learn the new resistance. At that point the light goes out. Then you can turn the key off and back on to start normally.
Dude, I literally told him this AND it's a manual transmission!!
There aren't many left and you're right nobody is going out of their way to steal these things. I'd be curious how many are actually left on the roads. I haven't seen a first Gen cavalier in 20 plus years. In Colorado most of the Cavalier and Sunfires get scrapped with no parts pull. Oddly enough in Phoenix at every junkyard my dad visited they all had their fuel injectors pulled. So maybe they all ended up in Mexico and central America?
I see lots of "old" stuff around here because we just don't have rust. There is daily driven Cavalier in my parking lot at work.
I will say my Cavalier (knock on wood) out lasted my 05 neon. I expected the transmission in the neon to go 200k without much effort. It's had transmission fluid and filter changes every 40k miles like the manual says. The transmission started acting up around 150k or so. It wouldn't go into overdrive, then randomly lose the speedometer. I had the fluid changed at 150k which helped temporarily then it outright died at 156k. A rebuild kit is cheap but the labor and a rebuilt transmission is more than the car is worth. Very infuriating.
This is why my fiancé, and I still drive our 92 Cavaliers around. They are both fairly reliable and still get good gas mileage. They keep the mileage off of our newer cars.
No one stole these cars when they were new and they aren't being stolen now. That said, just bypass it. I've had to do multiple passkey bypasses over the years, the early PK1 seems to fail eventually no matter what. At least they were very easy to bypass with some simple rewiring and disabling the VATS enable option in the ECM/PCM. Had to do it on both of my Camaros and just recently had to put in a bypass module in my brother's 99 Suburban due to the PK2 not working properly anymore. Its not worth the trouble of trying to chase the issue and finally fix it if you can even find it.
