2002 Suburban Passlock problem

Justwondering

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I had to quit early and head to town to do some banking, get dog food, find a replacement key for the golf cart (which I hope to have home tomorrow) and get gas ($1.85 a gallon today).

Then when I got home I had to figure out how to re-plumb the big tank.
Weather folks say we are getting 3 inches starting tomorrow. and since I have a doctors appointment tomorrow, I had to finish the plumbing this afternoon/evening.

Then the mail finally arrived around 5:20 and guess what was in there?

Yep.
Another newrockies bypass module. ????
I'm not sure what is going on.
I do know that the directions for the 2003 suburban work well with my suburban's wiring harness, even though the BMC labeling in my suburban is for a 2002.

guess we will see, but it will be thursday afternoon or friday before I get back to this. stay tuned.

JW

lol
JW
 

Aspen500

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Isn't twisting yourself under a dash fun? Even more fun is trying to see what your working on so it isn't a big blur. Getting old(er) doesn't impress me one little bit!:confused:

I hadn't thought of a year/design change. It's especially frustrating on vehicles built either very late in the model year or very early in the model year or after a design change. I've run into vehicles that were (for example) 2005 but had to use the 2004 wire diagram or the 2006 diagram. My '96 Dakota is like that. It was built August 15, 2005 so it's OBDII but doesn't have evaporative emission monitor or catalyst monitor, and some parts for a '96 don't fit, you have to use parts for a '95. Some of the wiring is like that also (kind of like your Suburban). Guess my Aspen is like that too. Built June 23, 1979 and certain parts for a '79 are different, have to use 1980 parts (rear bumper shocks and brackets for a couple). It's even more awesome when they build 2 different versions at the same time, in the same year with the exact same name and then,,,,,,,,,,,make another change mid year, Ford is especially good for that one. Ah, the life of an auto technician AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I'm OK now.:D
 

Darth-Car

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Even at 6'4'' I used to twist myself under a steering wheel, and dash. I figured that was how you did it. Then I learned at 30 that it got too hard to do, and it was much easier to remove the seat, do the work, and put the seat back in.
 

Justwondering

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rained solid for the past two days. Sigh
They say tomorrow its going to be 'dryer'.
Since I have to have the door open to get to the wiring, figured I should wait til the rain leaves.

JW
 

Darth-Car

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Can we ask, "where is Becky's shop with the concrete floor, and the vehicle lift?":D
 

Justwondering

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Darth-Car -- I missed you hanging around.
Lets see, its waiting for the outside wall of the first floor to be finished..
which is
waiting for the younger brother to move out
which is
waiting for the shipping container/turned into apartment to be delivered
which is
delayed due to no high boy shipping containers 40 ft long are available
which is
because caronavirus has nearly shut down all deliveries of shipping containers near me.

lol
Ah well, I managed to get 4 of the 5 connections made today before the rain got too much to handle.

Maybe tomorrow.

JW
 

Justwondering

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Apparently my plumbing repairs have held up.
We've now got 4000 gallons filled in the tanks so far.
Room for about another 1000.

Sure wish I had that last tank from the barn set up by the house.

lol
JW
 

Justwondering

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Rain quit long enough for me to get the last connection made.
Got all the plugs back into the Suburban Module.
The new little bypass module green light stays on while cranking (as it should).
There is a 'relearn' process with the whole shebang that requires 4 attempts to start the vehicle (10 minute process done 4 times).
First you put the key in the ignition.
Then move it to the on position.
Then you try to crank it and nothing happens.
The spring load on the ignition returns the key to the 'on' position.
The autotheft light comes on and starts blinking (which is a new thing for this vehicle).
Then you wait until the light quits flashing (about 10 minutes).
Then you turn off the key.
Wait 10 seconds.
Do that process 3 more times.
BUT
(notice that large BUT up above ...)
On the second time through the process, the antitheft light no longer lights on my Suburban.

Went to the 'what to do if this doesn't work' directions.
Stepped through that (check the lines, check the dip switches, discharge the vehicle electric lines, disconnect battery, check starter relay, etc.)

Swapped the starter relay with the parking lap relay to be sure it isn't a relay problem.

Went through the process again, and it failed to get through the 2nd cycle.

Have a message into to their help line now.

JW
And yes, the rain and sun and fighting for control.
 

Aspen500

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Doing that procedure at work sometimes fails the first shot through. Why? Who knows? Maybe you did this but, make sure you have a battery charger hooked up. Voltage dropping too low can cause it to fail.

I assume after the 2nd key cycle, when the light doesn't light, you tried to start the engine? Normally when the light goes out, it means the BCM has relearned the new key code or Passlock component, or in this case the bypass module, and it's ready to start. Not having any experience with the bypass though, don't take that as an absolute! Also, the regular procedure (no bypass) is to cycle the key to run each time, not start.

One thing I always notice is, ten minutes seems like forever when you're waiting, doesn't it?:eek:

BTW, thanks for sending your rain up here:D
 

Justwondering

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More rain tonight.
We normally get 32 inches of rain a year... we are currently more than half way there sitting at 17.9 inches right now and another 1/2 for tonight.

Ten minutes is forever when you are waiting -- you should come down and sit in the car with me to break up the tedium.

Today I took the battery down to Oreilly and had them check it ... two thumbs up.
So my charger must be working correctly.

Reconnected the battery and tried the procedure again;
BUT
new symptom is the passlock light never goes off now. Its supposed to start blinking.
Dang it.
I double checked the wiring.
Made sure there was 12.47 volts on the red wire and the white wire of the new device.
Made sure there was 1.87 (2 volts) to the yellow wire.

Just not working.
Got too cold and wet for me to work on it more and tomorrow I'll try
1. using my freebee OBDII software to reset any error codes
2. leaving the battery with the negative lead off of it all night
3. check all the fuses again paying particular attention to any IGN, TBC, and PCM/BCM fuses
4. just sent a new update to the newrockies folks.

I think a cup of hot tea is in order for the evening.

JW
 

Aspen500

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I feel you pain. There's nothing wrong but it doesn't work, is the most frustrating thing that can happen. Have had that happen at work many times, as has every auto tech. You redo every step from the beginning and come up with the exact same result except, you know the result obviously has to be wrong. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
 

Justwondering

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The Newrockies support guy is still in there pitching. Even here on Sunday, he was asking questions and offering advice.

I'm beginning to think its the little sensor in the ignition itself.

All the fuses test positive both visually and with a meter.
The starter relay tests positive.

I don't have any dry cardboard at the moment, so I'm staying out from under the vehicle til Tuesday.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking I should try removing the housing from the steering column and see if there is play, corrosion, or some other issue with the sensor connector in the ignition.

Certainly is a bummer that i no longer have a flashing security light. Kinda feels like I took a step back.

Husband is suggesting we need to look for a new(er) vehicle.
No sure if he really wants a different ride or if he is trying to 'fix' my problem and lower the frustration I get by the end of the day. lol he's a keeper.

JW
 

Aspen500

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I didn't think of this before. A lot of security problems on older GM's are caused by one, or both, wires breaking at or near the sensor at the ignition lock cylinder. They're tiny little wires and look like they would break if you breathed on them too hard. If you haven't already, pull the column shroud off like you were saying and have a look-see. Unfortunately they usually break right at the sensor and there's no splicing them back together.
 

Justwondering

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i'll give it a go in the morning.
We are supposed to have no rain tonight (12 days in a row so far).
I'm hoping for some sunshine, light breeze, and no rain.

I'll try not to breathe on the tiny wires.

JW
 

Camtron

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Do you happen to have a battery with side terminals? I recently ran into a pretty similar issue on a Avalanche. It ended up being the battery cables had so much corrosion under the terminal insulation and cable insulation, it just just wasn’t getting good voltage/amperage. Was corroded like that from the insulation at the terminals all the way back to the terminals on the bottom of the fuse box. Caused all kinds of issues with the Security light going on and off while cycling the ignition. Sometimes the dash would light up, sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes the security light would flash, sometimes it’d stay on, sometimes nothing would happen at all. Idk. Figured I’d through it out there. Those little brain boxes are pretty voltage/amperage sensitive. Too much corrosion/resistance and they don’t like to communicate appropriately, lol.
 
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