Passkey can be defeated!

[telemike]

Thanks to PCM of NC programming my PCM, Passlock is now turned off. This
morning, I hop in the H3, turn the ignition and it fires up. Meanwhile, the BCM
is blinking the security light because it failed to get the proper signal from
the ignition cylinder. Yay! I don't have to wait 10 minutes to re-try starting
the H3. So I drive for 10 minutes with the blinking security light and then it
goes off. I highly reccomend having PCMforless turning that

passlock
off if you have them tune your H3


WARNING:

This is not reccomended if your H3 is under warranty, you have an active OnStar subscription or you want to keep the OEM security system. This is an optional fix for those with passlock ignition cylinders that do not function 100%.

 

[4speedfunk]

I'm not sure what the Passkey is but, paying extra $$ for blinking dashlights is going the wrong way ain't it? Most people pay money to turn them off! I suppose its better than being stranded but, it seems like there should be a way to wire the ignition cylinder so the BCM doesn't know whats going on. Anyway...glad you got it fixed (sort of).

Who would've thought 30 years ago that cars would ever be this electronified? I've got a list as long as my arm of goofy electronic stuff I would love to turn off forever....auto headlights, auto doorlocks, seatbelt dinger, daytime running lights, on-star, TPMS, etc. Instead I've just learned to live with the inconvenience of these convenience features.

 

[telemike]

Passlock is the security "feature" in your ignition key cylinder that tells the BCM that you have a valid key, then the BCM tells the PCM to turn the fuel on. Now, my PCM doesn't care what the BCM says and the fuel is always on and ready to start. If you trip the passkey system you have to wait 10 minutes before you can try and start it again.

 

[autumn walker]

Good info, but I agree with 4speedfunk, it is a "band-aid" fix. You are defeating a security measure in the truck because one of the components is failing. Rather than replacing the component you are using a workaround to disable / fool the truck.

If you're happy, then that is all that matters. This also has implications for those who are tuning / customizing their rigs (remote starter / aftermarket alarm systems come to mind).

 

[f5moab]

Passkey is the security "feature" in your ignition key cylinder that tells the BCM that you have a valid key, then the BCM tells the PCM to turn the fuel on. Now, my PCM doesn't care what the BCM says and the fuel is always on and ready to start. THE FUEL IS NOT ALWAYS ON, IF IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP WOULD DRAIN YOUR BATTERY WHILE IT RAN! If you trip the passkey system you have to wait 10 minutes before you can try and start it again.

Where is the h3 parked at night? I can now start it with a screwdriver.

 

[telemike]

I abhor the whole electronic key security thing. Glad my Nissan Frontier did not have it. Why should I replace or fix a crappy OEM security system I do not want? I'd rather spend that money on something else that gives me more benefit.

 

[4speedfunk]

My next H3 will start as an insurance salvage. I will gut the entire harness, and start over with a complete wiring kit from Painless. I have a buddy that uses Painless kits on all his street rods, and loves em. You simply un-box the harness...lay it out...and route the wires to where they need to go. These come with a fusebox, and all the circuits you need for a typical car. I'm cool with a push-button start, wipers, lights, door-locks, defrost fan, and a bunch of spares. Best of all...NO COMPUTER WHATSOEVER! Autometer speedo, tach, & guages...and yes...even a throttle cable!

This should work well with the Cummins diesel, Atlas twin-stick, and Dana's front & rear.

 

[rsc]

telemike, glad to hear you got to disable the passlock. Its a stupid idea and doesnt need to be there, like fed mandated TPMS or side airbags that deploy when you dont want them to. Sounds like a good first step to bypassing the crappy GM ignition switch for something more robust.

 

[speedy]

What effect will this have with the OnStar system.:huh:

Will they still be able to unlock your doors.?

Will they be able to shut it down if it's stolen?

Agreed it's a band-aid but to each his own:thumbs:

 

[telemike]

onstar? yeah, i got 3 months free but i do not plan on keeping it.

 

[f5moab]

What effect will this have with the OnStar system. Should have no affect on Onstar.:huh:

Will they still be able to unlock your doors.? I see no reason why not.

Will they be able to shut it down if it's stolen? Good question. The process is to cut engine power by the BCM requesting the PCM to shut down injector in a progressive manner, to keep the vehicle from stopping suddenly. Then, a final shutdown command to shut off the fuel pump relay. That last part is the opposite of the BCM command to turn the fuel pump relay on after the engine starts to crank. Depends on how the new calibration is setup and that can only be explained by whoever did the programming.

Agreed it's a band-aid but to each his own:thumbs:

Band aids can sometimes backfire.:giggle:

 

[telemike]

I don't care. It's a 2007, 100K miles, 3rd owner. I don't want nanny crap. Permanent fix.Again, I don't feel like dumping hundreds of dollars to keep a crappy system I don't want in the first place. And if anyone else wants to do it call PCMforless.com

:drama:

 

[ReconH3]

I'm with Mike. If it was reliable I would leave it alone like it is in my TJ. Since its known to fail, it's time to get rid of it before it causes more bad than good.



Ex Umbris Venimus

 

[f5moab]

Anyone have any stats on the failure on this passkey II system? I keep hearing it is a POS, known to fail, etc., however, I see no one posting any evidence as to the numbers of failures as related to number of vehicles. I can say when I was at GM, passkey II never came up (neither did the original passkey) in any warranty meetings or engineering meetings.

Just curious, not that it matters to me or Mike. But all I hear anymore on any of these Hummer forums is how the Hummers (H1 excluded) are full of POS components such as PS pump units, steering gears, front diffs, transfer cases, tie rods, brakes, cylinder heads, transmissions, radiators, ignition modules, and a few other items. Makes me wonder why people purchase such a pos vehicle.:giggle:

On my H3 with a little over 50K miles, I have never had a passkey problem, had a steering bushing replaced last month (under warranty), had a radiator replaced (under warranty) had rear springs replaced and some other misc suspension bushings replaced and that's about it.

I know a lot of people post on different hummer forums under different names so when people (for example) read three different forums and three different user names post they have had a blown diff, passkey failure, etc., it is really only one person this has happened to but to a reader it might appear to be three different people.

Personally, I really hope everyone thinks the H3 is a perfect beast so that in a few months when I get around to seriously thinking of jumping to another vehicle, people will want my h3.

Oh well, I guess I could really care less so my small rant is over with.

 

[telemike]

Search the Colorado forums..........when I searched for passkey issues there were lots of comments on the Colorado user forums......

 

[speedy]

I don't care. It's a 2007, 100K miles, 3rd owner. I don't want nanny crap. Permanent fix.Again, I don't feel like dumping hundreds of dollars to keep a crappy system I don't want in the first place. And if anyone else wants to do it call PCMforless.com

:drama:

Bummer that you have so much drama in your life:gaah:

I asked the questions because your spouting off on a couple of forums that you have the magic fix.What your failing to do is warn people that there may be an issue with on stars ability to communicate with your truck.

Try to explain to your insurance agent that you can't have your truck shut down by on star if it's stolen and that you have disabled the factory anti theft system.

Like i said before to each his own:roll:

Prove me wrong!!!!!

That's why i asked the question so others could know

 

[JGBB04]

Bummer that you have so much drama in your life:gaah:

I asked the questions because your spouting off on a couple of forums that you have the magic fix.What your failing to do is warn people that there may be an issue with on stars ability to communicate with your truck.

Try to explain to your insurance agent that you can't have your truck shut down by on star if it's stolen and that you have disabled the factory anti theft system.

Like i said before to each his own:roll:

Prove me wrong!!!!!

That's why i asked the question so others could know

What effect will this have with the OnStar system.:huh:

Will they still be able to unlock your doors.?

Will they be able to shut it down if it's stolen?

Agreed it's a band-aid but to each his own:thumbs:

Your atleast half right Speedy, it appears to be a half way fix as he still has the security light on the dash when he could have done the resistor fix which would solve the whole problem :roll: as for onstar unlock who knows, shutting down, no that won't matter as that was never an option for H3 or 2. that started in 2010 on a few Cadi models first

 

[telemike]

My last word. It's your choice on how you want to deal with a failing passkey system on your H3 when that time comes. I was sharing my choice and method of how to deal with it in case someone else wanted to use that option.

:am10:



WARNING:

This is not reccomended if your H3 is under warranty, you have an active OnStar subscription or you want to keep the OEM security system. This is an optional fix for those with passlock ignition cylinders that do not function 100%.

 

[Steve #1]

telemike, glad to hear you got to disable the passlock. Its a stupid idea and doesnt need to be there, like fed mandated TPMS or side airbags that deploy when you dont want them to. Sounds like a good first step to bypassing the crappy GM ignition switch for something more robust.

It is far from a stupid idea. Stupid was when the auto industry was still depending on keys to prevent vehicles from being stolen. Electronic immobilizers are required on all vehicles sold in the EU, Canada, Australia, and many other countries and are credited with reducing auto theft by 70% or more. Bypassing it certainly isn't more robust.

I don't care. It's a 2007, 100K miles, 3rd owner. I don't want nanny crap. Permanent fix.Again, I don't feel like dumping hundreds of dollars to keep a crappy system I don't want in the first place. And if anyone else wants to do it call PCMforless.com

:drama:

I suggested a couple ways that you could have fixed or bypassed the system for about $5 and you wouldn't have a red light on your dash. Worst case, a new switch would be less than $100 and could be an easy swap if you found one with the same resistor otherwise the dealer would need to program the BCM for the new switch.

Bummer that you have so much drama in your life:gaah:

I asked the questions because your spouting off on a couple of forums that you have the magic fix.What your failing to do is warn people that there may be an issue with on stars ability to communicate with your truck.

Try to explain to your insurance agent that you can't have your truck shut down by on star if it's stolen and that you have disabled the factory anti theft system.

Like i said before to each his own:roll:

Prove me wrong!!!!!

That's why i asked the question so others could know

Onstar functions won't be effect as they are controlled by the BCM and vehicle shutdown won't work with an 07. It appears that what they did was to program the PCM to power the fuel pump regardless of what the BCM says.

I agree with what others have said, this isn't a fix, but a band-aid, and not even a very good one at that. If you were planning on doing the PCM program anyway and you don't mind the dash light then it worked for you, but not the way I would recommend for others to do it.

The back story is in this thread. http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/forum/showthread.php?3918-Feel-like-an-idiot

 

[telemike]

Gotta love the internet at times.

Anyways, my last comment on the subject. The fact is that I no longer TRUST the passlock system on my H3. Even if I had the ignition cylinder replaced or the BCM and everything worked like it is supposed to, how long before it fails again? It's just something I'd rather do away with at this point and not worry about.


Can we just all get along and go offroad?

 

[Steve #1]

<snip> how long before it fails again? It's just something I'd rather do away with at this point and not worry about.


Can we just all get along and go offroad?

Odds are it probably wouldn't fail again any time soon. F5 is a good source of information especially concerning a part with frequent failures and in the past 5 years or so that I've been hanging around HUMMER forums I've only seen it pop up a couple times.

I don't have any problem with you disabling it (the dash light would bug me). I am still curious if cleaning the switch would solve the problem.

I can't speak for everyone but as far as I can tell we are getting along. Thick skin can come in handy at times.

 

[bebe]

Odds are it probably wouldn't fail again any time soon. F5 is a good source of information especially concerning a part with frequent failures and in the past 5 years or so that I've been hanging around HUMMER forums I've only seen it pop up a couple times.

I don't have any problem with you disabling it (the dash light would bug me). I am still curious if cleaning the switch would solve the problem.

I can't speak for everyone but as far as I can tell we are getting along. Thick skin can come in handy at times.

I'll try cleaning the switch on my 08 first.

 

[f5moab]

Search the Colorado forums..........when I searched for passkey issues there were lots of comments on the Colorado user forums......

I don't search forums for problems with GM vehicles. Like I said, one person reports it on different forums under different names and next thing the problem has multiplied. And for every report of a failure, there is NO report by the hundreds of people who have had no problem. Heck, if I was taking the info on Hummer forums alone I would say that EVERY front diff will fail, every radiator would blow the internal trans cooler (auto only); just to name two off the top.

Does the module fail, heck yes. Everything man-made fails eventually (including you, me and the kids). What I was saying is it is not a big problem and if the original was replaced correctly (yes that can be a hard thing to have done at times), chances are it won't fail again.

I have noticed on mine that the key at times gets hard to turn, and when that happens, a can of air blows out the cylinder and all is well for a time.

And honestly, you can do anything to your H3 you want. But Steve 1 offered a way to bypass it for a lot less money and probably more reliable. But, since I'm not doing either, and in fact, probably dumping the H3 after the first of the year...not even thinking about it.

 

[speedy]

Thanks
Steve and James:cheers:

I pretty much knew the answers to my questions and F5 confirmed them.

I was trying to get the OP to do a little homework to go along with his i fixed it my way post.

There are a lot of Hummer owners that come to H40 for real time help.They need to know if the info they are viewing is correct,cheap fix or a Band Aid.

Again to each his own.

There will be no one starting Bebe's H3 with a screw driver.

 

[johnavickery]

After reading the replies I'm interested in how a criminal knows your vehicle is the one that has had it disabled? Spending hundreds and more than likely thousands on a system that locks out the owner holding the key should be criminal. Mine did it in a bad neighborhood dropping off a coworker. Not only to the relearn not work the battery went dead from trying all these procedures that work for some folks on here but not me. Once battery went dead it would not release the key. So I had to leave it, with key, in the hood. Luckily, nobody can start these things even with the key so I only lost my rims! My 08 H3 has been sitting for months with no ability to put more money in it that just "may" fix it. So if pcmofnc, can disable it I'm all about it!