Unlocking Theft Deterrent Radio

[guting]

Originally Posted by pth_emh

My old Saturn(2006) Vue Radio went south - so I replaced it with a another Saturn(ION-2006) radio- same part number - only problem is I am not getting any of the indications the radio is locked - there is no "LOC" display or "INOP". Te radio does display stations, and in some cases indicates the album. However there is no volume.
I tried pushing 1&2,, 2&3 1&4. I did turn the ignition to run for over an hour with the radio off - no change. Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks - Another Proud American - who buys American

My car is 2007 Saturn Vue. It uses the same radio as 2006. Did you finally solve your problem? Thanks.

[guting]

OK. Here is my experience. My Saturn Vue 2007 had a radio problem before. The clock display went out intermittently a couple of days several years ago. I pushed hard on the ON/OFF button. It somehow came back. This suggested a loose connection or electronic component problems. Saturn Vue 2007 has 2 fuses for the radio in the fuse cluster. There is no fuse in the back of the radio itself. The radio worked without any problems for several years.

Last week, I changed the car battery by myself. The radio went dead completely. In hindsight, I should have removed the radio fuses because radios are known to be sensitive to brownouts. No clock display. No illumination at night. This was different from others talking about loss of unlock code. Their units were not dead. My factory radio was Model 15878975. I took it out based on a Youtube video tutorial. Replaced with an identical model from eBay for $60 (hardly any scratches). Worked right away. Clock, AM/FM, MP3 disk player, OnStar all worked, except XM. In the XM mode, it says "XM TheftLocked" and no XM radio sound. I never subscribed to XM. My old radio in XM would play their subscription commercials. By the way, my old radio serial number was 1471XX (6 digits) vs. the eBay radio serial 360XX (5 digits). The latter was much smaller. Could be from a Saturn Vue 2006 car that also was known to use the same radio model.

I found more information about the XM lock. I searched the web. There is a Saturn service bulletin about it.
#PIC3389C: XM Radio Inoperative After Radio Replacement - keywords information lock saturn techII theft theflock U2K - (Feb 13, 2007)
Subject: XM Radio Inoperative After Radio Replacement
Models: 2004-2007 Saturn Ion
2003-2007 Saturn Vue

With the Tech2 updated with software version 25.002 or later, follow the below list path to repair the issue.
Install the Tech 2 ® to the DLC.
Turn ON the ignition with the engine off.
With the Tech 2 ®, select> Diagnostics.
Select model year>
Select vehicle line> Saturn
Select vehicle Make>
Select> Radio
Select> Special function
Select> Program VIN and follow instruction listed on the screen
Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed.

There is another solution mentioned at a different web site. A company will take $35 fee + shipping to flash the radio to remove the "XM TheftLocked" display.

By the way, you can buy an aftermarket radio with 7" LCD with DVD, GPS navigation, car reverse camera (with trigger) plugin ready on Ebay for about $250 for 2007 Vue.

[pontiac]

Originally Posted by kx250ryder

I was troubleshooting a dead driver side power window on my girlfriend's 1998 Saturn SL2 and it killed the battery.

Upon hooking up the battery charger, I noticed that it triggered the LOC code on her radio (CD player w/ EQ). I was surprised because I figured nobody ever bothered to set their radio lock code (since they might forget and lock themselves out). Well, apparently the previous owner did set a code (just my luck). Anyway, I guessed all the popular codes, and apparently after too many tries, it locks the radio into INOP mode.

I found a link to a forum thread (below) that described the process for GM vehicles, however Saturn and Geo use 4 digit radio codes instead of 6 digit codes like the rest of GM so the process is different than what you see spread all over the internet:


***Read all steps before attempting. You are on a time limit when entering codes, so knowing what to do in advance will save alot of frustration***

1.) To begin, if your radio is displays LOC, then proceed to step 2. If your radio says INOP, then turn your ignition to the RUN position, and turn the radio ON. You must leave it like this for a minimum of 1 hour (not 59 minutes) to clear the INOP message. I would wait 1 1/2 hours just in case doing it too early causes the timer to start over.

2.) Turn your ignition to RUN (if not already), and your radio to OFF. Press and hold preset buttons 2 and 3 for around 5-10 seconds to obtain a scrambled version of your radio's original factory set code.

3.) Call 800-537-5140 and ignore whatever you are promted to do (something about different dealer brands Chevy, Pontiac, Saturn,etc.), and type the number 202108 into your phone and then press the # button.

4.) Input your radio's 4 digit code into your phone when prompted, then press the * button (NOT pound symbol like above step) and be ready with a pen and paper to write down the unscrambled code. Keep this code somewhere you WILL NOT lose it. I wrote mine in the notes section of the owners manual.

5.) Once you have the code written down, press and hold 5 and 6 on your radio's preset buttons for 5-10 seconds.

6.) Then press the seek down button once to start the entry process.

7.) Using the following key, repeatedly press the buttons to set your code:
seek down = first digit
seek up = second digit
tune down = third digit
tune up = fourth digit

NOTE: I just checked a picture of the stereo out and discovered the buttons have arrows facing left and right and not up and down. For the purposes of this process, left represents down, and right represents up.

8.) Once you have the code entered, press AM/FM to set it.

Presto, you have kept your local dealer from screwing you out of $30-100 dollars.

Note that the code given in step 3 belongs to a Pontiac dealer out there somewhere (judging by the number 2 at the beginning of the code if you listen to the voice prompts on the 800 number), so if they go out of business or wise up to their code being used, this method may eventually not work. However, the post I dug it up from is over a year old, so there is hope that it will last a while.

If you are not comfortable with the above process, I believe Saturn of Tempe (Arizona) will help you reset your radio over the phone for free; not sure though, I wanted to know how to do it myself, since service departments aren't always open especially on nights and weekends. I wouldn't go in person (since you will be easier to charge standing there with your wallet/purse- just call, and be very very VERY nice so that the tech doesn't feel like screwing you into paying.

I successfully used this method today, december 2015, but with updated information, as this original post has outdated phone numbers. I unlocked a 99 Saturn which had "LOC" on the display. Used the method holding down the number 2 & 3 buttons. Probably between 5 to 10 seconds as previously stated a 4 digit code shown in the display, 3331. Be aware that it showed up 333, and a small half sized 1 showed up in the upper right corner.
The phone number in the original post (1-800-537-5140) no longer works for anybody. Rings endlessly. So skip steps 3 & 4 they are obsolete. I found a good number from some other guy for "United Radio" 1-800-448-0944. A real person will answer and no dealer codes are necessary. Just tell them you need the code to unlock your radio and the type vehicle. They were happy to help, they must do that all day. They didn't have the codes for 99 Saturn so they had me call Delphi at 1-800-428-0501. Told the guy what i was after and he gave me the correct unlock code right away, 1720. If it helps anyone the car showed 3331 and the unlock code for that is 1720. Then i just followed the directions from the original post starting with step 5, holding down the number 5 & 6 buttons for 5-10 seconds. Be aware nothing obvious will happen when you do that. Just let go of them after that time period. Then for the 99 Saturn i used the left/right arrows as stated in the original post to plug in the 1720 number. If you pass up the digit you wanted to stop at just keep going around again until you get to it. Then when the 1720 was on the display I didn't have to do anything else but touch the AM/FM button and instantly the time came back onto the display and radio worked.

[GrailKing]

I have a 2003 Saturn Vue, I'm giving to our daughter for school, the horn is suffering the constant on problem; I found that solution in another thread, now I need to get her radio working, the dealership I took the car to for the ignition switch recall said he couldn't get the code to unlock the radio ( he also replaced the horn relay that I bought a day prior but it did not solve the horn problem ) so I'm not going there since they seem to know less then I on the subject.

Anyway the radio shows dashes not Loc or anything else, what procedure would work for me?

TIA.

[slugbug]

Just unlocked the radio for my '99 SC1 with the info provided in this thread.
Called 1-800-537-5140 and entered dealer code 106010 then my code and got the unlock code

[KevinVarnes]

Used this method just now on a 2nd gen S-Series CD player with the 106010 dealer code and it works great.

[Sam120]

Followed the instructions yesterday and worked perfectly, thanks for the useful infornation

[LWB]

Originally Posted by slugbug

Just unlocked the radio for my '99 SC1 with the info provided in this thread.
Called 1-800-537-5140 and entered dealer code 106010 then my code and got the unlock code

Just unlocked the stereo in my '95 SW2 using the above phone number and code. Saved me a bunch of grief, as I actually like the AM/FM/Cassette/CD changer setup and wasn't looking forward to swapping a different stereo into it. Pretty sure the code was the first owner's address, which why I couldn't find it in the owner's manual or anywhere in the car. (I'm the second owner @ 78k miles)

[slugbug]

Had forgotten the unlock code I previously got so I tried again using dealer code 106010 and got a new one.