Ignition Lock Cylinder WIll Not Turn

[ZuluKono]

Thanks for all that.
Was not aware of the infamous factory coolant sensor failures,
however when I bought this car a few weeks ago,
one of the first things I noticed was that it idles
high when you stop, but shutting the car off then
immediately restarting it settles the idle down to normal.
Researching that is I found this forum and ascertained
that the throttle position sensor was the likely culprit.
I have a brand new one that would have been installed by now,
however this lock cylinder situation has put that on the back burner,
along with the fact that I have a faulty water
pump on one of my other vehicles that needs fixed.
Incidentally, I also noticed that the heater on the Saturn seemed weak,
so when I ordered the ignition parts, I also threw a
Gates thermostat into the order for like less than $10.

[Silverblu02SL2]

Originally Posted by fdryer

ZuluKono, GM installed Passlock anti theft to Saturn starting with models made in 2000. Security is enabled/disabled with the remote while locking/unlocking doors. The security light blinks once every few seconds when enabled, flashes quickly when theft is detected. When security flashes, Passlock disables injector operation - the starter can crank the engine all day but without injectors the engine will never fire up. As shown in drawings, three components make up Passlock; pcm, bcm and Passlock sensor. The sensor detects ignition lock cylinder rotation to determine a go/no go situation with the ignition key turning the ignition lock cylinder. If the ignition lock cylinder is removed, Passlock will not detect lock cylinder rotation and disable injectors (flashing security). A resistor, if I'm not mistaken is embedded into the ignition switch with a discrete voltage sent to the bcm along with Passlock sensor signals to determine whether or not to allow normal startup. Over the years, some say cutting the white wire disables Passlock but no guarantees this forever. Passlock is a program in the bcm and pcm so it cannot be programmed out/disabled with software.

It would be wiser to figure out from suggestions given to loosen the seized lock cylinder to remove it for repair while not damaging the Passlock sensor assembly or disrupting the way Passlock requires ignition switch/lock cylinder rotation sensing.

Where is this security light on my 2002 SL2? Never noticed such a light so far.

[fetchitfido]

Originally Posted by Silverblu02SL2

Where is this security light on my 2002 SL2? Never noticed such a light so far.

Flash's red. Hard to miss...

[Silverblu02SL2]

Originally Posted by fetchitfido

Flash's red. Hard to miss...

Thanks! Is it visible in daylight? I will go take a look shortly.

[Silverblu02SL2]

Just looked, it is definitely not red, but a dim orange, like the SES light. I was expecting a bright red flashing LED that I see on some cars which would serve as a warning to a would be thief walking by. The thief, like me, would not notice it.

[OldNuc]

It is a yellow LED and it is either ON or OFF. When the security has tripped and initiated it will be ON.

[Silverblu02SL2]

Mine was flashing. Does that indicate it was tripped? If it was tripped, shouldn't an alarm sound?

[fdryer]

My L300 security light, same place on the instrument panel is yellow. I presume all security indicators on Saturns are yellow. There are four modes; on, off, flashing quickly, blinking slowly. In armed mode using the factory remote to lock doors and simultaneously enable Passlock, security will blink once every few seconds. A theft attempt resulting in Passlock being enabled and triggered to actively disable the car, security will flash quickly; injectors are disabled, preventing the engine from running. You can run the starter to crank the engine but the engine will never fire up as security flashes away. Resetting Passlock requires leaving ignition on beyond 10 minutes until security switches from flashing mode to on. When on, cycling ignition off then back on resets Passlock and allows engine starting to drive away.

In standby mode, security enabled, the security light blinks once every few seconds. Flashing or blinking quickly means a theft attempt occurred. There are two separate theft systems; the horn and lights for the factory alarm system and Passlock system to disable part of the EFI system (injectors). The factory alarm system can trigger or not in certain circumstances but Passlock triggered (flashing/blinking quickly) doesn't need to have horns and lights flashing.

[ZuluKono]

Okay, that was a friggin' ordeal.
I learned stuff about cars I never wanted to know!

Anyway, once I got it back together, I had the aforementioned flashing security light.
A quick DuckDuckGo search of "saturn security light flashing" led me
to some reset instructions on this forum, which were successful for me.
I tried to post the link, but I have too few posts and am not allowed.

As a bonus, the SES light, which was on since I bought the car, is now cleared.

Another cool thing, at least for me, is that I didn't put any of
the included tumblers in my new lock cylinder, which means
I can start it with any key, or for that matter, a screwdriver.
Maybe a no-go for someone in a high-crime area, but I'm in rural Idaho.

[fdryer]

Passlock security relearn is posted here in several forums. The difficulty in finding threads is more about the search function here that isn't Google.

I love the 'universal' ignition key feature. To most thieves, the lock cylinder is rife with nightmares. Even Teslas are stolen without damage to any part of the vehicle as homeowners have recorded their evs stolen right from their driveway. Smart thieves with advanced electronics skills. Tesla's response was adding another layer to thwart rfid theft by incorporating pin access onscreen (the two Teslas stolen had pin software but owners ignored implementing it).

Having a reverse technology with zero clues may be the simplest theft deterrent many in the illegal trade probably stumble over.......