This is fast becoming my cars greeting every other morning!!
Hi guys, new here and I might be in the wrong "forum" but does anyone know what causes this?? I have a black 1998 coupe - bought it about 10 months ago and in my opinion is a better daily driver than the C4 she replaced! In the time I have gotten to know her she has had a steering sensor go (big bucks to replace!!) but everything else is mint. Until now, this message keeps coming on - so I pull the key (and rebel that I am) wait only 5 seconds and start her up and she is fine! I get no other messages and she drives fine. Is this something that is a simple fix or am I going to have to bend over and take it at the dealers???
Thanks in advance!
G.

 

Welcome, check the "TECH" forum should find plenty of info there. I've had this happen once, I killed it in the middle of an intersection, but no prob. since. Good luck!

 

Welcome to C-5! This "pull key" thing can sometimes be related to low battery charge or poor ground connection somewhere.

The first thing I would suggest is to check the condition of your battery. Also, these cars have a history of leaking batteries and it is compounded by the fact that the car's computer is located just below the battery compartment thus making for a $5K-$6k repair bill if your battery does leak on the computer and cause damage.

Most owners remove the Delco battery and replace it with the Red Top or the Exide spiral technology battery. I had a Red Top but it died after 2 years so I just recently replaced it with the Exide Nascar series spiral technology battery from SAM's for $99.00. (They seem to be almost identical except color but the Exide does have a few more CCAs.) The Red Tops sell for about $119.00.

Another place to check out is the condition of your positive battery cables. Note that I said cables because you actually have two positive cables connected by the red plastic covering the spade tips on the cables. Corrosion has been known to build up between the spade tips inside this plastic covering causing all sorts of electrical gremlins. I had a 97 Buick Lesabre with identical cables on which I discovered this problem after a thousand dollar repair bill at the stealership didn't solve my problem. I took a razor knife and carefully slit the underside of the plastic covering on the cable end and pulled the spade tips apart and cleaned them with fine sandpaper and slid the cover back on and reinstalled the cable and voila, my problems were solved.

Does your car have a CLB (column lock bypass)? You can check this by trying to turn your steering wheel before inserting ignition key. If your wheel turns then you either have a CLB or your car has had the GM recall done already. Most people on here prefer to get the CLB rather than have the recall done because GM has had nothing but problems with the recall. One problem being the "pull key" message.
I would also suggest you check with a dealer and have them run your VIN through their computer to see if your car has had the recall done.
Oh well, I have covered alot here so I hope I don't have you confused!
Good luck in finding out your problem.

 

The wheel does turn without the key so something was done.
I will check with the dealer to see if it was a GM fix or not!
After work I will check the battery. The weird thing is for 8+months I haven't seen this message, now all of a sudden!!! Go figure!
G.

 

You will find alot of help here on the forum. For about eight years I had no problem with my Buick but once the corrosion built up between the spade tips I had one gremlin after the other.
I am the only one I have ever seen list the above problem resolution on this forum but I closely examined the Buick cables and my '02 Vette's cables and they appeared to be identical. I have not had this same problem with my Vette but don't really expect it until the car gets a few years older.

It might be interesting to find out if anyone else has separated and cleaned the spade tips of their battery cables and solved any problems.

 

The vats system runs off the little metal pellet embedded into the key. It looks for a specific resistance in the pellet... IF the pellet gets dirty, oxidized, the resistance can change enough so that it is not recognized as correct.
Try cleaning the pollet. with a cloth and some tooth paste, aggressviely wipe the metal surface of the pellet, ( this will remove any light oxidation) them clean off any toodthpaste residue with a rubbing alcohol (IPA or isopropyl alcohol)
This may be your cause)
But as noted abouve a weak battery or corroded ground can give the same message.