Hey guys,

Back again with more electrical gremlins popping up. Seems to be a recurring theme with these cars. Hoping someone has dealt with this before.

So up until recently my car has been acting fine more or less. A few issues recently popped up, and may or may not be related. About a week ago, i started getting random antitheft lights on the dash while driving, and my ac would stop blowing cold. Restarting the car would remedy the issue. I believe this is related to the cooling fan which is no longer blowing hard when the motor gets hot (tune has it set to kick on at 170 and increase in speed from there), which I believe may be a failing fan control module and am not that worried about that at the moment. Car never gets driven long enough to get hot hot. Will buy a new module soon to test. I would consider the ac has been shutting off due to low fan speed not cooling the condenser off, but this frequently happens even at highway speeds.

Shortly after that gremlin started, my ignition switch/starting the car has been going haywire. I have a 6 speed manual car, and for the life of my ownership, I get in the car, press the ignition switch, it lights up green, fuel pump primes and gauges do their sweep. Push the clutch in after fuel pump primes and push the ignition switch a second time and the engine starts right up.

Now randomly, I can push the ignition switch, no green light and I believe the check engine light kicks on (no stored codes), gauges DO NOT sweep or even light up. It's like it doesn't register I pushed the button. Opening/closing the door will sometimes correct it and as I close the door AFTER pressing the ignition switch it will start up. Other times after pressing the ignition switch and getting no response, I push the clutch in (multiple seconds after pressing the ignition switch) and it cranks right up on its own without pressing the ignition switch again, it will then start priming the fuel pump and sweep the gauges as the engine is cranking and eventually start once fuel pressure is built up.

Today I noticed on my drive to work, the green light normally illuminated on the ignition switch randomly lights up, sporadically but for the most part is off. The ignition switch was replaced about 9 months ago with a new GM unit.

Thinking these starting issues may be a relay, or something related to the antitheft system since I've been getting that light randomly illuminated from time to time. Key fob battery was just replaced, made no difference.

This weekend I plan on pulling the dash knee panel out and checking the ignition switch wiring, as well as cleaning the terminals on any cranking/ignition/theft related fuses and relays, but not very hopeful that's the cause.

I'll attach a link below to a video i took of the blinking ignition switch.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bzGSf25nmJGiXYBs5

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, please throw them at me and thank you in advance.

 

Just an update to this. Problems are ongoing still.

Things seem to have gotten worse the last few days, the car will not start at all regardless of ignition switch position or clutch position. However, each time this has happened, I open and close the drivers door, and it starts right up upon closing. This would make me think the door ajar sensor may be faulty, but these cars can start with the doors open regardless, so it should not matter. Maybe this is resetting something with the anti theft or keyless remote module. Other thoughts are signal interference. Recently got a new cell phone around the same time the problems started, will try starting the car without my phone nearby. Aftermarket radio, but been in there for 3 years without a problem, and aftermarket white led lights throughout the interior which I've heard allegedly gave some people issues, but been installed over a year prior without issue.

Thinking this is an RCDLR (remote control door lock receiver) issue, but want to see if anyone has any input before I buy a used one and find a way to get it flashed. Also of note, unlike most people with a RCDLR issue, I have never gotten a KEY FOB NOT DETECTED message on the dash. These issues coincide with the antitheft light lit up on the dash. About 1 in 5 or 6 starts, there will be no antitheft light and the car starts/functions as normal. A/C will also work correctly and function upon starting the engine when the antitheft light is not lit. If the antitheft light is lit and I have to mess with the clutch/doors to get the car started, the AC will not work until randomly about 20-30 minutes into my drive. Speed does not affect anything with the AC. It's hard to imagine that all of these system are interconnected... I could see potentially a faulty key fob, but fail to see how that would affect the AC.

Any ideas are appreciated, starting to get desperate here.

 

With a no crank no start you can’t rule out a communication issue…funny no “U” codes are stored…when it doesn’t start you can try checking the voltage on pins 6 and 14…CAN high and low…both should read about 2.5 volts…if you take an ohm meter and connect to both 6 and 14 you should 60 ohms…best to remove the negative battery terminal or wait about 20 minutes until all the modules “go to sleep”.