I bought myself a 97 sunfire se (2 door auto) recently and along with a bunch of other problems, it needs an ignition lock cylinder. I got one from a 96, but it dosnt have the chip,(three wire connection) and the car starts, runs normally for a few seconds and then stalls. A new cylinder from GM is $350, is there any way to bypass this kill switch, wire the wires together or something? i really would like to use the 96 lock cylinder.

Thanks,
Brandon

You'd have to bypass the Passlock... but to do that, you need a working ignition switch so you can start it at least once normally, so the bypass can learn the R-code from the lock cylinder. Since that's not really an option... I'll go with "No".

Sorry!

You could TRY the passkey re-learn, but I doubt it'll work. But it's worth a shot.

Stick the key in and turn it to ON. (But dont start)

Wait more than 10 minutes. If the theft system light has stopped flashing, it SHOULD start, and be fine after that. But like I said, I doubt it'll work.

Well, i took my old lock cylinder apart and made a hybrid from the 96 lock cylinder i got. The internal mechanism (the cylinder itself were the key goes) is only held in by a locking pin at the back of the switch. Turns out i could just pop it out of the 97 cylinder and pop in the 96. This way i stil uses the outer case of the shell (with the chip) and didnt have to reprogram anything. It worked very well and only took a matter of seconds, just incase anyone else is in the same situation. Try taking apart your jamed 97-99 cylinder and replacing just the centre peice.