First post here so bear with me. I'm usually on V6z24.

So I changed my stereo, leaving me with a basic stock cd player out of a 2000 z24. A lady at work with a 2001 (or 2002??) sunfire has her aftermarket stereo stolen but she is selling the car so she doesn't want to pay for a new head unit or loose money in the sale because of no radio so I gave her mine. I figured that she would have to go to the dealer and get the stereo re-calibrated. It was flashing "cal" and the "lock".

At the suggestion of one of the Avionics guys (who did this on a ford at some point) we decided to screw around with it for about an hour, and found that if the ignition is turned on and we plugged the radio in while pressing the #4button on front or the radio, that it flashed "cal" and then worked, door chimes and all. Is this all GM does, or is this just fooling the radio temporally? Has anybody even heard of this before because I searched and didn't find anything similar (but there is a lot of posts to search so I might have missed it) and I didn't want to send her to the dealer . Thanks in advance.

Brad

hmmm interesting......

ive actually never had to get the vin recalibrated. ive had 3 sotck radios in and they all just plugged in and worked. that would be funny if you can jsut hold down a button to calibrate it



My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again

opps, brain fart. Missed that the cd button was also pressed along with the #4 button, and it doesn't last. It locks up again once the car is shut off for anyone who's curious.

Brad

hmm... it has to be something simple like that... considering when I called a few dealers they said that it only takes a minute or two

I looked into it and I think I remember, when installing the stereo back into the car it came out of you dont need any calibration.
When installing into a dif car you need to get a code that corresponds to the car vin #.


......I think...it was a couple years ago.....

Hey guys i don't know if this is relevant but i had a stock radio replacement back when i first got the car. Friend of mine works at the garage and took it there to get re-programed. Anyway all they did was pop the trunk, lift the carpet and looked for a set of codes (somewhere close to the paint codes) and then plugged in a sort of code reader (like an OBD II reader) and entered it. That was it. Said that there were five codes there and you just put one at a time in till the radio works. Anyway took all of 3 to 5 minutes.

There is a trick to unlocking the theflocks that are not locked to the vin... well i'm not 100% sure if it works but I found it on a couple of sites.... However it does not seem to work if you are calling from canada...

Quote:

The following procedure will give you a new code that you can use instead of your personal code. Using this new code, you can “unlock” your radio and then “re-lock” it with a new code if you wish. Prerequisites: The radio must be in LOC mode NOT in INOP mode. Let me explain. If you have activated the Theft-Deterrent feature of your radio and loose power, the radio goes into LOC (theftlock) mode. With the ignition on, you must use the MN and HR buttons to enter you personal code in order to unlock it (The instructions are on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual). If you fail to enter the correct code eight (8) times, the radio goes into INOP mode. You have to wait an hour with the ignition on before the radio returns to LOC mode (go for a long drive somewhere).

Procedure:

01. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

02. Hold down the Radio Presets 2 and 3 buttons for six seconds

03. The radio display changes from LOC to a three-digit number. Write this number down. Don’t take forever, fifteen seconds max before the next step.

04. Press the AM/FM button

05. The radio display changes to another three-digit number. Write this number to the right of the first one.

06. You now have a six-digit number, the first three digits are from STEP 03 and the last three digits are form STEP 05

07. Call 1 800 537 5140

08. Press 1 then # (pound). You’ll hear “Invalid Code, try again”

09. Press 139010 then # (pound). You will be asked to enter your four or six digit code followed by * (start)

10. Enter the number from STEP 6 then * (star)

11. Listen to the four-digit number and write it down. It will be repeated twice

12. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

13. Use the MN and HR buttons to enter the code from STEP 11

14. Press the AM/FM button. The radio display changes to SEC Your radio is now “un-locked” and usable. The Theft-Deterrent feature is STILL active! If you want to disable it, use the instruction on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual. Use the code from STEP 11 instead of your personal code.

McManus wrote:There is a trick to unlocking the theflocks that are not locked to the vin... well i'm not 100% sure if it works but I found it on a couple of sites.... However it does not seem to work if you are calling from canada...

Quote:

The following procedure will give you a new code that you can use instead of your personal code. Using this new code, you can “unlock” your radio and then “re-lock” it with a new code if you wish. Prerequisites: The radio must be in LOC mode NOT in INOP mode. Let me explain. If you have activated the Theft-Deterrent feature of your radio and loose power, the radio goes into LOC (theftlock) mode. With the ignition on, you must use the MN and HR buttons to enter you personal code in order to unlock it (The instructions are on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual). If you fail to enter the correct code eight (8) times, the radio goes into INOP mode. You have to wait an hour with the ignition on before the radio returns to LOC mode (go for a long drive somewhere).

Procedure:

01. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

02. Hold down the Radio Presets 2 and 3 buttons for six seconds

03. The radio display changes from LOC to a three-digit number. Write this number down. Don’t take forever, fifteen seconds max before the next step.

04. Press the AM/FM button

05. The radio display changes to another three-digit number. Write this number to the right of the first one.

06. You now have a six-digit number, the first three digits are from STEP 03 and the last three digits are form STEP 05

07. Call 1 800 537 5140

08. Press 1 then # (pound). You’ll hear “Invalid Code, try again”

09. Press 139010 then # (pound). You will be asked to enter your four or six digit code followed by * (start)

10. Enter the number from STEP 6 then * (star)

11. Listen to the four-digit number and write it down. It will be repeated twice

12. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

13. Use the MN and HR buttons to enter the code from STEP 11

14. Press the AM/FM button. The radio display changes to SEC Your radio is now “un-locked” and usable. The Theft-Deterrent feature is STILL active! If you want to disable it, use the instruction on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual. Use the code from STEP 11 instead of your personal code.

*if this is true please sticky a.s.a.p*

I was talking to a mechanic at a local dealer and he told me that they plug into the car through the diagnostic port (obviously) and pull a number from the radio, then call ACdelco with this number. ACdelco will then give them a number back that they program into the radio to get to work. He said it takes about 1/2 hour and about $45 so thats the route she is taking. Thanks Freak04 for looking that up but I'm in Canada so this is the easiest way without any hassle.

Brad

I just swapped in the 04 mp3 monsoon deck... got the locked... then proceeded to call local dealers... it seems like none of them understand what i'm talking about... one referred me to a local audio store who's only answer was... you should just buy a new one from us.... argh good thing it only takes 2 minutes to swap out the head unit... going to call around more next week to find somewhere that will do it ... .

Freak04 wrote:

McManus wrote:There is a trick to unlocking the theflocks that are not locked to the vin... well i'm not 100% sure if it works but I found it on a couple of sites.... However it does not seem to work if you are calling from canada...

Quote:

The following procedure will give you a new code that you can use instead of your personal code. Using this new code, you can “unlock” your radio and then “re-lock” it with a new code if you wish. Prerequisites: The radio must be in LOC mode NOT in INOP mode. Let me explain. If you have activated the Theft-Deterrent feature of your radio and loose power, the radio goes into LOC (theftlock) mode. With the ignition on, you must use the MN and HR buttons to enter you personal code in order to unlock it (The instructions are on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual). If you fail to enter the correct code eight (8) times, the radio goes into INOP mode. You have to wait an hour with the ignition on before the radio returns to LOC mode (go for a long drive somewhere).

Procedure:

01. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

02. Hold down the Radio Presets 2 and 3 buttons for six seconds

03. The radio display changes from LOC to a three-digit number. Write this number down. Don’t take forever, fifteen seconds max before the next step.

04. Press the AM/FM button

05. The radio display changes to another three-digit number. Write this number to the right of the first one.

06. You now have a six-digit number, the first three digits are from STEP 03 and the last three digits are form STEP 05

07. Call 1 800 537 5140

08. Press 1 then # (pound). You’ll hear “Invalid Code, try again”

09. Press 139010 then # (pound). You will be asked to enter your four or six digit code followed by * (start)

10. Enter the number from STEP 6 then * (star)

11. Listen to the four-digit number and write it down. It will be repeated twice

12. Turn the ignition ON (The radio displays LOC)

13. Use the MN and HR buttons to enter the code from STEP 11

14. Press the AM/FM button. The radio display changes to SEC Your radio is now “un-locked” and usable. The Theft-Deterrent feature is STILL active! If you want to disable it, use the instruction on page 3-27 in your Y2K Owner’s manual. Use the code from STEP 11 instead of your personal code.

*if this is true please sticky a.s.a.p*

Someone needs to check to see if this is still valid. I ran the number and found it on a GM dealership phone list for AC/Delco Radio Theft LOC phone line. If it still works to hell with paying the dealer $45+ dollars to call this number and run the same routine as already described.

Hey, my dad has a grand prix and we swapped out the stereo for one with CD from a grand am. On GM radios you can turn on a lock feature to stop them being used in other cars. When this happens (ie. when we swap them out) we have to go to the dealer and they call up GM or look in a book or whatever but there is a master 3 digit code. They push two buttons to bring that up and then enter it and it will unlock the deck and give you a code. They should do this for free and it literally takes 5 minutes. I got the lube tech to do it between oil changes for free. It sounds like this is the problem you are having. Anyway once you get it unlocked, the info as far as getting and writing down your code seems right to me. Also its not a vin number thing as far as I know (at least with our 1997-1999 delco decks we were swapping, because if you have the security feature turned on it will happen if you unplug the battery too. Hope this helps, either way, don't pay for it, it should definately be free. I've never heard of calling a phone number for the master code though and the tech said he wasn't allowed to give me that number.

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<<<<<2003 Sunfire Sedan>>>>>

Please be aware that the method I posted has been confirmed on various other gm forums... seems to work with any pre-RDS radio.... except if you're in canada (they block the number)... as for an update on my case... I have found out through the guy who got me the radio that my new mp3 monsoon is actually from a 05 grand am... (same radios as the 04-05 sunfires)... if you have an RDS radio that is locked and you want to make sure it works... with no key in the ignition press power + up seek + 5... this will put it into calibration mode and will unlock the radio until you put your key into acc or turn on the vehicle... I'm going to stop by a few dealers on monday to find one that will unlock it for good now =)

it just has to be flashed with a small computer some mechanics have, takes about 3 minutes to do, and the guy who i had do my girlfriends car charged $30. We tried to steps listed above, but didnt work, called GM and they said it was double locked, which can happen, only way is to have it unlocked with the computer